Genesis 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
According to Genesis, people after the Flood built the Tower of Babel to make themselves a name. This theme runs through the Scriptures and our lives. We sinners exalt our own names. We want credit! This self-centeredness might drive us to outpace others in a career or to offer words that make us look wise. But at Babel, they took this desire to its extreme by collaborating on a monument of self-exaltation.
One snag with self-made names is that they rob God of the glory He deserves. After all, the Lord gave us any knowledge, intellectual ability, or physical prowess we may have. It is also idolatry since it implies we believe we can save ourselves. “Thus says the LORD: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the LORD. ” (Jeremiah 17:5).
The brief account of Babel in Genesis 11 is sandwiched between “name” passages. Genesis 10 names Noah’s major descendants, and Genesis 11:10-28 names the generations from Shem to Abram. In contrast, God chose not to honor the names of the wicked Babel builders. In other words, even the literary structure in Genesis emphasizes the futility of trying to make a name for oneself.
What should we then do? “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10). “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen” (Matthew 20:16). Magnify the Lord’s great name and receive in the end “a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.” (Revelation 2:17).
To the Praise of Your Glory
Gracious God in heaven, Your mercies fill Your works,
Your sovereign hand is guiding all Your purposes on earth.
And let me ne’er forget, why you work Your holy plan.
Let my heart now worship, and give You all I am.
“The praise of Your glory”, This is Your lofty aim.
The praise of Your glory, Our joy to now proclaim.
Great are You Lord, Unsearchably great!
Our praises form on thankful lips, Our songs reverberate.
Your glory is the purpose, where all things find their end.
Whether trials and temptations, or the blessings that You send.
The sunshine and the rain meet together and agree,
They shout aloud and say, “Be glorified in me!”
As You seek Your glory, Help us not misunderstand.
When you are exalted, You redeem the fallen man.
Christ, He is the radiance, of the glorious One unseen,
The praise of Your glory, makes the ransomed sinner clean!
“to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 1:6
©Jacob Crouch 2022
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