The Tower
Sermon Notes
Intro:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story. We’re walking through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1, to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today’s text brings us to the Tower of Babel story. It’s a story about the early development of human history and human civilization in the plains of Shinar, which is present day Iraq. It’s a story leading to the development of new nations and new languages. It’s a story that begins with human achievements, that eventually turn into human disappointments. It’s a story that can speak into some of our greatest disappointments in life. Have you been disappointed in your athletic or educational achievements?...Have you been disappointed in your ministry, your career, your retirement achievements?...Have you been disappointed in your relationships with your parents, your children, your spouse, your friendships, your church or a previous church?...Have you been disappointed recently, and the wounds of disappointment are still fresh, your heart’s still bleeding?
Listen everybody experiences disappointments in life...Both skeptics and believers seek to achieve certain things in life, and sometimes we fail to achieve those things, sometimes we experience disappointments in life. Well today’s text can help speak into those disappointments, it can help us make sense of those disappointments, because what God does in the story of the Tower of Babel, he’s still doing in our stories today. So let’s turn to Genesis 11 and get into it. You’ll find Genesis in the front of your bible, it’s the very first book of the bible, and we’ll be in Genesis 11:1-9. Title of today’s message is The Tower, and here’s the big idea. The Tower of Babel, was a Tower of Disappointment...The Tower of Babel, was a Tower of Disappointment...
Context:
Here’s your context. Last week we studied the story of Noah and the Ark in ch’s 6-9, and after the flood Ch 10 tells us the survivors of the ark started populating the earth again. It gives us a long list of Noah’s family lineage, meaning this is now several decades after the flood, and vs 5 says they all started spreading throughout the world creating their own nations and languages. Ch 11 is about to give us some details on what happened, on what caused them to start spreading out like this, and as we study we’ll learn about the following three things: #1 The towers we build, #2 The towers that fail, #3 A tower that never fails. We’ll learn about the towers we build, we’ll learn about why they fail, and we’ll learn about one tower that’ll never fail. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Genesis 11:1-9 states, “The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2 As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.’ (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.)” This is interesting because it shows their technological advancement. Some people think the Tower of Babel was a ziggurat like the pyramids in Egypt that are sometimes 100 yards high and 100 yards wide. But the Tower of Babel was more complex since they used oven fired bricks instead of the mud bricks used in Egyptian or Mesopotamian ziggurats. Making oven fired bricks was a complex process using clay soil mixed with sand, water, and binders. The soil then gets heated for several days in 1450 degree temperature until it hardens. Archaeologists confirm the materials for making such bricks were present in that geographical location, and such materials were eventually commonly used in that region. So archaeology supports the historical validity of their technological advancements in using such bricks to build the Tower of Babel.
Vs. 4, “And they said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.’” This is an act of disobedience against God’s instructions to be fruitful and multiply. The phrase be fruitful and multiply is used 4 times in ch’s 1-9, meaning they’re to have kids and fill the earth reflecting God’s image throughout the earth. As one bible scholar put it, “They’re to get married, have lots of sex, and travel the world. What’s not to love!” But they’re not filling the earth like God instructed, instead they’re being disobedient staying in one place. The text gives 3 reasons they’re doing this, it’s because they want a city, a tower, and a name. They want a city, a place they can call home. They want a tower, they want to achieve or do something great. They want a name, they want to BE something great, and make a name for themselves. This is a story about much more than building a physical tower, it’s about building towers of autonomy, towers of satisfaction without God. It’s a story about us and our independent, pleasure seeking, Western American mindset. We’re like “I’m about life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I’m not guaranteed happiness, which is why I have to pursue it, I have to go get it. I’m an AmeriCAN not an AmeriCANT...So let me build a tower for myself, a kingdom for myself, make a name for myself.” We say similar things the people in the text are saying. They’re saying “Let us build a city! Let us build a tower! Let us make a name for ourselves. Forget about doing this for the Lord and bringing glory to his name, we want to do this for ourselves and bring glory to our name!” The issue isn’t with human ingenuity, it’s with their desire to build towers of autonomy, towers of satisfaction without God. So here’s what we’re learning, we’re learning about...
#1 The Towers We Build = The towers we build are things we’re trying to build in our lives to give us satisfaction in life instead of God. The text says they’re trying to build a tower to reach the sky, and the Hebrew word for sky can also be translated as heavens. They’re trying to build a tower that’ll give them a piece of heaven, give them satisfaction in life. What are those towers for you?...What are those towers, those things you’re trying to build thinking it’ll give you a piece of heaven on earth, it’ll give you satisfaction in life?...The same 3 towers they were building back then, are the same 3 towers we’re building today. Some of you are trying to build a city, a place and community to belong to. You’re trying to fit in at school, be accepted by your peers, get married so you don’t have to live alone...Some of you are trying to build a tower, to accomplish something great in life or in your career, so you can make lots of money to buy more things and have financial security to enjoy more life...Some of you are trying to build a name, to BE something great, to make a name for yourself, to receive praise from others like your parents, your friends, your teachers, bosses, co-workers, and coaches...Like I said before there’s nothing wrong with things like desiring to belong to a community, desiring to be successful, desiring to be financially secure. The issue is pursuing and building these towers for our self-glorification and satisfaction, instead of for bringing God glory and finding our satisfaction in him.
