Babel Versus Bible
Peter Sammons reviews a valuable new book
Big questions
David Lambourn has a (God-given) gift for tackling vital faith subjects. His first book, “But Is He God?” is the best book I’ve read on the Trinity and the deity of Messiah Jesus. His second was “The Forgotten Bride” which looks at God’s unfinished business with Israel. Both are highly commended.
Lambourn’s third book is again in the big issues space – this time the ongoing battle between Babel and the Bible, between God’s expressed will and Mankind’s desire to be “like God”. We Christians can forget the spiritual reality of Babel (or ‘Babylon’) which is the motif used throughout Scripture from Genesis to Revelation , denoting all that is determinedly opposed to the purposes of God. Prior to this point in my reading history, the best expose of Babel had been Rev Paul Langham’s “Understanding Revelation“. Lambourn takes the evaluation to a new level as he shines a light on Babylon across Scripture and across eternity. The chapter headings alone give a sense of the sweep of his analysis;
- · A tale of two cities
- · A tale of two trees
- · A tale of two women
- · The Emperor’s new clothes
- · From Abel to Babel
- · The dream that unlocks history
- · A Kingdom divided
- · The shock of the new
- · The axe that raised itself
- · Dissolving the glue
- · The miracle of common grace
- · The lights of the metropolis
- · Babylon in the heart
- · Babylon in the church
- · Babylon transformed?
Breathtaking
The sweep here is breathtaking. Whilst looking at the ancient reality of Babel and all it has meant to past generations, Lambourn unveils its eternal significance too. This is no mere academic study. “Babel Versus Bible” is very much rooted in the realm of “what does Babel mean to me and to my world in the twenty-first century?”. Lambourn uncovers and illustrates this in a masterly way. The devil is still behind Babel and the devil remains today a subtle and powerful foe to the individual Believer as well as to the wider world. Whilst we are assured Babel will get its ultimate come-uppance, yet it remains a subtle, powerful and beguiling force that still exerts real power on Christians, let alone that wider mass of humanity unreconciled to Jesus.
Lambourn’s book contains discussion prompts in the form of questions – three apiece for each chapter, so this book can be used for both private and group study, as well as being simply a well written and well researched examination of a vitally important spiritual reality.
Must read
There are thousands of Christian books published annually. Many are good. Many are dross! But I have no hesitation in saying this really is a must-read book in this second decade of the twenty-first century. A 5* book and valuable to all serious Christians.
Peter Sammons
Christian Comment
https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Babel_Versus_Bible.html?id=yrvPzgEACAAJ&redir_esc=y
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