Series Introduction: 

Last week, we focused on Genesis 8, where God remembered Noah and the animals on the ark and caused the great flood waters to recede. Noah sent out two birds to find dry land, first a raven who did not return and then a dove who returned from her second flight with a freshly plucked olive leaf, showing that the land was now inhabitable once again. After a year on the ark, God instructed everyone to leave. Noah offered sacrifices, and God promised never to send a flood of that scale again. During the message, we focused on God's faithfulness in preserving Noah and the animals, His control over nature, and His establishment of a new beginning for humanity. However, the main focus was the importance of patience and waiting on God's timing with faith and expectation.  

In the following years, God blessed Noah and his sons, instructing them to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. God established a covenant with Noah and all living creatures, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood. After Noah's descendants grew in number, different tribes and clans emerged. Despite this, we read in Genesis 11 that everyone worldwide still spoke the same language. Unfortunately, things did not stay this way because our ancestors made the same mistake many had made before them. They thought that they knew better than God. This is the sin of pride. 

The Bible often cautions us about the perils of pride. Pride led to Satan's rebellion against God and his expulsion from heaven. It also caused Adam and Eve to consume the forbidden fruit and introduce sin into humanity's hearts. Cain's pride caused him to remain unremorseful about his sin, ultimately leading him to kill his brother instead of confessing his sin and seeking forgiveness. Ultimately, Noah's generation's unchecked pride and selfishness led to unimaginable levels of wickedness and depravity, leading God to wash the world clean with a flood and to begin a new creation with Noah and his family. However, even in the flood's aftermath, humanity continued to live with an inherent inclination towards sin and rebellion. This holds true even in our present day and age. Instead of acknowledging our need for God and submitting to His authority, we often give in to the allure of self-glorification. We rebel against God's authority and strive to find value, meaning, and purpose on our terms. But whenever we prioritize our own desires over God's will and elevate ourselves above God, we inevitably lose sight of our true purpose and miss out on the joy and satisfaction that comes from living according to God's good and perfect plan for our lives. 

The Tower of Babel is a powerful reminder of the consequences of pride and rebellion. The account of Babel compels us to examine our own hearts and motivations, recognizing the tendency to drift away from God's love and grace toward self-centered pursuits. It serves as a reminder of the importance of humility, surrender, and submission to God.

Scripture Reading: 

Genesis 11:1-9 - Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Opening Prayer: 

Father God, open our minds and hearts to receive your word. Help us grasp the significance of this ancient account and how it speaks to us in our own lives and our times. We recognize the longing within us for glory and achievement. Still, we also acknowledge the dangers of pursuing our glory above Yours. Teach us to humble ourselves before You, to seek Your will and purpose in all we do. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

The Tower of Bable 

Our passage opens with the statement, "The whole earth had one language and the same words" (Genesis 11:1, ESV). In the ten generations that passed from Noah to the construction of Bable, the people had maintained one common language. This language was very likely the same one God placed in the mind of Adam and Eve at the world's creation twenty generations prior. Had mankind stayed obedient to God's command to fill the earth and multiply, there is no reason to believe that we would not still be speaking the same tongue in all corners of the earth, even today. Things changed once humanity migrated from Ararat to Mesopotamia. They came to "a plain in the land of Shinar" (Genesis 11:2, ESV). This good and fertile land seemed like a perfect place to settle down and build a permanent dwelling place for people to dwell. We can not say that the people had forgotten God's commands. The people's express purpose in building, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" ‭‭(Genesis‬ ‭11‬:‭4,‬ ‭ESV‬‬) is precisely the opposite of God's command, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1, ESV.) This city was founded on self-exaltation, in defiance of God. 

As human beings, we often dislike being told "no" and having limitations placed upon us, even when those limitations are ultimately for our benefit. It can be difficult to trust that God's will is always for our good and His glory, especially when obeying Him feels challenging or when we struggle to understand the reasoning behind it. Ultimately, that is why it is called faith. 

In the plains of Sinar, the people were doing the opposite of faith. Rather than the lands God had chosen for them, the people chose to settle in the land they had discovered. Rather than worshipping God and obeying His commands, the people intended to build a towering structure to reach the heavens without God's help. This was not just passive disobedience. This was an active challenge to God's authority. They were attempting to create a name and a destiny for themselves, apart from God. 

Are we all that different from the days of Babel? Even today, we still see this unquenchable ego driving many men and women toward paths of worldly success. We still think we can create heaven on earth or somehow change the world so that their names live on forever.  We still fail to realize that without God, our attempts at greatness can always bend ultimately toward eternal destruction. Far too many people today are driven to make a name for themselves, to build a legacy, to form an empire that will stand the test of time. They want to change the world, but they want to change it on their own terms. 

