[00:00:01] Speaker A: Welcome to the River Church podcast. We're all about bringing the life, hope and love of Jesus to everyone around us. For more information, check out our
[email protected].
Good morning, everyone.
It's a privilege. It is a real privilege and honour to be able to open God's word with you today. Can I pray?
Lord, we thank you for your word because it lives and it's living today and it still speaks and it still moves. So come and speak and move amongst us today in Jesus name. Amen.
Why don't we start by a little geography quiz? Yeah.
All right. How about, can you tell me the name of this tower and the city it's in? Shout it out.
Okay, yeah. Empire State. Good. Which, which city?
New York. Very good.
This one. Burj Khalifa. A bit loud. I can't hear you.
[00:01:03] Speaker B: Burj Khalifa.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Perfect. Yeah. Burj Khalifa. In which city?
Dubai. Let's do one more.
Eiffel Tower. Okay. Is that too easy? Okay. Eiffel Tower. What city? Paris. Paris.
Well done. Well done.
I think we're probably ready for our geography gcse. Yeah.
But isn't it interesting how you can tell the city by the tower? You can tell about the people that built the tower, people that built the city by looking at the tower.
Let me just welcome you and say good morning.
If you've been with us for a little bit of time. You know we're in a series called the Greatest Story, and we're going through the Bible and highlighting how each part of the Bible is part of a bigger story.
Today we're looking at the Tower of Babel. So if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to the Book of Genesis, chapter 11.
That's Genesis, chapter 11. I'm going to ask. I've got someone helping me preach today. So David's going to do the Bible reading for us today. Please give him a clap.
Now.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: The whole world had one language and common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
They said to each other, come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone and tar for mortar. 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.
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
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. Come, let us go down. And confuse their language so they will not understand each other.
So the Lord scattered them from there all over the Earth, and they stopped building the city.
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.
[00:03:27] Speaker A: Great.
So on the surface, this is quite a simple. It's a clear story, right?
It's a story of.
It's an ancient construction project, people building a tower and a city.
And then we see God, he's not happy with it. So God stops this by causing confusion in different languages, and then actually separates, scatters people.
Simple, right?
Yeah, I don't think so. I don't think it's quite that simple.
There's something deeper going on beneath the bricks and mortar.
And so today I want us to help unpack this a little bit by picking out three things that I see being built in this story.
We see the tower, we see the city being built, and then we see God respond by building the nations.
But actually, as I said, I think there's something going on beneath the surface.
And over the next 25 minutes, I'm hoping to convince you that actually behind the tower, the deeper issue is an identity being built.
And while the people are building a city, the real issue at hand is people are building a culture and behind God building the nations. I think God's bigger plan is God is building the church.
Are you with me? I've got 25 minutes. Let's do it.
So the first thing we see being built is the tower.
What exactly is going on here and that God doesn't like?
So you see the structure. The tower being built would have been a structure called the ziggurat, which is pictures behind me. And this is a stepped, pyramid like structure.
And these have been found in archaeological finds all over Mesopotamia, the Middle East.
And historians are pretty confident that they found Babel.
And right in the middle of Babel is a ziggurat.
And you've got a remodeled photo on the screen behind me.
This is most likely what the Tower of Babel looked like.
And you can see a grand staircase right in the middle there.
I don't know about you, I don't know if it was just me, but when I was in Sunday school, I was taught. I always thought that actually the whole point of the Tower of Babel was so people can march into heaven, build a tower so high that they can march into heaven.
But no, because the whole idea of Ziggurats is that they're a stairway, right? They're a stairway, but they're a stairway for the gods to be able to move between the heavens and the earth.
And what they'll do is they'll build a little room at the top of the stairs, and that will be a temple shrine. So you can see that in the picture behind me.
And the idea was, you know, this whole journey for the gods to go up and down between the heavens and the earth, it must be tiring. So let's build a little shrine, put a bed there, maybe entreat them to some fragrance and maybe some of the best fruits.
That's what the Tower of Babel was.
To put it another way, guys, they were building a portal, a portal to the pagan gods.
And actually, that's where the name Babel comes from, because in the language of the Babelites, it means gateway of the gods.
But I think there's a deeper issue still, because I think the heart of the matter is a matter of the heart.
I think it's the heart of man.
And for me, the real question is, but why? Why go through all this? It's a lot of effort. So historians said it took 17 million bricks to build, and they had to spend a whole year just preparing and burning the bricks first before they can even start construction.
Why? Why go through all of this?
And you know what? Verse four tells us why?
Let's read verse four.
It says, come, let us build a tower that reaches to the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves.
So that we may make a name for ourselves.
