The tower of Babel is a fascinating story of an attempt to unify people under a one-world government. Immediately that intention would appear as a good thing creating order and peace. Why then did God have a problem with what happened at the tower of Babel and why did He choose to interfere and scatter them? Few words are written about the people and their beliefs or their characters. Still, nothing is in the Bible by chance, it holds important details.
The Bible does not reveal how much time had passed since the flood when this story took place. It does reveal that Nimrod started his rule in Babel, and he was the great-grandson of Noah. (Gen 10:10) In those times the first generations lived several hundreds of years and so theoretically Nimrod could have been a couple of hundred years old when this took place. The bible is also silent on how large the population was.
The Bible also tells us they built a city around the tower. The first said to build a city was Cain when he moved away from his family (Gen.4:17). Fearing being scattered was a motive for both Cain and the builders of the tower of Babel. Cain revealed: “and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth” while God promised him that he did not have to hide from others because He would protect him. Cain building a city might show that he was trying to save himself by finding safety in dwelling among a multitude that could side with him. The next time the Bible mention building a city is the descendants that moved away from Noah (Gen 11:4). And the people at the tower of Babel feared: “lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen.11:4) This reveals the same fear. Being surrounded by a multitude gave that safety they no longer felt they got from God. Although there were probably many cities built between the time of Cain and the tower of Babel, the Bible first mentions these two cities. It should be evident that the problem is not building a city, as even God has a city, but the motive in making it and how it is ruled.
The first interesting detail we learn in the story of Babel is that they left the mountains and as soon as they reached a plain, the lowland, they started building a tower to reach up to the sky. If their purpose was really to reach heaven, would they not have built it on a mountain top or one of the heights where they came from? The plain of Shinar starts north in Turkey and goes all the way down to Kuwait. The Greeks called this lowland Mesopotamia. Right before the north section, there were miles of mountains going all the way to the mountains of Ararat where they had just traveled. Therefore, technically, they left the mountains to build the tower on a plain in the lowland to “reach heaven”. And so this seeming contradiction reveals a deeper meaning.
There had recently been a worldwide flood which evidence of could still be seen. Moving to the lowlands might therefore feel like a risk. The mountains would seem safer if they feared a flood. But they wanted to settle elsewhere. By building a high tower on the lowland they could have both, security if there came another flood and be able to prosper at what then was the most fruitful plains they had seen. God had promised there would be no more floods covering the whole earth, but it is clear from the story that God is no longer trusted or believed in.
Babel and Climate crisis
What do you get when there is a seemingly natural threat and there is no God? Well, then it is up to man to defeat it and protect himself. These ideas have been common in our time for a while. The fear is that the world is in a climate crisis and if we do not somehow reverse it the earth is doomed. The world does not now fear a worldwide flood like in the time of Babel, but the similarity is that they too do not trust God’s promises.
The promise Babel did not believe was this: “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth” (Gen 9:11).
The climate movement of today does not believe this promise given by God at the same time: “While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease” (Gen 8:22).
God makes it clear that He is the one who upholds everything and controls everything. The earth will not become unhabitable until Christ’s second coming.
But without the belief in God, we are left to chances and the forces of nature. Just like in the time of Babel, people today gather to “save the planet” and the “human race” by making the grand assumption that we can make a difference. We make ourselves our own saviors. But in the process, we also pose as gods. There is nothing wrong with being environmentally friendly or caring for the creatures and nature on this planet. We are all responsible for doing our share to respect all God’s creations. Biblical speaking though, it is God that preserves. And when He no longer preserves there is nothing man can do to change any of the development that might come. This is seen for instance in the seven plagues mentioned in Revelation. Humans can do very little on a larger scale, but they deceive themselves to think they can.
The climate advocates however do not believe in God and think that we are the earth’s only saviors. Part of the sin of Babel and our sin today is thinking we can take God’s place. With the idea that we have to be like a god to save others and ourselves comes the need to control and rule. Often you can see Christians rejecting the climate change movement, but the truth is they do because they believe in God, they believe in His promises. They believe in a higher force in control. While the irreligious movements believe in themselves and the fear of losing control.
The tower and Lucifer
When reaching the plain of Shinar “they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen 11:4).
