Day 4
Lisa Scheffler, author
So far this week, we have considered the grievous sin of idolatry. We’ve discovered that idolatry dehumanizes us and dishonors God. It is a betrayal of our exclusive love relationship with Yahweh as our Creator and Lord. And to put it plainly, it’s stupid. What else would you call returning to a dry well over and over in hopes of filling our buckets with living water?
Now that we’ve established just how wrong idolatry is, let’s focus on the idol that just might be at the root of all the others — pride. The very first sin committed in the Garden of Eden was a rejection of God’s way, because our forebearers were convinced they knew better. When the serpent tempted Eve with the idea that she could be like God and define good and evil for herself, her pride got the better of her. She allowed the serpent to convince her that God was holding out on her. Her pride was fueled by fear.
The Bible shows us that humanity has tried to exalt itself over God ever since. We don’t trust God to provide, so we turn to other “gods.” One of the most dramatic illustrations of this dynamic is Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel.
Read
Genesis 11:1–9 (NIV)
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then 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; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “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. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel —because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Ask Yourself
- What reason did the people give for building the tower? What were they hoping to accomplish?
- How do you see people trying to “make a name” for themselves today?
Reflect
What was the great sin committed at the plain of Shinar? Why was God so concerned about the potential success of humanity in this endeavor that he decided it would be better for them if they were scattered?
In the ancient world, gods were perceived to live on mountains. According to the ancient concept of universe, the mountain functioned as a pillar holding up the sky. “With its base planted in the earth and its peak reaching the sky, the structure was the meeting point of heaven and earth. Because of this, people viewed the mountain as the place of divine residence and activity.”[1]
According to Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser, “The tower of Babel is regarded by all scholars as one of Mesopotamia’s famous man-made sacred mountains—a ziggurat. Ziggurats were divine abodes, places where Mesopotamians believed heaven and earth intersected. The nature of this structure makes evident the purpose in building it—to bring the divine down to earth.”[2]
Scholar Jonny Cisneros notes three sins committed on the plains of Shinar:
- The people defied God’s command to fill the earth (Gen 1:28; 9:1, 7) by settling together in Shinar (Gen 11:2).
- The people—dissatisfied with their creatureliness—built a tower-temple to ascend it and become “like the gods” (Gen 11:4).
- The people decided to make much of themselves (Gen 11:4) instead of the Creator.[3]
The sin of the people does not lie in the desire to build a city, which is a neutral, amoral act. It is the motivation behind this undertaking that is most prominent: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves” (Gen. 11:4 nrsv).[4] This is way many of the pagan religions defined immortality.
Like Adam and Eve before them, the building of a tower shows humanity’s desire to take on the role of the divine. They did not trust God’s goodness, love, or provision, and took it upon themselves to bring heaven to earth.
It is a tragic irony that people already created in the image of God work so hard to try and be “like him,” but humans want to be the ones in control. In our pride, we think we can do a better job than God. This is the great sin of Babel — people trying to make their own way to heaven, craving immortality on their own terms, and inviting notoriety and acclaim for themselves. Human beings making an idol of themselves. We break the first commandment by making ourselves the other “god” we put before Him.
Pray
Pray about the pride and rebellion that exists in your own heart. Deep down, are there areas of your life that you struggle to put under the Spirit’s control? Are you afraid God is holding out on you? Or that you know better than God? Whose approval matters more to you — that of other people or God’s? Pray over your answers. Ask the Spirit for humility and greater faith.
Talk about it
- Discuss the idea that pride could be the idol that bears all the others. Do you agree or disagree? Why?
- Discuss our culture’s “Ziggurats”. How do we try to build towers that reach the heaven and make names for ourselves?
What are some ways we can cultivate faith and humility in our own lives?
[1] Johnny Cisneros, “Babel, Tower of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[2] Heiser, 114.
[3] Cisneros.
[4] Victor P. Hamilton, Handbook on the Pentateuch, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 75.