You see, the story is not really about the tower, because the tower is just a means to an end.
But ultimately, the end is people want to build an identity, a name for themselves.
And what's an identity? An identity is your authority.
So, for example, when I go on holiday, before they let me into the country, they want to see my passport, they want to know my identity, they want to know my name, and they'll check my identity and my name.
And if I have a good name, a good identity, I have the authority to enter this country.
And that's what's going on here.
These people are tired of relying on the authority of God. And they said, no, come, let's build our own name. Let's build our own authority that doesn't rely on God.
It was a bid for independence.
Did any one of you spot the verse that says, come, let us burn bricks thoroughly?
Anyone? Spot that the Babelites had invented a new technology?
It was A new way of making bricks. And when archaeologists found Babel, they found that their bricks were much stronger than the surrounding Assyria and Egypt.
The Babelites were able to make new technology. Stronger bricks had a capability better than they ever had before.
And I think with this technology, they fell into the trap of feeling they don't need God.
I know most of you can probably be thinking, what's this got to do with us? And it can be easy to think, how can I relate to this?
But I think this may have been the first vanity project recorded in history, but I don't think it's the last.
Maybe I can go first. Why don't I share my story? Why don't I confess my own story of how I chased identity, how for me, I chased a CV that would give me the authority to do anything?
For me, it started as I was doing my A levels, and I said to myself, you know what? I need to go to a really good university, not just any university. I want to go to the creme de la creme. And so what I did is I applied for the. I want to go somewhere like Oxford or Cambridge, and I applied for the top five universities in order.
It won't surprise many of you to know that I didn't get it. But you know what I said? I said, it doesn't matter. I'll just work harder. I'll burn bricks. So when I got to uni each year, I'd work hard, get my transcript and send it to these universities and ask for a transfer.
Then one year during my second year, I got a response.
They said, yeah, you can come and join us. You just have to start from year one again. And I was just about to finish year two, and I said to my friends, yeah, I'll do it.
And my friends looked at me and said, what about your friends?
See, this ungodly desire? It's easy to talk about it now because I'm through it. But I had an ungodly desire of building my own way, my own identity.
And it took time for God to really work in me and really convict me of where do I want to build my identity?
Now, I share this story because I know a few of us will have similar stories.
Probably some of you are going through the same story now, but the question for you, what identity are you building?
Is it your CVO education like it was for me, or the school you go to?
Or perhaps it's your career?
Maybe you're burning the bricks, the hours to get that promotion, to get that name, or Maybe you don't do career. Maybe it's not career for you. Maybe it's your side hustle. That's where you're burning your bricks.
Maybe some people here are trying to get their identity from relationships, from a family. Having the perfect family or the perfect house, maybe the school your kids go to, maybe the perfect wife, perfect husband.
Maybe it's not relationships for you, but it's being known as independent.
Where are you getting your identity from?
Maybe it's your skills and your talents. Maybe it's the team you serve in church.
So you might be wondering, but Gary, what's actually wrong with having a great name? What's wrong with building a name for myself?
I think, what's wrong with it? There's nothing wrong with having a great name. But it should be God that builds your name.
So God says to Abraham, I will make your name great.
And we see God do something similar with Saul, who he changes to Paul and he takes Simon and makes him into Peter. It should be God that makes your name great.
So to summarize, part 1. People building the tower, building an identity for themselves.
It's a vanity project done for their own name and it's a clear act of rebellion.
Let's go on to part two.
The second thing we see being built is a city.
But what I want to put to you is that it's not just the city behind the city.
The bigger issue at hand is a culture.
You see, every city comes with its own culture.
Why don't we do round two of that geography quiz? Moses, I know you were disappointed you didn't get all of them right. So let's give you another chance.
I'm going to. You remember the three cities, so New York, Paris and Dubai. I'm going to describe a culture and you tell me which of those three cities that culture represents.
The first one is a romantic culture and world renowned cuisine.
That's too easy, huh?
How about this one? A fast paced lifestyle.
Gosh, this is too easy.
And let's do the final one. Opulence and modern innovation.
With every city comes a culture.
And when we see the creation of Babel, we're seeing the creation of a new culture.
But I want to hone in on this. I think it's worth honing in on. I think it's a bit deep because no matter where I look, when I look at the culture of Babel, it just screams rebellion.
Rebellion. You know, this is the first time we see in the Bible, people come, they go beyond just their family units and they Come under the leadership of one person and we see it's a king. First time we see a king.
And I know when I see that later on in the Bible, when Israel tries to do that, God warns them and says, don't do it. It's a bad idea. Do not make yourselves a king.
But not just that, guys, guess what?
