Monday, September 7, 2009
Session 6: Tower of Babel
Let me begin by saying I appreciate those of you who blogged last week. To answer a few questions from last week, yes Paul you can still blog. I will be needing you to fill in from time to time. Also, as John asked, yes all of you associate teachers are encouraged or should I say expected to blog each week. I know that each of you can add to what we learn collectively. This week we are studying on the tower of Babel. In looking at the outline from this week, we see that the people took pride in their accomplishments and thought they could relate to God in their own terms. Pride... that is a huge problem, that if not dealt with, WILL bring destruction. These people were proud of what they were doing. Think about it: why do you do what you do? Is it for your glory? Is it for the praise you get from other people? Is it because it is the "right thing" to do? Is it for the glory of God? When you stop and think about it, we are just like these folks in a lot of our dealings. Be careful, be very careful. This is a dangerous place to be in. We can get so caught up in what WE can Do, that we eventually don't think we need God. Years ago I remember going to youth events thinking how I wanted to be like some of the other churches. They would have a large group. They would get all the attention. I wanted numbers. Very quickly I realized it is not about how many we can get on our own, it is about how God works with and through what we already have. Bloom where we are planted! Honor God with what he has given us. God's perfect will is where we need to be. He has the right to use whatever he needs to carry out His perfect will. Is their anything in your life that He may destroy or take away from you so His will is carried out? What can you share with us this week to help us understand this lesson better?
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7 comments:
I will post later.
You are so right a lot of time's we
do some thing's just to get attention from other's, to be bettter than them, to have more, to
look better, to be the person who we think have it all, but in reality we have nothing without HIM
and to realize that. We don't praise God enough for what we do have and we don't think about how quick it can be taken away from us.
We need to realize that every- thing we do and have is from Him.
To pray about new situation's and to praise when we receive.
Our lesson leads us to believe that God confounded their language and scattered them abroad to show them that human efforts are no way to get closer to Him. Some commentators write that they were attempting to build a tower, not to Heaven, but to be topped by the heavens, that is, by the sign of the zodiac. God was not in their thoughts at all, but stargazing and occultism were. What do you all think?
In Genesis 11:4, the Bible says "whose top may reach unto heaven", meaning that they would be level with God (at least in my opinion). I grew up being taught that it was their way of becoming more like a "god". Isn't that what most people's goals are? Did you not at one time try to be the best at something for your own glory? I know I have struggled with pride, and have been humble by God (not fun). It's just human nature to try to become like God, it all started with Adam and Eve. The thing to remember is that any gift that God has blessed you with, He can easily take away. Give Him glory, and humble yourself, because without Him you would be nothing.
-Sam
This week lesson was pretty straight forward, Tower of Babel. Some points that really stood out this week with me were; first, the migration to the east. Genesis 3:24, so the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, Genesis 11:2, as the people migrated to the east.., in Genesis , movement eastward often implies leaving the presences of the blessing of God, weather in judgment (4:16), self- aggrandizement (11:2; 13:11), or estrangement (25:6). So why were they sent eastward? I do know that the sun generally rises in the east, just something to ponder.
Second, God confused the people with different languages to scatter them. In Act 2: 5-13, God uses a reverse of language to unite them (them not being the same people of Babel) on the day of Pentecost.
Thirdly, Adam and Eve’s punishment for sin was banishment and dispersion, Cain’s punishment for murder was banishment and dispersion, and God dispersed the people of Babel.
This week I thought about the tower of Babel, how a group of people got together to glorify themselves leaving God out, and how American is starting to head in that direction. I thought about our work places, schools, families, even if I had any towers of Babel in my own life.
Sincerely, Heather
Wow what else can be added.the lesson is very blunt about what can happen when we try to do things our way or leave God out of the loop.PRIDE is the failure of many great people in the world and in the Bible, we need to be very careful about the things that we take on,or duty we hold in the church especially how we represent them.this is just as important in our jobs. our actions speak louder than our words. keep our eyes on the throne. david
I do have one question about the lesson. Who is the US that God refers to in Gen.11-ver;7 " Let US go down there"? david
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