Irresistible Grace

0:00Good morning. Again. Good morning.

0:02Good morning.

0:03Thank you. Thank you. That's so lovely. Open your Bibles to the book of Genesis. We're going to be covering chapter 11 this morning. Only nine verses today from chapter 11. I know we went from covering three entire chapters last week to only covering nine verses this week, but this small section must be covered on its own, which is why we're doing it this way. This section of text is familiar story of God confusing the languages of the people and dispersing them across the earth. As always, I pray that the Lord teaches us something of great value this morning, and I trust that he will. But before we jump into the text, I want to give us some background again, a bit of a refresh of where we are in human history, so that we kind of set the stage and we know where we're where we're going here. We had the fall of man into sin in Adam and the promise of the Messiah, even though the language of Messiah was not necessarily used in Adam, we understand what was meant there. And that was continued through the line of Seth. If you follow the genealogy from Adam through Seth to Noah, you will find that there was 1,656 years of human history that passed between Noah, sorry, between Adam and Noah. During which time the earth became very corrupt, right, and overrun with all manner of evil, which we talked about last week. God judges the whole world through the flood, okay, and he raises up a remnant through Noah to both continue human history, right? He's not exterminating human history, he's not making us extinct, but he's preserving and continuing humanity, and he's preserving the line of the future Messiah that is promised to Adam and Eve. After the flood waters subside, and Noah and his family exit the ark, they begin again the command that was given to their first parents, which was to be fruitful and to multiply across the earth. We're given some of the names of the children of Noah. Noah's three sons, but we can see from chapter 10, which we're not going to cover, but this is the nations that descended from Noah. We can see that many of the names and grandsons and great-grandsons of Noah are not specifically given here. We know he had a lot more than just what we were given. And also the length of life does slowly begin to shorten after Noah. But despite that, we do see that Noah lived to be 950, and Shem, his son, lives to be 500. So based on that, in the genealogies that are given to us in chapter 10, we're assuming, right, and this is only an assumption, purely an assumption, I just want to make that clear, that the Tower of Babel occurred roughly 350 to 500 years after the flood. Okay, so 350 to 500 years, maybe a little shorter, maybe a little longer, after the flood. And we can further assume that in that time the population of the earth had grown significantly from Noah to Babel. And we make this assumption because chapter 10 tells us that the three generations in the line of Ham, right? Ham is the cursed son of Noah. In that line is Nimrod, and Nimrod establishes a kingdom at Babel. Babylon, uh, or Shinar, as we'll see. To establish a kingdom, we would assume that you would need some people to do that, right? So there's people on the earth here. It is further assumed that it was Nimrod who commissioned the tower that we're going to talk about here in just a minute. Okay? So that's roughly where we are. What I want us to see this morning on a deeper level is that God is actively working in creation to preserve and restore his kingdom. The active work of preservation and restoration includes the breaking down and the dispersion of man's kingdoms. It is a grace from God to confuse us and to disrupt our plans for his greater purpose. We can be assured that God will prevail, as he has proven to us many times, in the complete rebuilding of Eden and the establishment of a global paradise where we will live forever with our Lord in glory. That will happen. The other thing I want to draw out is that most, if not all, of the doctrines that we teach, and actually we talked a little bit about this this morning, that we teach and believe come not from one singular passage that explicitly says, this is what you're to believe about this thing, about this topic, but rather they come from a much broader understanding of the character of God and his commands. Our beliefs about God are shaped by seeing how he operates, how he reveals himself through the whole of Scripture. So in that way, we don't teach doctrine as much as we reveal the God of the Bible and let doctrine essentially teach itself. So uh, but we do teach doctrine. Uh keep your eye uh your ears open this morning, though. Keep your ears open. Or maybe put another way, he who has ears better listen. I've been looking for a way to put that one in. So that's where we're going, okay? Stand with me. Let's read chapter 11 of Genesis, starting in verse 1. Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. I don't know if I said that right, I hope. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the earth. And the Lord came down to see uh to see the city, and the tower which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and nothing that they uh propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down there and confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Thank you again, Lord, for this word, and we pray and ask now that you would speak for Christ's sake, and it is in his name that I pray. Amen.

7:06Thank you.

