1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 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. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 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.REFLECTIONSWritten by Gus CameronAfter the flood, isn’t it shocking how quickly humanity starts rebelling against God again? Even today, how proud are we in the things we achieve, the buildings we build – pride can creep into every part of our lives. Behind it is the desire to be noticed and remembered, so that people will praise us. I love the image of how God peers down to have a look at what, from his perspective, is just a teeny tiny little building. Anything we could do is nothing compared to what God has done; building the greatest tower is nothing compared to putting the stars in the heavens!The real problem is that people forget to honour God. The amazing thing in Genesis 11 is that instead of destroying them, God restrains them. By confusing their language he prevents them falling into even greater sin and he leaves the opportunity for the world to continue to repopulate.Next time you hear all the languages around us in Fairfield, stop for a moment and consider how they came about because of humans sinful pride, and how they saved us from being able to unite together in an even greater sinful rebellion.Also, give thanks that one day, because of Jesus death for our sin, all these languages will be put away because we will be united as God’s spotless people around his throne in heaven.