Why God Destroyed Their Hard Work // Kathy Swart

Okay, I don't know a lot of you here, so I thought I'd just give you a um just basically what just a little rundown of what we've been doing since uh January actually.

It's kind of crazy.

We've been going through the the book of Genesis and with looking at the different stories, we found Jesus in all of these stories.

It's kind of crazy to think that you can find Jesus in the Old Testament, but we see in Revelation, um Revelation 1.8, it says he was and is and is to come.

So he was there, he came, and he's coming back.

And so as we've looked through the story of creation, as we've looked through the fall of man, as we've looked through the interesting interaction of Cain and Abel and Noah, and then post-Noah, and uh you know, I call that drunk Noah.

Um, as we've looked through all these stories, it's like looking at a diamond, right?

And there's multifacets when you shine a light on a diamond.

Am I okay, guys?

Okay, it's still a diamond, it's a whole, but there's as a light shines, there's different ways that you it reflects.

And we've seen God's character throughout this these few weeks.

We've seen his plan, we've seen, we've looked forward into the New Testament with Jesus.

It's you know the Bible is a is a whole book, it's one book made up of many books, made up of many stories, with one scarlet thread that weaves its way through all the stories.

And so this, I'm hoping that this morning we will get to see another facet of God's work, another facet of who he is.

And before we do that, quick English, I don't know, enunciation poll.

Do you guys say babel or babel?

Why?

It's babel, that's high graph.

So if you hear the word babel, you know I mean babel, bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, bubble, babel, bubble, right?

That's what they eventually did at the end of the story.

But if just so you know, because I'm from South African and we say babel.

It's like, how do you spell color?

C-O-L-O-R.

It's C-O-L-O-U-R.

The rest of the world does that, so we're all on the same page, right?

Babel Babel good.

Okay, so turn with me to Genesis 11.

We're gonna start in verse 1.

You guys there?

You can look at the sky bible too if you want.

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

And as people migrated from the east or moved eastward, they found a plane in the land of Janere and settled there.

And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks, burn them thoroughly.

And they had brick for stone and butman, bitumen.

Let's call it tar, because that's what it is, for mortar.

And then then they said, Come, let us build us ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dis 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.

Verse 6.

And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is the only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing they propose will to do will be impossible for them.

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

So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of the earth, the old earth.

And they left off the building of the city, therefore its name is called Babel or Babel, because there the Lord confused their language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over all the earth.

So I want to start by looking at some observations.

This week at Life Group, I was talking about how I have a bone to pick with the author of Genesis.

There's so many stories with that lack detail.

I'm like, how did Noah what did okay?

Noah built his boat, we knew how big it was.

But for 120 years, what happened?

Did he use camels?

Did were the people mocking him?

Like, do you guys ask these questions?

I'm like, I want to know the details.

What I like about the Tower of Abel, there's a lot of details in here.

And when the Bible has details, we take note.

So the first observational detail I want us to look at is they had one language.

They spoke one language.

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words, kind of like today, right?

English, except British English, we spell colour with a U.

We have dialects that we all can understand.

They had one language.

Now this doesn't contradict Genesis 10, it complements it.

Though the people groups had spread out, remember last week Noah and his sons had gone out and they had filled the earth.

Genesis 11 is helping us understand how this division of language in champ and chapter 10 came to be.

Now the whole world had one language, one common speech.

We got that?

Number one.

Interesting.

Number two, the word tower in verse 4.

Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with it to top into the heavens.

Now, archaeologists call these structures that they would build back then called ziggurats.

It's a stair-like structure.

Now don't think our stairs that kind of go up.

It's more like they were like this platforms and stairs that would go higher and higher.

And so what the people did back then was they tried to reach their God.

Because on top of these ziggurats was a um, they would have offerings, some kind of altar they had up there, so that they could coax their God down, that they could try to bring their God to them, or they could, these people try to reach God.

This that you can see that building this tower was not about engineering or architecture, but it was more about finding, foundationally about the quest to touch transcendence.

You know, God is not anti-construction, he's not anti-building and architects and engineering.

It's when our it's we we've been created in his image, so therefore we're creative.

It's when our purpose is to touch God and to become him, which is what he's dealing with.

So we got that language, tower.

Number three, you can find in verse three is uh bricks.