7:12Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from east to west, they found in the land of Shinar a plain and settled there. When Cain was pushed away, if you remember back in Genesis chapter 2 or 3, it's 2. 3. Uh when Cain was pushed away from the presence of the Lord, it's chapter 4, I made a note of it, sorry. The word says that he settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden, right? So when Cain was pushed away, he settled in the land of Nod east of Eden. Further back in chapter 3, we see that God placed the cherubim on guard, right, guarding the tree of life, and he placed that on the east side of Eden. So geographically we see that an eastward movement, right, represents or is representative of people putting distance between themselves and the presence of God. And for those of you who have recently moved east to college station, I'm pray-praying for your soul. Just joking. We see the same directional notes in the text this morning with the people migrating eastward, okay? My translation and that what I read says from the east, uh, which f like trips up some scholars because of the such language would seem to indicate a westward movement, right? If they say from the east, it seems like you're coming west. Uh but to go from Mount Ariat, where the the ark was landed, and you're going down uh where to Shinar, where Babylon is and where they were at this at this point, you're traveling uh southeast, right? Geographically, you're traveling southeast. So from the east, I don't know if anybody's translation says eastward, but from the east likely means they were already east and they're going further east, right? So they're coming from the east, further east. Uh and for that reason, many translations have switched to say eastward as opposed to from the east. But in any event, you g you get the idea. The point is that the people are marg migrating east, but more importantly, we see that they're they're moving further away from the presence of God. They're moving further away from God. That's that's the reason that the that the geographical references are made. Again, referencing Cain and his migration east, if you remember back from chapter 4, what did Cain do whence he settled in when he moved east? Do you remember? The word says that he built a city and he called it Enoch. He called the city Enoch. And what do the people do here in Shinar after they migrate east and they get settled? What do they do? Again, they build a city. So clearly the word assumes that big cities are godless places, right? Again, a joke. Kind of. We see this pattern emerging. Uh that people moving further away from the presence of God, and when they're moving further away from the presence of God, they're building secular nations to fill themselves, or for themselves, to fill the void left behind by removing God from their life. So they move from the presence of God, they're left with a void, and they build for themselves secular nations. When you don't need or want the true God, you build for yourself kingdoms that conform to your image of paradise. But man is doing what God has placed in our hearts to do. That is, subdue the earth and expand Eden paradise to cover the whole earth. Right? But the further we get away from the presence of God, the more distorted our versions of paradise are, aren't they? Our paradise building becomes nations in our image, the way we want, how we want, on our terms, and they become nations in an attempt to reach heaven. And I do believe that Christians are to be in the business of bringing heavenly things down to earth, right? And I think that includes not just the spiritual, but also the physical. But as we see in Revelation, the holy city comes down from heaven. It doesn't rise up to meet heaven. Okay, and that may be a subtle distinction, but there's a spiritual truth there that needs to be addressed. That transformation comes from the top down, not from the bottom up, right? If we think we can reach heaven from the bottom up, we are participating in vain efforts. But if we submit ourselves to being transformed into the image of the Lord of heaven, then perhaps we can be involved in the prayer as earth as it is in heaven, or on earth as it is in heaven, right? This is top down. So what exactly were they trying to build then in Babel, Shinar? All indications are that this was a ziggurat. Um it's a giant pyramid, basically, of uh of sorts. Um with some form of temple at the lower structure, and the shape was uh constructed in a way as an attempt to reach heavenward, right? Reach into the skies and to encourage their gods uh to come down and be worshipped in their temples. It is further believed that the famous pyramids of Egypt were inspired by or patterned after this uh Babylonian ziggurat that's mentioned here. And it's also worth noting that these ziggurats and pyramids have been built by people all over the world, by people groups all over the world, uh, which would give historical credence, I think, to this biblical account in Babel. It would make logical sense after the people were being dispersed all over the world, that those now scattered people would repeat that same error and attempt to reach to heaven again through the construction of the same types of structures that they previously did. And the fact that we do see that all over the world, these pyramids, ziggurats, structures are built all over the world by all peoples, uh, I think that validates the story here. And the corruption of man across the world who is always attempting to build themselves up to heaven, right? This is the sin that's always prevalent. Doesn't matter what your culture is, what your language is, everyone is guilty of building secular nations. One other thing to note here is this idea of uh one language and one people. One language and one people. This is how it was in Babel. And in judgment against the wickedness, their wickedness, God confused their language, right? He scatters the people, making them not one people, but a divided people. What do we see happen in the book of Acts at Pentecost? Relating to language and the subsequent preaching that followed. I think we see the reversal of Babel now in Christ. One language is spoken, if you remember, at Pentecost, and everyone understands what is being said. So there's no longer a language barrier to the gospel of Christ. And I think those with ears to hear will understand that Christ represents the reunification or the reunifying of the dispersion. The gospel of Christ brings clarity to otherwise confusion. For as many as you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise. So the judgment of God against sin we see here is division and confusion. But even these judgments are dealt with in Christ, because in him we have clarity and unity, once again. Okay, so let's continue through the text. We talked a couple weeks ago about the importance of naming, right? The significance of words. Uh and I didn't specifically mention it then, but it would have