But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people 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.” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 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.

Devotion based on Genesis 11:5-9

If you had no understanding of who God is or the context of these verses, this action by God might seem petty and harsh. You might read these verses as saying that God saw the progress man was making, recognized their potential, became jealous of them, and put a stop to it by confusing their language.

The fact is that these people were disobeying God’s command to spread out over all the earth. What’s more is that their actions showed a total lack of trust in God. If these people thought they could do everything, they wouldn’t go to God for anything, including the salvation of their sinful souls. While they built a comfortable life on earth, they would trade it for an eternity in hell.

God is not concerned for himself that humans will somehow rise to his level. God cares about human beings. He is concerned about their earthly lives, but he is more passionate about their eternal lives. God didn’t confuse the languages at Babel out of his own self-interest. He did it because he loves people. It was an act of his grace so that they didn’t think that they had no need for God and then suffer eternally.

Learn more about God, and you’ll see just how far he was willing to go to keep people from hell. God sent Jesus to descend to earth. Not just to visit but to live, love, and even to die. Jesus’ death and resurrection bring people together with God. It unites them in faith.

Prayer:

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.