It's interesting that there's so much detail about the bricks that they used.

Come let us make bricks, burn them thoroughly, and they made brick out of stone, and they used mortar.

Now, back then, wisdom, you built on the stone that was found naturally in the area that were you in.

Buildings were built on stone that was provided.

These stones that and bricks, sorry, not stones, these bricks that they created didn't hold up with the elements.

It didn't, they don't last, they crumble.

And even the tar doesn't hold it together.

So these bricks don't stand up against the elements.

So ultimately, God protected them by dispersing them.

Because those structures would have crumbled.

A life being built outside of God's word, outside of God's way will crumble in its foundations.

When we do things our way, the way we want, when we build our lives like a tower of Babel, completely independent of God, our foundations won't last.

We can kind of see that throughout civilizations that have tried to rise up against God.

They don't really last.

You guys good?

Okay.

The next observation is the word eastward, moved eastward.

The NIV says as humans moved eastward, they found a plane in June.

Now historically, the word eastward, when you move eastward, means you're separating, you're moving away from.

We see it throughout scripture.

We can see it in um when God drives Adam and Eve out, they moved eastward.

When Cain left God's presence, he moved eastward.

There was a separation from God, there was a separation from their center, there was a separation from Creator.

They moved eastward.

Fifth observation is the word name.

Come, let us build ourselves a city, a tower with its top in the heavens.

Let us make a name for ourselves.

Again in Scripture, when something is named, there is a dominion.

There is a dominion over them.

God named us.

There is a naming, an identity given.

Their identity was a name for ourselves.

Our, me, I, separate.

Do you guys see the common thread through here?

Somewhat looks like a pride factor, right?

They wanted to exercise dominion.

Naming yourself declares independence.

Our tribe, my thing, mine.

Hope we're all on the same page.

And the final observation was they became what they feared.

You see there?

Verse 4, lest be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

That's what happened to them.

They did it, they feared that, and that's what happened to them.

They became what they feared.

So, what's happening here?

These people are trying to reach God, touch transcendence, become independent from God, create a foundation that is not gonna last.

They have no wisdom, wanted to be better or just like God by naming themselves on a constant notion of independence when they move away, and they became what they feared.

We know that they're not gonna meet God, right?

There's no tower big enough to touch God.

I can imagine he did this going, what are they doing?

We can't look at this with our humans' perspective.

Probably said, those silly little humans.

There's another meaning, I think, for the Tower of Abel is that there's a shift from the center of centered around creator, God, to the creation.

Now there's, I want to say, this whole part of scripture is not anti-buildings, not anti-development, not anti-towers.

Um, I got to go up the birch khalifa.

Do you guys know what that is?

It's the tallest building in the world.

It's uh nearly 200 stories, and we got up to 130.

I mean, this building is magnificent.

It's shaped around a wild flower.

Just the creativity of these architects and engineers is beautiful.

In Dubai itself, where the birch khalifa is, there's a building that's a frame.

It's literally a frame.

Like, picture a frame.

That's what it is.

Because there they're using their creativity.

This is not anti-creativity.

There's a saying in the office here where you can't say, I am not creative.

Because as we know, as scripture said, we have all been made in God's image, and God is creative, so therefore we are creative.

Now, I think what we do is we put creativity in a box.

It's musicianship, it's design, it's paint, it's fine arts.

No, creativity is everywhere.

You can be creative as a doctor trying to find out problems, solve problems.

You can be creative as an accountant, you can be creative as an engineer.

Like there's so many things.

So this passage is not anti-any of that.

I hope we get that.

If anything, ask the Holy Spirit, engage in that creativity and use it in the work that you find yourself in.

What this is, is not God being offended.

God is not jealous of people expressing themselves.

It's us doing it outside of His way and His will.

So this comes down to a heart attitude.

This comes down to what is the heart motivation, what is driving us, what is moving us, what is not moving, forcing us.

We have to realize that the first part of the Bible, we can see we only work, human existence, human security only works with the creator in the center.

Because there's no foundation big enough or strong enough to keep it together.

And there's something interesting about this part of scripture.

You know, we have Adam and Eve, individuals.

Cain and Abel, individuals.

Noah and his family, individuals.

This was a collective we.

This was a big we.

