Listen "Genesis at the Movies, Part 5: The Empire Strikes Back"
Episode Synopsis
The Dark Side, that monstrous, powerful energy from the Star Wars universe is, per George Lucas, "grasping, clutching, greedy desire. It is to want; to control; to have supreme power.” And so, we arrive at Genesis 11 and the remarkable story of the Tower of Babel; something I will refer to this morning as, “The Empire Strikes Back,” for that is exactly what happens here. The whole post-flood population gets together to do something that not even their ancestors would have dared. They begin building a tower into heaven. This was a siege tower.
Their goal was clear, as the Babylonian word for "babel" means, “gateway.” Babylonia means, “gateway to the gods.” They intended to storm heaven; to throw down the Creator; and put themselves in God's place. A line from Bob Dylan summarizes the "Dark Side" - not only of the Force - but as a constant of human nature: “God is in his heaven; and we all want what is his. But power and greed, and corruptible seed, seems to be all there is.”
Their goal was clear, as the Babylonian word for "babel" means, “gateway.” Babylonia means, “gateway to the gods.” They intended to storm heaven; to throw down the Creator; and put themselves in God's place. A line from Bob Dylan summarizes the "Dark Side" - not only of the Force - but as a constant of human nature: “God is in his heaven; and we all want what is his. But power and greed, and corruptible seed, seems to be all there is.”
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