The City of Man, biblically, goes right back to the beginning of all things, the Book of Genesis. In Genesis 4:1-17, we read the story of Adam's first two sons, Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd. All goes well until the time comes for the two men to present gifts to God. God accepts and approves of Abel's gift of some lambs, but rejects Cain's gift of produce from his field. Cain, humiliated and angry, kills Abel, and escapes to the land of Nod ("Wandering"), where he builds mankind's first recorded city, calling it Enoch after his son.

After the rejection of his gift, God had given Cain the chance to make things right and be accepted, saying: "Why are you so angry? ... You will be accepted if you respond in the right way" (Gen. 4:6-7). But Cain, full of pride and "righteous" fury, turned his back on God and put all his hurt and rejection into a project of his own design. And this is the essence of the City of Man system—rejecting God, acting out of our own stubborn will and pride, and going our own way to build our own "cities" of rebellion.

At the very center of Cain's hurt and humiliation was none other than the original and archetypical sin that got Lucifer thrown out of heaven—PRIDE! That same sin permeates our world today and remains at the very center of so much that corrupts and demeans the modern 21st century businessman or woman.

Pride's Dire Consequences

Lucifer was called the "son of the morning" in Isaiah 14:2, and the "covering cherub" in Ezekiel 28:16. He was some sort of wealthy businessman or trader in heaven ("Yes, your wisdom has made you very rich ... You defiled your sanctuaries with your many sins and your dishonest trade," Ezekiel 28:5, 18). Yet even to this mighty celestial being, pride comes: "Your riches have made you very proud ... your heart was filled with pride ... so I threw you to the earth" (Ezek. 28:5 and 17).

Bursting with pride and rebellious arrogance, Lucifer boasts: "I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God's stars ... I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High" (Is. 14:13-14). But God says: "How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning ... you will descend to the pit" (Is. 14:12 and 19).

Pride (an improper and excessive self esteem leading to conceit and arrogance) is an internal attitude that manifests itself externally in so many damaging ways—from boasting and bragging, to demeaning and belittling others. It is a sin God singles out many times to warn us about:

Pride caused the downfall of King Uzziah (2 Chr. 26:16) and even the godly King Hezekiah was not immune (2 Chr. 32:25-26). King Nebuchadnezzar's pride caused him to be "driven from human society ... he ate grass like a cow ... his hair was as long as eagles' feathers and his nails were like birds' claws" (Dan. 4:33) while in the New Testament, King Herod was eaten by worms for his pride (Acts 12:21-23).

Pride tumbles nations as well as individuals (Is. 3:16; 5:15; Ezek. 16:50; Hos. 13:6; Zeph. 3:11). It is also the specific sin that brought down the kings of Assyria (Is. 10:12, 33) and Moab (Jer. 48:29), and is listed as one of the seven sins that God hates (Prov. 6:17).

Both James and Peter railed against it (Jas 4:6 and 1 Pet. 5:5), while Mary the mother of Jesus, talks of God scattering the proud and exalting the humble (Luke 1:51-52).

The Tower Of Babel Syndrome

Of course, one of the main lessons of history is that we never learn from it. So after Cain's vain construction of the city Enoch, it is not long before men are again trying to build a city out of pride and rebellion. In Genesis 11:1-9, we read the famous story of the Tower of Babel.

According to the Biblical account, as the people migrated eastward, they decided to build "a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies" as a monument to their own "greatness" (Gen 11:4). Even God was impressed: "If they can accomplish this much when they have just begun to take advantage of their common language and political unity, just think of what they will do later. Nothing will be impossible for them!" (Gen 11:5, 6).

Today, we see the same tendency among our business and political leaders—the desire to build great "Babel" monuments to their own greed and pride. In the Bible, God came down, scattered the Genesis Babel-builders and confused their communication.

Today we live in the so-called "communication" or "information" age, and we are again building our own "Tower of Babel" with 24-hour constant information overload. The communication "babble" comes to us from every conceivable medium—TV, radio, newspapers and magazines, and not forgetting that most pervasive of modern babble-generators, the Internet.

The City of Man has its own very powerful way of pressuring us to conform to the world's way of thinking. Like the people building the Tower of Babel, it expects us to think the same way, act the same way, and in so doing, exalt ourselves in pride above even God Himself.

An Assurance Of Victory

It's an old trap in new trappings. Why should the devil change his pattern, when it has worked so effectively for thousands of years? In every public forum, God is excluded, Christians are belittled, and moral integrity is devalued.

But if the devil has a plan, God has a greater one, and it is all there in the Word of God. We know the end from the beginning, and we know what will ultimately happen to the devil and his minions; that we have the victory. But sometimes we need reassurance.

The apostle Paul gives it to us in Romans 12:2, and helps us to know how to handle the never-ending barrage of secular humanist and new age "babble": "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think."

And in Philippians 4:6-8 he tells us how: "Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. If you do this, you will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

"Fix your thoughts on what is true and honorable and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise ... and the God of peace will be with you."