Man’s Star Trek and God’s Sovereignty
Jesus warned that things on Earth will be “as it was in the days of Noah” when He next reveals Himself to humanity (Luke 17:26–27).
We’ve looked numerous times at this prophecy by the Lord. He followed that up by saying it will also be like the “days of Lot” (Luke 17:28–30), which we’ve looked at even more frequently.
In both cases, times had become so debauched, so evil, so anti-God, that God looked down and determined that those doers of wickedness had to be destroyed.
He, of course, destroyed the world by the great Flood in the days of Noah, and He decimated the civilization that existed at the south end of the Dead Sea when Lot was taken out of Sodom.
In both cases, humankind had moved farther and farther from Heaven’s governance. All the people had corrupted themselves—with the assistance of the angels who fell in the rebellion with Lucifer and came to Earth to cohabit with human women.
The whole ugly process began again sometime following the days when Noah and his family escaped the destruction through the Lord’s provision of the ark.
A mighty leader—I believe possibly having Nephilim DNA at some level of his genealogy, with Nephilim being the offspring of the sexual union between a fallen angel and a human female—led another rebellion against God’s governance.
This mighty hunter, of course, was Nimrod. He was instrumental in the project that became the nucleus of this post-Flood rebellion. This was when the progeny who came from Noah and his family settled all together on the plain of Shinar. There they determined to build what we know as the Tower of Babel.
Here is the biblical account and what God thought of that effort:
“And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
“Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11:3-9).
This was a merciful act by the Lord, not a punitive action. He could have destroyed them all, but He considered their lost, sinful condition and restored His governance in order to continue toward the redemption He would one day offer through His Son as the Lamb that would take away the sin of those who would believe and accept that great sacrifice.
People haven’t changed in their sin and lostness. The world’s population is once again moving toward this independence from God.
Humanity—through the diplomatic efforts of those who, in Nimrod-like fashion, have determined to seek and build a new world order—is in the process of constructing a neo-Tower of Babel.
Symbolically, we might look at reaching out into space as trying in some ways to achieve the failed Tower project that was halted as the people were scattered by the God who created them.
We know all about Elon Musk’s efforts to saturate the heavens with his Starlink satellites. It is an effort that has come to fruition since the time Sputnik circled the globe—the achievement by the Soviet Union that launched the Space Race.
That race to mount up into the heavens is rocketing upward exponentially. The following is a brief excerpt of the latest Babel-like efforts:
As humanity prepares to bring back material from the Moon, Mars, and potentially other worlds, a new question is moving from science fiction into serious policy discussions: what if something comes back with it? The possibility remains entirely hypothetical, yet some researchers argue that the consequences of introducing an unknown extraterrestrial organism to Earth’s biosphere could be too significant to ignore. In a paper published in the journal Ambio, scientists are urging NASA to consider an unprecedented solution, a dedicated biocontainment facility on the Moon where samples from space could be quarantined and studied before ever reaching Earth.
For decades, planetary protection policies have focused on preventing contamination between worlds. Yet the prospect of returning samples from Mars and other celestial bodies is pushing those policies into unfamiliar territory. Scientists increasingly recognize that while the discovery of extraterrestrial life would rank among humanity’s greatest scientific achievements, it could also introduce unprecedented biological risks.
The new proposal envisions a secure lunar research and quarantine facility where all extraterrestrial materials would be analyzed before receiving clearance to travel to Earth. Such a system would effectively place a checkpoint nearly 240,000 miles away from our planet, allowing researchers to study potentially hazardous samples in an isolated environment. (“Researchers are urging NASA to establish a lunar biocontainment facility to prevent any potentially hazardous extraterrestrial organisms from reaching Earth,” by Lydia Amazouz, Dailygalaxy, June 20, 2026)
Obviously, God’s Word outlines the operative problem with fallen humankind. He said that whatever humans—who are, of course, created in His image—determine to do, they can eventually do. We see this in our constant thinking about reaching far into space and colonizing worlds other than the one God assigned us.
It is the effort to become Godlike—whether trying to build a new world order or reach physically into the heavens—that God won’t tolerate. Here is what He says about people trying to break the bonds He has placed on His creation:
“Though they dig into hell, thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them: And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them: and I will set mine eyes upon them for evil, and not for good” (Amos 9:2-4).
Bottom line: God is sovereign. Human ambitions apart from the Creator are fruitless and dangerous. But His corrective action is tempered by His mercy on this fallen race—thankfully.
“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him” (Psalms 103:8-11).
