The Tower of Babel: Astronomy, Astrology and Horoscopes

Genesis 11:1 "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 4 And 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.5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

There is so much said here! Let's take a quick look. "Babel" in the original context was short for the Iraqi city of Babylon, which meant "Gate of God". There originally was no connotation associated with the word. However, due to God's action in the above scripture, "Babel" came to mean "confusion of sounds and voices".  Today we can see much more than babel in Babylon. It's a hotbed of confusion in fighting! How ironic.

The citizens of Babylon were building a tower; a tall one, whose top would reach heaven! "That's a really tall building!" you're thinking. The tallest building ever built is  Burj Khalifa in Dubai at 2722 feet. The tallest structure ever built is the radio tower is 2063 feet (KVLY-TV mast) in South Dakota. How high are the heavens? Heavens are all the celestial bodies seen from the vantage point of the earth. Since the atmosphere conceals the heavens then it seems logical that the heavens begin outside the atmosphere of the earth. There are five layers of atmosphere. Most of the clouds are in the troposphere which is 68 miles deep. That's 359,040 feet! The tallest modern structure is 0.76% of that height. Even today we cannot "reach the heavens" with a mechanical structure

Ziggurats were ancient middle-eastern stepped towers.  Archaeologists believe that the Tower of Babel was a ziggurat at Marduk's Great Temple in Babylon. Hence, the Tower of Babel was a religious structure.At the apex of ziggurats were religious shrines. These are "the high places" of pagan worship mentioned often in Kings and Chronicles and other places. Marduk means "bull calf of the sun". Hence, Marduk was a celestial God.  Ziggurats are extant with levels equal in number to the signs of the Zodiac with each level with the color of a Zodiac. At the top have been found a platform with the signs of the Zodiac. Therefore, astrology was practiced on ziggurats and likely the Tower of Babel, it being the most prominent and sacred.

The point is that the languages of the world are varied because of disobedience. What type of rebellion warranted a confusion and dispersion of the peoples?

Deuteronomy 4:19 "And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven.

It's clear from this passage that the Lord scattered the people and confused the languages, creating nations. That's what he did at the Tower of Babel. What the people were doing there was worship the cosmos; the heavens. That's astrology!

 Deuteronomy 17:2 "If there be found among you, within any of thy gates which the Lord thy God giveth thee, man or woman, that hath wrought wickedness in the sight of the Lord thy God, in transgressing his covenant, 3 And hath gone and served other gods, and worshipped them, either the sun, or moon, or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded; ...5 Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die."

Looking to the stars for guidance is astrology. It's also paying tribute to the worst of the worst gods, Marduk. If one follows their horoscope they would be severely punished by the people according to the judgment of God. They shall be stoned until they die. Astrology and horoscopes are an abomination to God yet even modern Christians seek their insight. God confused and scattered the people for doing what Christians due frivolously in this age. The horoscope is right next to Billy Graham in many newspapers, and rightfully so! It too is a serious, albeit pagan religion. Some papers have it next to the comics, being passed off as entertainment. It's really serious business and a violation of the First Commandment! You don't truly love God if you worship other gods along with him!

I know the excuse "I read it for entertainment and I'm not worshiping!" You may not be, but you're putting your soul in jeopardy. Powers and Principalities can use that to deceive and corrupt. You can be defeated in your spiritual life if you disrespect the will of God! Read the Book of Job and see what can happen when even a righteous man is exposed to the wiles of the Devil. It can happen to you as well, but I guarantee you that Job was more committed than most Christians today!

Reading pagan religious advice for entertainment is disingenuous. It's there because it's serious business and has been carried through the ages by the nefarious. Don't be fooled. One who reads this stuff is either ignorant or heretical. Assuming that you, the reader, understands what God says about astrology in this immediate writing, then you are without excuse!

There is a difference between astrology and astronomy. It's the use of the information. We've discussed astrology. It's relying on the celestial bodies for spiritual and psychological advice. Astronomy explores the cosmos to explain why! How big is the cosmos? How did it originate? Where did we come from? How long will it exist? Is time finite? Are there others out there? Can we harvest unknown elements for our use? Most of the information used from the exploration of space is being used to disprove the existence of God. There is even a "God Particle" (Higgs Boson)! It's a theory that there is a massive subatomic particle which has zero electrical charge. If it exists then this particle would explain the origins of the universe.

Even many Christian scientists are pressured into the acceptance of Higgs Boson, ignoring scripture which speaks of the creation. "Reason" is their God! Rather than accept God's biography with how he created it all, they look for another "truth" to explain what is  "the mystery of God"! In other words, astronomy has the same vain objectives as does astrology. The conversion is about over. Most people accept science over creation. That narrow gate to heaven gets more narrow as time goes by.

Astronomers today are doing what the astrologers were in Babylon. In fact astronomy has its origins in astrology!  Astrologers could see the heavens on some days when the sky was clear, but had only a naked eye view. With the Hubble Telescope and others astronomers today can truly reach the heavens! They are in danger. God has already confused them. Scattering them will be next. The time will come.

The writer doesn't claim to know as much of the heavens or understand quantum mechanics as well as the studied scientists. However, even this engineer knows that the odds of evolution creating what we see is beyond reason. Even an engineer knows that the thermodynamic principle of entropy is based on all things moving toward disorder, not higher evolution!

Romans 1:20 "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse..."

According to God we see his creation. It is beyond explanation. As such we are without  excuse! Those who believe the lie instead of God are in error. With that error comes punishment. Just hope that God is more merciful than what I would be!