Babel and Pentecost

The Tower of Babel

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sin and plunge humanity into sin. In Genesis 7, God disowns the world and destroys all but Noah’s family in the flood judgement. When Noah gets off the Ark in Genesis 9, God tells Noah to do the same thing He told Adam to do. “Be fruitful and multiply.” This is shorthand for what He originally told Adam which is essentially to go fill the entire world with image bearers who will glorify God’s name.

Fast forward to Genesis 11. At this point, we find that instead of spreading out, mankind is hunkering down together in one place which they called “Shinar.” Shinar is what we’d know as Mesopotamia, Babylon, or near modern day Iraq. While they’re settled there, they decide they want to build a tower, which was actually a Ziggurat. Now these Ziggurats were towers which reached to the heavens and were used to invite a god down to the temple they had set up at the bottom. In essence, they would have resting places and food for these gods as a bribe to get them into their temples to bless them. Why did they want God’s presence? Genesis 11:4 tells us:

Genesis 11:4 NKJV

4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

What we learn here is that they had a picture of a god in mind who they could exploit to serve their purposes. They weren’t going to obey His command, instead they wanted to use Him to serve their purposes for their own names sake. They wanted to use God as a slave for their own desires. They wanted blessings, not the Blesser Himself.

So, what does God do? Genesis 11:5-9

Genesis 11:5–9 NKJV

5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God sees what they’re doing and says, “They want me to come down? I’ll come down, but they’re not going to like it!” And he corrupts everything they’re working on. Here we learn that it is a shame for us to completely dedicate our lives to things that God will destroy in the end. In Deuteronomy 32:8-9 we learn that God actually performs another “flood” of sorts here because when He destroys Babel and confuses their languages, He actually disowned the world. In Deuteronomy 32 we are told that when He calls Abram in Genesis 12 is when God reaches down to adopt a new people for Himself.

Now, there is a lot that we can learn from this story. For instance, we can discuss the issue of race, however, the main point of this story is to learn about the corrupting influence of a sinful view of God. Mankind allowed pride and lust to sit on the throne of their heart where only God provided and they paid severely.

Pentecost

Fast-forward to the New Testament. The people who came from the man, Abraham, that God chose in Genesis 12 have provided a Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus has come, lived a perfect life, and died for the salvation of our souls. During His life, John the Baptist prophesied that he baptized with water, but Jesus would come to baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire (two events, use mountain illustration).

Just before Jesus ascends into Heaven, He tells His followers, this in Luke 24:47-49

Luke 24:47–49 NKJV

47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 “Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

Now there is a whole bunch here. For instance, when Jesus uses that word “witnesses” He is telling us that He’s God because in Isaiah 43-45, God uses that legal language to declare a “lawsuit” against idolatry. In Isaiah God calls for witnesses to demonstrate the God is God alone and He is the Savior and that’s exactly what Jesus is doing here. He is calling His followers to be witnesses to a lost world that they might know that Jesus is the only Savior. Furthermore, He tells them, “Stay in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high.” So, not only is Jesus giving them a job, He’s going to give them the power to do it and that power arrives in Acts 2 in the Holy Spirit.

A few weeks ago, Micah Lowe asked about why Christ made the Apostles wait for the Spirit instead of it happening immediately and I said I’d look into that. Here’s my answer: Jesus was crucified on Passover which was a massive day in Jewish life as they reflected on the story of God providing deliverance of the Jews from Egyptian captivity. What happened there was God sent a death angel to kill the firstborn of every family in Egypt and unless your family slew a lamb, covered the doorpost in it’s blood, and ate it, the death angel would kill your firstborn son. So, Jesus, the lamb of God, died so the judgment of God would Passover everyone who believes in Him.

Fifty days after Passover is another feast called Pentecost. Pentecost was an annual feast where Israel brought the firstfruits of their wheat harvest to the Lord, this may be why Jesus liked to use farming imagery so much in the Gospels. Well, when the Spirit comes on Pentecost, Jews from all over the world are in Jerusalem. When Peter preaches, the Spirit comes and the Church explodes from around 120 people to over 3,000 in one day which is Jesus’s first fruits harvest from among all nations. This is tied back to God’s promise to Abraham in Genesis that through Him all the world would be blessed.

Joel Beeke said, “Flaming tongues suggested that the Spirit fills people so that their hearts burn with love for God and they speak the word of Christ to inflame the hearts of others. The wind 'filling all the house' and the flames resting 'upon each of them' showed that the Spirit comes to the Church collectively and individually to each one in it.”

To put it simply, at Pentecost we see a full circle. God the Father works through the Son, by the Holy Spirit to transform a fallen people into instruments of grace. Those mouths which once boasted in selfish pride at Pentecost are now unified to praise God. Hands that once build selfish kingdoms are now joined together to build the kingdom of God.

So, what does this mean for us today?

The Spirit unites all who believe in Jesus together. 1 Cor. 6:17

1 Corinthians 6:17 NKJV

17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

2. The Spirit empowers us with gifts to serve one another. 1 Cor. 12:4-8

1 Corinthians 12:4–8 NKJV

4 There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: 8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,

3. The Spirit empowers us to be witnesses to the world.