Human ambition to create a godless city

So chapter 10, verse 32.

These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies in their nations,

and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

And as people migrated from the east, 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 had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar.

Then they said, 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.

And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of man had built.

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.

Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so they may not understand one another's speech.

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

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.

Well, good morning, everyone.

Please pray with me as we come to God's Word.

Lord God, you are the blessed.

God, help us to believe that, that in you is deep joy and fulfillment,

that you have this in yourself, and that you are the fountain of all blessing.

Father, I pray that our time in your Word would help us see you as you really are.

Lord, expose our sin, and I pray that because I know that when you do that, you only do it to bless us.

So please make us ready to see our own hearts.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Well, our passage today covers what's called the Table of Nations, chapter 10, genealogy.

And then we've got this little story about a city and a tower.

And the phrase, the whole earth, is repeated five times in that story.

So what I'm getting at is our passage today is about the whole earth is in view.

We've got all the families of the world in view.

And then from chapter 12, next week onwards, we're going to zoom.

The rest of the scripture, or Old Testament, zooms right in on one family.

Now, why should you and I care about this very ancient attempt to build a city and a tower?

I've seen a yawn already.

Like, why should we care?

I'm going to give you two reasons.

There's probably way more than this, but I can see two very big reasons.

Just consider its placement in Genesis, what we've seen so far.

So blessing.

Blessing and curse is what the theme of Genesis is about.

Blessing is about deep fulfillment in life.

That's what the word captures, deep fulfillment.

Who doesn't want that?

Now, how big a problem does humanity have in attaining deep fulfillment, blessing?

How big is our problem?

Imagine if our problem as humanity is so big that God has to wipe the slate clean

and start again with one righteous man, a totally new beginning.

Isn't that what we saw with Noah last week?

He wipes the slate completely clean.

It's a view of the problem we have that goes way beyond the solutions we hear all the time.

Education is going to help us find fulfillment.

If only the economy.

We controlled that.

Being more inclusive as a society.

We need more rules.

We need less rules.

We need more religious activity.

We need less.

We need global cooperation.

We need research.

We need technology.

But none of that even comes close.

If the flood really is true, you need to wipe the slate clean.

Those solutions, oh, they're not going to work.

But we can go a step further here with Babel.

How deep must our problem be if even after this total fresh start,

the human race goes right back to the same problem?

Sin and curse and death.

Human race just goes straight back to it.

Not even the flood fixed it.

The placement of Babel after the flood should make us desperate to hear what God's plan is to bless the world.

It should make us really question any human ideas of how to bless the world.

So that's the first reason we need to understand Babel.

I'm going to give you a second one.

Is if we understand the story arc of the whole of the Bible.

If someone asked you what's the Bible about,

one legitimate,

I think there's a few different angles you could answer that question from.

One legitimate theme you could trace is the story of two cities.

The city of man versus the city of God.

The name Babel here,

every other time in the Old Testament,

except for chapter 10 and 11,

ESV translates it Babylon.

What do we see in Revelation?

What comes just before that new heaven,

a new earth,

and the new Jerusalem coming down,

that garden city?

What happens just before then?

Chapter 18 of Revelation.

Babylon is finally destroyed.

But there's two responses to that.

Some people are weeping.

They are weeping because all their wealth,

all their hopes,

all their home is gone.

They're weeping.

But then the citizens of the heaven,

they're rejoicing.

When Jesus calls us to carry our cross,

he's saying,

we're to die to the world.

We're to let the world consider us nothing.

He's saying,

come to me.

Come outside the city.

Follow me.

Or Hebrews 11.

Who doesn't find Hebrews 11 encouraging?

Like this great cloud of witnesses of faith in God.

That chapter is saying,

what's faith about?

All these people from Abraham,

or early in Abraham,

Abel onwards,

they had opportunity to find their home here

in the city of man,

to find prosperity and security here.

But they didn't.

They wanted a better city.

The whole Bible,

faith in Jesus,

is about coming out of the city of man,

putting your hope in the city of God.

