As you walk through the entrance of the Pergamom Museum in Berlin you feel as though you have entered another world. A massive archway defines the entrance and as you walk through you cannot help but feel insignificant. Twelve metres of glossy enamelled bricks in hues of deep blue, contrasted with shades of yellow and brown. Life sized lions prowl along the entire wall. In ancient times, this city wall would have been visible from miles away, a stark contrast to the monotony of the sands that surrounded it. This was the entrance into Babylon.
Here today, in the museum in Berlin, the wall looms high above you and you are forced to look up. This is the Ishtar Gate, built to impress, and built to instil fear. Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of the Babylonian Empire said he built these walls and “adorned them with luxurious splendour so that people might gaze on them in wonder.”
This was the mighty empire which destroyed Judea in 586 B.C. Nebuchadnezzar ransacked the Temple in Jerusalem, carrying both people and temple property off to Babylon.
“The bronze pillars that were in the house of the LORD, and the carts and the bronze Sea that were in the house of the LORD, the Chaldeans broke in pieces, and carried all their bronze to Babylon.” Jeremiah 52:17
History shows us that Babylon was mighty, and Nebuchadnezzar was powerful, but he would have had no power unless it was given to him by God. Even before these disastrous events took place, the Judeans were warned: “Therefore thus says the LORD: ‘Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall take it. Jeremiah 32:28
This is the same truth that Jesus expressed at His Crucifixion. Pilate asked Him. “Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?” Jesus answered, “You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above. John 19:11
From above. That’s where the power originates from.
I was forced to look up when I stood in front of the colossal walls of Babylon. But Jesus taught us to look not only UP but beyond. He taught us to look above, to the Father who is above all.