God's Will be Done

"The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.' So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth." -Genesis 11.5-9

The flood is over, God has re-issued His command for man to fill the earth, and yet again, man disobeys God. Rather than doing what God has instructed them to do, they gather together in one place and begin building a tower. Rather than spreading out, they gather together. Rather than filling the earth, they stay in one place. Rather than making God known to creation, they seek to make their name great. They have their plans for their own security and advancement, and neglect the will of God.

God see what is happening and knows what has to be done. He confuses their language and scatters them over the whole earth. Man was given the whole world to care for and rule over, make God's name known, and yet they find a place where they can gather together and exalt themselves. It doesn't get much more contrary than this, everything God has commanded they are doing the opposite of. God will not stand for this. God's will must be done.

God comes down, steps in, and confuses the language of the people so they will spread out. He causes their world to fall apart so that they can fulfill the purpose they were meant to fulfill. I believe God still works this way today. God is sovereign, take than in for a moment. He is the creator and king of the Universe. Not a country, not the world, but the Universe. I'm going to get side tracked for a moment (I usually do when I get on this subject because space fascinates me) but we don't know how big the Universe is and the Bible says in Isaiah that God measures it in the span of His hand (Is. 40.12). He holds the Universe that so far we haven't found the edge of, in His hand. That means three things, one the universe is finite, two God is really big, and three, God is in charge.

God has a plan and His plan is perfect. He made the world and everything functioned as it was intended to. There was no sickness, pain, or death, and man disobeyed, had a desire to be God, and messed it up. God sent the flood, destroying evil on the earth, giving man a sort of fresh start, and again, man disobeyed and messed it up. After the initial fall, God set His ultimate plan of redemption in motion, a plan that will be further unfolded in Genesis 12.

Here in Genesis 11, man is once again trying to be sovereign, trying to exalt himself over God. Because God is God, He is the only sovereign and must be exalted, and so He makes man's plans crumble and sets him on the path that obeys God's will. I realize this may sound like God is a tyrannical dictator, as I've been writing this I've found myself deleting and re-wording a lot of things, but I'm now at the point where I can't avoid this issue. God has a plan, and His plan is what is best for us. We do have the choice to obey or not, disobedience brings punishment and consequences. Every time man seeks to be God, to be exalted above God, there is punishment that puts man back in his proper place. Man was cut off from the tree of life, the source of eternal life. Man's language is confused, cut off from fellowship and community. Sometimes your world needs to fall apart so that you can finally get on the path God intended for you to be on, and sometimes even that doesn't work.

God's plan is perfect, and it brings blessing and fulfillment. Apart from His plan are hardship and isolation. Let God's will be done.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY!

Peace be with you