Title: Faith to Prepare (Genesis 11:1-9)
Contents There is a saying, “Yubi-mu-hwan”. People live a prepared life. Afraid to taste the joy of the harvest, preserve the seeds to be planted next year and prepare for spring sowing. Also, prepare for next year's crop by arranging the arable land. You must also repair and lubricate the machinery that has been in use for a year and keep it in good condition. Also, those who run the ranch must prepare food to feed the animals in the winter, not the end of the harvest. Then a year goes by right away. Even before sowing seeds, you must prepare in advance, fertilize the field, and make many preparations, such as plowing, so that you can sow seeds and harvest.
Students spend nearly 12 years preparing for the exam. Housewives prepare meals every day, and also prepare to buy or expand a house with subscription savings. Entrepreneurs need to invest, develop skills, explore markets, and prepare good information for business success.
I thought it was autumn, but it was already winter. People make a lot of preparations for winter. Unlike these days, in the past, preparing for winter was a very complicated and big task. Would you have even called it winter preparation? Prepare firewood and fill the house with trees, and houses that are a little older buy hundreds of briquettes. All windows called windows are covered with plastic and the stove is trimmed. Also, to prevent the water from bursting, it is covered with straw to prevent freezing, and sand is prepared on the hilly road. When preparing for winter, kimchi preparation is essential. It is to make kimchi for winter. With this, it can be said that preparations for winter are almost complete.
What are the animals like? Squirrels harvest a lot of fruit for winter in the fall, and bears eat as much as they want to hibernate and go to caves to prepare for the winter. To spend the winter, birds travel to warm countries.
It can be seen that all creations created by God, whether human or beast, are prepared for the future. That is, preparing for the things that will happen in the future. How beautiful and reasonable it is to predict and prepare for future events, but what is more important is what to prepare and why.
After being driven out of Eden, he knew that he had to sweat to eat, and he realized that the earth produces not only beautiful plants and flowers, but also thorns. And human beings who experienced the destruction of all creatures by the Flood lived in danger of not knowing when or what might happen to them. In other words, the words 'future' and 'future' of human beings were accompanied by a kind of 'anxiety' and 'fear'. Human beings who felt anxious and threatened began to prepare and cope with something.
After the flood, the remnant of human descendants received the rainbow's promise that they would never be judged by water again, but the anxiety and fear about the future remained. Therefore, what they prepared and built was the Tower of Babel built on the Plain of Shinar.
1. Build a castle and tower so that the top reaches the sky
Originally, the purpose of building an altar was to offer sacrifices to God.
In Genesis 8:20, Noah came out of the ark and first built an altar to the LORD, and he took of all clean animals and of all clean birds and offered it as a burnt offering on the altar.
In Genesis 12:7,8, Abraham followed God's command and built an altar to the Lord wherever he moved his tent.
However, the people who came to the land of Shinar in the text said, “Let’s bake bricks and apply bitumen, and let’s build a castle and a tower so that the top reaches the sky.” Instead of offering an altar for offering sacrifices to the Lord, they built an altar that challenges the heavens. They built an altar to reach heaven with a proud heart that they would not worship God but go to God. They thought that the skills and knowledge they had were enough to build an altar that reached to the sky. And he did foolish and reckless actions in order to overcome the fear of being cast out of Eden, a lowered position, and an uncertain future. God made it clear that their actions were foolish and unnecessary, since they confuse their language so that they could no longer build the city.
The folly of the Tower of Babel, which was attempted to secure an unstable future with human methods, thoughts, and strength, ended in failure. Nevertheless, humans still try to do something with their own strength, just like the people in those days when they were building the Tower of Babel. I don't think it can be done. With pride, they are committing the folly of building the Tower of Babel, the attempt of the ancestors of mankind.
example)
There is this story in Aesop's fables. A wolf was wandering in a remote place at dusk when he saw a long shadow cast by his body. The wolf looked at my shadow and cried out like this. “It’s ridiculous that a big guy like me is afraid of lions. Yeah, I'm sure I'll be 30 yards tall! I must become the king and rule all the animals without leaving out a single one.” As the wolf looked at his shadow and had arrogant thoughts, a mighty lion approached and sat on the wolf crouching to devour the wolf. It is already too late to avoid the lion. The wolf howled. “My pride has brought me to ruin.”
Like a foolish wolf, holding on to shadows and illusions, aren't human knowledge, technology, science, and reason conceited that they can do everything? (environmental destruction)
2. Let's make a name for ourselves and avoid being scattered all over the earth
① Give your name
They built a castle and tower and built their power around it, trying to make a name for themselves. People seek "honor". To make a name is to reveal themselves.
Ex) People who became ugly while trying to reveal their names.
There are many names written on tourist sites. He even pecked with a chisel.
There is such a thing in foreign countries, but there are also Koreans.
At the time it seemed to reveal his name, but now it is considered very disgraceful.
God's purpose in creating human beings is to be glorified, and he is preparing himself for his name and glory. Tigers leave their skins, people leave their names, but believers must reveal only the glory of God.
② Let's avoid scattering
The reason they build castles and towers is that they are not scattered but united to support them.