Today, we’re concluding our study of “Thinking Biblically” with a look at this amazing verse from Scripture:
“…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Messiah” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
Honestly, I’ve always viewed this verse as a feel-good reminder to keep my thoughts positive and focused on Christ. I certainly should, for Philippians 4:8 reminds me, “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things” (NIV).
I noticed a few new (to me) things this week, though, and I’m excited to share them with you. You see, we’ve been working on our new history curriculum here, and lots of things from ancient history just popped out of this verse. For instance, we were researching the Tower of Babel.
“Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
“They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’
“But YHVH came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. YHVH said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’
“So YHVH scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there YHVH confused the language of the whole world. From there YHVH scattered them over the face of the whole earth” (Genesis 11:1-9, NIV).
When I was a small child, I just couldn’t understand how this story could be true. Why were these people so dumb? Did they really think that they could build a tower high enough to reach heaven? (I remember thinking about this when I visited the Sears Tower in Chicago in fourth grade.) And how would making a tower keep them from being scattered over the face of the whole earth? Finally, were they so close to reaching heaven that God actually got worried, since He said that “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them”? I really struggled with this passage!
Sometimes I wonder if children turn away from the gospel because of questions like these. The Bible’s history is presented to homeschoolers as the “Tale of the Flood” or the “Story of Daniel.” When facts don’t make sense in our English translations, do children start to wonder if the entire Bible is just a sweet story—yet not factual like the history and science presented on television or in public school?
I’m sure of it! (This is one of the biggest reasons we’re working on history curriculum, language curriculum, and more, all using the Bible as the primary textbook!) We must capture our children’s hearts with truth!
Christine Miller, in her reference book All Through the Ages, writes this about the Tower of Babel:
A tower, known in ancient times as the Tower of Tongues, was situated eleven miles southwest of the ruins of ancient Babylon. It was a quarter of a mile square at the base and rose in eight stories to a height of 650 feet. Nebuchednezzar, king of Babylon, described this tower thus:
‘I have completed its magnificence with silver, gold, other metals, stone, enameled bricks, fir and pine. The… house of the earth’s base, the most ancient monument of Babylon; I built and finished it. I have highly exalted its head with bricks covered with copper. We say for… this edifice, the house of the seven lights of the earth, the most ancient monument of Borsippa. A former king built it… but he did not complete its head. Since a remote time, people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words…
Nebuchadnezzar’s rebuilt tower was despoiled by Xerxes, king of Persia, in 478 BC. The historian Herodotus saw the tower with his own eyes in 440 BC, while it was still standing. The modern location of this site is Borsippa in Iraq, which the natives call Birs Nimrud—and Nimrod was the builder of the Tower of Babel according to Genesis. Moreover, the name “Borsippa” itself means “Tongue-Tower” (p. 28).
These ancient towers were very common in ancient times. Even after God scattered the people of Babel, mankind continued to build these towers as dwelling places for their gods. We know them as ziggurats, but around the world, similar pyramid-like structures were built in every culture and place where mankind settled.
image from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borsippa
Wikipedia notes the following about these towers:
Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top… Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.
…Ziggurat designs ranged from simple bases upon which a temple sat, to marvels of mathematics and construction which spanned several terraced stories and were topped with a temple.
An example of a simple ziggurat is the White Temple of Uruk, in ancient Sumer. The ziggurat itself is the base on which the White Temple is set. Its purpose is to get the temple closer to the heavens, and provide access from the ground to it via steps. The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenankia or “House of the Platform between Heaven and Earth.”
Ahhh, now my child-like mind is starting to make more sense of this “story” from Scripture!
Now, don’t let me lose you! It gets better!
