Genesis Chapter 11 - New Age Thinking

Once upon a time, long, long ago, in a far away place, "when E. F. Hutton spoke, everyone listened." That’s because everyone could understand what he was saying. Everyone in the whole world spoke the same language. These people were a proud group of people. They had "found themselves." They were "nobody’s fool." They "had the power!" So they said to themselves, "Hey, man, let’s build us a city. We’ll put up a tower like ain’t nobody seen! It’ll reach right up into the heavens, man, and then everyone that looks at that tower, they’ll know we’re cool. We are somebody! Yeah, that’s what we’ll do…build us a stairway to heaven!"

With all their self-satisfaction, self-motivation, self-exaltation, they forgot one thing. They forgot to check with the Master Builder…the One who owned the land, the sky, the heavens. They just went right ahead with their plans without getting a building permit. Why, they did not have to bow down to any one. They could do their own thing. They were independent…they didn’t need anyone, certainly not God. Do you see a problem here? Well, God did.


God knew that if He let them continue with that line of thinking, they would begin to think they were individual gods, and they could do anything they set their minds to. These were mere creatures that God had created. They were going to try to do the very thing one of His former celestial angels did…try to elevate themselves to be the same as God. There can only be one God, the One who is the Originator of all things. When satan tried to overthrow the throne in heaven, God had to cast him out (see Isaiah 14:12-15). Now here he was again, a piece of him in each of the hearts of these people. Was he trying to fool God? Did he think he could hide inside someone’s flesh and God would not see him? He must have forgotten who God was…the all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful God of the universe. There is absolutely nothing that can be hidden from God. How does that phrase go, "You can fool some of the people some of the time....", but you can never fool God.

To bring an end to this "I am God" thinking, this new age that had entered upon the earth through the great deceiver (and we thought it was a new religion in our time!), God scattered the people all over the surface of the earth, and He confused their language. No longer would they be able to understand each other without extreme difficulty.

The Tower of Babel…the place of mass confusion. Do you have mass confusion in your life? If so, I would like to suggest it could be you are listening to too many voices, or the wrong voices. You are hearing babbling voices that are irrational, foolish, incoherent, and meaningless. You need to hear God’s voice. He alone speaks peace in our storm-tossed minds. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." (John 14:27). "Be still and know that I am God;" (Psalm 46:10). Take time to listen to His voice today.



As we continue on with this chapter, we find the genealogy of Shem. He’s "the good guy in the white hat," remember? In the list of his descendants we find a man named Terah, who had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot, who was Abram’s nephew. Abram had a wife, named Sarai. These are key people in the chapters ahead, so it will help us to get their relationship straight. Terah took his son, Abram, and Abram’s wife, Sarai, and Abram’s nephew, Lot, on a one way trip out of Ur of the Chaldeans, headed toward Canaan. However, they settled in Haran instead, and that is where Terah died. For the next few chapters we will be focusing on Abram. He has much to teach us. Ready?