Tower of Babel
Notes
Transcript
INTRO
INTRO
Have you ever tried to communicate to someone who speaks another language than you?
Possible places:
school/class
team
stranger
mission trip
TENSION
TENSION
The reality is that most of us have tried and it’s not easy…
we learned quick that communicating with someone of another language is hard
Tonight as we continue our Genesis series we are going to learn where all the different languages came from and that we are not the only one who have experienced this struggle of communicating
TRUTH
TRUTH
Context:
three weeks ago we talked about Noah and the Ark
About 100 years have passed and then this account happens
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
At first glance it seems as if God takes some extreme measures here…
I mean all they did was start building a tower and city
so He is going to confuse their languages and disperse them all over the earth??
Well there is a deeper problem than just building a tower and city… it’s why they are doing it
Tower: “to make a name for themselves”
All throughout history so far God has interacted with man by coming down to them
Now man decides they are going to go up to God
in other words: they are saying that they can get to good by their own efforts
their effort and abilities are going to allow them to be on the same level as God
This is a pride issue
City: “lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth”
This is direct disobedience to what God has told then to do after the ark
Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth
Instead they are going to build a city with wall and stay in one place
This is a disobedience issue
Seeing this, God decides He is going to put a stop to it
so He confuses their languages so they can’t communicate anymore
disperses them all over the earth
This is how we get all of our different languages and people groups all over the world as they are today
And if you are interested at how that plays out I would love to talk to you about it but tonight I want to focus on something else
See, there is an account in the NT that is similar to this one yet it’s results are very different
Pentecost
After Jesus’ death and resurrection
He has already ascended into heaven
He told his disciples to wait for the HS before doing anything
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?
Context
see you have to understand Pentecost was a major Jewish festivals so every Jew would leave their home to come to Jerusalem to celebrate it
so you have millions of Jews in Jerusalem who speak different languages
Yet as the disciples start talking through the HS everyone is understanding them
So these accounts have some major similarities and differences!!
Campare:
Gathering
Babel: People gathered in disobedience (pride and staying together)
Pentecost: People gathered in obedience (celebrating the giving of the Law).
God
Babel: Man trying to go up to God. Reach God in their own efforts
Pentecost: God coming down. The HS coming to dwell with God’s people
Results
Babel: God confuses their languages and disperses them
Pentecost: God bring clarity through everyone hearing their language and unifying them as one group through the gospel
When we compare the two accounts we see that it’s almost like Pentecost is the reversal is Babel
God seems to reverse everything that happened at Babel
and he does so through the gospel
See the gospel is at the heart of it
we understand that more fully when we look at the context of Pentecost itself
Context of Pentecost:
Jewish Festival which means millions of Jews would leave their home and nation to travel back to Jerusalem to celebrate it
This festival was to celebrate the giving of the law to Moses
The Law had many jobs but it’s primary one was to show that man could never reach God through his own work
The very thing the people at Babel thought they could do
So God, in His perfect timing chooses to send the HS at Pentecost when all of His people would be together to celebrate the law and through the HS make it clear that Jesus had fulfilled the law
not just to those who spoke Galilean like Peter
But to all people, regardless of language or background,
Peter who is speaking through the HS so that all can understand him makes it overly clear that the Law they are celebrating at this festival has been fulfilled through Jesus
“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
Law Connection:
The Law pointed to the need for a perfect sacrifice, and Jesus was that fulfillment
His life and miracles proved He was from God
His death was part of God's plan to fulfill the Law as He was the perfect sacrifice
God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Peter said, “you don’t believe me about him being the sinless sacrifice just look at the resurrection
Law Connection:
The Law required righteousness that no one could attain (life without sin)
Yet Jesus was perfectly righteous (sinless)
His resurrection confirmed that He fulfilled God’s requirements
death could not hold him because he had not sinned
And many of you saw him but now he is gone
Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.
He is now sitting at the right hand of the Father, but He has sent the HS who is a new and better guide, helping us see that Jesus' work fulfilled and replaced the Law.
Peter concludes his sermon saying
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
Peter makes it clear: The Law was meant to reveal the need for a Savior
Jesus is that Savior
the fulfillment of everything the Law foreshadowed
This means that Peter is declaring that the very thing they gathered to celebrate was actually pointing to Jesus the whole time
And comparing this account to Babel we see that the Law showed that mankind could never reach God on their own just like the people at Babel tried to do.
But now, through Jesus, God has made a way
Not only has Jesus fulfilled the Law, but at Pentecost, God shows that His salvation is for all nations and all languages
But this is not the end of the story…
If Pentecost was the beginning of God uniting people from every language through the gospel, then where is it all heading?
The final fulfillment of this plan is found at the return of Christ
when we see the full and ultimate reversal of Babel
What started as division at Babel, and was answered with unity at Pentecost, will one day be fully realized when people from every tribe, tongue, and nation worship Jesus together
John gives us a glimpse of what this will look like in Revelation
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
This is the ultimate reversal of Babel
when Christ returns and gathers all of His people
The nations that were once scattered will be together as one people again worshiping their Savior
APPLICATION
APPLICATION
But what does this mean for you and me?
how can we apply it to our lives?
Well what is really cool for us is that we live between Pentecost and the final fulfillment
which means that the gospel has gone out, but not everyone has heard
God’s mission is still unfolding and not only do we know how it ends but ad we are invited to be part of it
What must we do so that we can be apart of God’s mission and plan?
Reject our Pride
Just like the people at Babel, we can’t reach God on our own efforts
We have to realize that our works can’t save us or get us close to God
we have to kill our pride
Embrace the Gospel
after realizing we can’t earn our salvation we need to realize that Jesus did
Through His perfect life, death, and resurrection Jesus earned salvation
and now offers it to us as a free gift
all we must do is believe in our hearts and confess with our mouth that He is your Lord and Savior
Live on Mission
After embracing the gospel we then live on mission of the gospel
Once we have recieved the good news we should desire to share the good news
not just with people who look like us but all people
no matter their color
no matter their language
no matter their past
no matter their circumstances
Await Jesus’ Return
The last thing we do is await for Jesus to return
We wait and look forward to the ultimate reversal of Babel
We will be able to experience the fulfilment of God’s plan
the plan that we got to be a part of
RESPONSE
I want to end tonight asking two questions:
Have you embraced the gospel?
have rejected your pride and recieved the good news of the gospel?
have you put for faith in trust in Jesus Christ?
if not, tonight is the night to do that.
Are you living on mission?
many of you have recieved Jesus but are you living on mission for Him
He has given you an amazing opportunity to be apart of His plan of salvation for all people
are you squandering it?
scared of our your friends might respond
scared of getting out of your comfort zone
scared of talking to someone who doesn’t look like you
How cool would it be to when Jesus returns and you are surrounded by millions of people from all tribes and tongues and you can look around see people from you
school
home
team
club
work
There with you because you lived on mission for Jesus
On the flip side… how sad is it that you may look around and not see people from your
school
home
team
club
work
Because you didn’t live on mission for Jesus
The reality is that God is going to save whom He wants to regardless but He uses those whom He already has saved like you and I to do so
So let’s leave here tonight living on mission for Jesus
living like the good news we say we believe is actually good news
