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In the ever upward climb of
man, the quest for trying to outdo God seems to
continusly emerge. The Tower of Babel is a good
example of the human lust for power and
glory.
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Genesis 11:1-9
The Tower
of Babel
Language
Confusion
-
- 11:1
Now the whole world had one language and a
common speech.
-
- 2 As men moved
eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and
settled there.
-
- 3 They said to each
other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them
thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone,
and tar for mortar.
-
- 4 Then they said,
"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a
tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we
may make a name for ourselves and not be
scattered over the face of the whole earth."
-
- 5 But the LORD came
down to see the city and the tower that the men
were building.
-
- 6 The LORD said, "If
as one people speaking the same language they
have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to
do will be impossible for them.
-
- 7 Come, let us go down
and confuse their language so they will not
understand each other."
-
- 8 So the LORD
scattered them from there over all the earth,
and they stopped building the city.
-
- 9 That is why it was
called Babel —because there the LORD
confused the language of the whole world. From
there the LORD scattered them over the face of
the whole earth.
This
is the Word of the Lord ... It is meant to change
the way that we think, and the way that we live.
Commentary
by Bob Pardue
The Tower of
Babel
The tower that the people
constructed in these verses were most likely
similar to the pyramids of Egypt which was a common
structure in Babylon at this time.
I was a little confused when
I first read this passage contemplating why God
would confuse the language to stop construction on
this structure.
Now it's become clear to me
that the people were building the tower to bring
honor to themselves, not God.
This tower was meant to say
to the world; "Look at what we've build and what we
have accomplished.
Looking at modern times we
seem to be hung up on accumulating "stuff". .. A
new car, a fancy house, dream vacations, the most
expensive clothes and so on...
In itself there is nothing
wrong with owning nice things but the people of
Babylon were using their tower to replace God with
something of themselves.
Our possessions should not be
used to give us a sense of worth or identity. We
should enjoy them but always give the credit to God
and make Him first in our lives.
What "towers" have you built
lately?
Love in Christ
- Bob
If you have never made the
commitment to receive the love and life-changing
experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to
go
here and take the
first
steps to salvation.
Verses from Genesis telling the story of
Tower of Babel are from Life Application Study
Bible: New International Version
Comments are welcome. Please email
me with any questions or comments you
may have.
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