January 22 - Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 

 

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 

 

But he Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then noghitn they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 

 

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel-because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. 

 

 

Part 3 - Mankind is drawn to the disorder.  . 

 

We love to do things our own way. . .

 

Even for those of you who are rule followers, there is still a sense that your ability to follow the rules makes you feel a certain fulfillment. So you do it your way - which is following the rules. Anything else, leaves you feeling confused and frustrated, so you do it the way that is best for you. You follow the rules in front of you because it makes sense to you. And everyone should do it your way too. 

 

The human condition has always wanted to do things their way at some level. This was Adam and Eve’s sin. They wanted to understand everything God understood instead of simply obeying him and seeking out his plan. 

 

This has plagued us since Genesis chapter 3. We want to do things our way. 

 

This is the chaos of disorder. Instead of following the order that God intended in Creation, we do things our own way. 

 

So the people were drawn together to build a city. And it wasn’t a city that was meant to represent the brilliance that God had placed in them, it was a city meant to (4) “make a name for ourselves.” They wanted to feel some pride and be able to make a name. So they decide they will build something that represents their own abilities apart from God. They believed they could hold their fate in their own hands. So they even attempted to build a tower that reaches to the heavens. This just means that they were trying to build a tower that held the power to rule over themselves, free from the hand of God. 

 

I’m reminded of King Solomon’s words in Proverbs 18:10-11

“The Name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. 

The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too hight to scale. 

 

King Solomon is referring to this idea that we can often rely on our own abilities and powers to make a name for ourselves. It’s with my hands that I built my wealth, it is by my own power that I’ve raise a family that has accomplished what it has. .  I built my business. . . My smarts has opened these doors. . . That is a self reliance that mimics the people of Babel. . . 

 

The best thing you can ever do, is recognize that you are a child of God and that your gifts are meant to honor and glorify him. Because when we act on our own pride, trying to build something in our own strength, we only invite the very thing we were trying to prevent. 

 

They said, “Let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 

 

They relied on themselves to be elevated into a position of authority over their own fate, in an attempt to keep their biggest fear from happening.  - their fear - a loss of unified power. See it’s interesting that even in this early state, they understood that they were better together. They knew that there was power in city. Yet they were trying to direct this power to only increase their own authority and power. 

 

So the very thing they were trying to prevent, ended up being their destruction. 

 

God saw the condition of their heart, he saw that they were so prideful that they were trying to build a name for themselves, and they were trying to save themselves instead of looking to God. So he scattered them. The very thing they didn’t want to have happen, only happened because of their pride. God scattered them so that they would be humbled and turn to him. 

 

See, when we write God out of the equation - when we try to take control and do things our way instead of God’s way - it only causes the very things we are trying to avoid. We become subject to the loss of protection from God, and invite destruction upon us.

 

And this land became known as Babel - the home of the babylonians. And from Genesis 11 - the end of revelation, Babylon is known as the city that continually tries to pull humanity into a spiral of self reliance, and denial of God as the true authority. It’s evident in today’s society so clearly. Anything that rejects God and boasts the ability to decide for ourselves, only feeds this spirit of Babylon. 

 

So we must continually have the attitude of Christ. So humble and gentle, so conscientious of God’s plan and sovereignty that even the Messiah’s words were - Not my will, but yours be done! We must have that same heart. So humble and open to the leading of the Spirit, that we do not try to build a name for ourselves, but simply say, what every you want Lord - I will do it! Because I’m not trying to build my name, I’m trying to represent you like you designed me to do! So not my will Lord, but yours be done in my life!!!!!