The Tower of Babel

Bible Reading:  Genesis 11:1-9

Memory Verse:  No one is like you, Lord, you are great, and your name is mighty in power.    Jeremiah 10:6 

Devo:  

When I was about eight years old, my dad and I built a Lego tower to the ceiling in my bedroom. It took every brick I owned, leaving only wheels and propellers in the bin.  I tried to keep that tower up as long as I could, until a bump knocked the whole thing to the ground.

The Bible tells us of another tower. At this time, everyone spoke the same language. After Noah’s flood, God told the people to go in all directions to fill the earth. A group of people said, “No, we’re not going to do that. Instead, we’ll settle right here and build a huge city and tower. Our tower will be so high, we will make ourselves famous.”

It’s not wrong to build nice buildings or to be famous, but when you do things out of pride, it becomes a problem.

The people had learned to make bricks out of clay and used this invention to build their city.  God looked down at this tower and said, “If these people succeed, there is no end to the wickedness they will begin.” 

God said, “Here’s how we’ll stop them. We’ll come down and confuse their languages.” 

Imagine talking to your friend at lunch and suddenly you could only speak and understand Chinese. The people couldn’t work together anymore. They didn’t even have the same word for hammer.

The whole project ended right there.  The people separated into their language groups and went their separate ways.  The tower of pride became a home for birds and spiders.  The city was called “Babel” which means “confused.”

What about you?

Do you think being famous is bad?  Do you think it’s dangerous?

If you were famous, what would you do to show people that God is greater?

What can you do today to show God’s greatness.

Prayer:

Dear God, thank you that You are the greatest. Help us remember that even when we do great things, to point back to you. You’re the one who made us and our abilities! We praise you for your greatness! In Jesus’ name, amen.