The similarities of the Bible’s description of Lucifer are profound:
“For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit” (Isa.14:13-15)
In the case of Lucifer, it did not mean He wanted to be physically higher situated than God, it means he wanted to be equal to God in power or as God. And what do you get by being like God? Control and praise. This was what he desired and becoming equal with God was what he tempted mankind with at first: The serpent, Lucifer, said to the woman: “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5)
To tempt Eve to want to become like God he first needed to create that need in her to be a god herself. This need was created by causing her to doubt her relationship with God. Lucifer insinuated that God’s leadership was questionable. Before tempting her to become like a god he suggested that God made laws for his own benefit and not hers. He indicated God was unreasonable and was withholding something important from her. Once doubt had arisen in her heart regarding God’s leadership came the need to be more powerful and more in control herself. The temptation to be like God.
This is usually how it always goes when men desire to take God’s place or make themselves equal with God. It is about feeling in control because you do not trust the one who is in control.
The governments and people that warn of the consequences of the climate crisis are placing themselves in such a position. By rejecting God and His leadership, they feel the need to become gods themselves. And they need you to choose them over God for it to succeed. You have to doubt God to trust them.
God comes down
The next very fascinating part in the story of Babel and perhaps my favorite one is to compare these two sentences: “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven” and then “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower” (Gen.11:4-5)
They try to reach the heights of God yet God has to come down to them. This is how it always is. Man think they can reach God, they think they can be like God, they think they can save themselves, but it is all a self-deception. God is so far above, so powerful, that whatever man does to reach Him is fruitless. Our whole salvation and our contact with heaven are all dependent on God coming “down to us” to communicate. Only by His willingness and love for man do we have a hope of reaching Him. It is not anything we can build or produce. He comes on His own accord from the goodness in His own heart. We can never reach heaven figurately speaking. Even less physically speaking. Whether we are religious or not, we can not reach God’s level, have His power, or save ourselves. Now man has been in space and realized just how small we are in the universe. We know no matter how tall that tower would have ended up they would not reach “heaven”. Our salvation is always tied to Him coming down to us.
Is God against unity?
The power of God is also seen in the purpose of man versus the purpose of God. They wanted to build the tower because they feared disunity: “let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth”.
While the consequence of their action which was based on this very fear was that God did to them according to their fear: “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (Gen 11:8) What irony!
Here we see two conflicting desires from the people and God. Seemingly the people wanted unity, while God did not want them to succeed in this unity.
Paul writes: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints” (1Co 14:33).
God does want unity, but He does not wish unity under falsehood. He does not want unity under bad leaders. The book of revelation reveals the following about one of God’s end-time enemies: “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev 13:8). Does this seem like a temporary unity? Yes.
About the first Christians, Jesus said: “Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: For from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father; the mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother; the mother in law against her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against her mother in law” (Luk 12:51-53).
God’s unity is the only real unity and that has to be connected to His leadership. God is not threatened by the unity of those who reject Him, but His people are and they are the ones He wishes to save. The unity of the world is a false unity that causes misery and suppression. The strongest take the highest position and are not always the best man for the job. God wants unity but not in a world of sin. Paul said: “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump” (Gal.5:9) Leaven works a bit like yeast today. It was a fermented piece added to the bread dough to make it elevate and become fluffy. It worked the way that once you placed the little leavened dough in the big dough, the little leavened affected the rest of the dough. This was used as a parable in the bible on the nature of sin but also of that which is good (Matt.16:6; 1. Cor.5:5-7; Lukas 13, 21). The symbol applied to both good and bad.
It just means that what environment we are in will most likely shape us. We mirror and imitate each other both consciously and unconsciously. Science agree and has discovered that visible emotions such as sadness, laughter, and disgust are
contagious. Media have used this as a way for you to feel enjoyment. By having a recording of others laughing the viewer are more likely to laugh too and thereby like their show. Watching sadness and aggression play out creates empathy and anger and tie a bond to the story that unfolds before our eyes. Watching intimate scenes also creates intimacy between us and the people we behold. The bond causes us to adopt in parts or fully their morals and their way of thinking. It has long been understood that real life imitates art. What shocks one generation is the norm in the next. Whether it is what we watch on TV or in the society we are in, it has the same effect. However, copying each other is not all bad and it cannot be fought.