The Sumerians weren’t the only ones to build these towers. Scripture calls them “high places,” and you’ll see them referenced throughout the Old Testament. For instance,
- Balaam, that guy whose donkey spoke to him, prayed to YHVH from a high place. (Numbers 23:3)
- Samuel anointed Saul as king at a high place, on a day when the people of his town were sacrificing to their god. (1 Samuel 9:12, 13, 14, 19, 25; 10:5, 13)
- During David‘s lifetime, the tabernacle of YHVH was placed on a high place at Gibeon. David presented burnt offerings to YHVH regularly (morning and evening) there. (1 Chronicles 16:37-42, 21:29)
- Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings and burned incense at a high place in Gibeon, which is where he was when God appeared to him and said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” (1 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 1:2-7)
- Later in his life, Solomon built a high place east of Jerusalem “for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites,” because of the influence of his foreign wives. It is because of this sin that YHVH took away the kingdom from his sons. (1 Kings 11)
- Josiah obeyed YHVH by demolishing the high place at Bethel, which had been built by Jeroboam, as well as many other high places throughout Samaria. (2 Kings 23:8-25)
- The people of Moab had a high place, with a shrine at the top from which they would pray. (Isaiah 16:12)
- God promises judgment on the people of Jerusalem because of their building high places and worshiping false gods with an abundance of evil practices. (Ezekiel 16:23-25, 31, 39)
- God judges the nation of Israel because they forsook YHVH and built high places. (Ezekiel 20:27-29)
- God promises that someday, when His holy temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem, that Israel will never again defile His name by worshiping “lifeless idols” at high places. (Ezekiel 43:6-9)
- We should not say that going to church on Sunday is “going to the House of God”! This is flagrant idolatry and terrible theology, for God says that He does not live in houses made with hands but in the hearts of His people. (See 2 Chronicles 6:18, 33, 39; Isaiah 57:15, 2 Corinthians 6:14-18)
Basically, every time you see a mention of idolatry in the Old Testament, you should imagine a ziggurat in your mind, with a temple to the gods at the top. You can start to see why YHVH felt so frustrated and jealous. Even David, a “man after God’s own heart,” worshiped God in the manner of the people around rather in the way God had prescribed in His laws. Sigh…
Now I can understand a little better what Paul is telling us in 2 Corinthians 10:5…
“…casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Messiah” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
I’ve bored you enough for one day, so I won’t go into detail about the amazing mathematical computations that went into the buildings of these towers, so that mankind could worship the sun, moon, and stars (Romans 1:18-25). But Paul tells us to cast down these imaginations, or “computations” and “reasonings” (Greek, logismos). Every high thing (Greek, hupsoma or high or elevated place) is to be demolished.
I also note that these high places were exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. The word knowledge here is the Greek word gnosis, which means science. Yes, the high places were designed to look amazing, wise, and magnificent. (Think about your typical science museum… and its typical manner of making evolution look so smart and scientific.) Yet it is the knowledge of God that is truly scientific. Do we really believe this?
Yet even in our congregations, we see those seeking “secret knowledge,” or the “mysteries of the ancients.” It’s everywhere. It breaks God’s heart!
We are to “bring into captivity” every thought (Greek, noema or purpose) to the obedience of Christ, the anointed one (Messiah) promised to Adam and his descendants.
To bring into captivity means to guard. Are we guarding the purposes, knowledge, and computations of the One, True God, in a world that exalts human wisdom and the sciences of the created world? Do we acknowledge our Messiah in our thinking, rather than the gods of our age? Do we see that He is pictured and fulfilled in all of Scripture, and that everything points to and glorifies Him? Do we guard this knowledge in our homes, with our children?
Or are we like the ancient people of Babylon, where everything we “plan to do” (Genesis 11:6) is opposed to the obedience of God?
“Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
‘Come out of [Babylon], my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes'” (Revelation 18:4-5, NIV).
How do we “come out of” Babylon?
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.'” (1 Peter 1:14-16, NIV, quoting from Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2, and 20:7).
We are to be a set-apart (“holy”) people, living in obedience to God and worshiping Him only.
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:9-12, NIV).
So, while thinking pleasant, feel-good thoughts of praise to God is a good thing, I don’t think that’s what 2 Corinthians 10:5 is telling us, do you? He’s telling us to change our thinking… and then our actions… so that the pagans around us will “see our good deeds and glorify God.”
Now I need to look around for “high places” and idolatry in my own life and home. I suppose I should start by checking any sources of knowledge (on my shelves, computer, and TV).
Thank you, dear Anne, for this wonderful lesson on ‘high places’. I hope all of you are well, especially you and little Alistair. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your loved ones. Ingrid
What a blessing! Thanks for sharing. This does really help put things in better perspective re: this scripture. You are a blessing and i pray you and yours are blessed by HIM WHO sits on the throne!
