Two Small Fish
November 5, 2007
Babel: A Picture of the Church
To receive the greatest possible blessing from this Bible study, please take a moment to read the passage.
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Prayer:
Almighty God, there is none like You. You alone deserve honor, glory, and yes, respect above all others. I praise and worship You, LORD for You have given grace and not judgment, mercy and not punishment. You have supplied all my needs and given me Your love when I was unlovable. Hallelujah, I am rejoicing. I will sing of Your goodness forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Introduction:
At this very moment, I am struggling with my desire to relax--take a nap, play a video game, or simply spend the afternoon gazing out the window. I worked hard this week. I studied even harder. I deserve leisure time just like everyone else.
I also deserve to spend my hard-earned bucks on myself for clothes, a new computer program, Yea, a new laptop. Others get what they want. I’m tired of denying myself the finer things of life. I deserve an exclusive Y’ves Saint Laurent wardrobe rather than a selection from the Goodwill Boutique. I deserve a Corvette instead of a Chevette, 10 carat diamond instead of a diamond chip. I deserve to live in a Penthouse instead of dog house. I DESERVE BETTER!
Furthermore, my children deserve to be on the first-string varsity team whether they have any talent or show up for practices. They also deserve to be on the distinguished honor-roll even if they didn’t do their homework or pass the final exam. And they deserve another large slice of chocolate cake with peanut-butter icing topped with ice cream, hot fudge, and whipped cream even if they do tip the scales at 200 pounds at the age of twelve. WE DESERVE THE BEST.
The Lesson:
Only ten generations—365 brief years—after the flood, Noah’s descendents had developed an I-deserve-better mentality much like the one many Americans carry in their hearts today.
The account of Babel bears a striking resemblance to the professing Church.
1. 1. Unity: At the time of Babel the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech (Genesis 11:1 KNV).
Luke states in Acts 2:1: And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. Later, Paul writes to the Philippians: If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. The calling of the church has always been one of unity. Equally emphasized, divide and conquer has also always been the number one tactic of the enemy.
Throughout the church’s history, she has struggled with unity. She began with the believers being of one heart and one soul, and had placed all things in a common trust (Acts 4:32). However as time progressed, the unity within the body of Christ has dwindled to a thin shell. In Revelation, John warns the church—leaving their first love, allowing false doctrine and ungodly practices that have been forbidden to exist within the church, permitting sexual sins, dying to the spiritual things of God. And at last, we have the church of today, which is neither hot nor cold. They say they are rich and in need of nothing. They rely on their own understanding rather than seeking Biblical instruction. Worse, they have attempted to rewrite the Bible and have taught us to interrupt it any way we chose using terms such as “what does that passage mean to you.” We should learn to compare Scripture with Scripture and ask what God means by it. Knowing first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost (2 Peter 1:20-21).
The church has lost its sense of unity, not only with the emergence of many denominations, but within each established church. We have ministries for the singles, for the youth, for the men, for the women, and so on. With the emphasis placed on the individual needs, unity of the family as a whole has been all-but lost—not only our physical family, but our spiritual family as well.
2. Ambition: The people of Babel said: let us make us a name (Genesis 11:4b KJV).
As we read the account of the tower of Babel, we sense their arrogance in their attempt to reach heaven through their own devises rather than trusting God. Compare again the status of the Laodicean church in Revelation chapter 3:14-19. The Laodiceans were proud people—wealthy, increased in goods, and in their own opinion, in need of nothing. They chose to ignore Biblical teaching, which emphatically teaches that we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked without Christ. The Laodicean church, as the church of today, relied on self-righteousness and basked in its own glory.
Using worldly, not spiritual means to organize and construct the church’s agenda, we disregard God-given unity and incorporate man-made unity building mega churches with wafer-board foundations.
