The Blueprint of Babel

“Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens.”  Genesis 11:4

I really would like to have seen it—a tower whose base was strong enough to support a height that climbed to the clouds and whose sides were surrounded by a city big enough to contain all in the world. The plans were grand, the architecture impressive, and the materials limitless. 

Babel was built with bricks instead of stone because the abundance of sand and sun assured never-ending supplies.  One by one the bricks were fashioned.  One by one the bricks were fastened—held together by a mortar of tar and a motive of pride and preservation.  “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth”(Genesis 11:4).  The name of God was not enough.  The people wanted one of their own, and so they set out to leave a legacy by living for themselves. 

God came down to inspect.  He noticed the foundation was not Him but them, and since this did not meet code, He confused the speech of the laborers.  Unable to understand each other, they soon moved apart.  “From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth”(Genesis 11:9).

Babel was never completed.  No certificate of occupancy was ever issued.  The unfinished tower stood in the desert as a desolate monument to the grand plans of men minus God, and then it crumbled into ruin.

Its sad story stands as a divine reminder that each day we’re here on earth, we’re busy building, and depending on our materials and our motive, our work will either be temporary or eternal.  As C. T. Studd, a British athlete who walked away from sport to become a missionary, once penned, “Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.”

May we spend our moments not making a name for ourselves but making much of God’s.