WHY IS THE WORLD THE WAY IT IS?
BECAUSE GOD OPPOSES HUMAN INDEPENDENCE
GENESIS 11:1-32
INTRODUCTION
Everyone in here has a plan for their life. You may not be able to articulate
it very well but all of us do, from the littlest child to the oldest adult.
We all have an idea of what we need to be happy and a variety of means
and plans for obtaining what we think will make us happy. Most of our
goals (what do I need to be happy?) and our plans (how will I go about
getting what I need?) have been formulated independent of God. Most have
not been subjected to his scrutiny, his evaluation. Most often, when he
makes an inquiry into our plans we tell him, just like I told my friend,
"I’ll do the thinking, you just make sure you do what I say."
The story we are going to look at today in Genesis 11 is one of the clearest
rebukes to this way of living. This story tells us that…
MAIN POINT
Every attempt to live independent of God will fail because
I. Human ambition exceeds human ability (vv. 1-5)
Read vv. 1-4. V. 4 in the NASB says, "Come, let us build ourselves a
city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for
ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
earth". All of humanity living at the time moves away from the place where
the ark settled and comes to a plain in Shinar and there they decide to
do two things. First, they decide to make a city with a tower that will
reach to the heavens. Second, they decide to make a name for themselves.
By doing these two things they hope to keep from being scattered over
the whole earth. Do you remember what God told Noah when he got off the
ark? In chapter 9 we are told that He blessed Noah and his sons and then
God commanded them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth."
Yet here we see these people deciding to adopt a course of action that
will keep from being scattered all over the earth. "We can avoid another
calamity like the flood by sticking together. If we’ll use our resources
wisely and work together we’ll be able to create a secure and happy life
here. It would be suicide to split up." The tower with its head in the
heavens was most likely an expression of their superstition. It was an
attempt to build a religious system that would influence the supernatural
powers that govern the world. The whole endeavor was a reliance on human
effort to create a safe and happy world.
What they are doing is rejecting God and his provision and living as
if they are able to give themselves everything they need. They are making
a plan to be secure and to be successful, without God. These people are
exhibiting the heart of sin. At its heart, sin is the belief that I can
create a secure and happy life without God, without doing it His way.
Sin is that stubborn and arrogant belief that I can and will be happy
if I can obtain what I want. There isn’t a person sitting in this room
that does not naturally live just like these people. We are constantly
plotting and planning ways to get what we have decided we must have in
order to be happy. Some use anger, some use their weakness, some use their
intelligence, some use their silence, some use their ability to talk,
some use their ability to sing, some use their athletic ability, some
use their good looks, some use drugs, some use sex, but regardless of
what we are using we are all aiming at the same thing these people were
aiming at, a secure and happy life here, on planet earth.
Now God says to us, "Here’s how to be happy, spend time reading my book
and talking with other Christians about what you are learning there."
But we say, "No, what will make me happy is watching 6 hours of TV or
spending all day at the mall or out in the duck blind."
God says to husbands, "Here’s what will make you really joyful, lay down
your life for your wife. Serve her the same way Jesus served you when
he died for you. Live your life to make her happy." But we say, "No, what
will make me happy is when she finally starts taking care of me the way
I want her to. When she quits her annoying habits and takes care of the
house the way I want and lets me watch sports without bugging me and when
she quits telling me I don’t spend enough time with the kids."
God says to employees, "Here’s how to be fulfilled, do your work everyday
as if Jesus were your boss. Always work with enthusiasm. Don’t work harder
when the boss is looking, work with the same intensity and with the same
quality whether he’s looking or not." But we say, "No, I’ll be happy when
I give the least and get the most from my employer. I’ll be happy when
I get paid for work I didn’t do, when I take hour breaks instead of 15
minute breaks."
God says to all of us, "Here’s how to be happy, give up every attempt
to find life in this world. Live as if heaven were your home, not this
earth. Pursue me like an Olympic athlete pursues a gold medal or a young
man pursues a young woman. Kill every desire in yourself to seek life
in earthly things and fill your mind and heart with thoughts and affections
for me." But we say, "No, what will make me happy is if I live in a house
with an immaculate front yard." Or we say, "No, what will make me happy
is to have a cabin in the woods and the time to enjoy it." Or we say,
"No, what will make me happy is to move away from home and go party with
my friends"
All of us have as our chief ambition to be secure and happy. We have
a million plans for how we’re going to get what we want without God (Or
at best we’ll let God have a part as long as he agrees with us about what
we need to be happy). The problem is that we really don’t have the ability
to give ourselves what we’re looking for. Our best efforts cannot come
close to providing what our hearts really long for. There are three indications
in the text of human inability to provide for ourselves what we long for.
- Bricks for stones and tar for mortar. The city they are building will
not survive because they are using inferior building materials.
- Make a name for ourselves. Only God can make a persons name great,
Abram, Moses, and David. Every human who tries to make his or her name
great in the Bible is destroyed
- God had to come down to see. They wanted to make a tower that reached
into the heavens. The tower is so small to God he has to come down out
of heaven to see it.
