The O.T. Part II

Sunday Night Bible Study Recap
4/30/2006
Genesis 11:1-9

Wat hebt u gezegd?

Think about the story of the Tower of Babel...is this basically how you remember it?

"All the people of the world spoke one language. They wanted to be gods, so they got together and decided to build a tower all the way up to heaven. God didn't like what they were doing, so he got mad, came down, destoryed the tower, changed their languages so they couldn't understand each other, and scattered them all over the earth."

Typically what we remember from this story is God getting mad at people and punishing them because they were trying to be like him.

I want to quickly look at another perspective of God's actions in this story, but first, actually pick up your bible, read the story in Genesis 11:1-9 again, and see if there are any misconceptions in the way the story is typically told?

Find any yet?

Does it say that the tower was destroyed?

Does it even represent God as being angry?

Think about what the people were doing here. They were trusting themselves to set up there own god in power over them.

(In case you were wondering, they were probably not really trying to build a tower all the way up to heaven...you can't do that. You just can't! Historians argue that they were building a Ziggaraut in which the top floor was the throne room for the deity, sometimes the actual human ruler, and the throne room was called "the heavens". The point here is that the people were getting in deep in their sin.)

Now, God sees them getting deeper and deeper in their sin and what does he do? He has compassion on them...

What?!?

He confuses their languages out of mercy and compassion.

WHAT?!?!?!

Sure, He was probably a little miffed too, but look at what he says in verse 6:
"Nothing will be impossible for them."

In other words they'll be able to do whatever evil they put their minds to.

When God confused their languages, he stopped their current evil behavior in its tracks. There was no real way for them to continue. He dealt a blow to the work of the devil right there, and saved the people from making even more dreadful mistakes in the near future.

Think about your life. What is the purpose of discipline?

To keep you from doing wrong again! This isn't an act out of anger, but one out of compassion.

God wants us to honor him, and he teaches us what that means through the discipline he brings into our lives. The sooner you learn the lesson, the less drastic the discipline will have to be.

Here are 5 applications the account of the Tower of Babel has to our everyday lives:

1. Different languages around the world are eveidence of the existence of God and the truth of the Bible.

2. We often live our lives for the wrong purpose...to make much of ourselves.

3. Sin is rooted in the desire to make much of ourselves.

4. God's love for us is shown by his discipline-he wants us to make much of Him!

5. God is being compassionate through discipline because it will keep us from more sin and then more punishment.