July 1 Babble and the Church

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud. ~Proverbs 16:18-19

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 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.”

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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So, the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 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. ~Genesis 11:1-9

“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.” We try our hardest to replace God and be god for ourselves instead. We think we know better. We think, “if we just join together, nothing, not even God can stop us!” We forget about the God factor.

I say the word, “we,” because, without Christ, that type of thinking is our human condition. Paul reminds the Corinthians, “And that is what some of you were.” (1 Cor. 6:11A) Paul is referring back to a list of sinful behaviors that he made in verses 9 & 10, and though “pride” is not directly listed, it is definitely a component of those behaviors. Then Paul explains what has made the difference. “But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” Without Christ, we are capable of being a part of the collective statements made above. 

When sinners come together, it often isn’t good. Collective pride is usually looking for collective power. In order to feel powerful, there needs to be someone to exert that power over. Pride feeds off of itself. It may begin with good intentions, but then, it goes too far and God steps in. That is grace and mercy. 

The first time that we saw power go too far, God brought the flood. In this story, of the tower, God broke off man’s plans before they went too far again. It may not have been wrong to build. However, when they gave their reasoning: “so that we may make a name for ourselves,” they were leaving God out of the picture. They wanted to worship themselves and their own creation and God had to put a stop to it. “Pride goes before destruction,” excess is usually its own undoing.

Have you ever wondered why God inspired Moses to make a careful note of the building materials used for the tower, bricks rather than stone? First of all, the choice seems obvious from a “supply” point of view. It’s easy to make as many bricks as you want, easier than finding enough stones, searching far and wide, and shipping them to the site. Another significant bit is that bricks are a creation of man, and since they wanted to worship their own creation, the material they used is consistent with that! The last thing I wondered about, though I can’t prove it, is whether bricks could actually support the full weight of the structure they had envisioned. Would architects know that a brick tower would collapse because the bricks at the bottom would crumble once the weight of the tower exceeded what the bottom bricks could support? “Pride goes before destruction” could have been a literal issue. In stopping the project God may have even prevented a lot of accidental deaths! Grace ad mercy.

“Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to share plunder with the proud.” Jesus put it this way: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) It’s not about what we gain for ourselves. It’s really about what God has already promised. Those who humbly rely on His provision, will receive the kingdom of heaven. True, this kingdom is not part of the seen world. There may not be a monument to help anyone behind us remember our reliance on God. However, God remembers. The monument to our faith in Him is in heaven, as a member of His kingdom because of Jesus. 

There can be no pride left in us when we consider what Christ has done for us and how he purchased our membership into the Kingdom of God. We didn’t earn it, we were given it as a gift when we placed our trust in His blood and righteousness and stopped trusting in our own abilities or talents, or offerings. 

You know, Babble was undone at Pentecost, not through man’s efforts, but through the work of the Holy Spirit. God brought man together for the work of building His bride, the church. Ever since Pentecost, satan has done all he could to undo what the Holy Spirit is building. 

Now, it’s interesting to see the thinking of Babble at work again as an act of man. Computers make it possible to all have one language, or at least translate back and forth nearly instantly. We are striving for collective, one world thought, to become an invincible power to once again, “make a name for ourselves.” In the case of the church, Jesus said: “the gates of hell will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:19), but in the case of the world, they may have forgotten, but we should not, the God factor. 

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the Kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples,” and down the ages to us, “the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” (Matthew 9:35-38) Tell them about the God factor, that He has not forgotten and that they can be safe in Him. Help them accept humbly what God has done and feel welcome into the Kingdom outside of this world.

Prayer: Father, I want to work for You, in the Spirit, and build with silver and gold and precious gems. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: Build My Life