Family,
We continue our journey through Genesis, and we find ourselves diving into a familiar chapter--11. This is the infamous "Tower of Babel" text. It is a chapter that most of us know and could tell, without rehearsing or rereading the text. And so i found myself wondering what God could add to make this story new, revealing, and life-changing for all of us.
I mean, we are all familiar with the general consensus that the people built an altar to God, and it was an act of pride. They joined together, as one voice, in one language, and built this monstrocity to the heavens. The Bible even tells us that the LORD said, "If as one people they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them..." According to God's own perception, as one voice, as one people, as one mind, we can accomplish anything. So what does God do? He separates the people. He gives them different languages. He makes them strangers to each other. And then he spreads them out all over the earth. This is the story we know, right? And we attribute God's anger to their building the tower, right?
But wait. Why did they build the tower? They have to come together. They have become sedementary. They can't "be fruitful and multiply," if they are going to work together to build a tower. So. Could it be that part of God's issue with the people is that they disobeyed God's command to go and be fruitful? Instead of repopulating the earth, proving God's blessings to be true, they stopped, built a city where they were comfortable, and they forgot God would bless them, if they were obedient.
Is it plausible that the tower represents their refusal to accept the fullness of God's blessings? Our group on Sunday night struggled with this. In the text, they were unified. Is that such a bad thing? In the text, God suggested that if they were able to build a tower, in the little time they worked together, what more could they possibly accomplish, if they were able to work together? But isn't communicating, getting along, and working side by side a Godly thing? Our group said yes.
If it is, then why does God tear them a part? Is the tower that much of an abomination? Or. Was it that they denied God's blessing and instruction to go? We wrestled with this, and we sense it is both. And then we remembered Matthew 28, which Jesus tells His disciples, "Go and make disciples and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them all the things i have taught you. And surely i am with you, even to the end of the age."
It seems to me that the command to go brings a promise from God. If we go, as commanded, God walks with us. If we go, as commanded, God produces fruit. And if we go, as commanded, God unites us. How do i know? Because in Acts we have the power of the Holy Spirit unleashed on a crowd of people, from different countries, and though they spoke different languages, God helped them understand each other. In my own understanding of Pentecost, i get the sense that if God's people unite to honor God, obey God, and put their faith in God, then not even lingualistic difference can keep us a part.
And yet, if we, on the other hand, speak the same language, but we remain safe and comfortable, then we really won't know the fullness of God's blessings. This is the tower for me. This is the dilemma for me. How do we go? How do we live lives of radical faith? And how do we throw caution to the wind and trust God, completely? I am anxious to read your responses and insights to this difficult text. I know God will illuminate your minds and spirits and bring out a truth that inspires us all. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
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