We have seen that the world was formed after Cain’s fall and separation from God. At that time he dwelt in the land of Nod and built a city called Enoch. This was the first city built by man; it was also the beginning of a man-made, godless culture and life. In the Bible, a man-made city was a center and symbol of a godless life invented by man. Hence, a city symbolizes the world. These godless cities throughout the Bible reveal the development of the world in all generations.
The world described in the Bible consists of two main stages, or we may say, two worlds. The first world began with the city of Enoch built by Cain; the second world began with the city of Babel after the flood. The first world, beginning with Cain, developed and prospered gradually, until it reached its peak during the time of Noah. The human race had then completely fallen into the world, and the corruption therein was beyond cure. Genesis 6:11-12 states, “And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.” In position, the human race was completely submerged in the world; its condition was vile, sinful and utterly corrupted. This condition brought in God’s judgment. The flood not only judged the sins committed by men, but also put an end to the sinful world. Only the eight members of Noah’s family were saved, while the remainder of the first world was wiped out by the flood.
After the flood, the human race again became gradually engulfed by the world. In Genesis 11 men began to rebel against God in a collective way by forsaking Him and His name. They established a name for themselves and built the tower and city of Babel. This was the second city built by man. This city was even more man’s declaration that he desired self and relied upon himself rather than God. It also represented a godless life invented by man. Therefore, the city of Babel is the beginning of the second world.
This second world, beginning with the city of Babel, gradually developed by branching out into three lines and becoming three different cities as recorded in the Bible: the cities of Babylon, Egypt, and Sodom. The first world was an all-inclusive mixture, but the second definitely branched into three lines, each representing one aspect of the world.
The first line was represented by the city of Babylon, which derived its name from Babel. This city was filled with idols and false gods. (According to some records, the city and tower of Babel were filled with idolatrous names.) Therefore, this city represents the idolatrous aspect of the world.
Babylon was in the land of Chaldea, the original home of Abraham (Gen. 11:27-28). Abraham and his ancestors were idol worshippers (Josh. 24:2). Although God delivered Abraham from the land and its idols, yet his descendants were later captured and compelled to return to the land and worship idols (see Dan. 3). Babylon always destroys man’s worship of God. It was the Babylonians who destroyed the temple of God and took its vessels into Babylon as spoils. They placed them in the temple of their idols (2 Kings 25:8-9, 13-15; 2 Chron. 36:7, 10, 18-19). This proves that Babylon in the Bible is a world of idols.
The second line was represented by the city of Egypt. Egypt, a rich land, was irrigated by the Nile and produced an abundance of food (Gen. 42:1-2) with a variety of tastes (Num. 11:5). Hence, Egypt represents the aspect of livelihood and enjoyment of the world. The Bible records several occasions in which the children of God went down into Egypt to solve their problems of livelihood (Gen. 12:10; 42:3; 45:9-11, 18). Furthermore, once the children of Israel went down to Egypt to solve the problem of livelihood, they invariably came under the power of the Egyptians, were forced into hard labor, and became enslaved (Exo. 1:11-14). Therefore, Egypt also represents the aspect of hard labor and slavery under the dominion of the world. In conclusion, Egypt represents a world of livelihood, power, hard labor, and slavery.
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