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Tuesday, Sept 10, 2013. Genesis 11 tells us the story of the tower of Babel. It is a story about the first cities, about human effort and goals, and it is also a story about faith and accomplishment. It is a story about what makes our life. It is a story about priorities. It is a story about purpose and center. Let us read:

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The Tower of Babel …

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said,

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“Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. The word “babel” means “confusion”. Here, it is a word for the confusion which the Lord brought onto the people who built the city and the tower, with its top in the heaven. The Deceptive Center … At a first look we might agree with the goals of the people of Babel. They are trying to build good houses. They are looking for orientation for their life and their community. They want to build a name and want to keep their people together. The basic question which is discussed here is orientation. What are we oriented towards. What is it that gives purpose to our life. The people of Babel chose their work, their achievements, their walls and houses and the tower with the tip in heaven. It is even more than just purpose, which is discussed here. The tip in heaven symbolizes our human way, to reach our potential. It symbolizes our way to become what we are, to develop ourselves into something, which is good. It is the symbol for what the Bible calls “salvation”. The people here want to reach salvation by their own hands. They want to reach salvation by their own actions and achievements. They want to build their own way into heaven! God himself acts in this story about Babel. He acts by showing clearly: what you try to do here is not the right way. He tells the people of that age, and with them all the people since then, everywhere on the globe: you cannot build your own way into heaven. The center of your life cannot be your achievement, your city, your name or fame. It can only be the Lord! Later, God shows the alternative way. He shows the way of the little baby, born in Bethlehem. He shows the way of salvation which is a gift of the Lord, salvation by faith in Christ Jesus**. He shows the way where the center of life is the creator, where orientation comes from love, and where heaven is wide open - without achievement. (Roland Potthast) ... more texts

jn_en_2013_09_10.txt · Last modified: 2017/06/18 16:48 by 127.0.0.1