Title: Tower of Babel
Contents
tower of Babel
(2012.03.04. Afternoon) (Genesis 11:1~9)
People have a habit of forgetting lessons too easily.
*Adam's disobedience brought suffering and death to mankind - but still disobedience.
*Knowing that Cain was forsaken and cast out by God after his failed sacrifice - he still forgets the importance of worship.
*We know that if sin prevails, we will perish just like in the days of Noah, but we are still living unaware of the fear of sin.
*When mankind is only prospering again with Noah's family, who survived the crisis of human destruction by God's grace - People sin again and as a result, great failure and suffering for mankind is recorded in today's text.
This Tower of Babel incident is clearly recorded in the Bible, and even unbelievers are aware of this, and when talking about empty and vain efforts, the word Tower of Babel is often used.
What kind of tower was the Tower of Babel built by the people who lived in the land of Shinar?
1. Humanity who challenged God.
Building the Tower of Babel was a challenge to God. - So it's a sin. - As a result, you've tasted failure and suffering.
How did they challenge God?
1) I challenged God with my overconfidence.
(11:3)-“They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and burn them.” So we replaced stones with bricks and mud instead of bitumen”- These words show that civilization was already quite advanced at that time.
Before that, people built houses and built walls out of stone and mud - but technology developed rapidly in their time.
Instead of using stones and soil picked up from nature - I have already mastered the art of making bricks and making bitumen.
Now they have the confidence that they can build tall towers with their skills.
So, without God's help - with our skills - we decided to bake solid bricks and build a strong tower with those bricks.
*Self-confidence is a great sin that makes you lose faith in God.
Do not overestimate your self-confidence - please strengthen your faith in God.
2) It was a challenge to the status of God.
(11:4) - "And he said, "Come, let's build a city and a tower, and let the top of the tower reach the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over all the earth."
They over-confided in themselves and became arrogant - at last they had ascended to heaven and mistakenly thought that they were comparable to God. - This is the method Satan used to deceive Eve.
“If you eat the fruit of the forbidden fruit, your eyes will be opened like God.” - Like Eve, who was seduced by that delusion - these too - thought that if we built a tower, we could ascend to the presence of God.
Trying to compare yourself to God is an unforgivable crime.
We must not forget for a moment that God is the creator and that man is a creature.
3) I challenged myself with pride.
(11:4) - "And he said, "Come, let's build a city and a tower, and let the top of the tower reach the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over all the earth."
He didn't build a tower for the glory of God - he built a tower to make a name for himself.
It was pride that thought that if he only built a tower, his name would shine forever.- Pride is a sin that must be thrown away.
4) A challenge to the Word of God.
They had no interest in God's Word, already believing in their skills, being proud, and challenging God.
No, I thought that God's word was insignificant that could be violated or ignored.
That is why I challenged myself by going in the opposite direction to the Word of God.
(11:4) - "And he said, "Come, let's build a city and a tower, and let the top of the tower reach the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over all the earth."
God told Adam, the first man, to “be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:22).
He also told Noah, the second father, to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1).
Humankind has a mission to be fruitful, multiply, and be scattered throughout the earth in order to fill the whole earth.
But they rejected God's word head-on - God said fill the whole earth - but they said not to be scattered over the large land.
*Rejecting the Word of God is a great sin. Rejecting God's Word is a challenge to God.
2. The price of the challenge.
Obedience to God is the right thing to do - those who did not obey and challenged - What did they pay?
1) Added pain.
(11:7) - “Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they cannot understand each other.” - They do not understand each other. We talk, but we can't understand each other.
A world without words - how stuffy would it be?
Because of their sins, they are divided into many languages - they cannot speak when they go abroad - and there are many dialects and local dialects that cannot be understood even if they go to a foreign country or even only in the countryside.
How much does private education cost and how much time do I have to invest to study a foreign language???
2) I have tasted failure.
(11:8) - “And from there the LORD scattered them over all the face of the earth, and they ceased to build the city.”
Brothers, relatives, and neighbors are scattered - They don't say good-bye and move away - They disperse because they don't speak well and fight. - They are separated from friendship like enemies.
The tower that was supposed to build up to the sky collapsed, and the city it was trying to build collapsed. - Total failure.
We must not forget the lesson that nothing will go well by challenging God.
3. The final result.
We can discover people's sins and the fact that God's original will is done even though they have experienced pain and failure as a result of their punishment.
*They tried to cast God out of the king's throne and rise as high as the heavens, and exalt their name like the name of God, and unite themselves to form their own kingdom - but that failed.
*Instead, God's original will was accomplished without any change.
Because of that, their plans failed - they were scattered all over the earth, and in the end, they filled the whole earth and ruled it according to God's will.
*Man cannot overcome God. God does not fail by man.
*In the end, everything will be done to fulfill God's will. - You must obey God.
*Even if you disobey God, God's will will be done - But suffering and punishment follow those who disobey.
*If you obey God, you become a worker who accomplishes God's will - After that, you will receive great love and blessings.
One way or another, God's will will be accomplished - but by obeying God - becoming a worker who accomplishes God's will - I pray that you will be praised, loved, and blessed by God.