The king that they chose, himself, his name was Nimrod, which literally means, come, let us rebel.
A culture built on rebellion.
If you're anything like me, you might be saying, that's not quite enough to convince me. Gary, maybe it's time for the big reveal.
Are you ready for the big reveal?
Okay.
In the Bible, Babel has two names. It uses the word Babel a few times, but most of the times it adds an N at the end and it's known by its other name, which is Babylon.
Oh, you're not getting it. You're not getting it. Guys, this is a big reveal. This is a big reveal. Do you not know what Babylon is? Guys, it's important because actually the Bible tells us what Babylon becomes in the future. What Babylon goes on to become.
Babylon goes on to become Israel's arch enemy. Oh, guys, look, listen. Babylon takes over, conquers Jerusalem. It burns the holy temple. It drags the Israelites, God's people, out of Jerusalem into exile. And Babylon.
They were known as the oppressors of God, people.
Psalms 137 is dedicated just to explaining the pains of exile. It starts by saying, by the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, the oppressors of God's people.
Do you remember the story of Daniel who was chopped into the lion's den?
That was in Babylon? Do you remember the story of his three friends who was chucked into a burning furnace? That was in Babylon.
And we just about. We've just read the beginning of Babylon. We've just read the creation where it all started, where it began here at the tower of Babel.
And so, yes, I can tell you that there's something about this culture. Yes, I can tell you that the big issue here is the culture being built.
The culture in Babylon of pride, idolatry and rebellion was so bad that the Bible goes on to. It adopts the name Babylon. It adopts Babylon as an image, as a metaphor for the corrupt world system that lures people away from God.
So, and then in Revelation 7, 5, it says, it describes Babylon as the mother of prostitutes and all abominations of the earth.
Babylon culture is not a good thing.
So what does this have to do with us?
[00:17:46] Speaker B: Today.
[00:17:48] Speaker A: But why don't I do what the Bible does? Why don't I take Babylon, right? And actually, let's just call it the city. Why don't I take the city and use it as a metaphor for the corrupt world culture that lures us away from God?
And you see, because when we're in the city, often our rebellion can be a bit subtle and subversive. And it doesn't seem like rebellion because everyone else is doing it.
You see, when we're in a culture that denies Jesus, then sometimes rebelling can just be an issue of going with the flow.
So the question for us is, which elements of the city culture have you drifted into?
Maybe you've chosen convenience or promotion over integrity.
Maybe it's the subtle ways you signal identity. Maybe the lanyards or the email signatures or your alliances.
Maybe you've adopted the city's language and humor.
Maybe there's no TFL barriers near where you live.
Or maybe you own a business and often you say, well, the taxman doesn't know. Doesn't hurt him.
Maybe you've adopted the city's definitions of. Of singleness, of marriage, of sexuality, or simply what it means to be a son or daughter.
Maybe it's the culture of my body, my choice.
Maybe you're watching something on that screen and you convince yourself everyone else is doing it. It must be fine.
Do you remember Daniel and his three friends?
They lived in the city.
They worked in the city, but they give us hope.
They tell us we can live and work in the city amongst the city without having to adopt its culture.
Part three, the nations.
In part one and part two, we saw how the people were building a tower and a city, but beneath the surface, they were building identity outside God and a culture of rebellion.
Let's now look at how God responds and how God responds by building. Ultimately, we see God building the nations, But I think.
But I think it's a bit deeper than that. I think actually it's more than that. God is not just building the nations, he's building the church.
So let's talk through it.
How does God actually respond? All right, you can see it behind me three ways.
First is God comes down.
We see this in verses five to nine. God comes down.
Second, God brings different languages, causes confusion and division.
And third, God scatters.
And that's a bit ironic because I don't know if you caught it, but one of the reasons they said they wanted to build this is so that they won't be scattered.
It's exactly what they're trying to avoid.
And I think it's also worth noticing how, although we can view God's response as, you know, maybe it's punishment or justice, it's actually a very gracious intervention because God scatters them. He saves them. God says, where is this? Have I got it here? It says, come, let us go down.
Let us go down and scatter them unless they continue to sin. So God is stopping them from continuing to sin. He's saving them from their wickedness.
That is grace.
I don't know about you, but I wish God stopped me from my biggest mistakes.
I guess, actually, come to think of it, who knows where I would be? Who knows what God has already stopped me from doing?
And so this is where most people would leave this story. They would say the Tower of Babel teaches how God created the nations and the languages.
But I don't think that's right. I think it would be wrong to stop here, because I don't think that's God's full response.
I think it'll be like me trying to explain to you a trilogy, maybe like Star wars or the Avengers by only explaining the first film.
