Month: March 2020

The Real Tower of Babel

      ORDER MY NEW BOOK HERE

tower of babel

“Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”  Genesis 11:4

The story of the tower of Babel has always puzzled me. Why would God be concerned about a bunch of people building a structure high up into the sky?

Usually the interpretation of the passage goes like this:  The people wanted to build something that would reach up to the heavens where God is.  God saw what they were doing and realized that the people were accomplishing the goal.

  “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language.  And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.”  Gen. 11:6

So, God went down and confused their language and scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city.  (Interesting that Scripture says they stopped building the city, not the tower.  Make a note of this.)

The first problem with this explanation is that God would not care about someone trying to build a tower up to heaven, other than it would be an exercise in futility and God is opposed to wasting time and money. 

God says in Jeremiah 31 that the “heavens cannot be measured”.  It is not possible to reach God’s throne.

Obviously, God was not thinking about the tower reaching up to heaven where He is enthroned when He said, ‘nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them’.

So, let’s break things down.  What is going on here?

The first thing to address is who the people are.  You must back up into the previous chapter.  This is post flood and chapter 10 chronicles all the generations of Noah’s sons.  It documents all the descendants of Noah leading up to the city of Babel in chapter 11. 

In other words, the people of Babel were the entire human race up to that point after the flood.  That is what 10:32 says – “These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.”.

Notice that the verse says they were separated into the nations (in case you missed the underline). 

Continuing into chapter 11:1, it says, “Now, the whole earth used the same language…”, and in 11:6 it says that they are “one people”.

What is happening in the story of Babel is an explanation of how and why the descendants of the sons of Noah were separated into the nations. 

What did God command Adam and Eve in the garden?  “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it;” Gen. 1:28.

And what did the people of Babel led by Nimrod, say?  “let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”.

What we see in this story is the people of earth defying God and His purpose for mankind.  Instead of obeying God and representing Him, they are choosing to create their own identity and purpose, and NOT be scattered over the earth. 

The tower was simply going to be the center of that identity.  It would be the symbol of who they are.  

And it would be the focal point of their existence geographically.  A sort of tether if you will.  According to the Book of Jubilees, the tower, at its peak, reached a height of 1.6 miles.  That is 8,500 feet, approximately! 

Think of it this way, they wanted to stay together where they were, and the tower, which would be the height of 6 empire state buildings, would be a visual hitching post, so as the population grew and spread, they could always see the tower and stay together. 

The tower would be the center of their civilization and it would also be the center of their identity. 

Remember I said to make a note of the fact that Scripture said they stopped building the city instead of the tower – after God confused their language?  I think that is just more evidence that the tower, in and of itself, was not the issue with God.  The issue was that they were creating their own identity and purpose and ignoring God and His plan.

Man was created to image God, to represent His Name.  God came down and confused their language to scatter mankind over the earth and fulfill the commission He gave Adam and Eve. 

Nimrod, who led the people to build the tower, was an antichrist type, just as his government was a foreshadowing of a coming world government.

A day is coming soon when another man will unite the world to make a name to follow other than the Most High God.  But that also will fail, of course, and then the King of Kings will set up His kingdom that will last forever. 

Very soon. Hebrews 10:37

A Nickel in the Grass

     Order my new book here

nickel (2)

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me; and he who loves Me shall be loved by My Father, and I will love him, and will disclose Myself to him.”  John 14:21

I was having a conversation with a Christian friend of mine and we were talking about many things and the verse above came up.  He said he had listened to someone who was talking about Christ manifesting Himself to believers, which is what the Greek word for ‘disclose’ means. 

Now, my friend was saying that the person he listened to was saying that Christ will visually manifest Himself, as in – you literally see Jesus. 

I know that there are many stories of people in the Middle East getting saved because Jesus has come to them in their dreams and told them the Gospel.  That would definitely be a manifestation.  And I believe it has happened.

However, the verse in John is clearly talking about a manifestation to those who know Jesus, not those who don’t. 

So the question is… how does Jesus ‘disclose’ or ‘manifest’ Himself to a believer?

I think there are a number of ways.  And this leads into my story of a nickel in the grass.

I was in my last year of college and I had recently come to Christ as my Savior.  So I was a brand new Christian.

One day I was walking across campus toward the main administration building and I had to make an urgent phone call.  I have no recollection about who I had to call or why.  All I remember is that it was urgent, and I was moving very fast, cutting across the grass.

There were no cell phones back then, and pay phones cost 10 or 15 cents for local calls.  Whatever the price was, I was short a nickel and I obviously felt like I needed it right now! 

So I prayed.  I asked the Lord to somehow get me a nickel so I could immediately make the phone call when I got to the building straight ahead of me. 

I remember it was only about a few steps after I started praying, and as I’m scurrying with my head down, there it was.

I hit the brakes and couldn’t believe it.  Right there in the grass, right in front of me, was a nickel!

I’m still blown away by that ‘event’ today.  God put that nickel right where it needed to be for the exact time I needed it.

I’ve told this story to many people over the years.  Did Jesus disclose Himself to me?  I say, yes He did. 

I don’t believe that John 14:21 is specifically referring to a visible manifestation such as Jesus’ appearing to the disciples after His resurrection.  Although, I surely give God all the room to do that today if He chooses!  But I think Jesus was referring to a spiritual disclosure by the Holy Spirit living in us.

Jesus discloses, or reveals Himself as we seek Him in His Word.  That I can say without doubt.  He also reveals Himself to us through other believers.  And when we have the Holy Spirit, we can see Jesus revealed in things like creation, history and fulfillment of prophecy (Israel becoming a nation again comes to mind). 

But you must have the Holy Spirit to be able to understand these revelations, or disclosures.

“I shall remember the deeds of the Lord”

Answered prayer is certainly a way Jesus discloses Himself.  And for me, when I was an infant Christian, the Lord was kind enough to answer that prayer for a nickel when I really needed it.  And the benefit of that answered prayer has carried me through many difficult situations since then. 

As we get older in the faith, and God tests that faith (and He does – 1 Pet. 1:7), it’s important that we be able to fall back on the past where the Lord has demonstrated His faithfulness to us, so that we can remember and stand firm.

That is what Asaph is saying in Psalm 77.  He said he will remember the deeds and wonders of the Lord, and he will meditate on them, because it was a trying time.  In vs. 7-11, Asaph is wondering out loud, “Has God forgotten to be gracious?”. 

And then he comforts himself by remembering the works of the Lord, and he recounts them.  And he knows that the Lord is with him. 

I believe we all, as Christians, have those personal stories or memories to recall – like a nickel in the grass.