This was a group, a city of people.

And so my I hope, 614 Church, as a church, we are walking in the will and ways of God.

But this also has individual ramifications.

Again, we see that God's judgment, God's simply giving us the full implications of the path that we've chosen for ourselves.

Right?

He confused their language, even the city went from being called the gate of the gods to confusion.

God doesn't keep us, he protects us, he keeps us from ruining our lives.

They went down the path of naming themselves apart from God.

So now I want to take a step back.

We've we've gone from Genesis 1 through 11, and there's been this pattern through these through these stories that we've noticed.

This pattern of grace, then they rebel, then there's judgment, and then God brings grace again.

Isn't that beautiful?

Story of Adam and Eve.

Grace, they rebel, he judges them, but then he brings a new grace.

Cain and Abel, grace, they rebel, he rebels.

There's punishment, judgment, and then a new grace.

Noah, the story of Noah.

I mean, they were sinning.

There was an avalanche of sin in there.

God graciously gives humanity what they need to live.

Humanity rebels in levels that are astronomical.

God responds in judgment, but then brings grace by choosing Noah and his family to fill the earth, repopulate, rehuman the earth.

Grace, rebellion, judgment, grace.

There's the circle.

Now we come to the story of Tower of Babel, Babel, Babel.

Actually, Romans 5.20 says, Now the law came in to increase the trespass.

But where sin increased, grace abounded in more.

This is the God that we serve, a gracious God.

He did a grace sandwich.

He didn't leave them just, you know.

He offered grace a way out.

It's a Tower of Babel.

Humans are given the grace to create.

They make these cities.

But then what do they do?

They rebel.

So then what does God do?

He judges.

He scatters the builders.

He frustrates their attempts to try and make a human-focused city civilization.

But then that's the end.

Where's the grace again?

Where's the next grace?

Do you guys see?

I didn't see it.

They didn't even finish the tower.

They didn't even finish the city.

They couldn't understand one another.

They left.

Where's this circle?

Where's the cycle?

Now, do you think God was just done?

Can we be honest?

Who would have been done?

I would have been done.

Right?

Would you have been done?

They do it again, they rebel again.

But we re- well, if we remember from Noah, if we remember from Noah, he gave a promise that he wasn't gonna do annihilate them again.

So does God go against his word?

Or does grace show up in a different way?

Is God's grace forbearance now exhausted?

Is he done?

The first half of the Bible ends with judgment.

The second half begins with a new grace.

The cycle's not broken.

It just takes about 2,000 years for the grace to show up.

This is the way with grace.

God comes to do his new work.

When we finally realize we are unable to do it, let us make a name for ourselves.

In Philippians 2, we see let him make he makes his name great, and he makes our name great.

Jumping to next week's sermon, don't tell David.

But we see in Abraham and Sarah the seed of a promise that was given Adam and Eve.

We see in jumping to Easter, not Easter, Christmas.

Wrong holiday, Kathy.

We see jumping to Christmas, Mary.

There was a virgin conceived.

The seed of the woman was promised in garden.

The one whom all the peoples would be blessed.

That is the full circle.

Who is this seed?

Who is this person?

His name is Jesus.

He was the full grace.

He didn't just go and touch the altar that they had created.

He came all the way down.

The divine response to human human hubris is divine humanity.

This means that when humanity oversteps its boundaries, through, and we can maybe we can relate, extreme pride, arrogance, a desire to be godlike, right?

We saw that in this story.

Divine response is not simply a destructive punishment, which we probably want.

We're like, I'm fed up, I'm done.

God's grace is mind-blowing.

It's not simply divide destructive punishment, but the infiltration of the human realm by the divine, reconciling the two.

That's grace, Jesus who came down, the full circle.

In him, the city now finds us true center.

In him, our sick our significance and our security are found.

We find unity in him.

Not a collective mob deciding to do their own thing, but we have brought ourselves back to around him, and that's where we find us our our unity.

We do not need to create these towers to reach him.

We do not need to do the things to reach him.

Jesus came down.

He came down.

This is beautiful.

This is the full circle of grace.

Confusion is removed.

Because remember when I said Babel's name went from gate of God's to confusion.

Confusion is removed.

We see in Acts, the Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out.

They started speaking in languages that people could understand, of which the good news could go out.

