Life Lessons from Biblical Wives and Parents: The Tower of Babel

Sometimes, when we read through an account that is familiar to us, we see what we usually do unless we are looking at it from a new perspective.  As I went into this study, I asked the Lord to show me how I could apply the lessons from these accounts to myself as a wife and mother.  When you ask, He gives.  I am seeing things now that never occurred to me before.

In the account of the Tower of Babel, there is no specific mention of a person, but there is a message calling out for us to heed.  We must approach God according to His terms not our own.  So how do we apply this to parenting?

When Noah and his family came out of the ark, God told them "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." (Gen. 9:1b)  "And as for you, be fruitful and multiply, populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it." (Gen. 9:7)  It seems that God intended for the human race to spread over the face of the earth, not remain confined to one place in particular.  In Chapter 11 of Genesis, we meet a group of people who decided together, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

Many times people think they can approach God on their own terms, just as the people in Shinar did.  Rather than coming to God on His terms- admitting the were sinners in need of grace and mercy- they chose to build a tower that would reach heaven (oh, what they didn't know).   In response, God confused the language of the people (gave them different languages) so they would no longer be able to communicate with each other, which would stop the production of the tower and force the people to scatter over the earth. 

We live in a culture where everything is tailored for everyone (supposedly).  Teachers are expected to tailor their lessons to the individual learning styles of each of their students (from a teacher's point of view, unless you are homeschooling, it is impossible and frustrating to attempt to do this).  Different types of insurance are (in theory) sold to us based on our personal needs.  Fast food chains offer to make your burgers and fries "your way".  So it is no wonder that we hear people talking about the "understanding" that they have with God.  If they can have an education, insurance, and a burger according to their terms, they assume they can approach God the same way- according to their terms.

We need to teach our children while they are young that God has outlined in His Word the way that He wants us to approach Him.  The Bible say in Act 16:31, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved..." Jesus told the woman at the well, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."  Our children must learn now the way to approach God, before God has to show them Himself how He wants to be approached.

This is only the first of several lessons (definitely two possibly three) that we will be looking at from this passage.  Until next time.