I’ll have you know I burnt our lunch because of this post. =0) I love this kind of digging-deep study. It’s so important that we teach our children how God views history and science. I’m with Solomon (pre-turning, obviously) when he says, “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings” Proverbs 25:2. It’s so good to study the world God made for us, but ONLY if we do it in the light of His Word.
Thank you Anne, I really appreciated this Bible study. I saved it for sabbath reading, and it was good that I did! I love the confirmation of Biblical truth. I always wondered about the baking of brick, why was that bad too, in God’s eyes? Did he mean for us to use stone only to make houses? Rejecting his provision and making mud-pies for ourselves?
Well, it’s not inspired Scripture, but Josephus writes the following reasons in his Antiquities of the Jews:
And also, he writes a LOT about the Tower of Babel at this link:
http://www.biblestudytools.com/history/flavius-josephus/antiquities-jews/book-1/chapter-4.html
Very interesting stuff….
Have fun reading!!!
~Anne
Dear Beth: I believe the reference to brick was simply descriptive, rather than negative. Bricks were used to build the holy temple in Jerusalem that the Father saw fit to fill with His Shekinah. Also even the one that was later built with bricks in the same location by evil king Herod was called “My Father’s House” by our Savior.
In contrast to the vile high places, it’s interesting to see what the Father’s heart about His house is. (Here’s the “knowledge of God” the high places exalt themselves against)
Lev. 19: 30 “You shall keep My sabbaths and revere My sanctuary; I am the LORD.”
2 Chr 7:16 “For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”
We can see that His Son expresses the same heart:
Matt. 21:12 “And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. And He said to them, “It is written, ‘MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER’; but you are making it a ROBBERS’ DEN.” (John 2:17 says about this incident: “His disciples remembered that it was written, “ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.”) (quoting Is 56 & PS 69)
Here’s some verses that made me question my own heart:
Isaiah 2:1-3 “The word which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Now it will come about that In the last days The mountain of the house of the LORD Will be established as the chief of the mountains, And will be raised above the hills; And all the nations will stream to it. And many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.”
(Micah 4:1-2 repeats this)
Rev:3:12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore.”
Rev 7:15-17 “For this reason, they are before the throne of God; and they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the water of life; and God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Isaiah 56:1-7 Thus says the LORD, “Preserve justice and do righteousness, For My salvation is about to come And My righteousness to be revealed. How blessed is the man who does this, And the son of man who takes hold of it; Who keeps from profaning the sabbath, And keeps his hand from doing any evil. Let not the foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely separate me from His people.” Nor let the eunuch say, “Behold, I am a dry tree.” For thus says the LORD, “To the eunuchs who keep My sabbaths, And choose what pleases Me, And hold fast My covenant, To them I will give in My house and within My walls a memorial, And a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name which will not be cut off. Also the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD, To minister to Him, and to love the name of the LORD, To be His servants, every one who keeps from profaning the sabbath And holds fast My covenant; even those I will bring to My holy mountain And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be acceptable on My altar; For My house will be called a house of prayer for all the peoples.”
One of the conditions of the New Covenant as prophesied in Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8 is that Jerusalem (the temple location) will be rebuilt: “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the city will be rebuilt for the LORD from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate.” (Jer 31:38)
Those verses and many others including Zech 8; Zech 14:16,17; Is 66:23; Is 27:13; and the last chapters of Ezekiel, indicate that mankind will be worshiping YHWH, the only true God, in the future at a temple on this earth. According to Revelation and these verses, service in that temple is a reward of the Messiah, and the nations will be cursed if they don’t celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles there.
Because of this, I had to ask myself, “Do I share the heart of God on this issue? Do I love the idea of the Holy Temple? Do I desire to worship Yah in that way? Do I revere the temple (or at least the place it should / will be?) Do I pray for its rebuilding? Do I have the same attitude as the apostles did in Acts as they stayed in Jerusalem to worship at the temple? Do I relate to the writer of Hebrews who is trying to comfort and console the early believers in Messiah who had been forbidden access to the temple?
It is tragic that due to 2,000 years without a temple, (yes, the body of Messiah is the temple in a figurative sense, but I speak of the physical) most believer’s views regarding God’s interaction with man through a temple service are disinterest at best, and dismissive and disrespectful at worst. We say we want to know the heart of God, but we ignore or glaze over much of His words. Our Savior said, “for the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Matt. 12:34) And since from the mouth of God came whole books about His temple service, shouldn’t we listen?
