Babylon is not merely a geographical location or an ancient empire; it is a spiritual system—a "deadly mixture"—that stands opposed to the perfection and grace of God (Yah’shua).
To understand Babylon, we must go back past the towers of Mesopotamia, all the way to the very beginning in the Garden of Eden. It was there that the first seeds of Babylonian confusion were sown, and it was there that the "deadly mixture" was first presented to humanity.
The First Confusion
Before there was a city called Babel, there was a whisper in a Garden. The origins of Babylon are found in the subtle deception of the serpent in Genesis 3. The Holy Spirit shows us that the root of all human striving and religious effort is a fundamental misunderstanding of our identity in Yah’shua.
In the Garden, man was already made in the image and likeness of God. He lacked nothing. He walked in the cool of the day with his Creator, living in a state of rest and supply. However, the enemy brought the first "mixture"—a mixture of truth and lies designed to produce confusion. The serpent asked, "Yea, hath God said...?" (Genesis 3:1, KJV).
The core of the temptation was the false idea that man was not good enough as he was. The devil suggested that there was something Adam and Eve needed to do to improve themselves, to become "like gods." He said, "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" (Genesis 3:5, KJV).
This was the birth of "religion"—the belief that through our own effort, our own choosing, and our own "eating" (works), we can attain a standing with God that He has already freely given us. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was the first "deadly mixture." It mixed "good" with "evil," creating a system of ethics and performance that replaced the simple life of the Tree of Life. This is the essence of Babylonian confusion: the belief that we must "improve" upon what God has already declared "very good." When man ate, he traded the rest of grace for the labor of self-improvement. He moved from the "finished work" of God's creation into the "unfinished work" of human effort.
The "Gate of God"
From the Garden, this spirit of self-effort migrated to the plains of Shinar.
Historically, the name "Babylon" comes from the Akkadian word Bāb-ili, which means "Gate of God." This reflects the human heart's desire to create its own entrance into the presence of the Divine through human effort, architectural prowess, and religious structure. It is the "works of men" attempting to bridge the gap that only Yah’shua could bridge. Man wants to build a "Gate" (a system) that he can control.
However, the Bible, written word of God and His truth, refers to the city as Babel. In Hebrew, Babel (בָּבֶל) is derived from the root word balal (בָּבֶל), means "to mix, to mingle, or to dumbfound." This is the first clue to the "deadly mixture."
While man calls his religious system the "Gate of God," the Spirit of Truth identifies it as a state of "confusion by mixture." This is the same confusion that arises when people try to celebrate the "shadow" instead of embracing the "Person" of Yah'shua. When you mix the Old Covenant law with the New Testament good news of grace, you do not get "better" grace; you get Babylonian confusion. You get a toxic concoction. You get a "Gate" that leads nowhere.
The Ancient Pictograph of Babel
To see this more clearly, we can look at the ancient pictographs for the Hebrew word Babel (בָּבֶל):
Bet (ב): This pictograph represents a House, a family, or a floor plan. In the word Babel, the letter Bet appears twice (B-B, an emphasis).
Lamed (ל): This pictograph represents a Shepherd's Staff, signifying authority, a teacher, or "to lead toward."
When we look at Bet-Bet-Lamed, we see a picture of "Two Houses under one Authority." In the New Testament this is referred to as doublemindedness—see this post. This is the very definition of the deadly mixture. It is the attempt to live in the "House of Law" whilst simultaneously attempting to live in the "House of Grace", the way prescribed by any religious system.
However, we know that the Old Covenant was a schoolmaster intended to point us to Yah’shua. Yah’shua as the Grace of God was never meant to be "mixed" with anything. The Jewish Old Covenant (including the law, the prophets, the feasts, etc.) were mere shadows, rituals of a "shadow" of the Goodness of God to come in the Man, Yah’shua. To try to dwell in the shadow while claiming to live in the Light is to create a spiritual house of confusion. Yah’shua did not come to patch up the Old House. He came to establish us, once and for all, as the house of God, “the perfect tabernacle, not made with hands" (Hebrews 9:11).
The Tower of Bricks and Mortar vs. the Foundation of Grace
In Genesis 11, we see the historical and spiritual foundation of this system. The people said, "Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter" (Genesis 11:3, KJV).
