The Tower of Babel

Genesis chapter 11, let's look at it together this morning. Verse number 1, Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words, and it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and settled there. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. And they said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top we'll reach into heaven. And let us make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.

And the Lord came down to see the city, the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do. And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad, from there over the face of the whole earth. And they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth.

And from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. Three points, a rebellion, a revelation, and a reminder. First of all let's look at the rebellion.

The tower of Babel is about a rebellion. A rebellion of a group of people that went against God's precept. What was the precept? What was the command? Genesis 1.28, God gave it to Adam and Eve, Be fruitful and multiply and do what? Fill the earth. Genesis 9.1, He said to Noah, Be fruitful and multiply and do what? Fill the earth. God gave a command. I want the earth filled. If you were with us in our study in Genesis chapter 10, we studied this fact, that God had designed man to dwell in languages, in nations, in lands, and in families.

Four different times in Genesis 10, that phrase is repeated, because God wanted people where? All over the face of the globe, not in one central location. So when you get to Genesis chapter 11, what happens? There's a rebellion. Let us come together, lest we be scattered abroad. They rebelled against what God had said. God, we know that you want us around the world, but we don't want to be around the world. We want to dwell together. We want to be a unit. We want to be one. So let us come together and do our own thing.

The Tower of Babel is about a rebellion. It's a rebellion against the commands of God. Now, who led that rebellion? Somebody had to lead it. There had to be a leader who would take them away from God, and there was a man. We talked about him last time in Genesis chapter 10. Whenever you read through a genealogy, and the genealogy takes a break from the repetition of names, and begins to describe a certain character, it's there because you need to take note of what happens. Genesis chapter 10, verse number 8, Now Cush became the father of Nimrod.

He became a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord, and the beginning of his kingdom was, what? Babel. Nimrod. Those of you who are with us, his name means to rebel. To revolt. He was the chief one before the Lord. You could translate that Hebrew phrase either against the Lord, which would be right because he was one who rebelled against the Lord, or as it states in the New American Standard, before the Lord, meaning that before the Lord, he knew, God knew, that is exactly what Nimrod was doing in his revolt against him.

Either translation would be correct. And so here was a man who was the chief one before God, whose kingdom, the first time the word kingdom is used in the Bible, whose kingdom was one other than the kingdom of God.

It was his kingdom, Nimrod's kingdom. Come to me. Come to my city. Come to Babel, and I will introduce you to God. He was one who would set himself up as God, to be worshipped as God. He wanted to be the chief one before the Lord. He wanted to be the mighty one before the Lord. He wanted to be the great one before the Lord. He was the one who would lead the rebellion against God. And funny, it says that in that land of Babel, there would be confusion. Remember the word Babel means the gate of God?

The gate of God. This is the gate to God. It's my gate, Nimrod would say. It's my way, Nimrod would say. And what would God do? He would confuse them. Why? Here's the point, because any time you rebel against God, there is nothing but confusion in your life. There is confusion mentally. There is confusion spiritually. There is confusion physically. There is confusion emotionally. You name me a person who has revolted against God's commands, God's precepts, and I will guarantee there is confusion in their life.

Let me give you an example. The Bible says children obey your parents. Children honor your father and mother. I know people today who have grown up in the church, who have disobeyed their parents, who have not honored their parents. They've grown up, they've gotten married, they've got kids, and their life is full of confusion. And they don't understand why. They don't understand why their family's falling apart. They don't understand why things aren't right in their own life with their husband or their wife.

It's because they revolted against the very basic command of God to honor your mother and father, and they've never repented of that. If you repent of that, God will repair that relationship because you have been restored to Him. But if you haven't repented of that, then that relationship is in dire straits. It is broken. There are people who have rebelled against even the most simple of all commands. What's the Tower of Babel? A story about a rebellion against God's precept. Why? Why did man rebel?

Simply, man's pride. God's precept was given. Man's pride went into action. I'm not going to do that. Outright defiance. I'm not going to do that, God. We're not going to do that. We're going to come together, have one language. I know you want a multiplicity of languages. We're going to have one language. We're going to have one unit. We're going to have one city. We're going to have one government. We're going to have one economy. We're going to do it our way, God. We know what you've said, but this is what we want to do.

At the base of that is man's pride, his arrogance, his conceits. These people decided they would build a tower, a great tower. Archaeologists tell us it's the ziggurats. In fact, in this area we are told that there are over 24 ziggurats still standing, or remnants of them still standing even today. One author said it this way, a ziggurat was like a pyramid except that the successive levels were recessed so that you could walk to the top on steps. At the top was a special shrine dedicated to a god or goddess.

In building the structure the people weren't trying to climb up to heaven to dethrone God, rather they hoped that the god or goddess they worshipped would come down from heaven to meet them. And notice what the text says.