been a great honor for Adam to receive a name from God as he did, right? That would have been an honor. And I think that's evident in the fact that Adam named things as God named him, right? So he there was honor in the name that he was given by God. I bring that up to re-establish the point that there's much more to a name than just a name, right? A name represents identity, history, culture, a legacy, really, is in a name. A name is not just what we're called, but it's who we are, right? Our name is who we are. And this is all the more telling when we see the people at Babel desiring to make a name for themselves, it says. Then they said, Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. They weren't just trying to change what they were called, right? They didn't care about that. They were building this great city and this tower to reach heavens because they reached the heavens because they didn't like what their parents named them. They did not do that, right? It wasn't as though they just didn't like what their parents named them, and they're going to build this tower, and they're going to do all this city building and secular nation building because they just didn't like what they were called. Silly, right? They wanted to create for themselves a new identity. They wanted to distance themselves both from God and from the identity of their ancestors who worshipped the true God. They wanted to be known not by where they came from or who they came from, but by what they built for themselves. They wanted to name themselves. There's nothing new under the sun, right? There's a better way, though, to leave a lasting name for yourself on the earth. Genesis 12, 1 to 2. And the Lord said to Abram at this point, go from your country and from your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 2 Samuel 7, 8 and 9. Now therefore, thus you shall say to my servant David, thus says the Lord of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be prince over my people Israel, and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you, and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones on earth. Philippians 2, 9 and 10. Therefore God highly exalted him, Christ, and bestowed upon him a name that is above every name, so that the name of Jesus, every knee, should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of the Father. And finally, Revelation 3, 11 and 13. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of God. Never shall he go out, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Seeking to name ourselves, or to make a name for ourselves, will only be at best a cheap imitation of both the great name of our Lord, at which every knee will bow, and the name in which he has promised to give you if you would submit to him. Receive his name. Obey his name. Bring glory to his name, bow to his name, serve his name. This is the only way for us Christians. So further, the people of Shinar here, they didn't want to be obedient to what the Lord had called them to do. They did not want to be obedient to what the Lord called them to do. He commanded the people through Adam and then through Noah to multiply and to subdue the earth. Remember. And that would require them to slowly be dispersed over the whole earth, right? And in doing that, they would establish these regional cultures and nations. The diversity of people over the whole of the earth, serving and worshiping the true God. That was the command. And for Christ to come and to redeem a people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, there needed to be a people of every tribe, tongue, and nation, right? In their disobedience, that's not what they wanted, though. Come, let us build for ourselves a city so that we don't have to be dispersed. That's what they said. They lost all fear of God and obedience to his commands, and without the fear of God, and in their ignorance, they wanted to establish. Their own kingdoms on earth. Or kingdom on earth. That was clearly not the plan of God, right? So he just let them work it out. Is that what he did? He just kind of sat back and he just folded his arms in heaven and said, Well, I can't override their will, so I guess I'll just sit up here and let things kind of play out. Is that what our God did? Is that who our God is? I'll probably say it a hundred times more. Our God is a God who makes promises, right? And our God is a God who keeps promises. And if keeping his promises means confusing the languages and dispersion of all the people by force, that's exactly what he's going to do, and that's exactly what he did, right? The text doesn't tell us exactly how he dispersed everybody, right? It doesn't tell us how he got everybody kind of scattered all over the earth, but he could have used a number of natural or supernatural ways. It doesn't necessarily have to be natural or supernatural. We don't know how it happened. Our God often is pleased to work through natural means, the natural means of his creation. So he could have made an ice age, perhaps, that forced everybody apart and made migration across the whole world possible. He could have sent a massive earthquake that split all of the land masses that were maybe at one point unified, and then he split them all up and divided everyone. We don't know. But it also doesn't have to be a natural explanation. He could have like supernaturally just scattered everybody all over the earth. But we do know that he purposefully did it, right? In verse 7 of our text, come, let us go down and confuse their languages so that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth. And they left off building the city. So he purposefully dispersed them. How? We don't know, but he did it. A few verses previous to that, it says that the Lord came down. Okay, that was verse 5, I believe. We could take this as a metaphor, since God doesn't really need to come down to earth, right? But I think it's more than that. I really do. Often through the Old Testament, we see the angel of the Lord, right? Is this just God? This is Christ, coming down to earth in a physical form. In the garden, what we read. It says that Adam heard the Lord walking in the garden. I don't think that was a metaphor. I think the Lord was physically walking in the garden with them. The same is true when the Lord appears to Joshua physically, wearing armor. He's carrying a sword, and Joshua bows and worships him. Again, just my biblical speculation, but I think the Lord came down here. When the text says the Lord came down, I think he actually came down and walked among the people of Babel and said, This is not going to end well for them. I'm going to do something about this here. So he purposed in his grace to thwart their plans. We read that the Lord said, Nothing will be impossible for them. That was verse 6, the end of verse 6. And nothing that they propose to do now will be impossible for them. So the Lord dispersed them because he feared that they might actually become gods and reach heaven. Right?

