Genesis 10-11

Day 8

Genesis Chapters 10-11

 Genesis 11:3-9
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel — because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.


First of all it does not surprise me at all that the people of this time wanted to build a tower that reached into the heavens to make a name for themselves (verse 4)  What better way to impress The God of the heavens than to build a tower up to reach Him right…  Maybe that was not their strategy!  Who knows?  God places a desire in us to accomplish great things.  In fact we were created specifically by God to do great things for His glory… 
Here is where I believe the people went wrong.

1) They had the wrong MOTIVES.  Making a name for themselves instead of God! 

2) They had the wrong MATERIALS.  Notice how they chose bricks instead of stone.  Bricks are made by man.  Stone is made by God…  Another interesting note is that they used tar instead of mortar… Once again they chose man made over what God made…  The point is God wants us to build things HIS way not ours! 

How can this relate to you and me?                
We all have towers in our lives...Careers, Money, Status and Influence.

What is wrong with any of these things?  Nothing if your motives and materials are right.  We must always check our motives.  I want to tell you about a special lady at my church who got this right.  She was offered a position at work that would require her to spend even more time away from her family than she already did.  Did she earn that promotion?  Absolutely! Her track record at the company was outstanding.  So what’s the problem?  Her old position was being removed…  Some people would call that divine intervention and take the promotion.  But, not Maria.  She had a meeting with her boss and did the unthinkable.  She declined the promotion and asked for a demotion.  Some people would say that is weird; I say that is admirable, and I hope, if faced with a similar situation, I would be able to do the same.  Did she take a pay cut?  Yes, however, Maria now gets home to see her family every day by 5:30. She is able to use more of her time to volunteer as a small group leader for her church, and she is a better mom to her kids.  Every time I hear this story she gives God all the glory!  Maria is working definition of someone who has the right motives and materials in regards to her career!  I will never get tired of reading stories like that…

Proverbs 16:2-32

Everything a man does might seem right to him.
      But the Lord knows what that man is thinking.
 3 Commit to the Lord everything you do.
              Then your plans will succeed