Genesis: Week 3 (Southaven)

 Main Idea— Following the great flood, God once again instructs humanity to multiply and fill the earth. But once again we find people disobeying God. A large group of people gather in Babel with the intentions of building a great tower that will reach to the heavens. Their intentions are not to find their way to God but, rather, to bring God down to them. They intend to gain access to God so that they may manipulate the divine for their own purposes—to gain power and fame. God knows that this is a destructive behavior. Humanity is created to know God, to trust God, and to worship God. But we are not created to have the power of God. With sin’s mark on us and the world, that power would be devastating and destructive. So in God’s grace, God divides the people with different languages to spread them out across the earth. There is a great lie at work. The lie is that power and fame bring fulfillment, purpose, and life. The evil spiritual forces in opposition to God use this lie and make false promises to draw us in. Through empty promises and ego, we are often drawn away from the goodness of God. It is in grace that God divided the people so that they may discover their true need for Him and for salvation. And at the right time God would indeed come down to bring that salvation for His creation.