PENTECOST
May 23/24, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Genesis 11:1-9

THE BABBLE AT BABEL TEACHES US…
1. God shows man the right way.
2. Often man foolishly chooses his own way.
3. God steps in to clean up man’s mess.

Genesis 11:1-9 (NIV) “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 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. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 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.”

It seems to be another one of those “where you grew up” things. You know, like pop or soda, water fountain or bubbler. To those we add another. Is it the Tower of Babel or the Tower of Babel? That seems to depend on who you had for your Sunday School or Day School teacher. I was taught Babel, so that’s the right way. Actually this would be one of those cases where my dear old dad would say, “You’re both right and you’re both wrong.” You see the actual Hebrew pronunciation would be “Bavel.” I wonder if this isn’t just some deliciously divine irony at work here there seems to be so much confusion of the tongue on how to pronounce the name of Babel because confusion of tongues was the result of what happened at Babel. And yet for those who are willing to look back with the eyes of faith there are some lessons we can learn. Let’s see what the Babble at Babel teaches us.
It shows us first how God always shows man the right way. “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.” As we go back to Babel we see a far different world than we live in. There was only one culture and a common language. This was some time after the Flood. The population was increasing. People were moving eastward. This was good because God had shown man the right way. He did that when He spoke to the survivors of the Flood in Genesis 9:1. Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.” Here was the right way, the blessed way, the way that fit within the plan of salvation. Fill the earth. This is nothing new for God, right? Think of before the Flood where God told His people living in a world marred by sin, the right way, the blessed way to live by calling on the name of the Lord. Think of the Garden of Eden where God showed Adam and Eve the right way, the blessed way to live, “But you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." God always shows man the right way.
Sadly man often foolishly chooses his own way. Such was the case at Babel. “They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." Here we get another peek at life after the Flood. Those who worship the god of evolution would have us believe that our ancestors were dumb slouching barely developed people. They were not. These people were smart, skilled, sophisticated, innovative and resourceful. They knew how to build to last and use the natural resources of the area. Now smart, skilled, sophisticated, innovative and resourceful is not the same as wise, is it? We don’t know how long after the Flood this happened but Noah lived 350 years after the Flood. What story do you think Great Grandpa Noah told them? He told them about their Savior God who was to be absolutely obeyed. He told them of the consequence of disobedience. He pointed them to the rainbow in the sky and its message of the God who keeps His word. Did they listen? No! They fell down to worship at the idol called ME and defiantly set out to make a name for themselves instead of their Savior God.
Are we detecting a pattern here? Isn’t this the same thing that happened to the people before the Flood who stopped calling on the name of the Lord and who then according to the fact of devolution became more and more wicked? Isn’t this what happened in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve chose to disobey? Yes, sadly, even though God shows the right way, man often foolishly chooses his own way.
And then God steps in clean up man’s mess. “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 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. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 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.” Now we know God who is everywhere does not need to come down from heaven to earth. Look also in the text at the spelling of the name LORD. Those capital letters tell you God is emphasizing His Savior name. The Lord’s telling us that He’s coming to once again to clean up the mess of man’s sin, like He did in the Garden of Eden, like He did with Flood. If things continued another world wide destruction would be needed. But God had made a promise. The rainbow still stands. So God cleaned up man’s mess another way. He separated people into cultures with separate languages. Confusion and distrust set in. The many languages we have in this world are not the result of man getting smarter and smarter but a consequence of man’s foolish defiance of God. And God’s will was done. The people filled the earth as was best for God’s plan of salvation.
But that’s not the end of the story is it? All of the history recorded in the Bible describes to us how our loving God works to bring about salvation. It tells us how the LORD, the Savior God, brought Jesus into the world to provide the ultimate clean up of man’s mess through His death and resurrection. Then when the Savior came, God undid the babble at Babel with the Holy Spirit poured on the disciples at Pentecost so each could hear in their own language that their mess had been cleaned up by Jesus of Nazareth, the Savior from sin. Today the babble is still undone as the Word of the Lord is available, translated into every language and most dialects of those languages. We rejoice in that and gladly do our own part in getting God’s Word to the nations.
And yet have we learned the lessons the babble at Babel teaches us? Please open your bulletins to look at the lessons Babel teaches us. Let’s read them together.1. God shows man the right way. 2. Often man foolishly chooses his own way. 3.God steps in to clean up man’s mess. Now take a look at your own life. Can you see some places where God has shown you the right way and yet you are foolishly choosing your own? Children, maybe in the area of respectful obedience to your parents and teachers? Parents and adults, maybe in the area of weekly worship and daily use of the word? For all could it be that our tongues speak words that are not confusing but instead are filthy and not worthy to be spoken by those with the privilege of being called the Children of God?
God will step in to clean up your mess. While He could do so by forcing your obedience, there is a better way, the Pentecost way, the Holy Spirit way. When God’s people confess their sins He is quick to forgive. Jesus made sure of that. And with the Holy Spirit’s help we can follow the right way, the wise way, God’s way. While man often foolishly chooses his own way, we don’t have to. We can honor Jesus by fighting our sinfulness, our selfishness, our laziness and we can live the right way, the way our God has shown us in His word. So that happens more and more among us, please stand and turn to page 20 in the front of the Hymnal if you need to, and let’s sing together the prayer song for the gift of the Holy Spirit often called the “Create in Me.” Amen.