Historically, the world’s tallest man-made structure was the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. It held this distinction for over 3,800 years.
In the late 1960s U.S. Steel executives considered building
the nation’s tallest building in Pittsburgh, but settled on an 840-foot one
that contained 44,000 U.S. tons of structured steel and almost an acre of
office space. It made history as being the first building to use liquid-filled
fireproof columns (mixture of water and anti-freeze) on the exterior of the
building to insure at least four hours of fire retardation in the unlikely
event of a building fire.
Today the five tallest buildings are located a long way from
the United States in the UAE, China, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. The tallest is
the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. It was designed by a Chicago design firm and
completed 11 years ago at a cost of 108 billion dollars. It is only a matter of
time before the Burj Khalifa will be eclipsed by another human creation in a
race to see who can build the greatest monument to themselves.
John Calvin once wrote, “Man’s nature is a perpetual factory
of idols”, and nowhere is that seen more clearly than in Genesis 11 and the building
of the Tower of Babel. In popular etymology, Babel has come to mean, “Gateway
to God”. But Genesis 11 refutes that claim. Babel represents man’s unified
futile attempt to reach to heaven and prove the greatness of man. But instead the
building of Babel became the catalyst for judgment, disunity, and confusion.
The ziggurat of Babel was the city’s skyscraper, the work of the people’s own identity
as recognizable on the plain of Shinar (Iraq) as the Eifel Tower in Paris, the
Space Needle in Seattle, or Big Ben in London.
What we see here is a dramatic contrast between the events
of chapter 11 and those of chapter 12. Think of it. In chapter 11 man seeks to
build a human city and a tower in a quest for autonomy (“Let us…”) and self-aggrandizement.
Then in the very next chapter, with the call of Abraham, we see the direct
opposite: a tent, the sovereignty of God/“I will…”), a God-given name, and an
altar of worship. What a contrast between man-made, self-glorifying religion,
and divine justification by faith in God alone.
This Sunday in a message entitled, “Making a Name or Taking
a Name”, we will dig further into chapter 11 and see the dramatic difference in
man-centered religion and God-glorifying faith. In preparation for the message
you may wish to consider the following:
1. How do the advertisement lines of Home Depot, Lowe’s, and
Burger King relate to Babel?
2. Who was Nimrod and what’s his connection to Noah, Ham, and
the plain of Shinar? (see Genesis 10:1-12)
3. What else do you see about Nimrod besides his hunting
prowess?
4. How is the plan of Genesis 11:3 at variance with God’s
command in Genesis 1:28 and Genesis 9:1?
5. What’s the connection between Babel and Babylon in
Scripture?
6. St. Augustine noted the differences between the city of
Babylon and the city of Jerusalem and wrote a book on it. What’s the chief
difference between the two?
7. What do the first three words of verse 4 remind you of?
8. What’s the difference between man’s desire in verse 4 and
God’s desire for them?
9. What do you make of the directional difference between man
and God in this story? (man says, “Let us go up…” God says, “Let us go down…”)
10. Who names it Babel and why?
See you Sunday!
