IGNORING GOD LEADS TO
CONFUSION
Genesis 11:1-9
V:1. "Now the whole earth used the same language and
the same words. "
A. Originally there
was one universal language.
1. God created
relationship and fellowship in the new generation.
2. Everyone was
able to communicate their thoughts and ideas.
3. From place to
place the language was common.
a. The Hebrew
word for language is saphah which means lip.
b. The Hebrew
word for words is dabar which means matter or thing.
4. After the
flood the people of the earth had the same lip and communicated the
same matter.
B. The people of the
earth had common concerns.
1. Wouldn't it be
great if we all were concerned about the welfare of each other?
2. Wouldn't it be
great if our goals and aspirations were to lift up each other?
V:2. ”It came about
as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land
of Shinar
A. There was a time
when the people of the earth moved in the same direction.
1. They traveled
together and they were united as one people.
2. The land
of Shinar Babylon
3. It is not
strange that Babylon
also is the
place where they would spend forty years in captivity 17 centuries
later.
a. It is not
strange that our pass sins will revisit us.
b. This is a
testimony that "What Goes Around Comes Around".
B. They disobeyed
God's command by settling in a place.
1. They were
commanded to repopulate the earth. Gen
9:1
2. By settling in
one place they would stop God's plan to repopulate the earth.
3. There is a way
that seems right to man. That way will always be against God.
V:3. " They said to one another, "Come, let us
make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and
they used tar for mortar.
A. After Noah left
the Ark
1. Someone may
have decided to influence others to disobey God.
2. Since they
were of the same lip, everyone followed the influence of the
consensus of opinion.
B. We should be careful
to follow God rather than man.
1. We should
study the Word for ourselves to know God's Word.
2. If God is not
leading you, someone else will.
C. It takes some
effort to quit following God's directions.
1. To quit God,
you have to establish new rules.
2. Someone will
have to establish himself as the leader to push the new rules.
3. Someone will have to establish a new plan.
D. Whenever we start talking among ourselves without including God, we will be
against
God.
V:4. " They said, Come, let us build for ourselves a
city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for
ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the
whole earth."
A. They had a solid
foundation but they decided to build on a lesser foundation.
1. They had the divine Word to spread across
the face of the earth.
a. But they were
led by the desires of their heart to
stand still.
2. They had
access to the richest city (heaven), but they decided to build a
cheaper city.
3. They hated
God's plan.
a. God had
given them a command to repopulated the earth, but they decided to
stay in
one place.
b. God made them mobile, but they decided to
stand still.
c. They had
the protection, the provisions and the guidance of God, but they
rejected God.
B. They had the name
of God, but they chose another name for themselves.
1. There is no
greater name than the name of God.
2. They wanted
glory for themselves rather than to give God the glory.
C. They did not get
directions from God to build a city.
1. They had
building skills from Noah, the father of their generation.
2. Noah took his
order to build from God the Father.
3. They took
their order to build from themselves.
D. They wanted to
build a tower into heaven as a monument to themselves.
1. If we build a
monument to ourselves, it will be on shaky
ground.
2. The Lord hates
the proud.
3. If we are going
to build an monument, it should be a altar to the Father.
4. God does not
need monuments, He needs our obedience.
5. Instead of
trying to get to the top, we should trust the one who is on top.
a. The Lord
sits high and He looks low.
b. There is no
one higher than the Lord.
c Jesus said,
If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to myself.
V:5. " The Lord came down to see the city and the tower
which the sons of men had built."
A. When you decide
not to follow God, He will show up in your life.
1. God has no
respect for our building programs, if they are not built on faith in
Him.
B. If God has to come
down to see your city, He is not the center
of your city.
1. We should be
careful to put God in the center of all our activities.
2. The only way
to build a city to God is to reconcile others to God.
3. The building of their city was a parting
of their ways from God.
C. If God has to come
to see your tower, He is not your High
Tower
1. Notice God called
this generation sons of men.
2. He did not call
them His sons.
3. You don't want
God to see you as a son of man, but His son.
4. When you are
God's son, He takes responsibility for you.
V:6. " The Lord said, "Behold, they are one
people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do,
and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them."
A. There is power in
unity.
1. There is the
power to be successful.
2. There is the
power to accomplish anything.
B. When we are all
going in the same direction, victory is ours.
1. What we should
seek is victory in the Lord and not victory in the world.
2. What we should
seek is victory for the Lord and not victory for ourselves.
C. When we are one,
we will speak the same language.
1. The evidence
of our oneness is unity in purpose.
2. The evidence
of our oneness is a lack of division.
V:7 "Come, let
Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand
one another's speech."
A. God said,
"Let Us go down".
1. This indicates
the unity of the Holy Trinity, God the Father, God the Son and God
the Holy
Spirit.
2. There is one
God in three persons; the Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit.
3. There is no
disagreement in the Trinity.
4. There should be
no disagreement in the body of Christ.
a. We are many
members, but one body.
b. We have
many words, but they all should glorify the Father.
B. Man makes plans,
but only God can make them work.
1. When the plans
of man go against the will of God, they will fail.
2. God saw the
unity of purpose and the power of unity, so He destroyed their unity.
3. It was because
of their disobedience that God destroyed their ability to
communicate with each
other. Prov 1:28-29
C. Because they could
not communicate with each other, their plans could not be
accomplished.
1. Sometimes God
has to block our understanding to get us to refocus on Him.
2. There is but
one voice that we should understand and that is the voice of God.
a. In all your
getting, we should get an understanding.
b. It is with
the understanding of God's Word, that we can understand right and
wrong.
3. If we can
understand God's Word, right directions will be clear.
V:8. " So the Lord scattered them abroad from there
over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city."
A. For our own good,
sometimes God will redirect us.
1. We must
remember that it is not about us, it is about giving God the glory.
2. We were created
in His own image and His own likeness.
a. We should
act like God.
b. We should
look like God.
c. People
around us ought to see the God in us.
d. We are role
models to lead others to God.
B. If what we are
doing is not the will of God, we must stop and turn toward God.
1. God's plan for
this new generation of people was to cover the earth.
2. Because of
their disobedience, God redirected them with different languages.
C. This text
emphasizes the importance of communicating with God first before we
make any plans.
1. God gives us
increase, according to His will.
2. Not my will but
God's will to be done.
V:9, "Therefore its name was called Babel
A. The word "Babel
1. From the word
Babel Babylonia
was derived.
2. When there is
no unity, there will be babel.
B. If we reject the
Lord's Word, our lives will be confused.
1. The world
confuses, but God gives understanding.
2. The objective
of Satan is to confuse us and to scatter us from God.
C. We will become
confused, when we reject the guidance and the directions of the
Lord.
1. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of the knowledge. Prov 1:7
2. This
generation of people became confused because they had no fear of the
Lord.
3. This
generation of people became scattered because they would not follow the
plan of God.
D. When church folk are
scattered, it is because they are
following their own agenda.
1. When there is
confusion in the church, it is because they are following there own
agenda.
2. When there is
no unity in purpose in the church, it is because they are following
their own
agenda.
3. It is our
duty and obligation to make God's agenda our only agenda.
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