So there's a second reason

we really need to understand Babel.

Not even the flood.

It shows us how desperate our condition is.

And the whole point of the Bible

is to show us the city of man

versus the city of God.

Okay.

So let's,

hopefully that's enough.

If that's not enough,

I'm not sure what else I can say

to encourage you to come with me

into chapter 10 and 11.

What's chapter 10,

the table of nations, about?

I'm going to suggest

three primary things we see here.

The first thing is,

don't miss,

like we didn't read it,

but if you were to skim it

or read it in,

we read it in a small group,

don't miss the forest

through the trees,

or for the trees.

Families is repeated here.

All the tribes,

all the languages,

all the nations,

lots and lots of families,

but they all have their origins

in three sons of Noah.

So remember the big picture.

Chapter 10 is saying

the whole world is one family.

Now that's a radical claim.

It means if you have prejudice

against another ethnicity,

if you have pride in your own culture,

listen to chapter 10.

Do you see humanity

as one family?

Because there's been many regimes

through history as we know

who treat one people group

as subhuman.

And the Tower of Babel

chronologically comes

before chapter 10.

Babel explains the diversity.

I think the purpose of that,

you're going to have to,

someone tell me another answer,

but the answer I can come up with,

why would Moses arrange it like that?

I think it's so that

when we get to Babel,

the mindset we see at Babel

is the whole world.

The whole world has this mindset.

It's going to look very different

in each culture,

but it's the same

fundamental issue.

So we see one family

with one mindset at Babel.

We see this family

in chapter 10

is hopelessly

divided.

Have you tried to speak to someone

where you just,

you have,

you can't speak their language,

they can't speak yours.

it's really hard

to relate, isn't it?

Even if you want to,

it is so hard

to relate.

Body language,

cultural assumptions,

you can cause offence

and not mean to.

Like, it's so hard

to be unified.

And we're afraid.

Someone different to us,

we're afraid.

And the nations

described here,

they go to war

against each other.

The picture we get

in chapter 10

is humanity

is deeply

divided.

So Babel

explains why

that is the case

today.

The third thing

we see in chapter 10,

so one family

hopelessly divided.

The third thing

we see

is

Genesis is tracing

blessing

and curse.

So Noah's blessing

and curse

of his three sons

in chapter 9

who do we see

are the families

of Ham.

It's not good news.

Canaan,

which become

the promised land

of Israel.

And we get,

we focus in

on one individual

which should make

us sit up.

We're in a genealogy

here.

The focus is on

nations and people

groups and then

this one individual

was focused

on Nimrod.

God.

Now my small group

have bribed me

with chocolate

to say he's

Alpha Chad.

I have no idea

what I just said.

I'm hoping

it's appropriate

that

I'm pretty sure

I know what it means.

It means he's

the Alpha.

He's the Alpha

male.

He's the Alpha

male.

He's a mighty

hunter

before the Lord.

Mighty

is repeated.

He's mighty.

Now in context

it's probably

more likely

saying he's

mighty

facing

the Lord.

He is in

opposition

to the Lord.

His rule

seems to be

might

equals

right.

Power

is what

matters.

Power

will bring

blessing.

Power

sets the

agenda.

Power

sets the

values

in society.

This is

Nimrod.

He creates

the first

kingdom

at Babel.

Babylon.

He builds

Nineveh

if we

know

Old

Testaments

this is

not

sounding

good.

Egypt

the

Philistines

comes

from Nimrod.

A warning

is here.

The

prosperity,

the power,

the greatness

they're coming

from Nimrod

for all

their strength.

Don't be

lured to it

because they're

under God's

curse.

blessing.

So we

trace curse

and we

also trace

blessing.

If blessing

is going to

come to

the world,

it's got to

come through

God's

chosen

family.

Not because

of any

good in

them,

but because

he chooses

them.

So we

follow

Shem.

we come

to

Eber,

which

apparently

is where

Hebrew

comes

from.