I am reminded of a poem by Percy Shelley in which the poet recounts coming across a stone in the desert which reads, 

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!" - Percy Shelley, Ozymandias.

The poem's irony is that, as the poet looks around, he sees nothing but sand and rubble. Whomever Ozymandias had been and whatever Ozymandias had accomplished, nothing remained but this one stone bearing his name. 

Empires collapse, fortunes are squandered, and only a few names endure the test of time. Even if your name is remembered favorably by one generation, you may become the villain in the retelling of the next generation. You may be a hero today but completely forgotten tomorrow. Throughout all of scripture, those who prioritize faithfulness and the glory of God's name are deemed the greatest in the kingdom. They are esteemed far above those concerned with their own reputation, status, or legacy. If you want your life to be meaningful, focus less on worldly things like wealth, status, and fame, which are here today and gone tomorrow. Instead, focus more on the eternal things that can never be forgotten or taken away from us. 

As Jesus himself said, 

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." - Matthew 6:19-21, ESV.

Whereas the first thing Noah did upon exiting the Ark was to build an altar to the Lord, this generation decided to build a tower in defiance of God. Their goal was not to worship God but to construct a tower that would reach heaven without God's help. We know that one cannot build to heaven with a structure any more than one could dig to hell with a shovel. We use visual language to convey spiritual realities. This plan seems silly to us, and it is foolish, but I wonder how foolish some of our self-centered plans look from God's perspective when we try to do great things without Him.

In contrast to the tower builders, Scripture calls us to trust in God's promises, to recognize that our true significance lies in aligning our lives with His purposes, and to give Him the glory that is rightfully His. In the coming weeks, we will see how God took a childless man like Abram and made his name great as the father of nations. Likewise, God took a humble shepherd boy like David and made him a giant slayer and king. These individuals, and countless others like them, became great, not because they sought greatness but because they followed God in faith, and He made their names great.  If you really want to change the world and leave an eternal legacy, forget yourself and follow God. 

God Confuses Language

In verse five, we are briefly allowed to see the tower through the eyes of God. 

"And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built." - Genesis 11:5, ESV. 

There is a subtle bit of humor in this verse that may be lost in translation. The humor is found in the contrast between the human perspective from Earth and God's perspective in Heaven. On Earth, the people were united and building a great tower that they believed could reach the heavens. God, however, has to come down just to see what the little children of earth are building. Obviously, God knew what the children of men were up to. Still, I think this image of God coming down to look at the tower we were building was intended to send a message. 

The things that man thinks are impressive and mighty are never truly a threat or a challenge to God. Our most remarkable human achievements can only pale when compared to God and His creation. We flew to the moon, but God set the moon in orbit. We created the atomic bomb, but God formed the atoms that hold the entire universe together. Recently our culture has become infatuated with artificial intelligence. While these thinking machines seem impressive from our human perspective, they can only ever be a pale sub-creation when seen through the eyes of God. We think we can out-create the Creator, but God just laughs at the attempt. 

In Genesis 11:6, God sees what they are attempting to do, that they are united in their foolish pursuit, and that this is only the beginning of the wickedness they will attempt if they are allowed to continue. Perhaps God foresaw another situation where mankind would grow to only desire wickedness, as it was in the days before the flood of Noah. God decides it is again time to intervene so that human beings will be spared the consequences of their sin. 

God says to himself, 

"Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." - Genesis 11:7, ESV.

Sure enough, in Genesis 11:8, we read that God confused the language of men and women, so they could no longer understand each other. Certain groups found they could understand this person, but another person spoke gibberish to them. This made communication so difficult that the building project had to be abandoned. A once united people were now divided by language. Eventually, these groups departed from Shinar and continued spreading outward into different regions of the world, just as God had commanded them. 

The People are Scattered (Genesis 11:9)

Our passage concludes in Genesis 11:9, where we read, 

"Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth." - Genesis 11:9, ESV.

Here is an interesting fact that you may not have known. The phrase "confuse" in Hebrew is a bit of wordplay. The name Babel literally means "confusion." Even today, when someone is talking without making sense, we might say they are "babbling on and on." Hopefully, you do not find my sermon's to be an endless babel-on. This is important to remember, not just for this sermon, but also because many millennia down the road, an empire would take the name "Babylon" and would become the sworn enemy of Israel. Even in the book of Revelation, Babylon would be a recurring symbol of opposition to the Kingdom of God. The message was that you either stood with God or you stood against Him in a land of confusion. 