These churches teach the I-deserve-more and I-am-worthy doctrine. Inviting as this maybe, it is contrary to the word of God. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away (Isaiah 64:6 KJV). Paul reminds us in Romans 3:10-18 that no one is righteous and again in Romans 3:23, he says all have sinned. John says, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (I John 1:8). If you need more evidence of God’s view on humanity, look up 1 Kings 8:46; Psalms 14:3, 106:6; Ecclesiastes 7:20, 9:30; Isaiah 59:13; Jeremiah 17:9; Ezekiel 13:22; Mark 7:21; Romans 5:12, 7:15-24, 11:32; and Galatians 3:22 (just a few to get you started)
The swift decline of the human race after the flood proves that the heart of humanity is as Jeremiah states deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (17:9). The all-are-good declaration is deceptive and leads people away from rather than toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Ezekiel’s warning rings loud and clear: Because with lies ye have . . . strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life (13:22 emphasis mine).
The Bible is not a feel-good-about-me book. The word of God teaches us the truth about who we are so that we can come to Jesus for salvation and feel good about Who HE Is and what He has accomplished on the cross for us. Promoting the feel good doctrine creates a false hope and people will not turn from their sin and seek forgiveness.
Plenty of verses build up the fallen, but in order to grasp the rope and receive help out of the pit, we must first come to the realization that we are indeed fallen. We are unworthy and hopeless without Christ—not the popular teaching of day or any other age. Since the beginning of creation, people thought they could reach heaven by building up their own righteousness. Someone once said, In the beginning God created man in His own image and man has been attempting to return the favor ever since. We cannot become righteous by our own merit nor by reshaping God’s standard. We can only become righteous in God’s sight by stripping ourselves of self-righteousness and claiming the cloak of Jesus’ righteousness through His atoning blood.
3. 3. Judgment: And the LORD said, Behold the people (Genesis 11:6a KJV).
Because people concocted their own scheme to reach heaven, the tower of Babel displeased God. He confused their language and cast them into the outer ends of the earth, where they suffered many hardships. This action prints an image on my mind of Jesus “spewing” the lukewarm church out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16). At the time of the final judgment, God will cast the wicked into outer darkness where there will be endless suffering and no hope of His presence.
The understanding of the coming judgment should prompt us to tell others of their need for forgiveness of sin not in a condemning manner, but in love and concern for their wellbeing. Yes, we need to lift one and other up and encourage a balanced self-image, but we cannot sacrifice an individual’s need for salvation in the process.
Conclusion and Challenge:
Now that this study is written, I have time to evaluate my “dog house.” Like precious gems, laugher, nurturing, and compassion cement the foundation. Love furnishes every room. Peace drapes the windows. God blesses me with more than I could ask every day.
But the grandest, most extravagant blessing of all God’s gifts is salvation through the blood of the Lamb. We talk non-stop about His mercy and grace. What do these words mean apart from Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and His resurrection from the dead? The definition of mercy is: not giving what is deserved. The definition of grace is: giving what is not deserved. According to Scripture, we deserve separation from God—death and hell. According to Scripture, we do not deserve forgiveness. But God loves us so much that He desires to show mercy and grace to anyone who will take Him at His word and come to Him on His terms. Only through the blood of Jesus, can God remain faithful to His own holy character and bestow mercy and grace on a sinner such as I am.
When we accept God’s plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit teaches us a new form of self-acceptance that is greater than any self-esteem program humans can conjure up. He enables us to see ourselves as Christ sees us in the before and after picture. We have a new understanding of our value, which is not above any other, but is equal to all others.
Through His mercy, grace, and love, God leads us to the fountain of Living Water from which I have drawn two cups—one for myself and one for you. Enjoy!
Start a Ministry
Start a new ministry. Print some business cards with a picture of a penny and the slogan “In God We Trust.” Under the slogan write: But are we trusting the one true God? If you like, place my website on it or yours or your church’s site. Hand them out—with your tip a restaurants, to passers-by, to cashiers, put them in all your outgoing mail. Pray earnestly for our nation’s revival.
If you don’t have a computer or time to make cards, but would like to invest in this ministry, write to me via e-mail and I’ll send you some-FREE.
