The Tower Of Babel
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1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Introduction:
In between 2 genealogies
Yet here we are again… our sin problem hasn’t been resolved
And this narrative BEGS for us to recall what happened in Gen 3…
Gen 1-11 makes up the first section of Genesis, and as the writing concludes, what God wants us to see, is how desperate we are for our sins to be wiped clean… and looks onward towards a time where God’s grace might finally be displayed
We can break the passage up quite nicely since the phrase ‘come, let us’ is used 3 times in our text
Come, let us make a foolish choice
Come, let us build a name for ourselves
Come, let us confuse
1. Come, Let Us Make A Foolish Choice
1. Come, Let Us Make A Foolish Choice
We come from a genealogy (table of nations)… where we saw how the people started to disperse after the flood
God is a God of Wisdom, Compassion, Purpose
And seemingly they began to do what God instructed them to do… be fruitful and multiply
But THEN we get this building project
1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.
There was a unity… but a unity to advance and bring about their own ambitions
2 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
The plain… sets the framework or the foundation for where this tower will be constructed… and they all GATHER in the land of Shinar
3 They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
Might seem like there’s not much wrong with what they are doing
I mean they haven’t told us yet, WHAT they are building
Just that they are beginning this massive construction project
No explicit sins
But there are a few concerns:
#1 They migrated from the East
‘East’ is a NEGATIVE term in Genesis.. never positive
God set Adam & Eve EAST of Eden
God set Cain FURTHER east, FURTHER from the presence of God
Lot would choose the land towards the EAST..
So ANYTHING going towards the East in Genesis, is this motif of going or PUSHING towards that which is wrong, AWAY from the presence of God
#2 They settled
Might not seem too bad
But consider:
Genesis 1:28 “28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;”
Genesis 9:1 “1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”
Genesis 9:7 “7 “As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it.””
#3 They made bricks
Later in time, we know that God’s people exclusively used the rocks of the land to build
‘God sneezed upon Israel’ & rocks were made
Bricks were used by foreign nations.. waterproof.. flood
Yet due to history, we know that when ancient bricks were made, the imprint of the kings name was placed on each and every brick… so as to say, this king is great, powerful, authoritative… and even pleasing unto the gods
Come… let us make a foolish choice
I’m afraid, we may guilty of this very thing
When we are clumsy… when we get close to sin… when we ride the line of right and wrong and don’t ADAMANTLY wake up each morning and say: “I WILL NOT GIVE WAY TO SIN, I WILL STAND BEFORE MY GOD AND BE FAITHFUL UNTO HIM!” … oh then are we not like the people of Babel?
Who make a foolish choice… who slowly but surely depart from the living God, & find themselves ultimately, condemned
Genesis 1-11 is one of the greatest passages to study, on the theology of sin
One foolish choice after another:
Eve.. Adam.. Cain.. Lamech.. Mankind.. Noah.. Ham.. & alllll these people
2. Come, Let Us Build A Name For Ourselves
2. Come, Let Us Build A Name For Ourselves
4 They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Their purpose:
#1 Build a city/tower to the heavens
#2 Make a name for themselves
#3 Didn’t want to be dispersed
#1 Build a city/tower
It’s possible to infer that they sought to integrate both TOGETHER
Built to the heavens
You might think it’s to get closer to God’s presence… NO!
What they are trying to do, is MAKE themselves gods
To build a structure & say: “We are EQUAL with God!”
#2 Let us make a name for ourselves
In the OT, names mean something.
It’s a designation of your character, your being, your essence
It was GOD who named Adam.. ‘From the earth’… God took mankind from the earth and RAISED him up to the privileged status of having dominion over all of it
Yet, for these people that wasn’t enough. ‘We want more!’
& if building the tower makes them EQUAL with God… then naming themselves, MAKES them God
‘WE shall choose who we are! WE shall choose our domain!’
#3 Lest we be dispersed
Instead of filling the earth & fulfilling the mandate of God to fill the earth with His glory… they say no thank you!
God, you do your thing, I’ll do mine!
What causes US, to want to make a name for ourselves?
Pride
Don’t EVER praise yourself. Don’t EVER look to exemplify yourself
May God receive the glory
If the builders.. were foolish for halting the praise of God.
If the builders.. were foolish for making their name great above the name of God
Then we would be foolish to do the same.
You were created for a purpose
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.
Important.. God is not saying this out of fear.. he’s not scared
Rather He is saying… there is no sin that’s inconceivable for them
They are on their own track
They’ve left my way for them
& nothing will be impossible for them as it relates to their own ruin
We know this all too well
When we SIN.. it is far easier to fall further and further into it
Nothing is impossible to the one who has accepted sin as their master
3. Come.. Let Us, Confuse
3. Come.. Let Us, Confuse
7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.
Conclusion:
10 These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood;
‘Shem’ is a play on the Hebrew word for ‘name’
These builders wanted to make a name for themselves!
God will make a name for them! God will create a name for His people! But it has to be on His terms!!
1 Now the Lord said to Abram,
“Go forth from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And I will make you a great nation,
And I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing;
3 And I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
Abraham—Israel—Judah—David—Jesus
Jesus WAS the Son of Man
1 Therefore if there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any consolation of love, if there is any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and compassion,
2 make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose.
3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves;
4 do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
The Pentecost Narrative
A reversal of the tower of Babel!
At Babel He dispersed them so as to CONFUSE them
In Acts 2 the Church is born!… & people are coming together from ALL these different nations… and are hearing the apostles SPEAK miraculously in perceived/known languages
It is the CHURCH that is that city/tower that CHRIST has built that ultimately honors Him!!
Revelation.. Babylon is destroyed
Yet the shining city awaits.
Do not be prideful. Do not seek to make a name for yourself. Seek to make the name of God known within this world