EDEN or Babel

Eden or Babel? The Shape of the Kingdom

Yesterday I saw something that didn’t sit right with me. Billionaires have bought themselves islands, sealed them off, redirected the skies above with drone jammers, and patrolled the waters with security boats. Then I looked within and saw many religious groups doing something similar — land with gates and guards, open only to those invited.

Both are born of the same root: ownership, control, and exclusion. One cloaks it in wealth, the other in holiness, but both operate in the fallen order where territory is possessed and policed.

The Kingdom of God does not operate like that. Jesus didn’t build walls to keep people out — He walked into villages, sat at public wells, touched the untouchable. “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof” (Psalm 24:1). His land is not fenced for personal gain or for a chosen few. It reflects His heart and His rule.

Eden was open — no armed gates, no patrolled borders. The only boundary was God’s own word, set not for exclusion but for life.

Babel was closed — walls and towers built to secure man’s power and name. God scattered it because it stood for self-rule, not His rule.

What I saw yesterday looked far more like Babel than Eden. It was fear and scarcity disguised as safety and order.

But the Kingdom Jesus taught us to pray for — “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” — is restored Eden under the governance of the King. Holiness with open gates:

“Its gates will never be shut by day — and there will be no night there.” (Revelation 21:25)

No drones to redirect. No oceans patrolled. No invitations required.

The only “security” is that nothing unclean enters — not because guards keep them out, but because the King’s presence transforms what comes in.

Because Thy Kingdom is not a fortress built by man, but a realm ruled by God. It is bigger than the selfishness of the rich, and greater than the boundaries of religion. It is not sectioned off. It is not for sale. It is open to all who will bow to the King.