The name

of

Hebrews,

Eber,

Hebrews,

and Peleg.

It's in

his day

that the

Babel

separation

happened.

This is

the line

of promise.

This is

where

blessing is

going to

come from.

So we've

got one

family

in chapter

10,

but hopelessly

divided

and in

conflict.

And we've

got Nimrod's

rebellion.

Don't be

fooled by it.

Yes,

there's power.

Yes,

there's

blessing,

not blessing,

but yes,

there's

prosperity in

Nimrod's

kingdom,

but it's

under curse.

All right,

let's go to

the Tower of

Babel.

what's

the big

deal?

What's

the big

deal about

building a

tower?

Like,

Cain

murdering

his brother.

Okay,

that's

clearly

immoral.

Lamech

murdering

a youth.

Okay,

that's

pretty awful.

Mankind

before the

flood is

full of

violence.

We see

the

immorality.

But here

we've got a

story about

new technology,

bricks and

a new

kind of

mortar.

We see

human

cooperation,

unity,

to do

something

great

together.

We see

the desire

to remain

together,

socially

stronger,

an identity

together.

together.

We see

even a

desire to

connect to

the heavens.

What's

wrong with

any of

these things?

I think

it's a

really clever

story.

I was

really worried

about preaching

this because

I'm just

like,

I can't

see what's

wrong at

first.

I think

it's like

Jesus'

parables.

They seem

so innocent,

but you

reflect on

it for a

bit more,

it gets

under your

skin.

It

subverts any

assumptions you

have about

what sin

is.

If we

see the

depths of

sin at

Babel,

I think

we'll see

it everywhere.

We'll see

it in every

culture,

we'll see

it in our

own society,

you'll start

to see it

in your

own heart

motives,

you'll see

it even

sadly in

the church,

you'll see

it, dare

I say,

in evangelical

reformed

churches

sometimes.

You'll see

it, if we

see it at

Babel.

So they're

afraid,

they're afraid

of being

nobody

important,

they're going

to be

socially

weak,

spread out,

and so

they decide

let's

congregate,

this is a

congregation.

The commentator

used that

term, I

thought that

was great,

this is a

congregation,

but it's a

congregation,

I can't even

say the

word,

in rebellion

of God's

plan.

God

blessed

Noah,

9 verse

1,

God blessed

Noah and

his sons and

said to

them,

be fruitful

and multiply

and fill

the earth.

And led

by Nimrod,

no,

we're going

to stay

here.

Let's

stick

together.

God's

goal at

creation of

filling the

earth with

his people

to glorify

him,

it's

unchanged,

but this

group

don't want

that.

They want

to stay

a homogenous

group.

God wants

diversity.

And their

goal is to

make a name

for themselves.

God is

going to

graciously

bless

Shem.

Babylon

will make

a Shem

and bless

myself,

ourselves.

I want to

know I'm

valuable.

I want to

know I'm

worthwhile.

I'm not this

nameless cog in

the wheel,

a number.

I'm distinct.

I've got a

purpose.

We are

somebody.

The city

of man,

this city

is proud.

It's

thinking that

by what

they can

do,

they can

give their

own purpose,

value,

lasting

significance.

Let us

make.

They think

they can

do it.

Their goal

is for

their

identity,

their

importance.

It's

pride.

But doesn't

that pride

show us

how insecure

they are?

They don't

know who

they are.

They need

to make

a name.

They need

to find

their importance,

create their

importance.

It actually

shows how

insecure they

are.

They're

afraid.

So that

pride

actually

shows

a really

deep

insecurity.

beauty.

Now, I

think in

another

culture,

this is

going to

look

different

to us

here,

what it

looks like,

what might

look like

today.

I'm going

to give a

few

suggestions.

In

another

culture,

it probably

matters

more whose

family you

belong to.

Are you

bringing

honour to

that family

or shame?

it's

going to

look

different

in

different

cultures.

I

think

others

pin

their

identity

and

their

value

in

patriotism,

nationalism.