It wasn't confusion and insecurity.

It's a beautiful good news that goes out.

The judgment was satisfied.

Also, the the going back to the BRICS, I think when we start building cities, and I mean I know this is very metaphorical, it's not like we're building a city on our heads, right?

It's a little weird.

But when we start making our our lives about us, around us, for us, our center becomes us and not Jesus.

God is not willing for mankind to get a dwelling place of God in any way except through Jesus.

The cycle did not break.

Grace, rebellion, judgment, new grace through Jesus.

The Lord who came down.

God's judgment on the city dispersed them.

Jesus came down and made a way.

He justified the judgment.

And the Holy Spirit was released on the whole earth.

Zephaniah 3.9 prophesizes the day when the God will purify the lips of the people and they may call him at one accord.

We all have the can say in the name of Jesus.

We all can call on him because of what he did on the cross when Jesus came down and paid the price for us.

So how does this relate to us?

Right?

Are there city builders in here?

Maybe you relate, maybe architects.

But how do we take something that's so can be so broad and make it so personal?

I think when we start building our lives on things on a foundation that is shot, a foundation that is not on him.

Is having a career a good thing?

Yes.

Is having dreams a good thing?

Yes.

Is wanting to create and build and solve problems a good thing?

Yes.

But when our identity, when our name gets found in those things, our foundation shifts from him to that.

In my business, is having the bank, the the banking account good?

Yes.

But is it because it brings me security?

That's a question I have to ask myself all the time.

This church is exploding, it's amazing.

How does it reflect on me?

Is my security found in the church?

The church's image?

Or is it found on him?

Do you see how subtle even good things can warp us?

And I wonder if there were people in that group.

Now I'm shifting from this is now my opinion, okay?

So don't quote me on, don't quote scripture on this.

But I wonder in the whole, because it was a whole city that was punished.

Maybe someone didn't want to build a tower, but they were affected by the punishment.

I think there's things in here that we need to look at, but we need to ask, first of all, ask the Holy Spirit what in my life is a foundation that is man-made and not you.

Are our parents' voices and what they think of us important, way more important than what God's word says?

Are you living your life in your relationship according to his word or according to what someone else is saying?

Are we parenting according to his word?

Are we in a marriage according to his word?

What is driving us?

What is the thing underneath the foundations that we've put that when the elements come and they do, right?

Life happens, that it shakes, or are we able to stand firm?

Have we moved so eastward away from his word that we are more consumed with the collective we than his voice in our ears?

And you do that by living in rebellion.

You do that by making, it's not like they all ended up here.

It's the little decisions that we make, it's the little offenses that climb in.

It's the I'm not gonna do that.

Nah, I'm gonna kind of ignore that part of scripture.

This person's been trying to encourage me, nah, I'm just gonna ignore it.

It starts like that.

And eventually we found that our center has shifted away from God and is placed on ourselves.

Are you our response?

I don't want to be pointing fingers, but I'm really hoping the Holy Spirit is just highlighting areas.

Are you in the grace period?

Are you living in the rebellion period?

Are you living with the results of your own stupid mistakes in the judgment period?

Guess what?

You don't have to stay there.

Grace, there's a new grace because of what Jesus did on the cross.

There is a new grace.

This week, someone cut me off when I was driving.

And I really hoped it was not someone I knew because I did not respond in new grace.

But okay, can I maybe maybe I get an excuse because my my nearly 16-year-old is driving her car and they cut her off.

I mean, it's my kid.

No, it's not a reason.

Not a reason.

I say this because we sin, guys.

I say this because we are not perfect.

And it is a journey of undoing the foundations.

It's a journey of moving from the man-made brick and mortar to what God has provided to him that we need to walk on.

You will know how eastward you are, how separate you are by your relationship with God.

You can sense it.

Are we building towers of our own that are careers or about image or control or security?

I want to ask the worship team to come up.

Things that look strong.

Good things.

Like I said, a career is a good thing.

Having dreams is a good thing.

Work hard and be that great worker.

But if it's because you want the reflection on who you are, there's gonna be a crack in your foundation.

Because as soon as someone doesn't recognize you, it feels like you know the floor's been taken out from under your feet.

As soon as that uh 401k disappears, are we floundering?

Or do we actually believe God is our prov provider?

