The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, and majestic in his radiant splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in Genesis 11:5-7,
"But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
Here we have the account of the Tower of Babel. The Lord comes down to see what it is man is up to and decides to thwart their plans. He confused the language they spoke and scattered them across the earth bringing about an abrupt end to their plans.
I find a fascinating observation Paul made about this as recorded in Acts 17:26-27, "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
Clearly we see in the account of the Tower of Babel that God can and does intervene in the affairs of mankind. The account doesn't present the notion that God scripts all that it is mankind does, but that he will respond/react to the activities of mankind to achieve his purposes.
Likewise the passage doesn't convey the thought that God always responds to all of man's actions, but that he will on occasion. He certainly did so on this one as we read he did in the flood of Noah's day, Cain's murder of his brother Abel, and when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
This brings to my mind the question: does God still intervene in the affairs of mankind? Does he respond at times still today? I am convinced he does, just as much and as often as he did in biblical times. I suspect he is often behind some of the headlines even of our day. Certainly we know that at the end of our age God will judge the earth with fire in a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. We are told "the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." 2 Peter 3:3-10.
Our God does not change and much of what he did as recorded in the Old Testament is not affected by the inauguration of the new covenant God has made. He is the same God functioning in relationship with man as he always has.
We might find ourselves astonished at just how engaged God is in world events today, just as he is in our personal lives. We might find him doing things we are not expecting, looking to bring about what he desires in his own way.
Here we have the account of the Tower of Babel. The Lord comes down to see what it is man is up to and decides to thwart their plans. He confused the language they spoke and scattered them across the earth bringing about an abrupt end to their plans.
I find a fascinating observation Paul made about this as recorded in Acts 17:26-27, "From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us."
Clearly we see in the account of the Tower of Babel that God can and does intervene in the affairs of mankind. The account doesn't present the notion that God scripts all that it is mankind does, but that he will respond/react to the activities of mankind to achieve his purposes.
Likewise the passage doesn't convey the thought that God always responds to all of man's actions, but that he will on occasion. He certainly did so on this one as we read he did in the flood of Noah's day, Cain's murder of his brother Abel, and when Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation of the Serpent in the Garden of Eden.
This brings to my mind the question: does God still intervene in the affairs of mankind? Does he respond at times still today? I am convinced he does, just as much and as often as he did in biblical times. I suspect he is often behind some of the headlines even of our day. Certainly we know that at the end of our age God will judge the earth with fire in a day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. We are told "the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." 2 Peter 3:3-10.
Our God does not change and much of what he did as recorded in the Old Testament is not affected by the inauguration of the new covenant God has made. He is the same God functioning in relationship with man as he always has.
We might find ourselves astonished at just how engaged God is in world events today, just as he is in our personal lives. We might find him doing things we are not expecting, looking to bring about what he desires in his own way.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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