I'm not

quite sure

that's our

problem here

in Australia.

We're too

individualistic,

aren't we?

In the

West here,

we're about

individual

achievement,

aren't we?

we want

our name

high up

on that

research

paper

that's

being

published,

even if

you did

very little

work.

From what

I hear

in uni

research

land,

it's

pretty

ruthless.

People

give,

everyone

and I

go into,

I like

the Australian

orchestra,

I can't

even remember

the name

of it,

but

you get

this list

of people,

patrons,

people give

enormous amounts

of money,

I think,

just to have

their name

there.

Obviously,

they must

love the

orchestra to

some degree,

but people

are willing

to give

amazing amounts

of money

for their

name,

or to be

on a

building or

something.

We want

to know

that lots

of people

socially care

about us,

that they're

relying on

us,

that they

think we're

wonderful.

We need

our children

to make

us look

like a

great mum

and dad,

that I'm

as good

as Bandit

and Bluey.

I need

my kids

to make

my name

great,

to behave

well.

We can

be ruthless

climbing the

corporate ladder,

we can offer

our sacrifices

at Bunnings,

all envying

each other's

homes.

Why do we

need bigger

and more

pretty homes?

Why?

I suspect

it's for the

image we

present,

right?

The cars

we drive.

I need

that church's

soccer,

second division,

little tower

of Babel.

And I

will yell

at the ref

and push

and shove

to get

it.

My biggest

problem every

week preaching

is what you

will think

of me,

this tower

of Babel

is what

if we

work hard

enough,

earn enough,

achieve enough,

we can bless

ourselves.

It's proud,

it's all

focused on

self and

it betrays

how insecure

we are.

It's

godless,

it's not

about God.

So many

centuries

later,

in

Nebuchadnezzar's

Babylonian

Empire,

in the

middle of

all the

important

cities,

there was

apparently

towers that

were called

ziggurats,

I'm not

sure if I'm

saying that

right,

but all

the commentators

are talking

about it,

seven

stories,

90 metres

high,

it's

meant to

look like

a man-made

mountain.

And at

the top

level,

so it's

kind of

this

stepped

in,

you go

higher and

higher,

at the

top is

clad in

silver,

and that's

where the

worship

happens.

That's

where you

worship

the gods.

And

what's the

point of

that?

It's a

gateway to

heaven.

We're

creating

a gateway

to heaven.

Now

why?

It

sounds

okay,

let's

connect

with the

gods,

right?

But the

point is

we're

coming

halfway

through our

sacrifices,

we're going

to bring

the gods

down and

guarantee

blessing.

It's

through their

achievement,

their

sacrifice,

we can

create this

gateway of

heaven and

guarantee

blessing,

that the

gods will

bless us.

In other

words,

it's an

attempt to

control

your world.

it's an

attempt to

control

God.

So the

Tower of

Babel can

look,

it looks

religious,

it is

religious.

Our

prayers,

our giving

of money,

our service,

our Bible

knowledge,

it can

be just

to make

your name

great,

or it

could be

using God

to get

some other

blessing

rather than

God

himself.

It's

trying to

control

God.

It looks

very

religious,

but it's

false

religion,

not true

religion.

See,

the Tower

of Babel,

it helps

us see the

depths of

sin,

what sin

is.

It's not

only behaviour,

immorality,

it's just the

visible fruit.

Sin is,

it's more

than being

selfish.

I don't

like that

definition of

sin,

because we

ought to

seek blessing.

Seeking

blessing in

God is

the most

selfish thing

you can

do.

I don't

like selfish

as a

definition of

sin.

That's my

little hobby

horse there.

Sin here

is pride.

It's not

just boasting,

sin.

Pride is

a focus

on self.

It's

reliance on

self to

glorify

self.

And the

flip side of

pride is

ungodliness.

It's got

nothing to do

with God,

or at least

you're just

using God.

Sin is

pride.

Sin is

godlessness.

sin is

sin.

