Seeking Equality As A Failure
7/10/17
Not many people would apply equality and failure in the same category but in many cases, failure is the only outcome. It is hard to explain this phenomenon but it reveals the truth about how mankind act to achieve such equality, fails, then at some point tries again. We must give ourselves credit for trying to reach this goal but while we praise ourselves we must also bow our heads in shame because the portion of this unity that we miss is the focal point of our lives that we continually cast to the curb. No contention of equality or unity shall occur when it is done in the name of mankind for God cannot allow sinful unity to adhere as a true kingdom. Until we recognize that God is the only being that can create, establish, and grow a Kingdom, our efforts of unity shall fall short of this goal and our results will not succeed on any level.
Many of us have heard over our years the argument that the Bible does not give us specific clues about the actions of God and what He wants from our lives. We have been shown that the unity that God, Adam, and Eve shared was lost when we allowed sin to enter into our lives and ever since that moment in human history we have been trying our best to achieve this unity again but doing it on our terms with glory projected upon ourselves and not through God alone. For as our societies grow and blossom, we have a tendency to glorify those who are responsible for such successes, but as soon as the hoopla settles and the cameras are off the true nature of human success comes into light. How often do we read that some environmental junkie or popular figure involves themselves in controversy after the fact? It is unfailing that some sort of corruptive feat is published at some point in time that brings the spotlight of folly back on those who are considered to be superstars of society.
Church, do not become haughty with this human truth for you to have fallen into the mire and clutches of such selfish sins and are now being subjected to the same folly as the worldly figures and there is a huge and common reason why this occurs, pride and sin. It is these two common elements that bring societies down without them even understanding what went wrong and the ultimate reason why they do not know what occurred is directly related to their downfall as well because they have not placed God first in their development and prepared their equality and unity in His standards. How many times have we witnessed the Church go through tremendous growth periods yet fail to come together on a long term basis to press forward God’s Kingdom? Our self-centered attitudes of success and unity have created an ultimate devastation that God brings on these societies because their leaders purposefully ignore the truth about God and the condition that our existence presents, and it is through this example in Genesis Chapter 11 that proves this statement and the point of this message that God wants us to understand.
God has given us a great example of this truth about how our human egos, pride, and sin take over projects and then through the brilliance of our thoughts become rubble because the foundation of such activities is based on feeble sand. God wants to use Genesis 11:1-9 as the example of what transpires when humanity tries to achieve this goal without God being first and placing His Ways over the project. I have never put this passage in context with today’s thought patterns and activities but when God showed me this passage He also opened up my heart to see the striking similarities. God also showed me a detail about Him and what occurs when all of these tries of unity occur with humans in charge of such projects, a detail that has been forecasted for this nation.
The passage begins with a wonderful image of unity when Genesis 11:1 opens with: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” What a perfect picture we have here because it paints that all of mankind can speak with each other with continual knowledge and has no problem with communication. It is difficult for us to even understand some of the people from different regions of this country much less from another nation that speaks English. What an accomplishment that these people have in verse 1 for everyone around speaks one language and can function in such great fashion. I remember a story that my father tells about when he and a team were in El Salvador because of the language barrier. It is very difficult to communicate with others if they do not speak the same language and when Spanish and English collide many times it is not a pretty sight. But when people share the same goals it is amazing how even though different languages rule yet the human will gets the communicative job done as my father and his team quickly realized.
There can be no question that within each societal hierarchy that some form of unity will exist and is required to be present in order to form stability in that setting. But when societal dominions become centered on self and personal idolatry the conditions of such a configuration cannot withstand its own infrastructure. For when humans try and come together and build a society based on flawed details there is no way possible that such an existence can operate for a great period of time and withstand all of the interior and exterior pressures that it shall face. Yes, many societies can handle this type of insults but just as the body will break down when continually attacked such a selfish society will eventually attack itself from within and then be vulnerable to its destruction, even when the destructive detail concerns the smallest of events of language.
Every society wants to have its own union and mechanisms of structure that symbolize such unity and in verse 3 we find that the attitudes of the people are of one accord and with the pride in their accomplishments of finding a new place to exist decide to transform this plain into their image and not from the God who through their ancestors gave them life. The people begin to gather the necessary instruments to make the foundation of their newest idea and symbol of unity, a complete city and a tower that would reach heaven. This process of how to build the tower was thought out quite neatly and it seems from verse 3 that everyone was onboard with the idea of building this tower. We see that they talked together and worked out all of the details and then began the process of making the bricks and mortar for the project. What is so wrong with this process is a logical question to ask. Is it not the goal of every society to work in harmony and unity with each other so that projects such as this get completed and prove that people can get things done when they are in agreement?