Consider the difference between a brick and a stone:
Bricks are man-made. They require human labor, "thorough burning," and uniform shaping. They represent the "works of men" and the "burdensome series of rituals" found in the Old Covenant. To make a brick, you must take the earth and change it through your own heat and effort.
Stones are God-made. They are created by the hand of the Creator. Yah’shua is the Chief Cornerstone. We are "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5) built up by His grace, not our effort. A stone is perfect just as it is found.
In Babylon, they used "slime" (bitumen) for mortar. Slime is a product of the earth, a sticky, dark substance used to bind man’s efforts together. This is a picture of how religious systems use fear, obligation, and "theology" to bind people to their "deadly mixture" of law and grace. They strive to reach the heavens (the "Gate of God") through their own purity and their own "golden garments" of self-righteousness.
But we know that no man can approach God in his own glory. Just as the High Priest in the Old Covenant eventually had to put on simple white linen—recognizing he could not stand on his own merit—the builders of Babel found that their "bricks" could never reach the heights of God’s holiness. Their "Gate" was a facade.
The Rebel and the First World System
The Bible identifies Nimrod as the founder of Babel. He was a "mighty hunter before the Lord" (Genesis 10:9). In the Hebrew context, the phrase "before the Lord" often carries the connotation of "in defiance of" or "against." He was a hunter of men's souls—a rebel who sought to establish a kingdom based on human strength and collective human willpower.
Nimrod’s kingdom was the first attempt at a "world system" that excluded the need for a Savior. It was the original "Deadly Concoction":
Human Wisdom (The plan to build).
Human Works (The bricks).
Human Glory (To make a name for ourselves).
This is the antithesis of the finished work of Yah’shua. In the New Testament, we do not build a tower to reach God; God came down in the Person of Yah’shua to reach us. While the high priests of the Old Covenant had to immerse themselves multiple times and perform complex sacrifices to "cover" sin, Yah’shua entered the Holy of Holies "once for all," not to cover our sin, but to remove it forever. Nimrod represents the "mighty man" who thinks he can hunt for his own righteousness, whereas Yah'shua is the Lamb who provides righteousness as a gift.
The Deadly Mixture
The "confusion" of Babylon is most dangerous when it enters the "House" (the Bet, the tabernacle not built by the hands of man) the believer. The "deadly mixture" is the concoction of old and new, of Law and Grace. It is the same mixture the serpent deceivingly suggested in the Garden: "God said this, BUT you must do this to be like Him."
Even today many Christians feel "obliged to follow Jewish traditions" or keep the shadows of the Old Covenant, thinking it adds to their standing with God. They are mixing the "blood of bulls and goats" (the shadow) with the "blood of Christ" (the reality). Hebrews 10:4
When you mix Law (that which demands) with Grace (that which supplies), you end up with "confusion."
Law says: "Do and you shall live."
Grace says: "It is finished."
Babylon says: "Believe in Yah’shua, BUT you must also keep the Law, perform the rituals, and ensure your repentance is perfect so you don't forget a single sin."
This mixture creates a "burdensome" life. It leaves a person to "hope" they are right with God rather than "knowing" they are perfected forever. Babylon is a system of "dead works," whereas the blood of Yah’shua purges our conscience from those very works so we can live in perfect liberty before living God.
From Confusion to Finished Work
The origin of Babylon is the origin of the "I will" of man, which started in the Garden. It is the man-powered "Gate" that leads to a dead end of self-improvement and religious fatigue. In contrast, Yah’shua is the only Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is our "mercy seat."
At the cross, the veil of the Babylonian system of separation was torn from top to bottom. The "man-made way" was exposed as a failure, and the "reality" was revealed. We no longer need to strive in the "House of Confusion." We are already right with God, having been perfected forever by the one sacrifice of Yah’shua.
In our next post, we will look at how this spirit of Babylon manifested during the time of the Jewish exile, and how the prophecies of Daniel reveal the ongoing struggle between the kingdoms of men and the Kingdom of the Grace—the finished work of Yah’shua.
What remains for us today is not to "do," not to "build," and not to "mix," but simply to receive and to celebrate Yah’shua! The Holy Spirit is reminding us right now: You are enough because He is enough. You are righteous because He is righteous. The confusion is over; the Work is finished.
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