Another way

to put it

is Babel

is man's

attempt to

build our

own Eden.

It's we

want the

kingdom

blessings,

we just

don't want

the king.

Now in

light of

Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1,

what we've

seen,

it's in

our creator

that we

live and

move and

have our

being.

Acts 17

talks about

it.

We owe

our

allegiance to

him.

And Babel

says,

no,

you can be

self-dependent.

Let us

make.

In light of

Genesis 2,

what did we

see there?

The best

thing about

Eden,

what was it?

The best

blessing was

that God

was there,

intimately

involved.

He wants

his home

with us.

Him

providing

everything,

us depending

on him,

and glorifying

his character.

That's the

best thing

about Eden,

is he is

there.

But Babel

says,

no, I'm

going to

seek my

glory.

I can

create

fulfillment,

deep

fulfillment,

without

God.

God.

God

Babel

is the

repeat

of Adam

and Eve.

It shows

us that we're

still believing

Satan's lie.

The whole

world is

believing

Satan's

lie,

that God

is not

good,

that to

glorify his

name is

not the

life of

deep

fulfillment.

it's

a lie.

We think

God doesn't

want to

bless us.

He does.

He is

totally

committed

to

blessing.

So I

think we've

got to

ask,

is God

threatened?

They've got

this tower.

Is God

threatened?

Because it

sounds like

he is.

It sounds

like God's

the one

who's

insecure.

Anything

man can

do will

be

possible.

Is he

threatened?

He's

not.

He has

to come

down to

even see

this tower.

You go

up in a

plane,

you don't

have to

go too

high.

It's

the tallest

buildings or

whatever,

the biggest

landmarks,

they become

a dot.

I have to

come down

to see

this thing.

You build

a kingdom

on earth,

God's got

to come

down to

find it.

He's

not

threatened.

Our

little

towers of

Babel,

they don't

reach heaven.

They don't

control him.

He's got

to come

down and

see it.

He remains

God.

And he

confuses

the world.

He strikes

at the

godless

unity.

Now,

this

confusion,

maybe it

was

gradual.

I'm not

sure.

It might

have been

just slowly

not understanding

each other

and separating,

which eventually

turned into

different languages.

Or maybe it

was immediate.

Maybe it was a

divine just

immediately

babbling,

not making

sense.

But he

scatters.

If you

hear the

term

scatters in

the Bible,

it's a

picture of

judgment.

And why

does he do

it?

It's not

because he's

threatened.

He's not

threatened.

Like,

read Psalm

2.

The nations

rage and

plot against.

He's on

his throne.

He's not

threatened.

I think

we see

here that

he strikes

at the

godless

unity

to prevent

worse

judgment,

to keep

his promise

not to

flood the

world again.

He's

prolonging

his

judgment

because he

knows if

working

together,

this pride

left unchecked

would provoke

him to

wrath.

I think

we also

see that

he strikes

at this

because you

are not

staying

here.

I'm going

to bless

the whole

earth.

And he's

determined to

keep his

plan to

spread.

And so

he forces

it.

I think

of Acts

17 where

Paul says

to the

Athenians

that God

has put

people in

their

different

places,

in their

different

countries at

certain

times.

God's

love.

And the

purpose, he

says, is it

so that they

might find God.

He's not far.

He's actually

got good

purposes in

this.

But we

also see at

the Tower of

Babel that

there's no

grace, there's

no token of

grace here.

There's no

message of

hope here.

You don't

have the

clothing of

Adam and

Eve after

their sin.

You don't

have the

mark of

Cain to

preserve him.

There's no

message of

grace here.

There's no

rainbow.

So I

think it's

a loud

message to

us that

man's

attempt to

control our

world, to

bless ourselves,

is under

curse.

It's not

possible.

It's to

find deep

fulfilment in

your own

efforts.

Our

world is

under

curse.

It

prepares us

for where

salvation is

going to

come from.

It's not

from us.

If it's

going to

come, it's

got to be

from God.

