DIGGING DEEP NO. 887 – June 15, 2021 THE TOWER OF BABEL GEN.11: 1- 9 Col.3: 15- 17

The Story of the Tower of Babel and God’s reaction reminds us of the power, grace and love of God for mankind, and it shows how man has always rebelled and wants to live outside the will of God. Because man is limited in his understanding of the future and God’s plan for his life, Man sometimes acts contrary to God’s divine plan not knowing that by so doing he is acting outside the will of God. The Tower of Babel story tells us that Man had become arrogant and prideful in his ability to take control of his own life (so he thought) and decided to move East. The symbolism of moving east is moving away from the presence of God. We see in verse 2 that they were moving Eastward. When Adam and Eve sinned, they moved to the east which was away from God’s presence, when Cain killed his brother Abel and was cursed by God he moved eastward and when lot and Abraham were about to part, he was given a choice as to where to go, he moved to the east to Sodom and Gomorrah. Likewise, mankind decided to move eastward away from God and to build a big city and a tower that reaches the heavens

Their decision to build the tower was the absolute stamp of their rebellion and defiance against God. The problem was not that they were building a physical structure, but that they wanted to make a name for themselves and move away from God. They were in fact saying “God we recognize that you put us on earth and we should honor you as our Lord and savior, but we don’t want you to be king over us anymore, we want to be our own masters and we want to replace you”

Discussion – what are some biblical examples of this? The tower is a symbol of their pride, their self-aggrandizement, their faith in themselves, it was also a symbol of their desire to act contrary to God’s will and plan for humanity. In Genesis 1:28 God told Adam and Eve to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Discussion – How was building the tower against this command? It also symbolized their worship of self and belief in their strength and abilities. Man throughout creation has had a sinful obsession with his own success. How are we like the people of the Tower of Babel.

Discussion – How do we express a sinful obsession with our own success?

The tower of Babel today represents anything in our lives that would take us away from the presence of God into an eastward journey. We all have our different towers of Babel. To some it is their wealth, to others their jobs, their positions, their family.

God was not upset with the physical structure but with the reason for building it, He was upset because of the motive behind the tower. God had had an experience with a tower of Babel before, Satan build a Tower of Babel called pride while he was in heaven. He not only drifted Eastward, he wanted to be his own God. God in destroying the tower was expressing His love for mankind. He did not want mankind to drift away from Him knowing too well how it will end.

With stories like this, it can be hard to understand what the lesson might be. On the surface, it just looks like a historical account of an early nomadic tribe. But when we take a closer look, we see that God is illustrating for us the importance of obeying and respecting Him. We also see the danger of becoming prideful, arrogant, and thinking we don’t need God. God is reminding us (again) of the consequences of sin. Some consequences are great, and some are not. In the case of Nimrod’s tribe, their behavior and attitudes were so bad God completely scrambled their language and forced them back on the road to “multiply and fill the earth.” This is the power of God and is why we need to be careful about our choices. As Christians, we ought to examine our hearts and minds every day to make sure we are staying on the path of humble obedience while maintaining complete respect for God’s power. Straying off the road creates a tower of Babel — “noisy confusion” — in our lives. Stick to God’s path. Follow His way, and you’ll never go wrong. His way is always the best way.

LESSON LEARNT.

Here are just six from Genesis 11:1-9.

1. What we are building will only be successful if God designed the blue prints. What are we building? Where do we choose to place our time and effort? Making a name for ourself? Making the most money? Getting the most pleasure out of life? If this is the life we’re building, like the foolish man that’s a life built on sand.

2. We are free to do as we want, but for every bad decision there are consequences.

3. There is a truth to what God said about our ability to accomplish much as a unified people. There’s also a positive side to this not so positive account. When the church body is unified there is no limit to what we can accomplish. When there’s dissension, we are weaker.

4. Ignorance does not mean a blissful existence. It was ignorant to think that a closer relationship with God involved building a stairway into the sky that in their minds would allow God to have the ability to descend to earth. The opposite is true. God built us a way to go to Him.

5. Be mindful of the presence you keep and the vision you share. It seemed that most if not all mankind at this time was unified under one vision. “To make a name for themselves,” they worked together. They planned, schemed, spent resources and time to build something that would change the world forever— but it wasn’t God’s vision. The presence you keep and the shared vision matters. What are we building?

6. Accounts in the Bible that seem unrealistic or mythical should not weaken our faith but strengthen it when we do our due diligence in digging into His word. God is capable of great things, and that hasn’t changed. We serve a powerful God who has big plans for the world. Are we willing to side with Him?