Sorry this was such a long comment. This topic has been reoccurring for me the last 2 weeks. Hope it helps your journey with the King of Kings!
Oh, here’s a few more interesting Temple items:
Observant Jews pray for the rebuilding of the temple daily. They quote
1Kings 8:27-50 (and 2 Chr 6) which is King Solomon’s prayer that God hear when people turn to the temple and pray, wherever they are. (This is why Jews pray facing east.)
God’s response to the prayer is: 2 Chr 7:15 “Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually.”
(He goes on to say that disobedience will cause the temple to be destroyed. This happened a number of times in history, but the place remained where God has placed His Name since the prophets say it will be rebuilt and all flesh will worship there in the end times.)
Don’t be sorry for that long post! It’s excellent. Thank you!!!
Oops! Beth, on 2nd thought, I’m not sure that bricks were used in the temple. I know stone was used, but I’m not sure if bricks were also used. I did a search in BibleWorks, and I couldn’t determine if the word brick had any negative connotations. It is not mentioned much in scripture, so all the refrences that popped in my head must be about stone. Is 4:1 says Ezekiel is supposed to use a brick for something, according to God’s instruction. Clay was also used for pottery, and that pottery was also cooked like bricks.
Okay, so now I was curious – I did search and found the following:
“The Holy Temple had to be built from natural stone. The reason for
that is, as you probably understand already, because it symbolizes
holiness.
Man made bricks are not necessarily a symbol of negativity. They are
only potentially negative. They can be used for either good or bad.
The Talmud mentions a form of idol worship that involved a brick,
which is where it gets used for negative.
This may be the explanation why the Jewish people were constantly
asked to build bricks. Since they were building buildings for
PHARAOH, who is symbol of the negative powers, they were using bricks
instead of natural stone which is what gets used for building
Hashem’s house, the temple.
According to our above explanation however, it should have been the
other way round.”
(I found the above quote from a Jewish page about the Exodus portion that spoke of Israel working for Pharaoh)
Sorry for the previous post which said the temples were made of brick. Hope you enjoyed the rest!
Here I go again – That’s Ezekiel 4:1 not Isaiah – too many distractions – I didn’t proof the last post!
And I’m thinking of Mathew 24:2, where Jesus talks about how not one stone would remain upon another i n temple, and how this was fulfilled in 70 A.D., as the Roman soldiers tore the stones off each other to get at the gold that melted during the burning of the temple and the city.
Also, Jesus calls Himself the chief cornerstone. Lots of great imagery here. My husband found these links for us:
http://specialtreasure.wordpress.com/2007/03/01/the-rejected-is-now-the-chief-cornerstone/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornerstone
http://www.bible-history.com/messianicprophecy/MESSIANICPROPHECYThe_Rejected_Stone_Became_the_Ch.htm
http://princevince13.wordpress.com/2008/07/17/the-chief-corner-stone-luke-2017/
Back to bricks — I think the main point, at least the convicting part for me, is that mankind knows that God will judge sin. Rather than turning from our sin in repentance, we go to great lengths to avoid and escape His wrath. That’s a condition of all human hearts, even mine. This is the topic of the book of 2 Peter, which is a quick read. For instance, it says in chapter three:
They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ [in judgment] he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. (2 Peter 3:4-8)
I’m amazed at this verse near the end:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)
Good stuff… great comments! This is fun…
~Anne
(P.S. Have you read *The Long War Against God* by Henry Morris? Love that book…)
Inge Canon has a recording which liberated my heart in homeschooling my children. It’s called, “Identifying Dangerous ‘High Places’ in Education” and included such “high places” as specific subjects (for me it’s math – my personally strongest subject), curriculum, methods (the Classical Christian education method, drawing on such ungodly originators as Plato & Aristotle), etc. These are not literal, brick & mortar idolatrous things, but, as we’re told, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that raises itself in our hearts or minds against God is to be taken captive and made to be obedient to Christ, including thoughts, emotions, or, in my case, math. I highly recommend getting a copy of this for those who are homeschooling.
Thank you, Naomi! I just downloaded it for listening to later, at
http://www.edplus.com/Products.aspx
Looking forward to it. 🙂