The Old Testament reading today from the Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer brings us to the account in Genesis of the Tower of Babel. Many think of this as the account as to the origin of the many languages we have, which it is. However, there are also some lessons we can learn from this Biblical account. Let’s look into the Book of Genesis, and see what the Lord might teach us.
Genesis 11 tells of the first major event that occurred following Noah and the Flood. In Genesis 9:7 God repeated the command He had given man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:28), that being to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. However, here we read that the people did not want to be scattered throughout the earth (vs. 4). They wanted to stay together. They wanted to become mighty and powerful. They wanted to build a great city with a tower “whose top is in the heavens”. This account tells of man’s pride and arrogance, and God’s response to that.
The tower and city of Babel were built to be a monument to the people’s own greatness. The building in and of itself was not sinful. Nor was it sinful just because it was tall. The sin was in why it was built. The tower was built to glorify man rather than God. There are many great Gothic cathedrals built in the Middle Ages in Europe that are quite tall, especially considering they were built centuries before modern skyscrapers. These soaring cathedrals were built to glorify God, not man. We don’t even know the individual names of the men who built them. Our work should always glorify God, and not ourselves (I Corinthians 10:31).
These people at Babel were so united in their folly that they would have been able to do all that they sinfully desired to do. Because the people were refusing to go out and fill the earth as God commanded, and their arrogant rebellion of Him was rising, God confused their language. He put an end to this arrogant behavior by causing everyone to speak different languages. This caused them to have to separate and be with those who spoke the same as they did, and they began to scatter all over the earth. God took the gift of language that He had given, and divided and confused it because of the apostate worship that was beginning at Babel, where man turned against God in pride.
God will always oppose pride. He will not permit us to replace Him with anything, including ourselves, as supreme in the universe. These people in Babel thought and concentrated only upon themselves, and not the Lord. In two verses, verses 3 and 4, the words “us” and “we” occur 4 times. They did not seek to find out what God wanted, only what they wanted. If we want to advance God’s kingdom, we must not try to make a name for ourselves, but instead humble ourselves and exalt Jesus (I Peter 5:6).
What “monuments” have we built to ourselves to try and call attention to ourselves and our greatness? Do we want the biggest house possible or the fanciest and most expensive car? Do we shop for the most expensive designer-label clothes, shoes, and handbags? Do we strive for the most important and prestigious job we can get? These things may not be wrong in themselves, but when we use them to give ourselves identity and self-worth, they take the place of God in our lives. When this happens, our pride and arrogance can easily take over, and God’s importance in our lives shrinks down to nothing. Let’s remember to keep our pride in check, and that whatever we do, we do it to the glory of God!
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