Listen everybody has towers they’re building...Everybody has towers they’re pursuing and building thinking it’ll bring them satisfaction in life, but it never does. It’s because God is supposed to be the primary source of our satisfaction through which all other satisfaction flows. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 King Solomon says God put eternity in the hearts of humanity, to help us realize nothing will ever quench our eternal thirst for joy except God. Only an eternal God can quench an eternal thirst. C.S. Lewis said, “The books or music in which we thought the beauty was located, will betray us if we trust them. It’s because the beauty isn’t in them, it only came through them...If they are mistaken for the thing itself, they’ll turn into idols breaking the hearts of their worshippers.” Jonathan Edwards said, “Fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, children, friends...These are shadows; the enjoyment of God is the substance. These are scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are streams; but God is the fountain. These are drops, but God is the ocean.” What Solomon, Lewis, and Edwards are saying is the towers of satisfaction we’re pursuing and building in life, will never satisfy us without God. The Tower of Babel is about human achievement without God, and it’s about to turn into a Tower of Disappointment.
Again vs. 4 states, “And they said, ‘Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.’ 5 Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building.” The phrase ‘the Lord came down’ is meant to be a mockery of our godless human endeavors, because God can see things perfectly fine in heaven. It’s a phrase that’s meant to be a reality check for humanity. It’s meant to get us to realize the towers we’re building are so small compared to God, they’re so far from reaching heaven, that God has to come down to see it.
Again vs. 5, “Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. 6 The Lord said, ‘If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’” God confuses their language, he creates new languages to disrupt their tower of autonomy, to disrupt their tower of satisfaction, which is the 2nd thing we’re learning. We’re learning about...
#2 The Towers That Fail = What are the towers that fail? It’s the towers that are built without God. When we build towers without God, when we build our lives without God, our lives become fragile. Without God our towers, our lives, our plans can come tumbling down at any moment. It happens when the stock market crashes, we lose our jobs, we don’t get into the college we want...It happens when somebody we love dies, or somebody we love does something to betrays us...It can happen when the doctor says it’s cancer, and it’s terminal...Our lives, our towers are very fragile and can come tumbling down at any moment, leaving us sifting through the wreckage of our lives. The point of God coming down, and God confusing their language, is to show the fragility of our lives and plans without God. Our lives and plans are very fragile without God. This is King Solomon’s point in our bible reading plan this week. King Solomon’s somebody who had everything he could’ve ever wanted, and he said it’s all a meaningless chasing after the wind without God in your life. It’s because you can’t take any of it with you to the grave. You can’t take your towers, your accomplishments, your treasures with you to the grave. Every tower of autonomy, every tower of satisfaction, will eventually fail without God.
Now sometimes God does things like he’s doing in the text. Sometimes he allows certain things to happen in our lives to disrupt the towers we’re building, so we’ll finally wake up and start pursuing him again. Have you been building towers of autonomy, going through life without God?...Have you been pursuing career goals, performing daily work and family responsibilities without God?...Have you been building towers of satisfaction, pursuing satisfaction in other things without God?...Have you been giving very little thought to God in your daily life, activities, and pursuits?...If you experience hardship, a disruption in the building of those towers, it’s so you’ll wake up and start pursuing God again. It’s so you’ll remember to find strength and satisfaction in him. Sometimes God uses a disruption, to get your attention. Sometimes God uses a disruption to your plans, to get your attention and align you with his plans.
Vs. 8, “So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.” It repeatedly says the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, meaning the disruption to their plans led to the accomplishment of his plans, which is the 3rd thing we’re learning. We’re learning about...
#3 A Tower That Never Fails = What’s the one tower that never fails? It’s God’s tower, it’s God’s plans. Remember God’s plans were for them to be fruitful and multiply, for them to scatter throughout the earth, and they didn’t do it. But what we’re learning is God’s plans were still eventually accomplished, and it’s their plans that were eventually stopped. What we’re learning is God’s plans are the only plans that’ll never be stopped. God’s plans are the only plans that’ll never fail. The greatest towers and plans, the most enduring towers and plans we could ever build in life, are ones that are aligned with the eternal tower and plans of God.
Now nothing proves this more than the resurrection of Jesus, and here’s why I say that. It’s because the human species is a stubborn species, and eventually the people in the text will sin again just like us. Eventually they’ll sin again, turn their backs on God again, try building their own towers of autonomy and towers of satisfaction again. In fact vs 9 says this city is called Babylon, which comes from the Hebrew word Babel, and we know historically the Babylonians became one of Israel’s greatest enemies. We know historically they even conquer Israel and put the Jews in exile. But it all starts here with their towers of autonomy, their towers of satisfaction, their hearts filled with saying “our will” instead of “God’s will.” The Babylonians will sin again, build towers again, turn their backs on God again just like us, and all our towers will fail, disappoint, bring hell into our lives instead of heaven. But the good news is several hundred years after the Tower of Babel, Jesus is our God who came down from heaven again, only this time he came to disrupt the plans of Satan, sin, and death. He came to die for the forgiveness of our sins and rise again to prove his plans are the only plans that’ll conquer Satan, sin, and death. His plans are the only plans that are eternal, and can give us eternal life, eternal joy, eternal satisfaction in him. Jesus is the only tower that’ll never fail, and he proved it when he rose again from the dead.
The Big Idea:
Look the big idea of the message is the Tower of Babel, was a Tower of Disappointment. Yet here we are today still trying to build our own towers, and it’ll only lead to more towers of disappointment, if we don’t build our towers, our lives, our plans on Jesus. So whose plans are you living for, is it yours or Jesus?...Who’s guidance and strength are you relying on daily to achieve those plans, is it yours or Jesus?...Who’s kingdom and glory are you concerned about growing more, is it yours or Jesus?...You can build a tower of disappointment for yourself, or build a tower of eternal significance with Jesus. You can build a tower of glory for your name, or build a tower of glory for Jesus’ name. Only one of those towers will be left standing in the end, and it won’t be yours or mine. Only Jesus’ kingdom and tower, will be left standing in the end.