MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES (GENESIS 11:1-9)
Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”
I have a tourist magnet sticking to my refrigerator that has a colorful slogan. The first line says, “BE REASONALBE,” and the bottom line: “Do it my way.” We like to do things our way, say it with force, “My way or the highway,” and brush others out of the way. As Frank Sinatra would sing:
“Yes, there were times I wish you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all when there was doubt
I ate it up, and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it…MY WAY!”
The Tower of Babel is about man’s determination to live sufficiently, determinedly and arrogantly without God. People think they are smart in themselves, fine without God and in safe hands. Man thinks that with the advance of new industries, active collaboration and concerted effort, nothing can stop them from reaching the top, literally. However, God reminds us His counsel will stand. Relying on Him guarantees our well-being but excluding Him from our lives means failure.
The word “Come” is prominent in Genesis 11. The first and primitive “Come” (v 3) began the construction, the second and civilized “Come” (v 4) progressed with contention, and the final and sovereign “Come” (v 7) ended in confusion. Why is God opposed to man’s insistence on his own way? What kind of lives do we live without God? How does that bring ruin upon us?
The Intelligence of Man is Foolishness to God
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. (Gen 11:1-3)
Some time ago, the Los Angeles Zoo displayed an exhibit designed to inform, amuse and shock visitors. Its slogan was “The world’s most dangerous animal - the only animal capable of destroying the earth, other species, or even its own kind.”
What was this animal? Onlookers were puzzled that the cage had not one but two college students. Why two? For a long time I couldn’t figure out its meaning. Man by himself is a timid and troublesome animal, but with company he is a daring and dangerous animal. One individual is tempted to act badly, two are pressured to act. With a little knowledge, in the wrong environment, and for the lack of guidance, man is a deadly animal.
It’s been said, “Humanity without divinity degenerates into bestiality.” A haunting line from the movie “A Beautiful Mind” echoed the same thing: “Man is as capable of as much atrocity as he has imagination.”
One in every 32 adults in the United States was behind bars or on probation or parole by the end of 2001, according to a government report. (Los Angeles Times, “Adults Punished for Crimes Hits Record,” August 26, 2002)
Before the construction of the tower, primitive men first tested the extent of their knowledge, researched the possibilities of natural properties, fulfilled their potential with great success and pushed their inventions to new heights. They had the resources, the skill and the drive to succeed. Nothing was beyond them, could stop or slow them. They had discovered how to heat raw materials, give them shape, and maximized its use.
The first biblical occurrence of the word “Come” is man’s determined, united, and negative effort to flourish, succeed and prosper without God. From stone they had progressed to bricks, and from mortar they had discovered tar. From now on they were hungry for the next step, the latest discovery and the new frontier.
Sadly, the advance of secular man is his very path to destruction. People make guns, bombs, nuclear weapons, biological weapons, and weapons of mass destruction. We have seen the rise of dictators and madmen such as Hitler, Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden who love nothing but to cause religious wars, civil wars and World Wars. Radio, TV and newspapers are perfect propaganda tools in their hands.
J. Robert Oppenheimer, the world famous inventor of the Atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, fittingly expressed his regret to Harry Truman: “I have blood on my hands.” He likened the then United States and Soviet Union rivalry to “two scorpions in a bottle, capable of killing the other but only at the risk of its own life.” (US News & World Report 8/17/98 “Brotherhood of the Bomb”)
Still, God is not opposed to man’s efficiency or proficiency, but their sufficiency. He is not at odds with creativeness but our cleverness, or against the process of change but our extremity in confidence. Ultimately God will destroy the wisdom of the wise and frustrate the intelligence of the intelligent (1 Cor 1:19, Isa 29:14). Man will discover that with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and increasing knowledge amounts to increasing pain (Eccl 1:18).
The Insubordination to God is Pretentious of Man
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. (Gen 11:4-6)
The first “Come” was a realization of man’s greatness but the second “Come” launches his vertical assault against God.
There’s an old African story about a boy who went out to see the world. He came to a great lake and saw a strange creature sitting on a tree limb there. This giant creature lay down and gobbled the lake dry. When the water was gone, the creature moaned and screamed for thirst and shouted for more.
The boy next followed the creature into a hut where the creature sets a cauldron over roaring fire. The creature tossed creatures large and small into the boiling water, including two live bulls and a rat. As the creature left for a short while, the boy stole a piece of meat for himself. But when the creature returned to finish the food to the last drop, the creature noticed that someone had stolen some food, and shouted that there’ll never be an end to the creature’s hunger.
Then the boy ran home and told his father: “Now I’ve seen what’s in the world.” (Jory Farr, Press Enterprise 3/26/99)
People are power hungry, celebrity conscious, and utterly shameless.
