The Tower of Babel

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

The Tower of Babel is one of those Bible stories that I was very familiar with as a kid.  And one that, I later realized as an adult, made very little sense to me.

So, you have a group of people that decided to come together and build a tower.

Why is this a bad thing?

I mean, is God against towers or something?

And the people are trying to get to heaven...again...why is this a bad thing?

But, after studying this portion of Scripture as an adult (which spans a mere nine verses) several things are becoming apparent to me...and I think I am slowly starting to get it.

You see, it wasn't so much that the people were building a tower to reach up to the heavens as it was their motive, which is stated in Genesis 11:4...

"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.'"

And there we see...it is not so much the making of a tower as it was them trying to "make a name" for themselves.  They wanted to bring glory and honor to themselves and their accomplishments instead of desiring to bring glory and honor to God and all the great things He has done.

And there was also another huge problem.

Up until this point, God had always given the command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.  God gave that command to Adam and Eve in the garden, and again to Noah after the flood.  But instead, the people of Babylonia wanted to congregate together and build a city for themselves.

No stone?

No problem--let's bake bricks (Gen 11:3)

No mortar?

We can just use tar (Gen 11:3).

They were not content to look toward the city that God would bring (Rev 21:2).

And just like God always does, God intervenes.  We see in verse five those loaded and mercy filled words..."But God..."

And just like God did in the garden when Adam and Eve were off hiding in shame, "But God called to the man, 'Where are you?'" (Gen 3:9)...

And just like God would do centuries later when a disobedient and bigoted prophet would run away from his call to proselytize a pagan nation, "But God provided a great fish" (Jonah 1:17)...

So, too, God would intervene to save mankind from himself, this time by confusing their language and scattering them over the face of the whole earth (Gen 11:8-9).

And we see in this story a dilemma for our own lives.  Because, we, like the people of Babel, have to make a choice.

What is it going to be in your life?  In mine?

Will your life be about what you will do, what you will accomplish, what you can build, or what you can make of yourself?

Or is your life going to be all about what God has done, what God will do, and what God will give to you and make of you...for His glory?

Will we be content to slap together some homemade bricks and tar and set out to do great things for our own honor, or will we be content to find our significance in following God's direction, working for His glory, and waiting upon God's eternal kingdom to come?

In an "American Dream" saturated culture where you either "go big" or "go home," where fame is often a song or dance contest away, and celebrities are worshiped as royalty, these are questions that are critical for us to wrestle with as believers of God.  Let us be proven faithful to God's call...to HIM be the glory, forever and ever...Amen!