Genesis Day 21: Learning from God

Genesis 11:1-9

If you pause for a moment, you will notice that we have gone from a world-ending flood to a ginormous earth-shaking-language-confusing-event of sorts, that has scattered humanity across the globe.  The Bible is like summer blockbuster movie season!

I write that not to be derogatory towards God’s Word, but to point out that you should not be finding this story boring… quite the opposite!

More than entertainment, what might you and I be gaining from our reading?

Pieter Bruegel the Elder - The Tower of Babel c. 1563 [Public domain] Google Art Project via Wikimedia Commons

In my old job, when we would make a mistake that was serious, we would hold a review to determine what we could learn. Out of that review we issued a document. Its title: Lessons Learned. The idea was to share our lessons with others, so they would avoid making the same mistake.

One day, my boss said, “You should change the name to “Lessons Identified AGAIN” because you are not Learning them.” Ouch!

The same is true of us, the human race. Consider what the motivation is to build the Tower of Babel. We read in verse 4, “Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves…”

“To the top of the heavens…” I almost picture a snake somewhere in the scene saying “…You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God…”

Trying to be "like God”—it never goes well…

There is a recurring lesson in the Bible—when we live apart from God, we end up trying to be "like God”, and God always intervenes. He may wait a while, but He always shows up.

In this part of chapter 11, rather than a flood, he is gracious and sends confusion.

“There is the recurring lesson in the Bible—when we live apart from God, we end up trying to be ‘like God’, and God always intervenes. He may wait a while, but He always shows up.”

I do wonder about the day-and-age we live in. Perhaps we have never been more connected as humans since the Tower of Babel.

Think about it. With the internet, we can auto-translate between languages, with English being the language of business. And, while I don’t want to start proclaiming the “end is near”, I can sure see us “trying to be like God” in so many ways.

Please don’t misunderstand. Human progress is not bad, so long as it is directed by – and connected to – God. Because apart from Him, we simply are making ourselves into little gods.

Which makes me wonder, where am I building, without asking God to be involved? How about you?