This is a chapter of very deep interest to the spiritual mind. It records two great facts, namely, the building of Babel, and the call of Abraham; or, in other words, man’s effort to provide for himself, and God’s provision made known to faith; man’s attempt to establish himself in the earth, and God’s calling a man out of it, to find his portion and his home in heaven.
“ And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:1-4). The human heart ever seeks a name, a portion, and a center in the earth. It knows nothing of aspirations after heaven, heaven’s God, or heaven’s glory. Left to itself, it will ever find its objects in this lower world; it will ever “build beneath the skies.” It needs God’s call, God’s revelation, and God’s power, to lift the heart of man above this present world, for man is a groveling creature—alienated from heaven, and allied to earth. In the scene now before us, there is no acknowledgment of God, no looking up to, or waiting on, Him; nor was it the thought of the human heart to set up a place in which God might dwell—to gather materials for the purpose of building a habitation for Him—alas! no; His name is never once mentioned. To make a name for himself was man’s object on the plain of Shinar; and such has been his object ever since. Whether we contemplate man on the plain of Shinar, or on the banks of the Tiber, we find him to be the same self-seeking, self-exalting, God-excluding creature, throughout. There is a melancholy consistency in all his purposes, his principles, and his ways; he ever seeks to shut out God, and exalt himself.
Now, in what light howsoever we view this Babel confederacy, it is most instructive to see in it the early display of man’s genius and energies, regardless of God. In looking down along the stream of human history, we may easily perceive a marked tendency to confederacy, or association. Man seeks, for the most part, to compass his great ends in this way. Whether it be in the way of Philanthropy, Religion, or Politics, nothing, can be done without an association of men regularly organized. It is well to see this principle—well to mark its incipient working—to see the earliest model, which the page of inspiration affords of a human.
If my reader will turn to the seventh chapter of Revelation, he will find, at the close thereof, “All nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues,” standing round the Lamb; and, with one voice, ascribing all praise to Him. Thus the three scriptures may be read in most interesting and profitable connection. In Genesis 11 God gives various tongues as an expression of His judgment; in Acts 2 He gives various tongues as an expression of grace; and in Revelation 7 we see all those tongues gathered round the Lamb, in glory. How much better it is, therefore, to find our place in God’s association than in man’s! The former ends in glory, the latter in confusion; the former is carried forward by the energy of the Holy Spirit, the latter by the unhallowed energy of fallen man; the former has for its object the exaltation of Christ, the latter has for its object the exaltation of man, in some way or other.
Finally, I would say, that all who sincerely desire to know the true character, object, and issue of human associations, should read the opening verses of Genesis 11; and, on the other hand, all who desire to know the excellency, the beauty, the power, the enduring character of divine association, should look at that holy, living, heavenly corporation, which is called, in the New Testament, the Church of the living God, the body of Christ, the bride of the Lamb.
May the Lord enable us to look at, and apprehend, all these things, in the power of faith; for only in this way can they profit our souls. Points of truth, however interesting; scriptural knowledge, however profound and extensive; Biblical criticism, however accurate and valuable, may all leave the heart barren, and the affections cold. We want to find Christ in the Word; and, having found Him, to feed on Him by faith. This would impart freshness, unction, power, vitality, energy, and intensity, all of which we deeply stand in need of, in this day of freezing formalism. What is the value of a chilling orthodoxy without a living Christ, known in all His powerful, personal attractions? No doubt, sound doctrine is immensely important. Every faithful servant of Christ will feel himself imperatively called upon to “hold fast the form of sound words.” But, after all, a living Christ is the very soul and life, the joints and marrow, the sinews and arteries, the essence and substance of sound doctrine. May we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, see more beauty and preciousness in Christ, and thus be weaned from the spirit and principles of Babylon.
We shall, God willing, consider the remainder of chapter 11 in the next section.