Week 1 / Beginnings

The Tower of Babel

Read: Genesis 11:1-9

SOAP: Genesis 11:8-9

"So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth." (NET)

Into the Text

Just a few generations after the flood, Noah's descendants had successfully multiplied to a great number of people. However, sin was still abounding. Just like Adam and Eve wanted to be like God and do things their own way, the people living in Shinar wanted to do the same by building a tower to reach the heavens.

The people were also not following God’s command to “be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it!” (Genesis 1:28). They instead decided to stay together in one great city.

As terrible as individual sinning can be, God knew that the uniting of mankind in their acts of prideful rebellion would be disastrous. So, in His mercy and grace, He confused the people's languages and scattered them throughout the earth, making it harder to communicate with each other.

Oftentimes, we have seasons of life where we don’t understand what God is doing. We think that He is allowing us to go through a hard or confusing time because He is angry or cruel.

Rather, it is due to mercy that God does not give us everything we want or think we need. It is through these times that we learn humility and faith. And while this does not eliminate the pain of hard seasons, we can take comfort in God's promise to work out all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

Prayer

God, thank you for stepping in and working in my life even when I don’t understand. Help me to trust you and lean on you in all seasons. Amen.