Here is another interesting fact about this word. While Israelites knew that Babylon was the kingdom of confusion. The Babylonians said that Babel actually meant "the gateway of god." How ironic that the people named for a failed tower to heaven would believe that their name means "the gateway of god." It seems that when the wicked empire took up the mantle of "Babylon," they tried to reverse the story. It is not all that different from the serpent in the garden of Eden who told Adam and Eve, "Did God really say?" (Genesis 3:1). Perhaps the kingdom of confusion was a more appropriate name than they realized. But what does any of this have to do with us today?

The Spirit of Babel:

While the historical tower of Babel has long since vanished from the face of the earth, and the historical Babylonian empire collapsed in 539 BC, it seems that the spirit of Babel has never truly left us. Any Bible-believing Christian would look at our world today and conclude that these are days of confusion, and not just across languages. There is confusion and division among those who share the same language and culture. Our technology is ever-advancing, but our morality is ever-declining. The more we learn, the less we seem to understand. We are simultaneously the most well-educated and technologically advanced society the world has ever seen. Yet, we, as a whole, are experiencing record levels of depression, fear, anger, and hopelessness. How could this be? The harsh truth is that our technology, advancements, economy, and profits will not save us. 

For there to be hope, it is necessary for people to leave behind the proud dreams and god-defying ways of Babel. Many of us today are holding fast to Christ and his Kingdom while living as exiles in a spiritual Babylon. We do not feel at home because we are not at home here.

The New Testament depicts Babylon as a great harlot who persecutes the people of God and embodies human pride and sin. The saints are urged to leave her behind "lest you take part in her sins" (Revelation 18:4, ESV). And when Christ returns, and Babylon falls, the saints rejoice because the Kingdom of Heaven has triumphed over the kingdom of darkness and confusion. Wicked Babylon is replaced with a New Jerusalem, which is not reached by a tower to heaven, but which comes down from heaven to be with us (Revelation 21). What a glorious day that will be! 

That day is closer now than it ever has been. We are already seeing the first fruits of the Kingdom of God. Whereas at Babel, God divided humanity by confusing their tongues, but in Jerusalem, after Christ had atoned for our sins on the cross, the Holy Spirit came down upon the church in tongues of fire. The Book of Acts records that even though there were "Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians [they heard the church] them telling in [their] own tongues the mighty works of God" (Acts 2:8-11, ESV). 

The birth of the church was the beginning of the undoing of Bable. The spirit of Babel brings chaos and confusion, but both the prophets of the Old Testament and the saints of the New Testament anticipated a day when this would all be undone. They saw a day when sin would be eradicated, and unity would be restored to the world. Sometimes our early perspective blinds us to the heavenly reality. Even now, brothers and sisters of every tribe and tongue are being united together as the body of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel! 

Conclusion:

Praise God that he does not leave us in Babel. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world to provide a path to salvation for all humanity. By placing our faith in His completed work on the cross, we can be saved from our sins and our rebellion against God. Jesus is the Savior we all need. He offers us the opportunity to repent and be forgiven for our sins. He gives us the Holy Spirit, which strengthens us to overcome life's challenges. Even though we often rebel against God, Jesus Christ offers us God's love and grace, allowing us to be reunited with Him. With the help of the Holy Spirit, our hearts can be transformed, enabling us to resist pride and follow God.

I promise you that peace with God will bring satisfaction to your heart, more so than any self-exalting path to happiness that the world is trying to sell you. Because of Christ, we can break the cycle of rebellion and receive God's forgiveness. We can reject the spirit of confusion and live by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God. We can find happiness, joy, peace, and a purpose for our lives by living in faith with God, the way we were meant to be. 

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father,

As we come to the end of this sermon, we reflect on your goodness. Despite our rebellious nature, You have graciously provided Jesus Christ as the embodiment of Your love and grace, allowing us to be reconciled with You. Just as the people of Babel sought their own glory and independence, we also tend to wander from Your perfect plans. But today, we stand before you with repentant hearts, seeking your forgiveness and guidance. We pray that you will help us resist the temptations of pride and rebellion. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, transforming our hearts and aligning our desires with yours.  May our lives be a testimony to your goodness and faithfulness, O Lord. May we honor your name through our thoughts, words, and actions. Help us to submit ourselves completely to you, surrendering our wills and ambitions at your feet. In doing so, we trust that you will guide us along the path of righteousness and bless us abundantly. Strengthen us to walk faithfully in your ways and to share the good news of your salvation with others. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.