After a couple of strangers were married on national TV in front of 23 million viewers, USA Today asked on its front page: “Why people will do almost anything to get on TV” (USA Today, Craig Wilson 02-25-2000) A teenager opined, ’’Because it would be so cool to be on national TV and have two seconds of fame.’’
The tower of Babel was man’s ecumenical stairway to heaven, his giant leap in technology and the world’s first engineering marvel. The people at Babel revealed their unquenchable longings, flexed their collective muscles and craved for godlike glory: “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.”
Man disregarded God’s will deliberately, deftly and dangerously. God’s original command to man was to be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen 4:12, 9:1), but not only were they putting down roots and building acclaimed cities, they intended to ascend to heavens, immortalize their names, and exclude, rival, and play God, all at once.
The tower was a false sense of security. Man had amassed more talent, created more wealth and brainstormed new ideas. The motive was in the overwhelming desire for immortal life, for an illustrious name and for inseparable, indispensable, and irreversible human ties. This is the classic outcome of spirituality without God, man-made religions, and rejection of absolutes.
However, The Lord saw the evil of this vanity, idiocy and superficiality: “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 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.’” (vv 5-6)
God is not targeting architects, builders and contractors. He is not against extensive construction, but exclusive control; He does not oppose unity, but universality, the conception of a world system and the grandiosity of complete domination.
Man is not the master of the universe. God will show the way to those who would listen. Not long after the episode at Babel, just as Noah did, Abraham will build an altar to God and found the city which has God for its foundations, architect and builder (Heb 11:10).
Incivility to Others is Dangerous to One Another
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. (Gen 11:7-9)
Can people get along with differences in language, land and lineage? (6:5-8)
C. H. Spurgeon said: “Be not proud of race, face, place, or grace.” http://www.sermonillustrations.com/pride.htm
Californians who made their new home in Las Vegas, Phoenix or Seattle are often unwelcome and the butt of jokes in their new environment. A joke making its rounds in Seattle was reported in the Los Angeles Times (8/29/97).
A Texan, a Californian and a Seattleite are in a bar, and they ask for a bottle of tequila, a bottle of wine and a bottle of beer. The Texan throws a bottle of tequila into the air and shoots it with a pistol. He explains to the Californian and Seattleite, “Texas has plenty of tequila.” Next, the Californian throws a bottle of wine into the air and shoots it. He explains to the other two, “California has plenty of wine.” Finally, the Seattleite throws a bottle of beer into the air into the air, shoots the Californian and catches the beer bottle. He explains to the shocked and frightened Texan, “We have plenty of Californians, but I have to recycle the bottle.”
Today, the Wycliffe Bible Translators estimates there are about 6,170 languages in the world today. Mexico alone has 241; India 381; Indonesia 669; and Papua New Guinea 849 languages. The African continent alone has 1,918 different languages (Walk Thru the Bible 1/89 10).
In California alone, a study conducted in the new millennium revealed that more than 224 languages are spoken in the state. (Los Angeles Times 11/1/00)
The last “Come” was the reality of man’s lowliness and exposes his shallow understanding of brotherhood.
Do you know why the tower of Babel was incomplete? The builders scattered were not only scattered but, more importantly, they had no urge to merge again, now that they do not look like each other, act like the other and talk to one another. God exposed the hypocrisy, intolerance and guise of man. Their call for structure was a cover for supremacy.
Today, unfortunately, people kill one other over one of three things - the color of their skin, the dialect of their tongue, and the invasion of their space or neighborhood. Someone once said, “Racism is dislike of the unlike.” “Ethnic cleansing” is the abominable term now for one race obliterating the other.
Men’s hatred for one another is unabated from East Europe to East Timor, from right-wing nationalists to new-sprung activists, from minorities in the cities to tribes in each country and to neighbors whose scenic view is blocked by the next door fence or tree.
In America, people could not forget the nightmare race relations that had surfaced through the O. J. Simpson trial, the Rodney King and the Reginald Denny beatings.
Babel, the enemy of God, was the place where it all began. Do you know what city in Revelation is given more coverage for her ill-gotten riches and eventual doom (Rev 18:2-3)? Babylon the Great - the biblical city that survived the threat of Babel dispersion. It is also known as the mother of prostitutes and the abominations of the earth (Rev 17:5). Why was she called such? She feeds on immorality, sorcery and wickedness (Is 47:8-13). Its modern name? Iraq.
Conclusion: As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways and thoughts higher than man (Isa 55:9). There is no wisdom, insight or plan that can succeed without the Lord and against the LORD (Prov 21:30). Have you over-relied on your talents, intellect, learning, effort, and skills? Rely not on your personal understanding or counsel from others, but trust Him at all times, for all things, with all your heart. Remember, God’s foolishness is wiser than your wisdom, and His weakness is stronger than your strength (1 Cor 1:25-26).
Victor Yap
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