—Terry
Is This Unmistakable Evidence of the Last Days?
It’s everywhere. We hear it on popular news channels. Its anthem rings out in the halls of the US Congress. Most churches, some knowingly and others unwittingly, promote it.
And it’s an unmistakable sign that we live in the very last days of human history as we know it.
The steadily intensifying antisemitism of our day points us to the reality of the rapidly approaching Tribulation period. It’s one of the more distinguishing signs of our day because it aligns with so many prophecies that predict hatred for Israel and the Jews during the last days. In Zechariah 8:13, the Lord predicted what we see today along with His promise to greatly reverse the fortunes of the Jewish people:
“And as you have been a byword of cursing among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so will I save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, but let your hands be strong.”
What we see today fulfills the first part of this prophecy. Those inside and outside the church who attack Israel, however, overlook the Lord’s promise that, after the hatred, He will save Israel and cause it to be a blessing to the nations. It will be the greatest plot twist of all time!
God’s promise in Zechariah 8:13 underscores the lack of understanding among those who attack us as “Zionists” because we believe the Lord will someday restore a glorious kingdom to Israel. They fulfill the first part of the prophecy, but deny the promise that the Lord will save Israel after the hatred.
What is Zionism?
Let’s dig deeper into the term bandied about by those who call us “Zionists” because of our beliefs regarding Israel’s future. In Scripture, Zion most often refers to the highest summit in Jerusalem, which it also designates as “Mount Zion.” At other times, Zion is synonymous with the entire city.
The Psalms designate Zion as the location of Jesus’ future reign over all the nations. Psalm 2:6 says, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” Later in the Psalms, we again read the Lord’s exalted place on Mount Zion during His future reign over the nations.
“Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation
is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
has made himself known as a fortress” (Psalm 48:1-3).
The close biblical connection between Mount Zion and Israel’s prominent place in Jesus’ future kingdom is not lost in the thinking of our opponents. They regard the Jewish people and modern-day Israel as wholly unworthy of such a future blessing, beliefs that are fueled in part by their acceptance of the lies Satan is spreading about the nation, as well as beliefs that have long regarded the church as the new Israel.
Many of the anti-Zionists of our day believe they have successfully negated the precepts of Premillennialism with their denunciations of the current state of Israel. They believe the spiritual state of Israel demonstrates its unworthiness to receive a prestigious place in Jesus’ kingdom, which we believe will happen at Jesus’ return. In doing so, they overlook two vital biblical truths:
First, Scripture teaches that in the years leading up to the seven-year Tribulation, the seventieth week of Daniel, Israel would exist in a state of unbelief. This is exactly what we see today. The Bible tells us that the Lord will use this future seven-year period to bring a remnant of the Jewish people to saving faith in Jesus (Zechariah 12:10-13:8). No one believes that the Israel of today is ready to receive the glories of the promised kingdom, but God is not yet finished with its people.
Second, the fulfillment of God’s promises to His people never depends on their worthiness, never. If it did, we would be in a whole lot of trouble as New Testament saints because we are also wholly unworthy to receive all that the Bible promises to us. Our hope rests solely in Jesus, what He promises us in His Word.
God Loves Zion
There’s another fundamental problem for those who use “Zionism” as though it were a derogatory word by which to chastise us; they pit themselves against God, who clearly loves Zion. Each time I read through the Psalms, I’m amazed by the many references to God’s great affection for this hill within Jerusalem, such as we read in Psalm 87:1-3:
“On the holy mount stands the city he founded;
the Lord loves the gates of Zion
more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.
Glorious things of you are spoken,
O city of God. Selah” (emphasis added)
The following verses also speak to God’s passion for Zion:
“For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his dwelling place:
‘This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it’” (Psalm 132:13-14, emphasis added)
Today’s hatred for Israel, which has, sadly, infiltrated many of today’s churches, signifies the acceptance of worldly wisdom over the clear promises of Scripture. It’s what the Apostle Paul warns believers about in Colossians 2:1-8, that of accepting “plausible arguments” as truth, ones that lead believers away from the wisdom contained in God’s Word. He summed up his counsel in verse 8:
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.”
Don’t fall for the worldly wisdom that causes so many in our day to denounce those whom God has chosen and to whom He promises a glorious restoration. But rather thank Him for His great mercy and grace by which He keeps His promises to all His people, including us!
Though tragic, the antisemitism of our day demonstrates the nearness of Jesus’ appearing to take us home to glory. Maranatha!!
-Jonathan