Because what we've just read is Act 1, which is God building the nations. But in Acts 2, God picks up from there and builds his church.
And Act 2 of this story happens in the book of Acts 2.
Act 2 of the story happens in the Book of Acts, chapter two.
So we'll go there.
What we're going to see is God reverses the curse of Babel.
And so as I read Acts Chapter two, I want you to listen out for the parallels with Genesis 11.
In a bit of context, what we're about to read is known as the Day of Pentecost and actually happens just after the life of Jesus.
Right? So Jesus has come, he's done his work, he's finished what he wanted to do, and he ascends to heaven. And so this is a few days after Jesus ascended.
And it starts with the disciples gathered together, sitting in one room.
Why don't I read Act 2? Acts, chapter 2, verse 1?
When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Notice how that's similar in Genesis 11, when the whole world was gathered together in one place with one language and one accord. Here we've got the disciples together in one place, Verse two.
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came down from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.
That is God. Comes down.
Just as we saw in the Tower of Babel, God comes down.
Verse 4.
All of them began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
So tongues just means languages.
Just like if someone says to you, what's your mother tongue? Right? It just means, what's your native language?
And so just like in the Tower of Babel, we see God brings down different languages.
Verse 6.
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment because each one heard their own language being spoken.
You see, unlike in the Tower of Babel, where language divides at Pentecost, language unites.
It says they came together.
We're seeing the reversal of the Curse of Babel.
Now, through the Holy Spirit, God is bringing his church together, reversing the Curse of Babel. And isn't it interesting that God, you know, when he brought tongues down, he didn't just give everyone the same language, everyone the ability to understand one language, but God retains the different nations, the different tongues, the different languages, the diversity.
So we've just seen that one, God comes down and two, he brings different languages.
And we're about to see three. God scatters.
We're not going to read it. But if you read the rest of Acts chapter two, you see that 3,000 people became Christians on the day of Pentecost.
And then they go back to their homes, they take the Gospel back.
But now the people aren't just scattered, they're scattered on mission.
Scattered on mission. See, verse 5 says, Every nation under heaven was represented in Jerusalem on that day. And verse nine describes the nations. It says the Parthians, the Medes, the Elamites, Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Cyrene, Rome, Cretans and Arabs. They take the Gospel back to their cities and the gospel spreads.
This is the miracle of the gospel.
This is the miracle to be able to bring people back together, something that Babel couldn't do, right? From all different backgrounds, different creeds, different races.
And it's not just a language thing. The miracle isn't just language. It's a heart thing. The Holy Spirit allowing us together to form a church even though we're from different backgrounds breaks every dividing line.
Where else outside the church can we find this?
Where else can we really find this without the gospel?
This is a map to show. Don't know if you can see it clearly from where you are, but the nations that were represented in Jerusalem that day. And effectively it's showing that from east to west, the Gospel goes out.
And the reason I began when I said. I said Genesis 11 when I said God began building his church in Genesis 11 is because in Revelation, chapter 7, verse 9, it says a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language before standing before the throne of before the lamp.
Every language now unites in worship, even the end goal. God's end goal is not to eradicate diversity, but it's a key part of the vision of worship.
As I come to an end, maybe I can invite the band to come up.
Do you know what else the book of Revelation tells us?
It tells us that Babylon will fall.
A time is coming where the world system that's there to lure you away from God will be no more.
See, Genesis 11 warns us of the danger of trying to build our own identity apart from God.
Whatever we build without God simply won't last.
Yes, we may live and work amongst the city, but we're not called to conform to the patterns of this world.
Instead, we're called to be its salt and its light.
So instead of building our towers, we're invited to join what God is building his church to be. A people who rely on him, to lean on him, who find their identity in him.
I think when we do this with hope in our hearts, we can do this with hope in our hearts. Because Scripture promises us of the day when Babylon will fall. And every language, every culture, every nation will be united in Christ.
What Babel scattered, what sin led to be scattered, Jesus gathered, and what pride divided grace will restore.
Amen.
We're gonna respond. We're gonna move to a time of response.
I think there's probably two ways you may want to respond.
First is we want to respond in worship, right as the church united, worshipping together, lifting God's name. And actually, I'm going to encourage. If anyone is brave out there in the middle of the worship, there'll be a bit of time stop where you can pray out in your mother tongue, in your native language, pray out in a different language as we celebrate being part of the body of Christ, being part of what God is building.
But I think there's probably also some of us who maybe you want to reflect on where you've been building your identity, or how the city culture has lured you away a little bit.
And so if you want prayer during, during the. During the worship, you're more than welcome to come into the center where the prayer team will be with you.
Amen.
Am.
I.
