The Tower of Babel

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The Tower of Babel

Scripture Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV)

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 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. 4 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.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 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. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 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.

Devotion

          Let us look at the story of the Tower Babel. How are the actions of the people here in this story like our own culture? First, they totally ignored God. They were determined to build up their city and their tower without regard for what God wanted them to do. Today, most of the people in America live their lives totally without consulting God. Even the most recent poll of Religion shows that less than 50% of us belong to, let alone attend, a church, synagogue, or Mosque.

          Second, the people in this story do not attempt to communicate with God at all. They talk among themselves and set their minds to do their own thing without reference to God. They don’t pray to God, and they make no attempt to communicate with God at all. Today, I believe that most Americans live their lives without communicating with God. We, in our unparalleled wealth and security, see no need to involve God in our daily lives. We go about building our lives as we see fit without reference to God.

          What can we do to recover our relationship with God? First and foremost, we must pray.  We need to ask God for forgiveness for our lack of attention to our relationship with him. We should ask God to send revival to our land. We must pick up our Bibles and read them and study God’s word so that we can know what God is saying to us about how to live in this world today. This culture needs us as Christians to be source of hope.

           Finally, we must worship God as often as we can. God doesn’t need our worship, but he desires it. We need to fall in love with God again, so our worship will be free and spontaneous, not a duty. We must desire God to be the center of our lives.

Prayer

          God of all creation, hear our prayer to you this day. Strengthen us to live our lives in total dependance on you. You are God and we are not. We confess our need for you in our lives today. May we not be like the people of old in Babel. May we be committed to our relationship with you. Help us to pray, read our Bibles and worship you each day. May we be serious about making you the center of our lives so that we will be examples to a watching world. We ask all this in the name of your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

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