Perils of Sky-scraping // Pastor Michele Arndt // Feb 16 2025

When it comes to city life, two members of our family love the buzz and action of the city. Two members of our family do not. While these affinities are largely driven by personality, we find a story on the pages of Genesis that offers a very different commentary on city life. The story of the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 is a curious turning point in scripture that describes how cities function in the Bible. The flood waters have receded, people and cultures and nations are beginning to be established, and we read of the descendants of Noah deciding to build a city. It is clear that their vision for the city stands in stark contrast to God’s vision for humanity. The people openly state their intention to make a name for themselves. God does not smile on this plan, because he knows something about power that the people of Babel do not.Whether you are a city lover or prefer the quiet countryside, there is a universal truth that emerges from this text that will put some timely questions in front of us. What is God’s vision for how we order civilization? What is ours? The Tower of Babel stands to respond to these challenging questions while illustrating how power towers will always pull us away from rather than towards God's vision for humankind.