SEPTEMBER 2, 2015
The Babel
Project
Unless
the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. — Psalm 127:1
Read:
Genesis
11:1-9
Two workmen were asked
what they were building together. One said he was building a garage. The other
replied that he was building a cathedral. A day later there was only one man
laying bricks. When asked where the second was, the first replied, “Oh, he got
fired. He insisted on building a cathedral instead of a garage.”
Something similar
happened on the ancient worksite of Babel. A group of people decided they would
build a city and a tower that would reach to the heavens and unite their world
(Gen. 11:4). But God didn’t want them working on a grand, self-centered plan
based on the idea that they could rise to the heights of God and solve all of
their own problems. So He came down, stopped the project, scattered the people
“over all the earth,” and gave them different languages (vv. 8-9).
God wanted people to
see Him as the solution to their problems, and He revealed His plan for them to
Abraham (12:1-3). Through the faith of Abraham and his descendants, He would
show the world how to look for a city “whose architect and builder is God” (Heb.
11:8-10).
Our faith does not
rise out of our own dreams and solutions. The foundation of faith is in God
alone and what He can do in and through us.
Dear heavenly Father, forgive me for focusing on my own schemes
and dreams. Help me to look to You for guidance in all that I do.
God wants to do what only He can do in and for us.
INSIGHT:
Genesis 11 holds a pivotal place in the early
Old Testament story, as it forms something of a bridge from the days of the
early patriarchs (Adam, Seth, Noah) to the days of Abraham. In Genesis 1–10 we
find not only the creation narrative but also the record of humanity’s early
failures, which are proof we need the Rescuer that God promised in Genesis
3:15. This promise will find its ultimate fulfillment through the line of
Abraham—in Jesus the Messiah—through whom all the people of the world will be
blessed (22:18). Bill Crowder
Source: Our Daily Bread 2015