Illustration: God in His grace works in our lives to show us how wrong
we are about what will make us happy and how unable we are to make ourselves
happy. This process is always painful because it requires that we see
how selfish our goals are and how helpless we are to get what we want.
But for those who will face the pain of wrong goals and admit their weakness
there is the joy of salvation. Tell about my refusal to trust Christ in
High School and my willingness in college.
How many times are you going to have to be disappointed before you realize
that what you really long for, you cannot give yourself? When will you
realize that life cannot be found here, on planet earth? When will you
realize that…
Every attempt to find life apart from God will fail because…
- What we really want exceeds our ability to attain it
- And because…
II. God opposes every attempt to build a life apart from him (vv.
5-9)
Read 5-9. God comes down to examine this work of. His evaluation of the
situation is that if humanity is allowed to remain united with a common
culture and language, then, "nothing they plan to do will be impossible
for them." In other words, God says that if human beings are allowed to
develop a united society they will succeed in building a world that excludes
Him. The danger that God sees in united human effort is that they will
succeed in establishing a culture where God is irrelevant. They will be
able to make a city and a system that exalts human effort and that successfully
disobeys God and refuses to look to God for help.
So God’s solution is to confuse their language. He gives to the various
descendants of Noah different languages so they will not be able to understand
one another. You cannot cooperate if you cannot understand one another.
A happy, united and motivated group of people are suddenly demotivated
and disunited by God causing each family group to speak a different language.
Anyone who says there is no humor in the Bible hasn’t thought much about
the scene that is being described here. A brick-layer up on the scaffolding
shouts down to another worker, "Send up another bucket of tar!" The guy
on the ground stares up at him with a bewildered look. "Hey, are you deaf?
I said send up some more tar!" The guy on the ground grabs another worker
that is walking by and says, "What’s Joe saying? He sounds like he’s got
a mouth full of marbles. Can you understand him?" The guy he grabbed bursts
out laughing and says, in another language, "Where did you learn to talk
like that?" It takes but a few moments for chaos to break out. When God
says that he is going to confuse their language he is not just talking
about speech but about the whole fabric of human society. Confusion entered
human society when God confused their languages. The world in one moment
is completely different from what it was before. Just like when Adam and
Eve were put out of the garden, just like the whole world when the flood
came. Just like when Jesus came and died for sins. Just like when Jesus
comes back to destroy his enemies and save his people. Humanity is divided
into separate nations. Each one distinguished by its own language, customs,
culture and eventually geographic location. God causes humanity to obey
his command to fill the earth by giving them different languages. What
human beings feared happening to them, God caused to happen. No one and
nothing can stop God from accomplishing all that he plans. Your sin will
not halt God’s work in the world.
The question that hangs over this whole story is, "why is it so important
for humans to be thwarted in this attempt to build a happy, united world?"
Especially when you consider the misery and suffering that has come upon
the human race because of the warfare of the nations, you have to ask,
"was it really a good idea for God to make nations that couldn’t understand
each other?" Can you feel the tension this story creates? If you were
to describe the biggest problems that face humanity, don’t they all boil
down to our inability to get along with one another? World hunger, ethnic
cleansing, racism, poverty, if you think about it, huge human problems
would be immediately eradicated if human beings, especially the nations,
could get along, if we would cooperate. What this story tells us is that
something matters more to God than human beings having a safe and secure
life on this planet.
It is clear from this story that God is opposed to human beings living
independent from him. Why is he so opposed to this? Why is it so important
to God that you and I live in absolute dependence upon him? If you can
understand the answer to this question you will understand the biggest
idea in the Bible. If you can grasp this idea and love this biblical truth
you will take a major step forward in your relationship with God. To answer
this question is to take us into the very heart of God and discover there
why God does all that he does. What motivates God to act as he does? There
are three clues in this passage as to why God opposes human independence
so fiercely. First, in v. 4, humans plan to make a name for themselves.
Second, in v. 5, God says humans will be able to accomplish all that they
plan if allowed to continue with only one language. Third, in v. 9, the
name of the city that humans built as an expression of their independence
is called Babel or Babylon.
Let’s take each of these beginning with the name of the city, Babylon.
Throughout the Bible, Babylon is synonymous with the enemies of God. It
always represents those who are opposed to God and his ways. In Isaiah
14: 13-15 we read about the king of Babylon and so discover what makes
Babylon and therefore all human sin so evil. Please turn to page 493 and
read there with me. Human independence is so offensive to God because
it is a claim to be God. Everything you have was given to you. Your life,
every breath you take, your physical abilities, your motivation, your
family, your opportunities, all of it is a gift and yet you act as if
you are the source of everything and you live as if you can give yourself
everything you need. God will have no competitors. He alone is God and
he will oppose everyone who acts like god, which is what you and I do
when we seek to live independent of him.
Second, the Hebrew words that are used to say that "nothing they plan
to do will be impossible for them" are also used in Job 42:2 where Job
says to God, "no plan of yours can be thwarted". Again, we see in human
independence an assertion of god-like qualities. Humans, working in a
united fashion, seek to accomplish all that they desire, all they plan.
