The curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God...

This week, we are looking at a story in the book of Genesis, where humanity united as a result of a common language and common vocabulary and united in their prideful and arrogant selfishness and rebellion, began to build a fortress city that would stand in opposition to God and would enable them to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth. This fortress city would enable humanity to be self sufficient and secure from being scattered by God throughout the earth.

Yesterday, we saw God mix up their languages and then drive them from where they wanted to live into every different direction, so as to scatter them across the earth. God forces humanity to do what humanity refused to do, which was to fulfill God’s commandment in Genesis 9:1 to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Instead of finding sufficiency and security in their prideful selfishness and rebellion, humanity was humbled and scattered by God across the planet.

Today, we will see Moses record for us how God gave humanity a timeless reminder of His response to what humanity had attempted in verse 9: 

 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Moses records for us that the city that was started out of the prideful selfishness and rebellion of humanity who were united in opposition to God and was stopped by God in a way that humbled, divided and confused humanity was given the name Babel. The word Babel, in the language that this letter was written in, is a play on words with a word that means to confuse. The city was named Babel to serve as a timeless reminder of the prideful and selfish rebellion of humanity and God’s response to that rebellion.

The fortress city that was built by humanity to rebel against God and make much of themselves was now named to remind humanity of God as being the One who is to be made much of as the all powerful Creator and King of the universe. And it is in this story that we see God reveal for us another timeless consequence that the curse of selfishness and rebellion brings to humanity. And that timeless consequence is this: The curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God. Just as it was with the descendants of Noah and his three sons, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us.

As it has been throughout human history, there is something within us that desires to overstep our place in creation to make much of ourselves so as to worship ourselves. There is something within us that desires to pridefully and selfishly rebel against God by making much of ourselves instead of making much of God. There is something within us that desire to be the star in our own story instead of playing the relatively small role that God gives us in His story.

In the story of the Tower of Babel we see that reality that the human heart had not changed. In spite of the flood, in spite of God extending grace over and over again, the human heart was still the same. Just as it was with our first parents in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, humanity continued to selfishly rebel and reject the relationship with God that they were created for. Now at natural question that arises here is this: “so what happens next? What about God’s promises of Genesis chapter 9? What about Noah’s prediction about the descendants of Shem in Genesis 9:27?” 

In Genesis 11:10-26, we see Moses provide for us the family tree of Shem, who was one of the three sons of Noah. And beginning in Genesis 11:27, we see Moses record the following:

Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

In these verses, we see Moses set the stage for the next chapter of God’s story by providing for us the cast of characters that will play a major role in the story. You see, while humanity continued to rebel against God, God was not done with humanity. And through a descendant of Shem named Terah, a son named Abram would be born. And as we will see next week, God would begin to choose to engage Abram and lead him on a journey that will powerfully impact all of humanity.

In the meantime, here is a question to consider: what story are you a part of? Are you attempting to be the star of your story? Or are you embracing the role that you have been offered in God’s story? Are you focused on making much of yourself? Or are you focused on making much of God? Because, as we have seen, the curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God.

 However, the problem with making much of us by making ourselves the star of our own story is that there is only one story that does not end with the words “the end”. And that story is God’s story. And to be a part of God’s story requires that we recognize and worship God as the star of His story and embrace the relatively small role that we have been given to play in His huge story. And we embrace that role in God’s story when we respond to what God has done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.