Genesis 11:1-9
Pentecost Takes the Babbling Out of Babel!
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it is called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (NIV1984)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Have you ever heard someone who is babbling? How do you react? The answer to that question depends on who is babbling, doesn’t it. I find it both amazing and amusing to watch someone who is holding an infant who has learned how to babel. As the infant vocalizes certain sounds, the adult— even very well-educated adults— will repeat those sounds and babble along with the child. But, if an older child or an adult is talking in a way that just doesn’t make sense to you, you might look at them and say, “What are you babbling about?”
Our sermon text for today reminds us of where the term “babbling” originated— on a plain in Shinar thousands of years ago. Today as you and I gather together to celebrate the Festival of Pentecost, the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit, let’s see how: Pentecost Takes the Babbling Out of Babel!
In the chapters which precede our text for today God the Holy Spirit inspired Moses to record the Creation of the heavens and the earth, the Creation of Adam and Eve, the Fall of Adam and Eve, and God’s judgment on this world by means of a world-wide Flood. The Holy Spirit also inspired Moses to record God’s command to Noah and his sons (Shem, Ham and Japheth) after they came out of the ark. God said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). Most scholars believe that the events recorded here in our text for today occurred about 100 years after the Flood, 100 years after God gave that command to Noah and his sons. The events recorded here in our text reveal how sinful people reacted to God’s command to “fill the earth” and how God responded to their sin. Moses writes, “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said to each other, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”
The fact that all the people on earth spoke a common language produced a powerful unity among them. They could easily talk to each other and effectively communicate with each other. That unity enabled them to take the knowledge and the skill and the ingenuity with which God had blessed them and use it to achieve something remarkable! Working together as one they were going to build a city with a tower that “reaches to the heavens”— the very first skyscraper!
While this plan was indeed impressive, while this plan was indeed “lofty” this plan revealed that the sinful rebellion that lived in the hearts of these people was now openly spilling out into their lives. That sinful rebellion is revealed in their motivation for building this city with its tower. They had only one purpose for this building project. That purpose was, “so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” Instead of proclaiming and praising the Name of the Lord, they were intent on making a name for themselves. Instead of obeying God’s command to “fill the earth” they were intent on defying God and doing what they considered to be best for themselves.
There is a warning here for us, my friends. While we are eons removed from the people living on the plain of Shinar and their building project, we are only one thought away from thinking the same as they did. The good Lord has blessed each of us with gifts, talents and abilities that go far beyond what we deserve. How are we using those gifts, talents and abilities? Are we using them to bring praise and glory to the Name of our God, or are we using them to “make a name for ourselves”? Are we using them to carry out the commands that the God of heaven has given to us, or are using them in whatever way seems best to us? We would all do well to take the time to ponder these questions in our own heart.
As we turn to the second portion of our text we see God’s response to the sinful rebellion of the people in Shinar. Moses writes, “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The LORD said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.”
It’s important for us to note that the Holy Spirit has Moses use God’s “covenant” Name here— the LORD. This is the Name which not only emphasizes that the LORD is the God of perfect justice, but this is the Name which emphasizes that the LORD is the God of free and faithful grace. It’s also important for us to note that the LORD “came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.” While the LORD God is the God who sees and knows all things at all times, the fact that the LORD “came down” to see this city and this tower not only reminds us that our God is personally involved in this world, but it also reminds us that while this tower was to be so great that “it reached to the heavens,” from God’s perspective it was so insignificant that He had to “come down” from heaven to “see” it!
God’s judgment on the sinful rebellion of the people gathered in Shinar was swift and it was simple. Since the people had misused God’s gifts of speaking one common language and since the people rebelled against God’s command to “fill the earth,” God “confused their language” so that they “could not understand each other.” The result was that the people gathered on the plain in Shinar “scattered” from there “over all the earth.”
How does this well-known Old Testament account tie in with the New Testament Festival of Pentecost? The “link” is found in the closing verse of our text. Moses writes, “That is why it was called Babel— because there the LORD (the great I AM) confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD (the great I AM) scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” The confusion that resulted from different groups of people speaking different languages forced people to move to different parts of the world— just as God had wanted them to do. At the same time, different groups of people speaking different languages made mission work more difficult, didn’t it.
The Festival of Pentecost reminds us that the Lord our God has also given a command to His people here on this earth. His command to us is found in the familiar words, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18-20).
Imagine how powerful and how personal that command, that Great Commission, became for Jesus’ disciples when He fulfilled His promise to send them the gift of the Holy Spirit. This glorious gift gave to Jesus’ disciples the miraculous ability to speak in other languages— languages they had never studied, languages which prior to the Day of Pentecost they did not have the ability to speak. And while there were those in Jerusalem who thought that Jesus’ disciples were babbling, while there were those who made fun of Jesus’ disciples by saying, “They have had too much wine” (Acts 2:13), the Holy Spirit made sure that Luke recorded for us the central purpose of Pentecost. That purpose was to take the babbling out of Babel! Luke highlights that purpose when he quotes the people as saying, “We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” There were at least fifteen different groups of people from all across the Mediterranean world, fifteen groups of people— each with their own language— who heard Jesus’ disciples declaring to them “the wonders of God”! By taking the babbling out of Babel all of the people who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Pentecost were now able to go home and share with others the “wonders of God”!
So how does this apply to you and to me? What can we take home with us today? One way to answer that question is found in Hebrews 1:1-2 where we are told, “In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son.” Since Jesus is the Word of God Incarnate, Jesus is God’s ultimate form of communion to a world plagued by communication chaos. Through Jesus we hear God’s clear communication to us— every time we read and study His holy Word. Our goal is to follow the example of Jesus’ disciples on that first New Testament day of Pentecost and “declare the wonders of God” to others!
Think about it, my friends. We have just walked with our God through what is known as the festival half of the Christian church year. We have seen the “wonder” of the virgin birth of the Christ-Child. We have seen the “wonder” of Jesus’ public ministry here on this earth. We have seen the “wonder” of all the miracles that our Lord performed. We have heard the “wonder” of all the truths He proclaimed. We have seen the “wonder” of Jesus’ innocent suffering and death on the cross as payment for our sins. (Pointing to the cross) We have seen the ”wonder” of His physical resurrection from the dead. We have seen the “wonder” of His victorious ascension into heaven. And yes, we have seen the “wonder” of what all of this means for us and for all the people of this world! It means that through the power of God the Holy Spirit the disunity and the confusion of Babel has been replaced by the unity and the clarity of faith— faith in the “wonders” that the Son of God has accomplished for us! (Pointing to the cross)
When we stop to think about it, studying Moses’ inspired account of the Tower of Babel on Pentecost Sunday is a powerful reminder to us of the importance of evangelism. God’s command for people to spread out over all the earth and God’s command to “Make disciples of all nations” motivate us to share the “wonders of God” with as many people as we can however we can. If we are not able to share the “wonders of God” with people who speak a different language, we can support the missionaries who are able to do this in our place. We can also support the work that our Synod is doing— whether it’s establishing and maintaining congregations in other cultures and in other countries or translating the Bible and other Christian literature into other languages. The Festival of Pentecost and the work of evangelism are indeed inseparable!
My prayer this morning is very simple. I pray that as we go back to the Tower of Babel and see how God “confused” the language of people so that they would carry out His command to spread out over all the earth and as we go back to that first New Testament Festival of Pentecost where God the Holy Spirit gave Jesus’ disciples the ability to proclaim the “wonders of God” in other languages, that we will ask the Holy Spirit to fill us with an even greater desire to fulfill the command that our Savior has given to us— “Go and make disciples of all nations!”
To God be the glory!
Amen