When humans mirror each other it also brings understanding, and empathy and strengthens social bonds. When someone yawns you are likely to yawn. Extroverts are preferred because they are more likely to imitate the ones they talk to creating an illusion of trust in the other party. Often those with little education are perceived to be intimidating and sometimes even feared. This is because they are more likely to think differently, and this causes the mirror effect to be somewhat broken. It is the same that causes different cultures to collide as those on different economical or educational levels. They do not find their “likeness” in the other and so they are less likely to feel at home with them. The point is, to fit into society in a healthy good way you must mimic it as much as possible. You need to mirror its values, its concerns, and its idea of justice. If not, you are seen as an interruption of peace and unity. The most adjusted people in society are those that do not question the world they live in but rather adapt to it. This is the case in smaller communities as well. The majority can therefore walk in order even though they have rejected all the standards that existed 50 years before. Because it is not a matter of belief, but present social acceptance. You need to be reconciled with political correctness. If you mirror the 19th century you will not be accepted in the 21st century. Morals and ideas change, but to be accepted you must mirror the people of your own time, and your society. Even your church or social club. Even if you are part of the LGBTQ+ community there are cultural and political views you have to follow to be accepted.
There exist no group that is fully accepting, every single one has ground rules for socially acceptable thinking and behavior.
Humans still fear not being protected by a multitude; they fear standing on their own. Perhaps this need is created within us, that we are designed to seek unity and companionship. We must not forget that the human body and mind were created and designed for a world without sin. In a world interrupted by sin and idols, the desire for togetherness can easily lead us astray. So, God created us for unity, but God’s enemy is using it to destroy us.
Why God scatters.
God does not scatter to destroy, He scatters to save and preserve. When he scattered people at the tower of Babel, he did it to save mankind. Before all were infected by the sins there, he had to pull people apart. Once they were scattered He prevented the “sourdough” effect. God called Abraham to leave his family in Mesopotamia and to create his own little society for the same purpose. If Abraham had stayed with his family the bad “leaven” existing there would infect the whole “dough”. And so, to preserve, God scatters. He has done this many times throughout history, always continuing with a remnant of people wanting to be faithful and represent Him. Knowing they would be forced to compromise their belief if they stayed, God wanted them to separate. God wanted to preserve a “sourdough” in the hope it would affect the rest of the “dough”, but every time it was the others that leavened His people instead. This happened because God’s people so desired unity and companionship with other nations and the only way to achieve this recognition was by mirroring them. They did not want to stand alone in the world, they wanted acceptance. So they chose to become more worldly and politically correct which meant in part turning their back on God’s culture.
Every time God divides within a family, society, or even a nation it is seen as a threat by the larger body, and persecution and violence is used to bring the scattered “back to the fold”.
God is not trying to bring unity in a world of sin. Jesus said: “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence” (Joh.18:36)
As long as the world stands in sin, God has to continue to scatter to preserve. While His enemies will continue to strive for unity and to assemble them “insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect” (Matt.24:24).
The Bible reveals this is exactly what they are doing to destroy God’s truth in the end time, at the very time of Christ’s second coming:
“For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame” (Rev 16:14-15)
They gather the world, but God instructs his people to “keepeth his garments”. This symbolizes the garment given to them by Christ (Rev.3:17-18). Staying undefiled in the world means not mirroring the world. The garment is Christ’s righteousness. We need to cover our nakedness with His standards. We are told to mirror Christ.
“Now the Lord is that Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with uncovered face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2.Cor.3:17-18).
If we do what Christ tells us, it will as always create division. Society will not accept those who do not mirror them.
When you do not mirror the society you are in you will be disliked, suspected or persecuted. You will be perceived as a threat. You become a social disruption, an outcast. You might be perceived as hostile and dangerous. They fear you will persuade others and they fear the change this will result in. And thus they believe it is better to fight against you so “that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:50). They convince themselves they are the good guys, the heroes, when they in different ways try to silence you. Anyone who follows Christ and tries to mirror Him will be perceived as a disruption of peace by those who follow the leaders in sin. (Rev.18:4-6)
It cannot be escaped. Jesus said if you are loved and accepted in the world it is a bad sign. “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (Joh 15:19). If you mirror the world, they will love you. If you mirror the socially acceptable in whatever land or time you are in, you will be accepted. Whether you are a Muslim in Saudi Arabia, a Hindu in Varanasi, an agnostic in Scandinavia, an atheist in China, or a catholic in Rome. It always works the same way. If you do not mirror your society, you will be despised. They will fear you and withdraw from you. And any persecution will be seen as provoked by you. Jesus told us to be prepared for this. We need to understand it or we will follow in Solomon’s footsteps and abandon our faithfulness towards God for the sake of acceptance all while fooling ourselves we are serving Christ.