And it

prepares us

for him to

make a new

family, a

family that

he creates

through

Abraham.

Salvation

is from

the Jews.

He creates

a new

family.

But we

read the

Old Testament,

Israel too

became proud

false

worship,

rebellious,

and they

too are

scattered in

exile.

The answer

finally comes

in God

coming down

again in

John chapter

John 12 · chapter mention

12.

Let me flick

over there.

John chapter

John 12 · chapter mention

12.

John

John's

gospel, this

is the

first time

that Greeks,

so non-Jews

come.

They want

to meet

Jesus.

And when

these Greeks

come,

Jesus'

response is,

now the

hour has

come for

the Son of

Man to

be glorified.

This is the

time of the

cross.

It's the

nations

coming to

meet Jesus

that Jesus

knows his

cross is

imminent.

And listen

to what he

prays.

He says,

now is my

soul troubled.

And what

shall I say?

Father, save

me from

this hour.

But for

this purpose,

I have

come to

this hour.

Father,

glorify your

name.

At the

cross, he

is the

one man,

one human

being who

ever lived

to glorify

the Father.

He's the

only secure

person.

He is

willing to

lose the

whole world

to glorify

the Father.

He is

deeply

fulfilled in

the promises

of God.

And he

takes the

curse that

we should

receive for

our little

towers of

Babel.

I think

another theme

we see in

this passage

is all

those little

attempts to

climb up

to God.

He has

to be

lifted up.

on the

cross.

Or as

Hebrews talks

about,

he dies

outside the

city.

And he

says the

purpose of

his death

will draw

all people

to myself.

He's going

to gather.

He's going

to reverse

Babel.

to be

able to

see in

Acts chapter

Acts 2 · chapter mention

2.

The new

community

filled with

God, the

Holy Spirit

coming down to

fill us

because we

trust in

Jesus.

What do we

see there?

Lots of

people see it as

a reversal.

All these

nations listed,

it's the next

genealogy of the

table of

nations.

And what

happens?

We can

understand each

other.

But what are

we hearing?

We're hearing

them praising

the works

of God,

not the

works of

what you've

done,

what Jesus

has done.

I want to

quote Tim

Keller.

I'm pretty

sure I've

quoted this

before,

but it's

a good

quote.

The

fulfillment

we've been

looking for

in work,

in building

skyscrapers,

in having

wonderful

spouses,

in having

lots of

children,

in making

money.

The blessing

we've been

looking for

is actually

in the face

of God.

It's

knowing

that Jesus

shares his

name with

me.

I'm already

named.

What have

I got to

prove?

He's given

me that

name.

We've got

purpose in

serving him.

All we

do for

him has

everlasting

fruit.

Wow.

And so

that frees

us.

Anything

we're doing,

whether it's

parenting or

business,

it frees

us to

serve.

We're not

trying to

build a

tower.

We're

trying to

put the

focus on

Jesus and

truly serve

the people

serving.

So can

I finish

with two

questions for

us to

reflect on?

What little

towers, and

they are

little towers,

what little

towers is

God telling

you to

let go

of?

What

will you

do?

In which

city do

you believe

will give

you deep

fulfilment?

The city of

man, what

we can do, or

the city of

God, what

Jesus has

done?

Jesus is

saying, come

to me, come

outside the

city.

Will you

pray?

Let's

pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Lord, your

promise of

a new

heavens and

a new

earth, that

new Jerusalem

with your

name written

on our

foreheads,

access to

the tree of

life, a

healing for

the nations,

all the

nations bringing

their glory in

to that new

Jerusalem.

We'll have no

more need of

temple because

you were there

Lord, that

you promise

that to us,

that you

guarantee it

because of

what Jesus

has done.

Help us to

long for that

day when we

will be there

so that we

will be salt

and light

here and

now.

Pray this

for your

glory and

the salvation

of many and

our deep

fulfilment in

you.

In his

name, amen.

to

a

At

moment, when the

-

.