When verse 4 opens it gives us a great deal of information about how far the ideas of the people had advanced and it also gives us a picture of how they viewed their experiences a while back through the words of Genesis 10:32 when it says that the sons of Noah were divided in the earth after the flood and when one places their contempt for moving in the likeness of Cain’s ways of conformity with God you get a recipe for disaster. Remember a few weeks ago when God showed us about moving and how He provides us opportunities to fulfill this type of adventure in our lives? God is not a docile or stagnate Being and therefore He created His children with the same type of longing and when God needs us to move He does so in such a manner that our hearts and minds understand His reasoning for such a change. Yet, many of us get stuck in our habits and in our ways and when the opportunity arises to stay put or to move, we do everything we can to stay put instead, this provides us with an excellent example of “bucking” God’s Will and gives us the prime motive to live according to self-preservation instead of faith in God.
I find it amazing that these people did not place one thought of the true relationship status that they had with God when it came time to create the city and the tower. No mention of God on a relationship basis is mentioned in this passage, and it seems like they had no intentions of trying to establish a relationship with God either. This type of setting gives us another example of how religion and religious practices overtake our lives and destroy the true relationship that God wants between Him and us. This also gives us a clear picture that the people living on this plain were going to use the incorrect bricks and mortar for their city and tower, a process doomed from the start. As stated above, it had not been too long before that the flood had occurred and that event was still “fresh” in the minds and hearts of these people. When God stated to replenish the earth He did mean those words, but He also meant that we should continue to seek and to have a relationship with him so that nothing similar as the total devastation of the earth would come into play again. Everything that humans do should revolve around God and the relationship that He desires for us to have, and when we accomplish this truth our lives shall be filled with complete joy just as Adam and Eve had before their lives were changed.
An interesting scenario occurs between verses 4 and 5 and it refers to a certain amount of time that passes during these verses. As we all know a tower or for that much, a city cannot be built overnight and that even with modern equipment and an unlimited workforce available such a feat would take time to complete. Now, this setting occurs in biblical times and way before modernity has been in control of building which means that God allows this civilization to build their wishes. This says a lot about God for it gives us a truth that He does not automatically delay, confuse, or destroy things that humans decide they want to be done. This is a sign that God is patient and kind and gives mankind every opportunity to look at what they have done and see if it places God first or themselves in that position. Then, God takes a stand at some point and intervenes when necessary, a position taken as any good father would do. Now, this does not mean that God remains silent throughout the process, I guarantee that some or many of those people involved in building these monuments had their heart strings tugged many times while completing their tasks.
Verse 4 also gives us a clue about the simplicity of mankind and how our physical thought processes are limited. This does not mean we are dumb or stupid in any manner but the verse does provide us with a description of our thought patterns and how we try to connect both the spiritual realm and the physical realm together, a lie that can only come from Satan and one that we believe in so strongly. There is absolutely no way that mankind can ever build anything physically to reach “heaven”. This would mean that through our physical works we could reach God and His Glory without following the spiritual channels of His Covenant. I also find it interesting that the Bible mentions very few amounts of information concerning heaven unlike other religions that are present on this earth, there is a reason for this and we shall deal with this truth in short time. God may allow us to live in physical splendor and achieve great physical goals in our societies, but there is no way possible that through these physical achievements can we obtain access to God and His throne. There is a division here that is in place due to our choice of sin and a division that can only be bridged by Jesus Christ and what He did when He was on earth. The sacrificial processes were already established when this city and the tower of Babel were constructed and like many of us today theses accomplishments were already being admired as religious symbols and tied together with the same ideologies of sacrifices.