It says, let us make a name for ourselves. Man always wants to make a name for himself, doesn't he? Man always wants his name up in lights. Man always wants his name on the back of the bulletin. Man always wants his name on the brochure. Man always wants people to recognize that individual. Man wants his name seen. Let us make a name for ourselves. That's what they wanted. But you see, even in the church it's all about me. It's not about God. It's about my ministry, my agenda, my life. And what is that?

It's Genesis chapter 11, the power of Babel. Let us make a name for ourselves. Let us come together and build a city, build a tower. Let's show everybody that we're important, that we're somebody, that we're great. And they'll come along and they'll join us and they'll be great too because they've adopted us. It's a rebellion against God's commands because of man's conceit. They wanted to make a name for themselves. This let me remind you of the blessing upon Japheth.

That his blessing would come when he dwelt in the tents of Shem, whose name means what? The name. Their blessing would come when they would dwell in the tents of the one whose name means the name. And through the line of Shem came the name of the Messiah, came the King of kings and Lord of lords. The one day at that name every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. But they didn't want that authority. They didn't want to come under the authority of the name.

They wanted their own name. Like those in Jerusalem. They didn't want to come under the authority of the king. They wanted their own king, their own way, their own style. It's like churches today. They want their own kind of Christianity. The Christianity that meets their needs, that looks good to them. And therefore they rebel against God. If you are rebelling against God today, you cause a reproach to come upon the church of Jesus Christ. Because of one man's sin. If you want to sin and rebel against God, would you do me a favor and go to another church and do that?

Don't do it here. Christ Community Church is about people who want to follow God and obey His Word. If that's not what you want to do and you want to revolt against the commands of God, then I would suggest you find yourself another church to do that in. Because we want God to be glorified here. We want God to be honored here. And those who come to Christ Community Church are interested in that same thing. It doesn't mean they don't sin. It doesn't mean that at times they don't rebel against God, because we all do, don't we?

But the point is, they repent. Get right with God. And ask God to do a mighty work. That's the story of the Tower of Babel. It's a story about a rebellion against the precepts of God. Folks, listen, every Word of God is pure. All Scripture is profitable. There's no point of Scripture that you can look at and say, You know what?

You know, I'm not interested in that point. Because every Word of God is true and pure and holy. All Scripture is profitable. Not just the New Testament is profitable and the Old Testament's not. It's all profitable. If it's all profitable, if it's all pure, then it all is designed to promote maturity in my life. And if at any time I say that point right there, I don't agree with. I don't like. I'm not going to do that aspect. God, I'll do everything else, but I won't do that one thing. Then you have rebelled against God.

You have done which that, in Genesis chapter 11, caused for great confusion. And if you're here today and you have confusion in your life, you have chaos in your life, you need to go back and say, God, where have I revolted against your commands? Where have I said my way is better than your way? Where have I said, Lord, I don't want to do what you want me to do? Fall on your hands and your knees before God. Repent of your ways and watch God do a mighty work. And say, God, I will do anything and everything you ask me to do because you are my king and I want you to reign over me.

But number two, the story of Babel and the tower that was built is about a revelation, a revelation of the character of God and the consequences of sin.

I want you to notice something. It's so good. I wish I had three hours to preach today. I do, I've got the first service and the second service.

But look what it says, And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. Folks, I've got to let you know something, whenever God comes down, there's problems. You know, it's best, you know, God stay right up there, right where you are, but whenever God comes down, you can be sure there's going to be a problem because you're going to deal with it. The Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they all have the same language. And this is what they, what they began to do.

And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down. And they're confused their language that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth. And they stopped building the city. It's a revelation about the character of God, His omniscience. God knows everything. God knows everything. The fact that He came down is given to us that we might understand an anthropomorphism, that is, God being represented in human language, so we understand God's involvement.

But I want you to notice God's omniscience, He knows what's going on. You see, God knows what's going on right now.

He knows what you're thinking about right now, even as I'm preaching. He knows whether or not you're thinking about lunch, you're thinking about what's going on this afternoon, your business tomorrow. He knows whether or not you're saying, Come on, sparks, hurry up and get done. I want to leave. He knows exactly what you're thinking. He knows everything because He sees everything. God is intimately involved in your life and in mine. Don't think for one moment He doesn't care. Don't think for one moment He doesn't know.

And don't think for one moment He won't do everything in His power to rearrange your life to get you to see that He is in control and He wants you to submit to His rulership. Please understand that. That's the story of the Tower of Babel. It's a story about a rebellion against God's precepts because of man's pride. It's a story about a revelation, a revelation of the character of God. And number two, the consequences of sin.

