Sometimes, as you read Bible stories and you see God's judgement or wrath you wonder what was so wrong...what prompted God's actions. Genesis, chapter 11, contains the story of the Tower of Babel. The people have stuck together after the flood and found an open plain of land to settle in. Apparently there are few building materials, like wood or stone there and they invent brick-making from fire and dirt and their cement was tar. They became ambitious and decided to build a city (sounds like hard work to me!) and crown it with a skyscraper (or what passed for a skyscraper back then). They became very proud of their achievements and boasted that the skyscraper would make them famous and they felt secure within the walls of their city. Somehow this reminds me of a certain nation just west of the Atlantic... God sees all this, of course, and He makes two observations and one conclusion. The two observations are (1) The people are united and (2) The people all speak the same language. The conclusion is that the people will come to believe that they can do anything in their own strength. (Hmmm...still sounds a lot like a certain country just west of the Atlantic to me!) Well God takes action and introduces other languages into their midst. Confusion enters and the unity of their self-centered purpose is broken. I'm sure there is far greater meaning than I am able to glean from this story, but one thing seems to be clear: God's purposes will be completed. Man tends to center on himself and think he is all he needs. But at a certain point, God will enter the picture and disrupt the work of man to restore the plan of God. At this point confusion may lead to confession.
Genesis 11:9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages.
blessings,
Rob Smith
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