I think this idea of are we happy to sit in our bubbles, dominating our space, naming what we want, we do this.

We walk through life like this.

You can't actually really see what's in front of you.

You're not being led, you're being driven.

Jesus paid the price for our sins.

Jesus paid the price for that judgment, and he brought in the final grace, the new, beautiful, life-giving, amazing grace.

So are you living in the grace?

Are you living in that rebellion?

Are you living in the consequences of your choices?

Or maybe you're somebody who has been affected by someone else's decisions and walk and the judgment was put on you or the judgment affected you negatively.

Are you in that space?

Like I said, I don't know if everybody wanted to build a tower.

But I think sometimes we get affected by other people's decisions.

Secondhand offense is way more painful than first.

When someone hurts someone we love, it hurts really deep.

But you don't have to live in that space either.

Jesus didn't climb up this man-made tower.

He came down, he met us, he gave his name up, and now his name is above every name: grace, rebellion, judgment, new grace.

And it starts with putting our faith and our trust in him.

It starts with understanding that he has your life in the palm of his hands.

And I want us, I want to ask us maybe you're sitting here and you're like, I feel that that tension when someone touches my money, I feel that that tension when someone says something negative about me on social media, I feel that that tension is our foundation shock, or have we put our hope in Jesus?

And that can start today.

It can start today.

Just a simple prayer of saying, Jesus, I don't have it all together, I don't know how to live this life, but with you at the helm, with you at my center, I want to go forward.

So I want to ask you guys to close your eyes.

And if that is you, if maybe you've never given your heart to Jesus or you have moved so far eastward, you have separated yourself from him.

And you want to change that today?

Can you lift your hand for me?

It's not a book of rules, it is not the tower that you've built, and now you're here so he can touch you.

It's Jesus who came down.

Jesus who became human and took on the judgment on himself.

Jesus who paid the price for your sins.

Just put your hand up.

And I want to ask the rest of us, where do you find yourself in this scope?

Where do you find yourself?

Are you in that rebellion?

Are you paying the consequences for your bad decisions?

Or have you been affected by someone else's bad decisions?

Has your life's center moved, even just a degree off, from him?

I know you guys can hear God's voice.

You might say to me, No, I don't, and I'm going to reply, Yes, I know you can.

He speaks in an array of ways.

Maybe you've been having a dream that just keeps repeating itself.

Like, what is going on?

Write it down.

It could be the Holy Spirit trying to highlight something.

Maybe people have come up to you and just shared things with you that are very similar.

Write it down and ask Holy Spirit, what is that that you are sharing to me?

Maybe it's a verse and a verse that has this very similar message that you keep being highlighted.

That could be the Holy Spirit.

Maybe it's just a voice.

It kind of sits, it feels like to me it sits at the back of my head, just reminding that's the Holy Spirit.

He could be showing your dreams, he could be showing you memories.

He's speaking.

Ask him, are there areas in my life where the foundation is moved from the center as you are centered or as me as center?

Ask him to show you and then repent.

It's not rocket science, you don't have to.

You just say sorry, he will show you how what to do next.

So I'm gonna pray for you, Father God.

I just thank you for each and every person sitting in this space.

And those joining us online.

I thank you for each family that is represented here, I thank you for each marriage that is represented here, and I thank you, Lord, that you know them, you see them, you hear them, and your grace is enough for them.

And I ask right now, Holy Spirit, you start highlighting maybe where areas of rebellion have just crept in.

You start highlighting maybe where foundations are not set on you, but foundations are set on things that are gonna crumble.

But we want to be a church that is so in love with you, that is completely centered ourselves around you.

Show us where we've not, where we are not.

In Jesus' name, I ask you, just sit quietly with your eyes closed, you can kneel, you can live on the floor, you can whatever it is.

Ask the Holy Spirit.

And you might get it like, you know when someone pokes you, you know when someone pokes you, tries to get your attention?

I don't want to deal with it.

I'm not thinking about that.

Think about that.

That could very well be the Holy Spirit highlighting something.

And I'll ask Father that you give them courage on how courage you on how to deal with areas where they've built a foundation that's not on you.

So I'm gonna take a few minutes.

Can we do that?

And let's just sit in his presence.

Let's just sit together and ask him for show us.