25:56No.

25:57No, of course not. He did it not out of fear, but out of love for his people. Because when nothing is impossible for man, they have no need for God. And those who don't need God don't fear God. And those who don't fear God are foolish in all their ways. Remember, Ecclesiastes. So to make men wise to the things of God, the Lord must make men fear God. And to make men fear God, they must need God. And to need God, men must be broken. Do you see it? It is a grace of God to scatter us at times. It is from the loving kindness of God that he makes things impossible for us. It is because of his love for you that he continually breaks down your towers. I've no, I've felt so many times in my life crying out to God, saying, When will I ever get ahead? Have you ever said this? When will I ever get ahead? I have to keep coming back to this text and others like it and asking the question, what is important to me? What is important to you? If I'm honest about my own heart and the places that I would go or could go if left to myself, I pray that every time I say, and for all of us, I pray that every time we say, Come let us do this, or come let us do that, the Lord is right behind us saying, Come, let us put a stop to the tower that you are trying to build for yourself. And isn't this the grace of God on the grandest display? That he doesn't leave you to your own will. He purposes to save you despite your will. That he leaves the 99 to go find the one, right? The one that's stuck in the crack on the other side of the mountain where your foolish wandering took you and where no one else would have found you. And further, he has every right to break us down from on high, right? To keep us in submission to him without ever coming down to us. But that's not what he did nor what he does, right? Christ himself came down. He himself was broken. And in that we know we have a Lord who knows where we are because he has been where we have been. So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. Therefore, let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured. For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come. So what does this story teach us then? It shows us that our plans to reach God by our own work and to make a name for ourselves is a vain effort. Foolish and disobedient effort, really. It won't work. It never has, it never will. It won't work, though, because our God will not let it work. He has much better ideas, much greater plan. And they principally involve the exaltation of his name, not yours. His name shall be great. His name shall be praised. His name will be feared. His name will be sung for all eternity. The final thing I think we can learn from this is possibly the immediate lesson that Israel learned when they were told this story originally. We can't be sure of this and exactly when this story was communicated. That's why I didn't make it the focus. But it's likely that this story was given to Israel just prior to them entering the promised land. They were to confront these formidable enemies in entering into the promised land. And through this story, they would have certainly been taught to depend not on their own strength, but upon God. They would have been assured that if the Lord can scatter the people who are trying to fortify a city against God, surely he can deliver to them the victory that he promised. And I think this story clearly indicates that as well. And that's the encouragement that I hope I leave with you today. The Lord will not be defeated by any nation or any people or any individual. He will stand against the enemy. He will. And that even includes overriding your will for your own good. Who can stand against God? And when he has purposed to do a thing, who can resist the Lord when he has set his affections upon a wandering sheep? Who can resist him? I can't thank our God enough then for his sovereign will and that his grace is truly irresistible. Amen. Let's pray. We thank you, Lord, again, for your word, for the truth that you have given us in this word this morning. I pray and ask, Lord, that we would uh be humbled by this word, Lord. That we would confess to you in our hearts the in any metaphorical nations, Lord, that we are building against you. Uh and ask that you would scatter them, Lord. I thank you that your will is supreme, Lord. I thank you that you have purposed to do a thing and you are doing it. We trust in you, Lord. We fear you and we bow before you. I pray that you would help our hearts to do that continually. Uh Lord, and now as we go into this time of supper, Lord, we may we proclaim the forgiveness and salvation that we have in Jesus Christ through the shedding of his blood and the breaking of his body, Lord. We thank you for this great salvation. Lord, and we testify uh that we do confess and believe the name of Christ this morning. We ask all these things in the name of Jesus. Amen.