S38P11 – God’s miraculous power for today: The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:5-9

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.  The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”  So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.  That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.  From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

For us, this is no new tale. Over many millennia we have seen people in this world forge ahead with one goal in mind. Part of our sinful nature desires that we elevate ourselves to a place where we do not belong. We fail to realize that man was not made to be over everything. The simple fact that man was created should reveal this to us. Yes, we are higher than the trees and the animals and all of creation. However, that does not mean that we hold the highest place. There certainly is an element of humility without which we cannot realize and accept our rightful position. We can learn to be humble the easy way or the hard way. For those who tried to build a tower to reach the heavens and become like gods themselves, the hard way was required to teach them that they were never meant to occupy that place.

There is only one who is holy and perfect. There is only one who is God. He holds a position that no other could hold or deserves to occupy. That we would even desire to take that place is an affront to his majesty. We must remember that we are the creation and not the Creator. It should not be a blow to our pride to understand our rightful place. Although we should desire to have the character of God, we should not covet his position of power and authority. The good thing is that we have a Father in heaven who understands that discipline is for our benefit. He knows the dangers that can come from allowing us to elevate ourselves above where we belong, and we can trust that He will take steps to keep us from the damage we may cause when we do so. That He would frustrate our efforts to elevate ourselves to his position is nothing but an exhibition of his love.

God is the only one worthy of residing in the office of the Most High. He is the only one worthy of being above everything and everyone. He is the Creator, and the Creator cannot be subject to his creation. There are very good reasons why God could not allow the Tower of Babel to continue. This was not merely a matter of God preserving his godliness. This was also a matter of keeping people from rising to a level that would ultimately corrupt and undo them. Even if God were to allow us to occupy his place, we never could handle the power or responsibility. Father, thank You for keeping us lowly and humble not only for your sake but also for our good.