Confusion
Genesis 11:1-9
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Confusion.html
Babel means ‘confusion.’ It’s where we get the word ‘babble.’ And man w/out God is confused, and only God can help man ’rise up’ and make sense of things.
1) After the Flood, God commanded man to spread abroad, replenish and fill the earth.
“Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.” Genesis 8:17
“And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Genesis 9:1, 7
In Genesis 11:1-9, mankind rebelled, and under their world leader, Nimrod, decided to construct a tower that would reach into the heavens.
The ark rested on Mt. Ararat, several hundred miles east of Mesopotamia in the Mid East. No doubt the 3 brothers Shem, Ham, and Japheth had spoken of their old home and their descendants decided to travel there.
v. 2-4 “may reach unto heaven” = “whose top is heaven”
Most likely this tower was made for astrology, and as a humanistic, prideful lunge at making something great of themselves.
What is astrology? Not astronomy! It’s the supposed influence of the heavens on human affairs, according to the dictionary. But spiritually speaking, it is the heathen worship of the heavens. Worshiping the creation rather than the Creator. Some Christians read their horoscopes and look for signs in the skies. It’s a subtle form of Satan worship. The Bible warns against this activity!
We are to look to God for our guidance. The Bible calls Him our ‘High Tower.’
Today, we have different towers of Babel we are building. Humanism comes in many forms as mankind thinks he is evolving and bettering himself. Men imagine the eventual inhabiting of outer space, which is contrary to the will of God. God made the earth for men, and has reserved the heavens for his own purposes (Ps. 115:16). Men today are building a modern day tower to reach into the heaven! But no matter where they go in their vain travels, God will find them and bring them down (Amos 9:2-4; Obad. 1:4).
Psalms 115:16 The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men.
Amos 9:2 ...though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down:
Obadiah 1:4 Though thou exalt thyself as the eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars, thence will I bring thee down, saith the LORD.
Shifting gears...
The Tower of Babel has likely been found in modern day Iraq. Several possible sites exist, and it could be one of them pictured here. [slides] Dried bricks in 7 stages corresponded with the known planets of that day.
The signs of the zodiac were found there as well.
It was an open, defiant turning to Satan and the beginning of post flood devil worship.
God told Noah and his sons to scatter themselves abroad across the earth, but instead their descendants came together at Babel.
It was man’s first attempt at a one world movement.
Genesis 10:8-10
8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Nimrod is a type or picture of antichrist. He was the great-grandson of Noah. He also was the founder of Nineveh, the wicked place where Jonah was sent to preach.
In Daniel we see Nebuchadnezzar trying to do the same thing in the same basic location, setting up a huge idol to gather everyone together as a one world church. And it will be the same in the end of the world. What a demonic influence there is in that region!
2) Babylon was a city conceived in rebellion, the seat of the first great apostasy (falling away from God).
We are like Satan when we rebel. It is the ultimate lie.
1 Samuel 15:23
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
We live in a day of great rebellion. We don’t submit ourselves well to authority in our lives. Behind their backs we do and say all kinds of rebellious things. [boss / spouse / teacher / pastor / parents / etc.]
God doesn’t tolerate rebellion! He judges rebellion.
Ill.—King Saul rebelled against God’s direct commands to him and he was severely judged for it.
Submitting doesn’t make you inferior, but obedient. It’s an organizational principle thru which God works. Even Jesus, God the Son, submits to the Father! “Not my will but Thine be done!” “...thought it not robbery to be equal with God.”
Nothing works properly without some form of a chain of command. We are a body with all different levels of functions, and we all answer to different parts of the body as we work together.
3) What was God’s response? God came down and confounded the language of the people so that they could not understand each other.
v. 5-9 The one language spoken by the people before Babel was most likely what we know as HEBREW today. We say that, since the names given to men and places in the period prior to Babel all have meanings which relate to events and characteristics only in the Hebrew.
When the Lord Jesus Christ sets up his glorious kingdom here on earth for a thousand years, he will cause the people again to speak in one pure language (Zeph. 3:8-9).
Can you imagine someone talking to you and all of a sudden it’s foreign to you? Or you are speaking to someone and it makes sense to you but they can’t understand.
Every time you hear a foreigner, or see the ambassadors at the UN w/ their headphones, remember this.
This study isn’t complete w/out comparing Acts 2 and the day of Pentecost. The apostles preached and every man heard it in their own language.
Babel Pentecost
Sinful men gather in own name Saved men gather in name of Jesus
God confounds language God clarifies language
God scatters man God gathers men
This caused them to separate from each other and relocate to different areas of the earth. Here we have the origin of languages and nations.
We have used the words confusion and rebellion to characterize these people...let me add another word: pride.
Ill.--A little boy was overheard talking to himself as he strutted through the backyard, wearing his baseball cap and toting a ball and bat. "I’m the greatest hitter in the world," he announced.
Then, he tossed the ball into the air, swung at it, and missed.
"Strike One!" he yelled. Undaunted, he picked up the ball and said again, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"
He tossed the ball into the air. When it came down he swung again and missed. "Strike Two!" he cried.
The boy then paused a moment to examine his bat and ball carefully. He spit on his hands and rubbed them together. He straightened his cap and said once more, "I’m the greatest hitter in the world!"
Again he tossed the ball up in the air and swung at it. He missed. "Strike Three!"
"Wow!" he exclaimed. "I’m the greatest pitcher in the world!"
Pride is a deadly virus that will eat away at us emotionally and spiritually. It is a great deceiver. Pride has destroyed more marriages and churches than any other thing. Nimrod was attempting to build a world empire without the blessing or direction of God.
PRIDE WILL AFFECT OUR WORSHIP. “Whose top will reach up to heaven.”
This tower was a ‘ziggurat’ with a runway or stairs that went around the edge up to the top. At the top of these towers (which are commonly found in ruins of that area) there was an altar used for pagan sacrifice.
Pride affects our worship when we try to impress God or others with our goodness.
God is no respecter of persons……We must be careful not to take on the attitude of the Pharisee in the temple.
Being active in the service of God is a privilege. God loves us and wants to use us in His service but He doesn’t need us. If I walk away from His service today, He will raise up another to take my place.
I cannot worship God with a spirit of pride.
Psalms 101:5
...him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
The word “suffer” means to endure or in our words “put up with.”
PRIDE WILL AFFECT OUR VIEW OF LIFE. “and let us make us a name.”
Every person who has attempted to be a world ruler has been defeated. From Nimrod to Nebucadnezzer to Hitler to Stalin and even the Antichrist in end times. Destruction and judgment from God is promised to the one with this attitude.
We sometimes take credit for things that we shouldn’t. It’s like the beaver told the rabbit as they stared up at the immense wall of Hoover Dam, "No, I didn’t actually build it myself. But it was based on an idea of mine."
Pride will cause a great deal of envy and division.
*Every affair starts because someone thinks they deserve a better spouse than they have.
PRIDE WILL RESULT IN THE VERY THING WE WANT TO AVOID. “lest we be scattered”
Vs. 5-8 God’s power is greater than man’s pride.
What is the answer then?
A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Prov 29:23
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. James 4:10
Humility is necessary for salvation. No one has been saved by demanding that God let them into heaven. No one can climb up or make their own way in.
Humble yourselves to accept God’s will for a church home.
Humble yourselves to serve God where he leads.
Humble yourselves in your marriage and watch it improve.
http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/Confusion.html