The consequences of sin. Don't think for one moment that you can turn your back on the precepts of God and get away with it. Oh, you might be thinking today you're on easy street. Oh, you might be thinking today God missed you. You might be thinking today it's going to be okay. But I want to tell you something. If you don't repent of your sin, get right with God, when there's no rebellion against His authority, I got to let you know, you will suffer the consequences of sin. Be not deceived. God is not mocked.

Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. For if you sow to the flesh, you will the flesh reap corruption. But if you sow to the Spirit, you will the Spirit reap life everlasting. Don't be deceived. And Satan wants you to be deceived. He wants you to think you got away with it. He wants you to think that you got away with another sneak peek on the internet. You got away with it, it's okay. You're going to look a little longer next time. He wants you to think that you got away with the IRS. That you got away with hiding a little bit of extra money.

Cash stashing away. You can't mock God. You can't fly rebellion in the face of God and get away with it. You can't do that. That's the story of the Tower of Babel. There's grave consequences for our sin. See, Pastor, you're being so hard on us today. I mean, you're just lambasting us with repentance and following the Word of God and serving God. You're right, I am. Because the consequences of sin are grave. They're grave. I don't want you to face them. I don't. I don't want God coming down to your house.

I don't want God coming down to your family. I want you to repent, get right with God, serve Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Honor Him with all that you have. That's what I want for you. What kind of pastor would I be if I said, it's okay, go ahead and rebel against God. All those precepts aren't that important. As long as you're obeying 9 out of 10, or 99 out of 100, or 999 out of 1000, it's okay, man, you're on your road. You're doing the right thing. What kind of pastor would I be if I said that?

But one last thing. It's a reminder of two things. The danger of Babylon and the duty to believe. The danger of Babylon. Babylon is used 125 times in the scripture. 125 times. And it represents a satanic system, a false religious system. That's why God told the nation of Israel, come out from her. Come out from Babylon. Leave her. Why? Because it opposes everything that is of the true God. And Babylon eventually became a great city, a great empire in 586 BC. The Babylonian armies attacked and captured the kingdom of Judah, burned the temple in the city of Jerusalem, and took thousands of Jewish people captive for 70 years.

It's interesting to note that while the original Babel, the people desired to build a tower that would reach to heaven, when you come to Revelation 17 and Revelation 18, Babylon, the mother of harlots and her sin, has reached up into the heavens. And that's when God says, enough is enough.

And comes and destroys those, finally, who have rebelled against him for thousands of years. The danger of Babylon. It's a reminder. Is there something you're rebelling against God about? Is there something that you have set up as a greater image to worship? Something more important to you than God? Maybe it's your family. Maybe it's your kids. Maybe it's your money. Maybe it's your job. It becomes that one thing you invest your time, efforts into, because it is the priority over God. It becomes that which you worship.

It is your idol. That's the danger of Babylon. Because Babylon refers to anything that opposes the authority of God in your life and takes up chief residence in your heart. But I want you to notice the second thing, the duty to believe.

The duty to believe. This is so good. To believe in the one name that can save you. Notice, they wanted to make a name for themselves.

Just turn over the page to Genesis chapter 12, verse number 2, and what does God promise Abraham? He promises what? I will make, what? Your name great. Folks, it's God who gives you a name. It's God who makes your name great. God gave Adam his name. He gave Abraham his name. He gave Israel his name. He gave his son the name Jesus. Thus, in our duty to believe that the only blessing in life comes through not my name, but God's name. To believe that his authority, his rulership in my life, is more important than my significance, my identity, my importance.

My independence. It's God who's more important. Notice, the text says, come, let us build a tower. Come, let us make a name for ourselves. Man said that to man. And God said to God, the triunity of God. We didn't even get into this about the character of God. When God said, let us go down, God spoke to God. But God has spoken to man. When he said, come, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And though they be as scarlet, they shall be made as wool, Isaiah 118.

Come, let us reason together. And then in Matthew 11, 28, 29, come unto me, all you that labor, heavy laden, I'll give you rest. And in Revelation 22, verse number 17, come, those of you who are thirsty, come to me. Why? Why does God say, come, come, come? Because he wants you to have his name above all names. It says in Revelation 3, verse number 12, he overcomes. I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he will not go out from it anymore. And I will write upon him the name of my God.

The name of my God. And the name of the city of my God. The new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God. And my new name. I'm going to give you the name of my God. I'm going to give you the name of the city of my God, and I'm going to give you my new name. Our duty to believe that the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. That there is no other name unto heaven given among men whereby ye must be saved. It's the name of Christ, because he wants to give you the name, his name.

Do you have his name today? Is his name on you? Is the name of his God upon you? Is the name of the city of his God upon you? If so, then you need not follow the root of Nimrod and those who rebelled against God. Instead, you need to fall down and submit to him daily, saying, Lord, you are my king. You are my ruler. Wherever you go, I will go. Wherever you lead, I will follow. For you are my king, and I am your servant. Let's pray.