A daily devotional for your time alone with God. In an increasingly dark world, more than ever, we need to look beyond what we can see, past our present circumstances. In order to see the light and experience life as our Heavenly Father intended, I...
With God having effectively pressed the 'refresh' or 'restart' key for life on earth, I imagine that as Noah's family went about their lives after the ark experience, He would have been looking to see people make better choices than what He had witnessed in the years before the flood. Could righteousness prevail over life in a world that was still affected by sin in the garden of Eden?
"After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died." Genesis 9:28-29 NIV
"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth." But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." Genesis 11:1-9 NIV
The end of chapter 9, which I have omitted, gives the account of how Noah's life ended on a sad note, due to a situation which occurred after planting a vineyard and later becoming drunk on some of it's wine.His son Ham treated him with dishonour and the outcome was that Noah pronounced a curse on Ham's son Canaan. At the end of Noah's life, it could be seen that he was a man of great triumph but also of weakness as after all, he too was a descendant of Adam.
Chapter 10 gives an account of the table of nations that came from Noah's family. Having a common origin in Adam, there was a time when the world spoke one language. In today's reading, we see that many descendants from Noah's family settled in Shinar, Babylonia which on our maps today is Iraq. The people came together with a plan to build a large city and great tower. In doing this, they were ignoring God's direction to 'fill the earth', instead staying in the one place. They worked to ensure that the tower was strong and waterproof, using tar as Noah had done in the ark construction. Perhaps this structure indicated that the people didn't take God at His Word when He promised to never flood the earth again!
The intention was that the tower would reach to the heavens, presumably to where God was and the structure would cause them to 'make a name for themselves'. They really were intent on not being scattered over the earth to fill it as God commanded! Clearly, they did not want to submit to God's authority and instead planned to find a way to be valued and acknowledged by all those around them as people applauded their ingenuity.
I am so thankful that we can know how much God values us as He sent His only Son to die in our place! There is no need for us to feel insecure and seek the approval and affirmation of others!
The very structure of the tower, which had an external stairway or ramp leading to the top, indicated that the people may well have been heading into dangerous territory! Many ancient people believed that the messenger of the gods could move back and forth between heaven and earth on such a stepped tower. People may have wanted a god they could control and sadly we still see this today. We also witness the pitfalls of mankind thinking they are self sufficient and able to achieve anything we want to without considering if it pleases God. The technological and scientific advances made in the last century are astonishing but when we say, 'we can do this!', we must ask 'should we do this?'
Every person around must have been impressed with the tower, but clearly God was not! It was at this point that God intervened and caused confusion in their language. Being unable to communicate, they stopped building the tower and spread to other areas. This showed God's mercy on them, as at least for a time, it prevented them from falling further into sin as they were geographically separated.
Imagine the confusion and difficulty of suddenly uprooting a family to settle in a new place in order to be with people speaking the same language! In time, different cultures would have developed as these distinct people groups settled far and wide. Would this hold back the tide of sinfulness?
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
Your Word is amazing as each day that I read it, You speak to me in new ways! Thank You for all the detail that is recorded in Genesis. Thank You that I can see the origins of sin and Your ongoing mercy as You started over with man and already had to step in to redirect their ways. Thank You that I can learn from the mistakes made in the past. Help me to put You first in my life and to ask for Your guidance in everything I do.
Thank You that many years later, showing Your love and mercy, You stepped in again and sent Your Son Jesus to die for me. Thank You that the Cross is a permanent reminder that I am so greatly loved and valued by You! Thank You that You made a way for me to get to Heaven. It wasn't via a tower but by believing in Jesus, the Way, the Truth and the Life!
"Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6 NIV
In His Name, Amen.
"For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see." Psalms 36:9 NLT
* Remember to look out for my other devotional book: 'It's Me Again God'.
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