For NIV reading click here http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2011:1-32&version=NIV
Read it in two sections, first 11:1-9 which is the Tower of Babel story. Then read the genealogical sections that leads up to Abram.
11:1-9 starts out pretty good, up through verse 3, then, like the chapters that come before it, humanity goes off track:
(1) 9:1, 7 suggest they are supposed to be scattered ('fill the earth...'), not huddled together for themselves
(2) what makes them (us) think we can build anything that gets us to God?!
(3) what makes us think that living for 'ourselves' moves us heavenward?
(4) v. 5 is a laughable reminder that where God is, is so completely beyond reach by human effort that even with humanity huddled together and working together with technology ('bricks' not stone) we are so far from God that God has to 'come down' to us to see what's going on!
(5) v. 6 might suggest that God is afraid of humanity's potential, but I think it's more that God is afraid for them.
(6) So, God scatters their language and their bodies, perhaps hoping they will fill the earth and faithfully subdue it as they/we are supposed to rather than always living for ourselves and our pride.
Lots more here...your thoughts, questions, ideas for living the text...
Prayers,
Matt
I know I mix my pronouns (them, us, our, etc.) but the Bible stories to me speak so powerfully and are so relevant that I get caught up in them, and it sometimes comes through in my grammar...
ReplyDeleteMissed a couple of days. Sorry. I've been caught up in my own misery. Anyway, there are many, many examples in scripture, including the Tower of Babel story where the plans of the heart belong to man, but the outcome belongs to the LORD. I also like the "nothing is impossible" line, however, that does not necessarily guarantee a predictable outcome.
ReplyDeleteGod seems pretty serious about His people going out to fill the earth as His image-bearers in the world. This story has implications for the church...do we build, develop, fill our calendars for ourselves, or do we focus on building up God's mission?
ReplyDeleteAlso interesting that the confusing of languages (balal in Hebrew) sounds so much like Babel.
The genealogy leads us to Abram.
The Babel story .......I love our holy huddle at church ; safe , warm , secure ,hugs and blessings . But I'm thinkin the Babel story and others might
ReplyDeletebe indicating that we are to scatter . We will probably accomplish much more in terms of advancing His Kingdom if we take His message out into the world .
Or perhaps both...scatter to serve and share, and gather to celebrate and pray...
ReplyDeleteI like that , sounds like a plan !
ReplyDelete