Jesus also said that if we are to be able to mirror Him, we need to be always connected to Him (John 15)
The beginning of racism?
God did not want the unity in Babel because it was based upon unity in rebellion. He scattered them to avoid too much control on a few hands. It can even seem God created “racism” by scattering them into smaller groups which caused many to develop in isolated places and thus create their own social standards and rules. When they later reconnected the differences aroused insecurity and fear and resulted in racism. In a way, them developing in different isolated places helped them stay separated almost up until our own time and it still slows down attempts at worldly unity.
If God did not interfere at Babel, the language would be universal, the culture might be the same and they would always marry within in a greater mixed pool and so the races would be very similar.
Today mankind wants to reverse what they see as damage done at Babel. They want to have a universal language and they want a united body of power to rule over the earth. They claim to celebrate differences and have tolerance but in reality they are trying to create a new religious and cultural middle ground and remove distinct culture. Their “tolerance” is a smoke screen.
Their motive is the same as at the tower of Babel. Fear of losing control over life on earth. Fear someone stronger will take control if they do not. Distrust that there is a God that is in control. Fearing those who look and act differently. The need to be gods to “save mankind” from a feared problematic future. A fear that people’s different opinions and understanding will be “all over the place” and by it, their power scattered.
When man wants to control the destiny of the world leaving God out they do not create true peace. The past colonization’s and the many later wars in the Middle East and Africa, Asia, and other places are the results of man trying to control and unify unwilling participants. While God wanted smaller groups of control to prevent bad governments and bad cultures to become too powerful, in the end time there is no escape because of the unity they have managed to create. Either you cooperate with a one united world power (like UN, WHO etc) or you will suffer. (Rev.13:11-18)
While power was scattered there would always be hope when one government turned corrupt. There was a way of escape or a way for that nation to be held accountable. But if a body of governments acting in unity becomes corrupt, we have a problem only God can solve.
While the people at Babel feared being scattered, God made their fears come true and scattered them. Their tower reaching “heaven” was sabotaged, and their unity sabotaged. Not because they threatened God, but because their unity threatened man’s right to live freely and to seek the one true God. God scattered their power to give mankind the freedom they needed to be happy and prosper. The leaders of Babel did not understand what their plans would have led to if God had not stopped them.
PEACE AND SECURITY
The peace offered to mankind through different human towers of Babel is a false peace. Yet by claiming it to be peace they make sure they
are obeyed and followed. Leaders that play god want to be seen as the “saviors” of the people. They want people to fear that if they do not lead everything will transpire out of control. In that way, they can have a following desperate to secure their leader’s position and to help the leader fight any opposition. Fear is the biggest weapon to unify people, but it also secures the leader’s position. When people are afraid, they dread changes. When people fear, and the leader is seen as their salvation, they cooperate.
In the time not long after Babel, many reliefs discovered in Mesopotamia we can see the leaders depicted as heroes who fight the wild beasts and by it creating security for the people.
God had said after the flood: “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered” (Gen 9:2).
What God said would not be a threat if people trusted Him, the people claimed was a huge threat that could only be conquered by the heroic work of the leaders of that time.
Again, they took God’s place by playing on people’s fears.
It is happening the same way today. With the rejection of God, the weight on man’s salvation is placed on human leadership. Fearing the world will spin out of control, fearing food shortage, diseases, and wars, people desperately look to man for salvation and they in return become their gods. Not understanding that it is this very fear and the making of human gods that causes all the problems to begin with. Man destroys, man creates problems, man blames God, man becomes god, and man offers man peace and security in return for loyalty.
In this aspect, it is perhaps easier to understand why when the people seemingly in unity stood together building a city and a center of control in the time of Babel it was considered bad in heaven’s eyes.
It should also explain why Paul said the following: “For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1Th 5:2-3).
