Saturday, July 30, 2011

GOD of the Old Testament vs. GOD of the New Testament Part III

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

 1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called
Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

God had commanded man to populate the earth (Gen. 1:28; Gen. 9:1). That’s kind’a hard if you bunch up in one city. God could have dealt harshly with the people; He could have sent disease, or an enemy, or any number of horrible things to scatter them. But as is God’s nature, He chose to be merciful and do the unexpected. 
God created man to multiply and cover the earth. What is so hard about that?  

While we’re on the subject, have you ever had plans to do something that just didn’t work out? Maybe, like me, you find out later that was God’s hand guiding you somewhere else.

Like the hand of a loving parent guides their toddler lest he fall, so also God guides us lest we fall (in sin).

An interesting note: This site later became Babylon (Iraq). Babel is also where we get the word “Babble,” meaning incoherent chatter. 

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