In verse 5 we have another detail about how the relationship between God and mankind was at that time, for this verse says that God came down and looked at the city and the tower that they had built. “The Lord came down” is the key statement here in that God made an appearance in this civilization long enough to see what was going on and what the people had completed. Now, this could have been a few moments or a few days, but that is not the issue here, the issue being that God came down to see what was going on and there was no mention that the people saw His presence or even acknowledged Him being there. The status of self-reliance had infiltrated enough that the world’s view instead of God’s view had commanded their hearts which automatically made God’s presence unknown and the reason for what God decided to do in verse 6 of this chapter. Once again, God’s response to mankind’s deeds is their own fault and not due to God’s “heavy handedness” as many would like to claim. We must always remember that God does nothing on a whim, but His actions are directed solely on the choices that His prized creations make.
As we have discussed before, I find it amazing of how we are quick to condemn God for the actions He allows to occur, whether it be from His own hand or from our enemy. We also find it a difficulty in understanding exactly why God allows any type of unfavorable conditions and settings to come our way, but this “hardship” and lack of understanding on our part can be totally avoided if we place God first in our lives and listen to His Ways then we shall know why things occur or do not occur. When we do not listen and place God in a position other than first, verse 6 of this passage comes into place and humanity finds them in a predicament with a new setting to deal with. What God allows to occur to these people in this verse is simply amazing and ingenious yet at the same time so profound on a personal level that nothing less than total shock can be imagined. So, the question still remains of why we have to try and prove God wrong, I guess we are more like the children of Israel than we believe for they tried the exact same things back in the biblical days as we do today.
Verses 6-8 state that God comes back down and confuses the languages of the people for they spoke only one language, then scattered them across the areas of the earth in order to break up their selfish and collective groupings against God and His Ways. The Bible does not say how God scattered them across the face of the earth but we have many historical paths that humans took long ago when they went to different parts of the earth to resettle, a feat most extraordinaire. It is hard to imagine that living in this community with the recent past still fresh in their hearts that it would require such an act of God to remind them who they were, what forces they were following and why He had to do what He did. But, later in the Word of God, we find that prophecies against Judah and Israel were fulfilled at different times and neither of those kingdoms listened to what God warned against either, a phenomenal pattern that one can only shake their head at when trying to understand. As my mother has always said, “hindsight is always 20/20”.
For some time now, I have wanted to learn the German language, and my family speaks a little of this beautiful language and my grandkids call my wife and I Opa and Oma which mean grandpa and grandma respectively. I find some of the common words used in the German language a tad difficult to pronounce due to the way that the letters and sounds come together and represent a word but how much more difficult is it for me to try and learn another language now that it was when I was trying to figure out my native language of English? Learning one language is difficult enough and trying to figure out an unidentified amount of other languages at once is overwhelming, to say the least. In any position we find ourselves that requires us to come out from our normal and confined patterns problems and squeamish processes abound. So, when these people who were accustomed to communicating with each other without any uneasiness, begin to not understand each other one can imagine just how frustrating it would be. And yes, the frustration level would rise high enough that one would rather leave the area with other like-spoken people than to stay around and figure other peoples out.
When I was a child and a young person, it was difficult for me to comprehend how these acts of God and the actions of mankind could contribute so much to how we think and believe today. At that time, I did not know exactly how the human mind and heart acted and how many times we voluntarily make choices that fit within society’s confines rather than what we have been taught by the Word of God. It goes back to the old thought processes that God’s commands are limitations and rules of pressure towards having the utmost of lives, but in truth, God does not operate in slavery or limiting ways it is Satan who can only offer such sufferings. God’s Ways are designed to free us from this world and the bondage that it brings and until we place God’s commands back into our lives and live through their meanings our existence will only fall with the world and not be able to rise above it and represent what we were originally created to be.
Western societies have had their settings changed over time by men and women who believed that they had the right and correct answers for their nations, regions, and communities. But every past setting that we read about in history that does not place God first at all times, has fallen and only offers a blemish on the historical record. From the Garden of Eden until this very moment, many have used God as the decisive manner to become leaders of their respective territories but very few of them have stuck by their words of commitment with God and fulfilled God’s plan of life and not the world’s. When our lives and desires are based on equality with the world we cannot expect anything different than animosity, distress, anger, division and sometimes disaster that we witness. It is no secret what God will allow or do when His children disobey His Ways, so why is it such a calamity and shock when horrific details emerge in all societies when these types of occurrences present themselves?
