NATIONALISM OR GLOBALISM

BABEL AND ITS MODERN DAY STATE

“The LORD did there confound the language of all the earth.”  Gen. 11:9

The Confusion of Tongues – NATIONALISM OR GLOBALISM

                Following the institution of human government in Gen. 9:6, therefore, it should not be surprising to find next in the order of the Genesis account what has been called "The Table of Nations" in Gen. 10. In this remarkable document from the past we are given a glimpse of the birth of nations, the building of cities, and the founding of empires - all of which implies the existence of social and governmental organization. The story of the Tower of Babel with its confusion of tongues, which follows in Gen. 11, seems to have been introduced at this particular point in the record for the purpose of explaining the existence and wide dispersal of the nations named in the previous chapter.

                The implications of the Babel story point to the Plurality of nations, in opposition to any central world government, as something definitely in harmony with the purpose of God. The intentions of builders at Babel are stated in Gen. 11:4 as follows: "Let us the build us a city and a tower ... and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Apparently the city was to provide a world center for the human race, and the monumental tower was to serve as a physical and spectacular symbol of world unification. Having lost in the Fall that inward and spiritual unity of the race which was centered in God, men now resort to the establishment of an external unity. We have here the first recorded urge of sinful men toward the "one world" global idea of social and governmental organization.

                In this connection a question naturally arises: Why would not such a world organization have been a good thing? Would this not, as it is still being argued today, preserve the unity of mankind and thus avoid the confusion and strife which has been historically associated with a multiplicity of nations and governments? Ideally, of course, one world government would seem to furnish the answer to many difficult problems, provided the world was made up of only the right kind of people. But the trouble has been that, ever since the fall of Adam, the world has had the wrong kind of people-- "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). And in such a world there is mortal danger in a single and total world government. As someone has acutely observed, political power always corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Originally America started with the understanding of the danger of a king or monarch. And as we have witnessed the democratic implementation of the 3 separate divisions has found ways to corrupt even the best of intentions. Obviously America also has the wrong kind of people living within its borders.

                The judgment of God upon this first attempt at one world government was not only a clear warning against all such schemes but also an endorsement of what is called "nationalism." Although not the ideal form of human organization, nationalism has proven the safest for the preservation of personal liberty in a sinful world. And America has been a spectacle of personal liberty even as the society attempts to globalize and continues to erode those personal liberties as government takes over all aspects of the free society - education, healthcare, etc. In the world market of political ideas and forms, there will be competition and experiment just as long as there are many nations. And, in the end, such competition and experiment always work out for individual liberty and the development of distinctive cultural values, which then may be mutually shared between nations. In a sinful race left to its own devices, one monolithic world state might conceivably put an end to all further political experiment and result in an irreversible totalitarianism.

                The nature of the divine judgment upon this first try at a World State is deeply interesting. It is generally conceded that the cement that holds men together in groups and nations is what we call a common culture, and the very core of such a culture is found in language, man's marvelous ability to communicate ideas. It was exactly at this point that the judgment of God struck: the common bond of "one language" was supernaturally destroyed, and the multiplication of tongues led to the formation of different groups and, ultimately, nations. For the chief obstacle to the achievement of the one world state of "Internationalism," it has often been recognized, is the barrier of language. The very headphones worn by the delegates of the various member nations at meetings of the United Nations' organization are a witness to the divinely imposed safeguard against the menace of one total world government established by sinful men.

                It is true that later the kingdom of Babylon became the golden head of an empire that held authority "wheresoever the children of men dwell" (Dan. 2:38). However, it must not be overlooked that this was an empire established by divine sanction, as indicated clearly by the address of Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar: "Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven bath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell ... hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all" (Dan. 2:37-38). Furthermore, it is open to serious question whether this universal authority, although conferred by God Himself, was ever actually exercised by Nebuchadnezzar over all peoples in all places. Certainly, the three so-called world empires which followed never completely succeeded in subduing all the different nations on earth; nor were they able to perpetuate their comparatively brief existence without unceasing struggles; and in the end they fell before attacks by peoples of other language areas. In the long history of sinful humanity there will be only one truly universal world empire (called "the kingdom of the world" in Rev. 11:15, ASV), and that will be achieved by superhuman means at the hand of Satan's own ruler, the Antichrist, whose brief span of world dominion will be definitely limited by God to exactly 1260 days. Even here, however, this final empire will not be achieved without divine sanction; for his universal authority will be "given unto him" from above (Rev 13:7)