If we compare the “coming as a thief” in Thessalonians and Revelation, we can see that both suggest partly unity in the world when Christ return, a unity claimed to be for the sake of “peace and security”.
The verse in Thessalonians reveals something important that reminds of the tower of Babel. Why would they say “peace and safety” to man right at the time Christ comes? Because governments have united together and shown themselves as the solution to all world problems. Training man to think that salvation comes from them. Whether it be salvation from viruses, wars, or climate change. They are the ones who save us and therefore they are the ones we must obey and trust. Them saying “’peace and safety” are not bad if there really is safety and peace. But their statement means they have risen their throne to heaven and made themselves appear as gods to save you. But it is a lie that takes your heart from your real God. Like Eve in the Garden, the doubt and fear that God is not good and in control will cause you to seek salvation from mankind instead.
Jesus said: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Joh 14:27)
Jesus also said: “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors” (Luk 22:25).
God does not favor anarchy and the bible does tell us to respect our governments. But when they do the sins of Babel and put themselves in gods place, there is a controversy. God speaks against the seeming unity in the end time.
When they unify the authority that God intended to be scattered, they work against God. Governments should fight crime and defend people’s rights and nothing more. The moment the body of the government changes into a religious type of power it has gone astray.
Nebuchadnezzar’s attempt at unity.
Too much power in a few hands results often in mankind falling deep. One of the great kingdoms on earth showed just what such powers can do:
“Then the princes, the governors, and captains, the judges, the treasurers, the counsellors, the sheriffs, and all the rulers of the provinces, were gathered together unto the dedication of the image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up; and they stood before the image that Nebuchadnezzar had set up. Then an herald cried aloud, To you it is commanded, O people, nations, and languages, That at what time ye hear the sound of the cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, and all kinds of musick, ye fall down and worship the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king hath set up: And whoso falleth not down and worshippeth shall the same hour be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace” (Dan 3:3-5).
And when Nebuchadnezzar said: “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?”, God brought him down as He had the tower of Babel and “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan.4:30, 31-32)
Man might have the illusion of control, they might present themselves as saviors and benefactors, but in the end, they are as helpless while building a tower now as they were in the time of Babel. God rules over all. And when the governments say “peace and safety” after presenting themselves as gods and saviors in the world, it will be their own ruin. What they have built of unity and control, God will destroy now as surely as He did then.
The ones who present themselves as our saviors are the ones creating much of the problems. Right now the leaders of the world are building another “tower of Babel” figuratively speaking. And as surely as the first Babel came down so will this as the destruction of modern Babel is recorded in Revelation 18. Verse 3 shows us how they all cooperate seemingly creating unity and friendship between nations. It reveals trade agreements are one of the major factors behind their unity. “And the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Rev.18:3) But God declares that their position is gained by idolatry and sins and speaks the following judgment. “How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. ” (Rev 18:7-10) .
By trade agreements, by chasing lusts, by common idolatry and infidelity towards God they have created some illusion of unity and control. God will then tear down their tower of Babel.
Once again we see His motive. He says about the power: “in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” And He says: “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her” (Rev.18:20 & 24). Here God makes it very clear. Three times in the judgment against end-time Babel God speaks of the cruelty towards His people. He also pleads with His people to not mirror her sins: “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Rev.18:4)
About the woman in Revelation 17 and 18 it says “she hath glorified herself” and that she sits as “a queen” (Rev.18:7) A queen means the woman is acting as a ruler or is in a relationship with the ruler. She has also created a seeming unity with other rulers. The wording “glorified herself” refers to her showing herself as someone playing god as “glory” can only be given to God. Again, we see the three combined. Unity, acting like a god in the leading position and either deceiving or forcing people to commit her sins with her.
For any Bible-trained eye, all this behavior is at work as we speak. The comfort is that Christ second coming is near. He will come like a thief, as a surprise upon His enemies. Just as He did at the tower of Babel. He will end their plans. Gods faithful people are described in the following way: “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” (Rev.14,4-5)
Psalm 2
1 Why do the nations conspire
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,
3 “Let us break their chains
and throw off their shackles.”
4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
the Lord scoffs at them.
5 He rebukes them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 I will proclaim the Lord’s decree:
He said to me, “You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance,
the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron[b];
you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise;
be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry
and your way will lead to your destruction,
for his wrath can flare up in a moment.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.