It does not take too much of an imagination to figure out that we have the same problem today as what the people of Genesis chapter 11 had so long ago. Their quest for unity was noble and probably started out with godly intentions but somewhere along the way, their humanistic methods overcame God’s perfect plan of unity. Some may have understood this footstep like characteristic of Adam and Eve being set into motion but from what the Bible declares, their selfish intentions ruled the day. It is evident that when humanity comes to the conclusion that their way is better than God, that it can only be a matter of time before ugly things will begin to occur. God has always had a nation on this planet that has been His representative of Covenant and total separation, it began in the Garden of Eden and it continues to this day. We do not want in any way jeopardize this pattern for when we do the world that we know of today shall never be again. We must stop and really think carefully about the equality issue without God position, for once this worldly motion begins it can only produce vials, seals, and trumpets.
The tower of Babel must have been an extraordinary sight to behold, a magnificent work of art that stood proud and tall over all other previous man-made buildings. But when humans place their efforts into projects that do not represent God or have His presence be the defining strength there cannot be any solid foundation that steadies the course of mankind. Those towers represent you and me and that city they tried to build represents the light that they had in their hearts, both of which were darkened by selfish categorical means that had no place for God. How can a righteous, complete, holy, and just God allow such activities to continue and still claim to be such of upstanding character? The only way that humanity arrives at this juncture is to proclaim themselves that God is not who He says He is and that He does not control every issue that presents itself. So, in other words, instead of raising our standards up to meet God through His Ways, we believe we can lower Him down to Satan’s level and place them as equals as well. Now, that is a statement to think about.
In no way does God wish to divide His children from one another and it is not in His will that we should live in confusion or inequality. From the very beginning of our creation, all God has asked us to do is to obey His Ways to our utmost. God has never once given us an ultimatum of “do this or else” He has always given us the choice to live within His eternal Covenant or choose to go the opposite direction. In either case, He has provided us with the perfect plan of restoration called the Bible and it is through His Word that we might know Him and just how much and how His love runs for us. But in order for us to live under His protection, we must live by His Laws and obey them at all costs. The only way that we can effectively complete this is to study His Word and spend as much time in His Word as possible. There is no possible way that we can claim to know God, His Ways, or that we are obeying His Ways unless we know His Word inside and out – hide it in our hearts.
Church, this message is for you because we have fallen into the same trap of building platforms instead of going out and witnessing to the dying world. Do you really expect a significant number of people that have had no contact with God in their lives and that have lived in the world all of their lives just to happen to walk in the church building and start to turn their life around? If you believe this, then you are fooled just as much as they are because it shall never happen. It is absolutely WRONG to believe that it is just the pastor’s job to bring in people for God. Jesus never mentioned that it was the responsibility of the so called “church leaders” to go out into the world and teach the Gospel. No! It is our responsibility to do this and we have failed miserably and we are now reaping the rewards of our disobedience and are about to further reap our rewards of disobedience to what God has told us to do. It is our responsibility to understand that we have elected Jezebel and that we need to get rid of her spirit that harbors our hearts and return this nation to God.
You want to know why Vacation Bible Schools are filled with kids and yet there is no retention of those kids into the Church body occurs? You want to know why many church youth groups are packed on Wednesday nights yet hardly any of these precious young people are not going into the ministry? You want to know why our congregations are stagnant in numbers, with many losing numbers and stink of putridity on a wretched basis? It is because we are building the tower of Babel and our personal denominational cities and not doing what Jesus commanded us to do. When we fulfill the command of Jesus there cannot be any “I” or any other type of selfish cause because Jesus cared about you and not Himself and in order to complete that command we must do it in such a manner of the same. We can produce nothing but babble when we are in control of any situation for God is not a dream to those who are awake in His Word but only to those who are asleep on holy ground.
We no longer pray for our children and our nation, HA! We no longer pray period!! Israel and Judah gave us this example a long time ago and instead of learning from this historical truth, we follow it just like animals to the slaughter. Stop and think about this for a moment, we have become so intertwined with unification that we have completely forgotten who the only One who can grant this so desperately sought after commodity, the perfect example of the tower of Babel and the aftermath of such debauchery. It is strictly our fault that we are in the shape we are in and since we LOVE to follow in the footsteps of our biblical brethren let it be known that we shall reap the same “benefits” as they did. You want equality, then place God first in our lives again, pray without ceasing for EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE for true and complete repentance is the only thing that will save this nation and the people that God loves so very much and does not wish to see them die and be eternally separated from Him.
DLB
