{"id":15583,"date":"2021-05-04T22:00:50","date_gmt":"2021-05-05T05:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_10_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-05-02T21:03:11","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T04:03:11","slug":"genesis_11_1-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/genesis_11_1-9\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of a United Team"},"content":{"rendered":"

Genesis 11:1-9\u00a0\u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 11:1-9.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:1 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0How could the whole world, or at least the whole world as the author of Genesis had known it, have one language and a common speech when Genesis 10:5 already says that certain maritime peoples had their own languages?\u00a0\u00a0One theory is that there may have been one common language by which all people groups communicated, though each group may have also had their own dialects.\u00a0\u00a0Another theory is that Genesis 10:5 is referring to events that took place after what we read about here in Genesis 11:1.<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:2 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0\u00a0According to some scholars, Shinar was likely located in modern day Iraq.<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:3-4 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-4:\u00a0\u00a0When the people of Shinar decided to build a city and a tower that reaches to the heavens, their ambitions were rooted in pride.\u00a0\u00a0They were all about building a kingdom for themselves (\u201cso that we may make a name for ourselves\u201d (v4).\u00a0\u00a0Their attitude reflects the attitude of people who only live for themselves, for their own fame and glory.\u00a0\u00a0Their attitude also reflects the attitude of Christ-less religion, where people think that by their own effort, they can become like God and reach heaven on their own.\u00a0\u00a0When the people of Shinar tried to build a tower to reach heaven, it was similar to when Adam and Eve reached for the forbidden fruit in Genesis 3, thinking that in doing so they could become equal with God.\u00a0\u00a0As we will see in the following verses, God opposes this kind of prideful attitude.\u00a0\u00a0As the Bible says repeatedly, \u201cGod opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.\u201d (1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6; Proverbs 3:34)<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:5-6 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0But the\u00a0LORD\u00a0came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0The\u00a0LORD\u00a0said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 5-6:\u00a0\u00a0A couple things impress about these verses.\u00a0\u00a0First, the words \u201cBut the LORD came down\u201d (v5) remind me of what God would do many centuries later: when we couldn\u2019t go to where God is, God would come down to where we are when He sent Jesus Christ to die for our sins.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That time, instead of coming to confuse the people, God would come down to save the people.<\/p>\n

Second, these verses teach us about the power of a united team.\u00a0\u00a0God observes in verse 6 that \u201cif as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them\u201d (v6).\u00a0\u00a0Though their motivations were fueled by pride, the fact is that the people of Shinar were very united in their cause, and as a result they could accomplish much.\u00a0\u00a0It goes to show that,\u00a0whether for a good cause or a bad cause, a united team is a very powerful thing<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Imagine if we as a church were totally united in our cause.\u00a0\u00a0Imagine if the one purpose driving all our lives was to give Jesus worship, grow more like Jesus, serve Jesus with our talents, lead others to Jesus, and love the family Jesus started called His church.\u00a0\u00a0Nothing would be impossible for us.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0We would be an unstoppable force in our world for Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0It is no wonder Jesus prayed so much for His church to be united (see John 17).<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:7-9 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”<\/em>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0So the\u00a0LORD\u00a0scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0That is why it was called Babel–because there the\u00a0LORD\u00a0confused the language of the whole world. From there the\u00a0LORD\u00a0scattered them over the face of the whole earth.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 7-9:\u00a0\u00a0As powerful as a united team is, nothing stands up against the power and will of God.\u00a0\u00a0We can be very united, and we can plan and plan until we\u2019re blue in the face, but if it\u2019s not God\u2019s timing or God\u2019s will, it\u2019s not going to happen.\u00a0\u00a0That is why\u00a0it is so important not just to do whatever you plan or to ask God to bless your plans.\u00a0\u00a0Even more we need to seek God and discern what\u00a0His<\/em>\u00a0plans are<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0As Proverbs 16:1 says, \u201cTo man belong the plans of the heart, but from the\u00a0LORD\u00a0comes the reply of the tongue.\u201d<\/p>\n

In this case, the Lord\u2019s \u201creply of the tongue\u201d came in the form of confusing the language of the builders such that they could not understand each other.\u00a0\u00a0The tower would be known as the Tower of \u201cBabel\u201d, which sounds like the Hebrew word for \u201cconfusion\u201d (balal).\u00a0\u00a0Instead of building a great city and a tower that reached the heavens, they ended up scattered over all the earth.<\/p>\n

Centuries later God would send another \u201creply of the tongue\u201d as His church prayed to Him in an upper room in Jerusalem.\u00a0\u00a0As the church prayed for the establishment not of their own kingdom but God\u2019s kingdom on earth, God would send tongues of fire to land upon every believer there, causing them all to speak in new tongues (see Acts 2).\u00a0\u00a0The sending of such tongues would result in the gathering of people from every nation to find salvation in Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0So you can see the difference:\u00a0\u00a0The church\u2019s prayers in Acts 2 reached heaven in a way that the tower of Babel in Genesis 11 could not.\u00a0\u00a0The sending of tongues in Acts brought unity whereas the sending of tongues in Genesis 11 brought disunity and confusion.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When your heart is to see God\u2019s kingdom come, God will bless you and give you more grace.\u00a0\u00a0When your heart is to see your own kingdom built, God will eventually oppose and confuse your efforts.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another lesson from these verses is that\u00a0you can\u2019t work together with others when you\u2019re not speaking the same language or you\u2019re not on the same page<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You for teaching me today about the power of unity, the importance of having pure motives, and the sovereignty of Your will, that no matter how much we plan, it means nothing if You\u2019re not in it.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Genesis 11:1-9.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:1 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.<\/p>\n

On verse 1:\u00a0\u00a0How could the whole world, or at least the whole world as the author of Genesis had known it, have one language and a common speech when Genesis 10:5 already says that certain maritime peoples had their own languages?\u00a0\u00a0One theory is that there may have been one common language by which all people groups communicated, though each group may have also had their own dialects.\u00a0\u00a0Another theory is that Genesis 10:5 is referring to events that took place after what we read about here in Genesis 11:1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:2 (NIV)
\n2\u00a0\u00a0As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.<\/p>\n

On verse 2:\u00a0\u00a0According to some scholars, Shinar was likely located in modern day Iraq.<\/p>\n

Genesis 11:3-4 (NIV)
\n3\u00a0\u00a0They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15583"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15583\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15584,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15583\/revisions\/15584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}