I am going to write a series titled, God Said What, which will discuss different things throughout the Bible that God said which either showed the abundance of faith of a person or people or just left me in deep thought. I can not tell you how long the series will be and at this moment I don’t plan on it being something I write about consistently or in any order, but they will be written as God puts them on my heart to write. I hope you enjoy them.
The first in our series is on the Tower of Babylon also known as the Tower of Babel. To give you a little background knowledge here; the tower was built in the land of Shinar and everyone spoke the same language. These people decided to build a city to live together and a tower that would allow them to have access to the heavens. This in itself was a rebellion against God’s command to fill the earth and shows the evil in their hearts.
Not only were the people not wanting to spread across the earth, but they also wanted to make a name for themselves which shows how prideful they had become. As they built this city, “The Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building.” Genesis 11:5 “
The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” Genesis 11:6-7
God said what?
God said, “Nothing they plan to do will be impossible.” Hold it right there, let that sink in. The people were building something, working together and nothing they planned would be impossible. When we work with others nothing is impossible. We can achieve great things and not-so-great things depending on what plans we are following. The people building the city and tower were focused on self-glorification and not following God’s command, so God stepped in and stopped them from completing their plan.
What can we learn from this?
When we don’t follow God’s commands he will redirect us. This could cause us to fail at our plans, but if we aren’t seeking God are our plans truly what we should spend our time on? We are intelligent and capable of so much more than we give ourselves credit for, especially if we follow God, seeking his wisdom and will for our lives. We can accomplish more when we are willing to work with others with the same desires as we do and seek to glorify God.
Did you catch that the Lord came down to the city? We don’t read very often that the Lord came down. So, this city and tower being built must have been a pretty big deal. We don’t know the form that the Lord came down in, but we do know he wasn’t happy with what he saw. Mankind tends to turn away from God quickly and seeks to fulfill their evil desires assuming that God will just overlook what they have done
The consequence of their pride, self-glorification, and rebellion of filling the earth was God changing each tribe's language. They could no longer understand one another and therefore had to abandon their mission.
How often do we allow pride to get in the way of our work and relationships? When we allow pride to win, we lose. We can accomplish so much more when we set our pride aside and choose to show compassion and love. God created us for relationships. Let’s work together to achieve the impossible and make a difference in this dark and hurting world.
“Pride comes before destruction, and an arrogant spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