However, only God’s plans will prevail. It is His will alone that will
triumph because this is his world. He is opposed to every plan that is
not his own. He made the world for his own purpose and he will not allow
any human being to use it for their own purpose. When we in our sin make
plans that are contrary to his, he is angry and determined to halt them.
Finally, we come to the heart of the matter. Human beings seek to live
independent of God because they want to be at the center of attention,
we want to make a name for ourselves. We passionately desire to be admired,
respected, and treated with honor. We want to be noticed, we hate to be
ignored. We want everyone and everything to know that we are somebody
important. We deserve to be paid attention to. We are good enough, smart
enough, strong enough, good-looking enough.
However, God makes very clear that his number one goal is his own honor.
God does all that he does to make a name for himself, to hold up and reveal
and show forth how powerful and just and merciful and wonderful he is.
Turn to Isaiah 63: 11-14 on page 530. Read it. The end of 13 literally
says, "to make for himself an eternal name". Why did God save Israel out
of Egypt? To make a name for himself. Why does God forgive sins? According
to Psalm 25:11, he forgives sins to make a name for himself. Why does
God punish people for their sin? According to Ezekial 28:22 and Rom 9:16-23
it is to show off his justice and holiness. Why does he answer prayer?
According to Eph 3: 21, to bring glory to his own name. Why did he send
Jesus? To show how just and merciful he is. This is the most often mentioned
fact in the Bible. God does all that he does for the honor of his own
name. This is incredibly good news.
He scatters the nations because if he allows them to remain united in
their independence then the only way he will be able to deal with them
is in destroying them. He will only be able to reveal his justice and
holiness in their destruction. But God is a God of love and mercy and
compassion. He delights to reveal his love to his creatures and so he
must scatter the nations so that he can show them his mercy. God’s passion
to make a name for himself is good news because that means he wants to
show people his love. He wants to give to human beings the very best thing
he can give. What is the best thing God could give to you? It’s himself.
God values showing off his mercy and kindness by giving himself to
his people more than he values the elimination of hunger and poverty and
war. Hunger and poverty and war would have been eliminated in the
Babylonian plan but they would never have experienced the best thing there
is in this world, God himself. This is why John Piper’s statement, "God
is most glorified by us when we are most satisfied with him" is such an
excellent summary. You need to memorize that statement and think about
it every day.
A friend and I were talking this week and he made this statement, "I
have absolutely no idea why God loves me." He was reflecting on his sin
and trying to grasp why God would enable him to believe in Christ and
give him eternal life. What I told him is what I’m telling you now. The
reason God loves any particular sinner is because he has determined that
it will bring glory and honor to his name to do so. He shows forth his
love in loving and forgiving all those who trust in Christ.
You can give yourself lots of happiness in this world by living independent
of God. However, you need to know that God is opposed to your living independent
of him. He is working right now to convince you to turn from your independence
and to turn to Him. He is working right now to convince you that your
belief that the only thing standing between you and happiness is a new
job or a better spouse or more time for hunting or shopping or a better
house or more obedient children or whatever it is that you think you must
have to be happy is a lie. Seek to live in dependence upon him and to
show how great he is by trusting his promises and obeying his commands
as the chief source of happiness to you. If you will not do this you can
know that though you may live happy for a time here, the day is coming
when God will show how great he is by causing you to suffer misery forever
and ever in hell. He is opposed to all who live independent of him. He
will be glorified in your life, either in your salvation or in your damnation.
Every attempt to find life apart from God will fail because…
- Human ambition exceeds human ability
- God opposes every attempt to live independent of him
- And because…
III. God has the only plan that will give life (11:10-12:3)
I don’t have time to explain the details of the rest of chapter 11. Let
me just make sure you see the big picture. Right after God scatters the
nations we see God choose one of the lines of descent within the nations.
This line of descent ends in a person, Abram. Now look at chapter 12:
1-3. God tells Abram that he will make him into a great nation, in fact
he will make his name great. God will protect Abram from harm but most
importantly, through Abram, all the scattered nations will be blessed.
God is going to show how great he is by giving people security and happiness
in heaven forever. But he is only going to do it one way, his way. His
plan is to send a Savior through the Jewish people and then to offer him
to all the nations so that all who will respond to his promise in Christ
will be safe and secure and happy in an eternal relationship with him.
Everything you are looking for is in Christ. He alone can satisfy all
the longings of your heart. But, not the way you want him to. Do not think
that if you come to Jesus he is going to make you happy by giving you
a new home or perfect health or a better marriage or a new car or a better
job. He may do some of these things but he may not. What he will do is
he will make you content with himself. He wants you to have the best thing
he can give you, God himself. God’s aim is to show how great he is in
the happiness of his people. This is why he chose Abram, saved Israel
out of Egypt, made David a great king and sent Jesus to die for sins and
rise from the dead for our salvation.
During the next two Sundays and on Good Friday we are going to remember
that coming of Christ and celebrate all that God has done in Him. Please
join us in considering this great plan that God has put in motion in Jesus.
© Copyright 2000 John Swanson.
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If you would like to post this material to the web or if your intended
use is other than outlined above, please contact River Hills Community
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