Bible Study: The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel This will be our last Bible study until early next year. We begin the season of Advent next Sunday and all of us will have busy schedules. One word about our hybrid Bible study in general. Each Friday Denise sends out a brief video explaining that week's study. In general, something like 50 percent of the people who get it open the video. And, in general, about five people actually attend the discussion following church on Sunday. I have led Bible studies in churches all over Wisconsin. In general, about five people come to the discussion. Five is enough. Jesus said wherever two or three are gathered in his name, there is will be also. But the 50 percent who see it is why we make the video in the first place. So, we are all good. Now, for this week's lesson on Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel. In the early chapters of Genesis, God is presented as basically a human man who engages directly with his people. He is not everywhere at once. He drops in to see what's going on. In Babel, people have been so successful that they decide to build a tower pointing to their glory. This is a very human trait. We do the same things today. God, however, did not want potential completion. He confused the peoples' language so that no one could understand another. We call that an “etiology,” meaning an explanation for a phenomenon, in this case, the multiplicity of languages. The underlying message about wealth and power is universal. No one “needs” a mansion or a private jet or a nuclear bomb. No one “needs” a Lexus sedan – but I have one. No one actually “needs” a billion dollars, or 300 billion dollars. We accumulate such things as means to prove our worth and superiority. Those “proofs” don't last. What lasts are acts of love and of generosity that actually help make the world a happier and safer place. Pastor Bill