Image courtesy of wikipedia.com
Not too long after God flooded the world to start over with Noah, there was a little predicament…
The tower of Babel was built out of man-made materials as a shrine or exhibit to the people who built it. It was an emblem of their greatness, a testimony to their self-worth and identity. They built it tall, as to reach to the heavens, so they would make a name for themselves. They built it as a symbol of their unity.
When the Lord saw the tower He quickly came to a different conclusion:
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 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.†So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11:5-9
Lordy Lordy. Humanity is just that way. Time and again in the Bible we read of our failure to fall in line with perfection. Why? Well, we’re human. God intentionally dispersed the people and created barriers to their unity as it wasn’t honoring Him. It seems like life before Jesus came was tough. Life before the Pentecost was different from what we have now living in “The Church Age.” It will be different after the Rapture as well. We live in the age of grace and for that I’m thankful. For all of the difficulties that we face in the world today, we have it pretty good in comparison to the other ages of humanity. O for the love of grace…
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9
One of the very last passages in the Bible is how we should respect and use God’s word to teach other people. I thought this must be pretty important, since it was at the very end… and since it mentioned possible repercussions for the misuse of His Word. This is God’s final word:
For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Revelation 22:18-19
So I got to thinking, as someone who writes regularly about the Bible and Jesus and whatnot, how important it is to SPEAK THE TRUTH IN LOVE. We’re called to handle the Word of God with great respect in two ways:
– We’re not to distort His Word, like using it out of context or for some reason other than its intended purpose.
– When also to avoid taking away from God’s Word. I think of this, I envision someone who wants to pick and chose the parts of the Bible they want to prescribe to.
What does all of this lead up to?
A shower of Babel… if it doesn’t honor God.
As someone who is interested in helping to spread the Gospel, this seems to be a pretty big deal.
Be it the plagues or the eternal lake of fire, I don’t want to go there by misusing His Word. So I have to be diligent in the use and teaching of scripture. The Bible as we know it is perfect and complete. The more I read and learn about scripture, the more I can see how perfectly put together it is.
Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6
Unity is awesome when it is pleasing to the Lord… I’m excited to learn more about God’s Word and how to use it to further His kingdom.
How can we be sure to respect God’s Word? In what ways can we add to or take away from scripture?
Lordy, Lordy? (giggle) That sounds like something I’d say.
Just this morning I was praying that God would help me focus on speaking with clarity, truth and kindness in my writing. Your post echoes that prayer–plus!
I worry most about not adding things to the Gospel. We writers have a higher standard and awesome responsibility because our words get printed for the world to see.
My process always requires that I stop–>open fresh eyeballs–>and see if I’ve put any of Carol’s personal theology into what I’ve written. Those loud shrieks you hear from time to time are me spotting them and hitting the delete key.
Praising God for the delete key and His grace as I learn to take myself out of the process.
Me too on that note. Since I’ve slowed down the posts I’ve had more time to think though how and what I’m going to say. Like “Lordy Lordy” instead of just Boulderdash (if that makes any sense lol).
Good word for Christian poets and writers, Chris, so I’ll highlight on the blog – http://christianpoetsandwriters.blogspot.com.
A thought worth perhaps about a penny in today’s economy: Do you ever wonder if the idea for that tower came about when the people doubted God’s promise and decided to take flood control into their own hands?
Very interesting thought Mary! There were probably lots more boats being built after Noah’s eventful voyage too.
Thanks so much for sharing this at your blog, I really appreciate the exposure… all in service to the Lord. 🙂