按照创世记的记载，人类有过四次堕落。第一次是在三章里亚当的堕落，第二次是在四章里该隐的堕落，第三次是在六章里所记洪水以前弯曲悖谬之世代的堕落。在十一章，我们看到人第四次的堕落。这四次堕落是一次接着一次。在每次堕落的背后都有共同惟一的源头－神的仇敌，撒但。
撒但的煽动
撒但在人心里煽动人背叛神。因此，第四次的堕落完全是背叛。第四次的堕落，连同前三次的堕落，都有撒但和人两个因素。在第四次堕落中，撒但乃是堕落真正的原因，因为是他在人里面煽动人背叛神。
神的救恩与人的堕落方向相反。人首先从神的同在堕落到人的良心，第二步从人的良心堕落到人的管治，最后从人的管治堕落到撒但所煽动的背叛。神的救恩首先将我们从背叛拯救到人治，再从人治拯救到良心，最后从良心拯救到我们灵中神的同在。
人堕落到对神公开的背叛
人从自治堕落到人治，还不是最后的堕落。人治是出于神的授权。但撒但利用神给人的权柄成立邦国，并且煽动人用邦国背叛神。因此人堕落到对神公开的背叛。甚么是背叛？背叛就是否定权利和权柄。在巴别的背叛中，人宣告说，人否定神的权利，人绝对脱离神的权柄。人第四次的堕落，不是道德或不道德的问题，乃是在宇宙中谁该有权利和权柄的问题。神是创造者，是拥有万有者。一切的权利和权柄都该是祂的。在巴别那里，神的造物背叛神，说他们不在乎神。今天我们在世界上也看见这样的情形。有人说，“神是谁？神是甚么？”他们抛弃了良心的感觉，并且否定了神在人身上的权利和权柄。这正是在巴别那里所发生的。
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The Fourth Fall of Men – Gen. 11:4
According to the record of Genesis, mankind has undergone four falls. The first was Adam’s fall in chapter three, the second was Cain’s fall in chapter four, and the third was the fall of the crooked and perverted generation before the flood, recorded in chapter six. In chapter eleven, we see the fourth fall of man. These four falls occurred one after another. Behind every fall, there is a common and unique source — God’s enemy, Satan.
Satan’s Instigation
Satan instigated man within his heart to rebel against God. Therefore, the fourth fall was completely a matter of rebellion. The fourth fall, along with the previous three falls, involves two factors: Satan and man. In the fourth fall, Satan was the real cause of the fall because he instigated man from within to rebel against God.
God’s salvation is in the opposite direction to man’s fall. Man first fell from God’s presence to man’s conscience; the second step was falling from man’s conscience to human government; finally, man fell from human government to the rebellion instigated by Satan. God’s salvation first saves us from rebellion back to human government, then from human government back to the conscience, and finally from the conscience back to the presence of God in our spirit.
Man Falling to Open Rebellion Against God
Man falling from self-rule to human government was not yet the final fall. Human government acts by God’s authorization. But Satan utilized the authority God gave to man to form nations, and instigated man to use nations to rebel against God. Thus, man fell into open rebellion against God. What is rebellion? Rebellion is the denial of rights and authority. In the rebellion at Babel, man declared that he denied God’s rights and absolutely cast off God’s authority. The fourth fall of man is not a question of morality or immorality, but a question of who has the rights and authority in the universe. God is the Creator and the Possessor of all things. All rights and authority should belong to Him. At Babel, God’s creatures rebelled against God, saying they did not care for God. Today we see this same situation in the world. Some say, “Who is God? What is God?” They have cast aside the feeling of the conscience and denied God’s rights and authority over man. This is exactly what happened at Babel.