READING: GENESIS 10-12, JOHN 4
I've read the story of the Tower of Babel a variety of times growing up, and every time I left with questions. How could humans with limitations build a tower to the heavens? Why would God stop them from building once he saw that, with their abilities, nothing would be impossible? Why was language the means through which he ended their endeavors?
As I read the passage this time, I finally left relieved. I wasn't necessarily fishing for answers, but I felt as though my reflections dug a little deeper, my acquired knowledge over the past few years gave fresh insight, and my tuning to the Holy Spirit was more crisp.
First, I think we often refer to heaven as paradise, where God himself dwells. So when man was building to the heavens and God made it not so, I prematurely associated the scenario with two things: man was more capable than I understood and God was more limited than I understood. However, after this new reading, I no longer wrestle with these thoughts. Many translations, including the Spanish language, have the same word for heaven and sky. The word (such as cielo in Spanish) represents the area above ground, where stars are visible but also where birds and planes fly. Today we see buildings in the heavens all the time: skyscrapers. I'm sure the Tower of Babel was the first of many attempts to display the pride of man.
Second, I began to view the idea that nothing would be impossible for man is an idea of the mind. At this time, men were gathering in large amounts to build on land and establish themselves in a place where they were settled and comfortable. God gave them the authority to make the land their own, but as hey grew in number and ability, they soon forgot the sovereignty of God. The Tower of Babel was their mission to establish their presence, their pride, their name to the world. God knew that man was now in a trance; he believed he could do anything he wanted. He believed that everything was possible, not because of God, but because of his ability. God did not halt construction believing that man would actually build a tower to reach him. God shut off the whole process because once again man began to forget who he was, and his inability to see his limitations would soon be his destruction.
How do you rid the sick of their pride? Bring them to humility. Thus God confused the languages. Man now had to rework everything he knew about communicating with one another and start over. Here's the really cool, all-powerful display of God. In order to remind humans of his sovereignty, God humbles (and saves) humans by creating even more - multiple languages. And while groups become separated from one another, man now has the opportunity to know more closely who God is: a creator who, in our moments of weakness and pride, humbles us to remind us who he is, but never seeks to destroy us.
As I read the passage this time, I finally left relieved. I wasn't necessarily fishing for answers, but I felt as though my reflections dug a little deeper, my acquired knowledge over the past few years gave fresh insight, and my tuning to the Holy Spirit was more crisp.
First, I think we often refer to heaven as paradise, where God himself dwells. So when man was building to the heavens and God made it not so, I prematurely associated the scenario with two things: man was more capable than I understood and God was more limited than I understood. However, after this new reading, I no longer wrestle with these thoughts. Many translations, including the Spanish language, have the same word for heaven and sky. The word (such as cielo in Spanish) represents the area above ground, where stars are visible but also where birds and planes fly. Today we see buildings in the heavens all the time: skyscrapers. I'm sure the Tower of Babel was the first of many attempts to display the pride of man.
Second, I began to view the idea that nothing would be impossible for man is an idea of the mind. At this time, men were gathering in large amounts to build on land and establish themselves in a place where they were settled and comfortable. God gave them the authority to make the land their own, but as hey grew in number and ability, they soon forgot the sovereignty of God. The Tower of Babel was their mission to establish their presence, their pride, their name to the world. God knew that man was now in a trance; he believed he could do anything he wanted. He believed that everything was possible, not because of God, but because of his ability. God did not halt construction believing that man would actually build a tower to reach him. God shut off the whole process because once again man began to forget who he was, and his inability to see his limitations would soon be his destruction.
How do you rid the sick of their pride? Bring them to humility. Thus God confused the languages. Man now had to rework everything he knew about communicating with one another and start over. Here's the really cool, all-powerful display of God. In order to remind humans of his sovereignty, God humbles (and saves) humans by creating even more - multiple languages. And while groups become separated from one another, man now has the opportunity to know more closely who God is: a creator who, in our moments of weakness and pride, humbles us to remind us who he is, but never seeks to destroy us.