GENESIS 11 BABEL Human life had one language so that wherever people went until the time the descendants of Shem made a city and a tower, they could communicate with each other. Human sin moved them to make a tower “whose top might reach to heaven.” Pride and self- sufficiency were the motivation that ultimately led Babylon to be one of the worst centers of idolatry and religious falsehood on earth. Godless ambition moved people to say, “Let us make us a name” instead of submitting to divine authority. “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft.”
Divine consideration took place when the “Lord looked down to see” what man had lifted up in his sinful ambition. God came down in judgment. God knows and deals with every action and attitude of man, having taken consideration of the motive and intention behind those actions and attitudes. Divine action can quickly turn over and undo every prideful act that humans seek to do. Confusion is the result of human beings trying to control their own destiny without God.
- Life without God brings danger and disaster. Indifference soon becomes rebellion. A religious system that glorifies humanity and minimizes God, will lead to disaster upon all who follow that way. When religion leads people farther and farther away from God, they are in a place of danger where there will be trouble on every side.
- False unity brings danger and disaster. Outward, visible ties to seek to rally people together with nothing moral or spiritual in common will be fatal to true unity. Unity comes from what people share in common within themselves, not what they do outwardly. A church cannot maintain unity with mere outward forms. The unity of life, love, faith, spirit, service, and common interest, can be obtained and maintained in spite of differing personalities. When we belong to our Lord, He is the One common bond that keeps us together.
- True unity blesses God’s people. That comes because of being a living organism. In a very limited way, the organization of an organism enhances its functional abilities. God produces life and when spiritual life comes from God, there is unity in the body of Christ, by one Spirit who has called us to one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God and Father of all.