GE 11:1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. This story starts at an interesting point. Something I learnt this week was that moving east was a symbolic statement for moving away from God’s place for us. This first scene opens with a movement “eastward” to the “plain in
GE 11:3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 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 and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” The culture was advanced, after all they could make bricks and build a city, they lived a type of urban existence. And their idea was to make a city to be noticed by those who didn’t live in cities. The whole idea of the city and the tower is getting a name for themselves. The word “name” plays a central role here. First, the builders of the city wanted “to make a name [shem]” for themselves. Second, the conclusion of the story returns to the “name” (shem) of the city, ironically associating it (Babylon/Babel) with the confusion of their language. Notice God’s reaction. GE 11:5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
What is God reacting to here? The city being built, the tower being built no, he is reacting to their desire to make a name for themselves. It isn’t about God anymore. They are leaving God out of their plans. If they had of wanted to build a tower to glorify God, it would have engendered a different response. One thing about our existence that comes through the book of Genesis, we exist because of God. We exist for His good pleasure. When that is out of context, we replace ourselves in God’s place. In other words, we exist for our own good, and for our own good pleasure then we have a wrong purpose in life. It’s not about us. It wasn’t about the people who built the tower either and it wasn’t the capacity to build a tower,it was about having gifts to glorify God with. God isn’t hassled with people being able to build well, in fact he gives the abilities to do so. He is hassled when we use those abilities incorrectly.
How does God react? He doesn’t flood ‘em out again. He just confuses the situation.
6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
They find they can’t communicate. Not being able to communicate in any situation creates confusion, frustration and slows everything down. But what a compassionate God. He doesn’t hammer them, just confuses them so they have to rethink their actions. God will often play gentle with us so we can rethink what we do or have done. I think there is a lot to be said about listening to God’s soft promptings rather than ignore or missing the prompts and waiting for the radical punishment or correction sign. God often uses signs and wonders when we haven’t noticed the softer, more gentle options.
GE 11:8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called
“Scattered” is another key word. The purpose of the city was so that its inhabitants would not “be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Ironically, at the conclusion of the story it is the Lord who “scattered” the builders from the city “over the face of the whole earth,” a fact repeated twice at the conclusion. The expression “the whole land” is a third key term in the story. The people had left “the whole land [NIV, world]” to build a city in the east. The purpose of the city was to keep them from being scattered throughout “the whole land.” Biut top bring the people together in one place. But in response the Lord reversed their plan and scattered them over “all the land.”Remember in the story of Noah, he is given the whole earth as his responsibility GE 9:7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”There is a real sense getting out there in the translation. This city and tower was a movement opposite to expansion. It was against God’s design for the world.One thing about this is that we can often do the same thing in churches. We centralize our church. By that I mean we expect people to come to us. This has been one of the weaknesses of the church growth movement over the last twenty years. The great commission says go, but the Christian church has said come to us. I think this passage is a lesson for us. We need to keep the great commission at the centre of our church aims and goals and apply it in principle literally. Go to where people are at. As a church go. Get out there among the people. In other words as a gathering of God’s people we need to find ways to take our message of Jesus into community, even further into the district after all we are called Armidale District Baptist Church. We have no biblical mandate to expect people to come to our worship services, but we as the people of God have a mandate to go, or to scatter in ministry. The focus of the author since the beginning chapters of the book of Genesis has been two things:
- God’s plan to bless humankind by providing them with that which is “good” and
- human failure to trust God and enjoy the “good” God had provided.
The characteristic mark of this failure has been the attempt by humans to grasp the “good” on their own. To take God’s blessing and keep it selfishly for themselves. Hey, it is still happening.
The author has centered his description of God’s blessing on the gift of the land (1:28). The good land is the place of blessing. To leave this land and to seek another is to forfeit the blessing of God’s good provisions. It is to live “east of
Part of God’s blessing to us is our relationship to him through our corporate fellowship. Part of God’s blessing to us is sitting around you today – it is called church, it is what we term our church, ADBC.
It would be easy to live east of
Are we getting what God is saying to us? Don’t travel east, don’t let your guard down and slip away from fellowship, don’t use God’s blessings for individual gratification. All these things in the passage are lessons to us. Right here, right now.
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