The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. Then they said to one another, "Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly." (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) Then they said, "Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth."
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. And the Lord said, "If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other." So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)
This is a special week for me. In my married life, I celebrate my husband's birthday. In my church life, we began our "enacted parable" of Jeremiah 1 (at the groundbreaking ceremony for Bronx Bethany's community center). And it is the advent of Yom Kippur, a good time to reflect on God's provision of a holy Substitute to cover His people's sins. We all have the privilege of experiencing prophetic community in dyads, groups, and nations. And while this past Sunday's sermon focused on insights into the self-understanding of a prophetic community, I believe today is a good day to consider the antithesis to prophetic community. It is found in Babel.
There were words voiced in the plain of Shinar, and there was successful work being performed, but it was neither God's voice nor God's work. The settlers of Shinar created a community, by their word, "so that we may make a name for ourselves." God was never invited to the planning table. So God, uninvited God, forgotten God, called a staff meeting with His Triune Self: "Let's go down and confuse their language." He came to the plain of Shinar, confused their self-made community, and scattered them. God reached into their success and turned it into pitiful failure.
Yes. The LORD is just when He judges. He sees when we build structures that are not founded in Him. And that is why our pastors and leaders were very careful to saturate the groundbreaking ceremony with the word of God. His word was spoken out loud, printed on paper, prayed from our hearts, and it will be laid in the foundation of the building. We were (and are) a self-understanding community, consciously gathered around God's word, to glorify His name.
The devil, who is always quick to counterfeit, will no doubt do his best to "scatter" us in an attempt to hinder progress. He will magnify strongholds and engage principalities and powers. He will seek to discourage the faithful and promote the wicked. He will accost the unaware, turning their God-given strengths into arrows of evil. The devil is a master at causing people to first be blinded to danger, then second to be tricked, tempted, or trapped into perpetuating his evil schemes.
But God is good. He gave us assignments before He gave us birth days. He spoke to Bronx Bethany through Jeremiah 1. And physical and spiritual Israel will meet at Yom Kippur, contemplating our passion, our place, and our purpose. We have heard the call of God, and we anticipate the enemy's opposition. So we fast and pray.
Jesus, on this Day of Atonement, we recognize You. Your Presence presides over this ritual of the scattered diaspora coming back to Your temple for forgiveness and blessing.
Our bodies are Your temple. So we come to you as a community of faith. "Though we are many, we are one body in Christ." You have brought us together! So we relinquish our agenda and embrace Yours.
We do as You have decreed in Jeremiah 1: we uproot, tear down, destroy, and completely overthrow every thing, person, and system that stands in opposition to our complete obedience to You.
Our deep passion is for You.
Our desired place is with You.
Our destined purpose is in You.
We reject the self-sufficiency of Shinar, and we give ourselves to You. Jesus, use us to build Your kingdom. In Jesus's name we pray. Amen.
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