The Tower of Babel
Many have likened the Biblical Tower of Babel to the ancient Mesopotamian ziggurats. Assuming the general similarity of the Tower and the ziggurats, the Tower of Babel suddenly becomes even more than a terrible wickedness and symbol of man's effort to reach Heaven by works.
Dr. John Whitcomb tells us that the top room of a ziggurat was designed as a replica of heaven and dwelling place for the god. The room was decorated with blue paint and representations of the five known planets of that time, and the center of the room was occupied by a solid gold god seated upon a throne. Through this room, the people were basically “creating” Heaven and attempting to take charge of the universe!
If you remove the italicized unknown words from Genesis 11:4, you are left with the people building a tower “whose top..?..unto heaven.” Were the people of Babel trying to, worse even than working their way to heaven, take over Heaven and create it for themselves? Were they creating a tower whose top would be [unto] heaven?1
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Dr. John Whitcomb. “The Tower of Babel and the Dispersion of the Nations”. From BC: Twenty Lectures on the Ancient World. History of the World Mega-Conference. Vision Forum Ministries. 2006.
