God's Plan for the Nations

In Genesis 11 people gathered to build a tower and a city rather than disperse as God instructed them. This event reveals humanity’s propensity for self-exaltation (tower) and self-preservation (a city). In God’s wise sovereignty, he has used the confusion of languages to disperse and protect us rather than destroy us. In Acts 2 we get a glimpse of God miraculously reversing the linguistic barriers to allow people from every nation to hear the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. We are then given a future glimpse of God’s redemptive plan in Revelation 5:9-10 where “they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” God’s plan for the nations has always been the church, one kingdom and one unified people in Christ.