Focal Passage: Genesis 11:1-9
After retirement, my dad served for a year as an interim pastor in Kowloon, Hong Kong, at an English-speaking church. My family went for a visit. Dad wanted to take us out to experience the Hong Kong culture and took us downtown in a taxi to a small “hole in the wall” restaurant for an authentic Chinese meal.
Dad had help writing down directions and ordering in the proper language. At the end of our night, we were successful. However, we spent most of the night pointing instead of speaking, looking confused and trying to understand a different language and culture. When you don’t speak the same language, it is easy for confusion to reign.
The story of the tower of Babel showed how God authored confusion to stop His people from their continued ways of being disobedient. The people could no longer communicate with each other, and it stopped their plans. The tower of Babel was a continuation of the Biblical truth: “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 6:23). [Read more…]