By: Undre Griggs, Jr.
There was a point in time when we all spoke the same language and had the ability to accomplish great things together. It is interesting to think of a time when communication was clear and everyone was able to understand what the other desired. While speaking the same language helped, their cohesiveness was more than that; they had agreement in language, desire, and aspiration.
Genesis 11:4 (ESV): 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.”
They were all interesting in making a name for themselves. This desire remains true for many of us today; we want to make a better name for ourselves more than we want to further God’s name. It is God that blesses each of us to accomplish great things, but he is not going to bless us at the risk of losing our soul. Throughout Scripture, we see God will do whatever is necessary to preserve our soul from damnation. Humans have a natural ability to take credit for God’s blessing, so God tries to help us by keeping us humble.
Genesis 11:6-7 (ESV): 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 that they may not understand one another's speech.”
We see another example of this in the battle between Israel and the Midianites (Judges 7:2-8). Midian started with 22,000 soldiers, but God knew there were too many. Jehovah said if He gave them victory with 22,000 soldiers, Israel would boast and say, “my own hand has saved me” (Judges 7:2). God knew he had to create an environment where everyone attributed their success to God. That is why God only allowed Midian to take 300 Israelite soldiers into battle with him. Similar to the Tower of Babel, God did not want to allow success at the expense of their soul. Sometimes our life isn’t exactly as we wanted, but it always exactly as we need. We go through tough times, not because God doesn’t like us, but because He loves. God has turned what our enemies have created for our demise into sometime used for our blessing. In a world full of evil, God has tuned the sufferings caused by sin into blessing of hope (Romans 5:3-4). With a focus on salvation, Jesus put it best; what benefit is it to gain the whole world and lose our soul (Mark 8:36)?
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