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Review:  The impact and cancer of sin had gone beyond breaking the relationship with God and each other, it became so violent and destructive that God put a limit on life span [Genesis 6:3] and moved God to implement that limitation by destroying all living things by a flood.  He spared one family (Noah) and two of each kind of creature.  The Noah story teaches us about the faithfulness of God and his desire for a faithful people he can declare as righteous. 

Every thought of the heart is still inclined to sin.  So, sin was not eliminated, but God in his protection of us and the rest of creation will now choose a different path in inhibiting sin’s effects upon the earth—separation!

Read Genesis 11:1-9

Chapter 11 explains how part of Chapter 10 plays out, much like Chapters 2 and 3 gave further detail to what happened in chapter 1.  [See Genesis 10:25] 

Verse 1          One language and a common speech.  Culturally same in all aspects.

Verses 3-4   

• Build a tower made of brick (manmade) not stone.
  
  
• Build it so tall that it reaches to the heavens—taller than any judgment by water or figure from the heavens.
  
  
• Named Babylon “the gate of god”. Written about by ancient Babylonian writers as a celestial city made of brick that reached to the heavens.  [Enuma Elish VI]
  
  
• Their motive, purpose, or vision was to make a name for themselves.
  
  
• Their fear was isolation, separation, and to be scattered to unknown places.
  
  
• Let’s glorify ourselves. Let’s prove our strength.

Verses 5-7

• Working together with one purpose can accomplish incredibly powerful outcomes.
  
  
• The purpose determines whether it is righteous or wicked outcomes.
  
  
• Powerful unity requires unified language and culture.
  
  
• Nothing is impossible for those who speak with one language and one culture with one common purpose.

Verses 8-9

• Their fear becomes realized as God scatters them and gives them separate languages. The cumulative effect is that they become culturally different making it difficult to work together.
  • National or tribal identities create protective barriers.
  • Our approaches to similar motives are very different.
  • Trust and partnership are not natural and are always hindered to some degree.

• The city’s completion has failed and is now called Babel—confused.
  • Likely a newer spin off the name Babylon.
  • A Hebrew term derived from the outcome of God’s judgment of Babylon.
  • Jesus describes prayer that is wrongly motivated as “babbling” prayers. Matthew 6:7

When evil rises to such a destructive level God stymies it by bringing confusion among its ranks and by isolating them from each other. 

• Israel’s Northern Kingdom was warned that their rebellion towards God would lead to their being scattered among the nations. Jeremiah 9:16, 23:2
  • God says there will be a re-gathering of Israel. Zephaniah3:9-11
  • God will scatter for the sake of inhibiting sin, but He also re-gathers for the sake of restoration.

• Paul was in a dangerous situation before the Sanhedrin. He escaped the situation by confusing their unity of voice and separating them by their belief differences concerning the resurrection.

Confusion and Isolation are a cancer to what is possible.

The inverse is true. 

Clarity of one language and one culture working together are a cancer to the impossible.   

Making the impossible possible.

Jesus prayed for this.   

John 17:20-23 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

Fulfillment of Jesus’ prayer.  Acts 2:1-21, 36-41

• One Spirit filling people scattered over the earth leads to one culture, one language, and one unstoppable movement called the Kingdom of God.

Building the Kingdom of God and not Babel. 

1. Believe and trust in Jesus and be filled with the Spirit. Ephesians 1:13-14
   
   
2. Join the great movement of God called the church—on mission together.
   
   
3. Proclaim the name of Jesus not your name.
   
   
4. Run from towers being built to promote human kingdoms.

Communion is taken together to draw us together under one purpose.

Song- There is a Fountain

Communion

Song- We Believe

Benediction: 

Revelation 5:9 “And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God person from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

God scatters to hinder sin. God re-gathers to restore a people for himself.