MAN PROPOSES, GOD DISPOSES (GENESIS 11:1-9)
“I will not believe anything that I do not understand,” said a man in a hotel one day. His friends with him agreed with him.
“Gentlemen,” said one who sat close by, “on my ride this morning I saw some geese in a field eating grass; do you believe that?”
“Certainly,” said one of the three listeners.
“I saw the pigs eating grass; do you believe that?”
“Of course,” said the three.
“I also saw sheep and cows eating grass; do you believe that?”
“Of course,” was again the reply.
“Well, the grass turned to feathers on the backs of the geese, to bristles on the backs of the swine, to white wool on the sheep, and to hair on the cow; do you believe that, gentlemen?”
Certainly,” they replied.
“But do you understand it?”
Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.”
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. God, however, reminds us His counsel will stand. Relying on Him guarantees our well-being, but excluding Him from our lives means failure.
The word “Come” in the imperative form is prominent in Genesis 11, the only imperatives in the chapter. 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 Pretentious of Oneself
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)
I came across a very interesting refrigerator magnet in a popular tourist spot in Hong Kong. It says, “I treat you like my brother, you treat me like Lehman brothers.”
It’s been said, “Humanity without divinity degenerates into bestiality.”
According to history, the Egyptians were the first to make bricks, but how were their bricks different from Genesis. They dried their bricks in the sun to harden mud placed in a brick mold or cast, but the men of Babel had an ingenious way: they fired and baked the bricks through and through. In Hebrew “bake them thoroughly” is “bake, bake.”
Man’s first ambitious “let us” was never for self-improvement but for self-destruction. It was never to have good character but to have more choices. It was not to be more personal but to be more powerful, not to build relationships but to build weapons. Sadly, man cares only for his advancement, addition and advantage. Controlling fire has always been considered the turning point in the progress of man. It was no small feat to combine the solid (brick) and the non-solid (fire) elements in nature. 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” (v 3) 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.
What happened to man’s advancement today? 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; not 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 words “each other” (v 3) made its debut in the Bible and is traditionally translated in the Bible as “neighbor” 102 times, “friend” 42 times, and “another” is a mere 23 times. What do neighbors have in common in the Bible? The principle and purpose of the law is encapsulated in Leviticus 19:18, to love your neighbor as yourself – to lean on one another, to look out for one another and to live with another. The invitation to “make bricks and to bake them thoroughly” (v 3) is an unfriendly rather than a friendly proposal. It is a way for man to increase, invoke and indulge his power, potential and presence.
The Insubordination to God is Pride to Him
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)
A senator from Ohio, Senator Taft, approached Harry Truman at the beginning of the Cold War, right after the conclusion of the Second World War, when Russia began to expand into Eastern Europe. At that time, the United States was the sole possessor of the atomic bomb. Taft half-jokingly said to Truman, “Mr. President, why don’t you drop a bomb on Moscow now and prevent this long struggle that we’re going to have to be engaged in?” Truman answered, “If I would not have to meet my Maker, I would accept your advice.” (http://www.jewishhistory.org/blog/page/25/)
Of all God’s creation, man is the most dangerous, most destructive and most disobedient.
The first “Come” (v 3) was a realization of man’s greatness but the second “Come” (v 4) launches his vertical assault against God. The first was his advancement, the second reveals his ambition – what he can do and who he can be.
The tower is a contrast to being scattered (v 4), one is vertical and the other is horizontal. It is a defiance, disobedience and disregard made on earth.
The second “Come” (v 4) was to usurp or take God’s presence, place and power in our lives. It is a classic grab for power, to replace and remove God with human effort - to reduce, resist, remove, resent, replace and reject his involvement in our lives. The beginning of human history begins with God’s creation in chapter one ends with human cooperation, cleverness and construction.
Hong Kong’s second richest man, the US$19 billion dollar man Mr. Lee Shau Kee who is considered the 19th richest person in the world, remarked in an autobiography that he was once asked, “Would you exchange half of your riches for thirty more years of life?” Without missing a beat, he answered, “Not only half, I would give 99% of my wealth.”
That is as ambitious and as arrogant as one can get.
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.” This somewhat innocent statement is not so naïve anymore when you compare it with the only other time the “Let us make” declaration is found from chapters 1-11 in Gen 1:26, where it says “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Five things were needed for man to be the master of his universe: people or manpower, participation or management, motivation or pursuit, plan or mindset, product or material, process or method. The second “let us” comes with a purpose and not just a project, a motive and a mission and not just the method and means.
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 progress of man is epitomized from a brick to a city and a tower, and finally to heaven. That was why God said there was nothing impossible for them in what they purpose to “do” (infinitive) in verse 6.
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.
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)
Do not worry! 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, 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).
The Incivility to Others is Prejudice to Others
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.”
The last “Come” (v 7) was the reality of man’s lowliness and exposes his shallow understanding of brotherhood. Man is frail, feeble and fallible by nature. Out of nowhere a freaky meteor or space rock exploded over Russia and more than 1,000 people were injured. It released about 33 times the energy of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
http://newyork.newsday.com/news/world/meteor-in-russia-largest-since-1908-siberian-blast-1.4663353
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. They merely thought they were “one,” the word being repeated four times (vv 1 twice, 6 twice). Now they stopped building because they do not “hear” one another (v 7), the basic word for “understand.” God exposed the hypocrisy, intolerance and guise of man. Their call for structure was a cover for supremacy. UNESCO estimated there are 6,800 spoken languages in the world today. In a large part of the world, people are discriminated when they are black, yellow, red, brown or even white.
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.
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
Bible.ryl.hk (Grammar Bible)
www.preachchrist.com (Sermons)
