Daily Devotions – The Worship of Society

Daily Devotions – The Worship of Society

 

Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Jerry Rhinehart:

Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV)

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia where people all over the world join together building an incredible store of knowledge together. It is amazing what humans can do when we work together! The story of the tower of Babel has some similarities. The idea was that if everyone came together they could accomplish great things, even build a “tower with its top in the heavens.” This group wanted to make a name for themselves and create an incredible city.  Their hope was in their power and ability.  We also place much hope in our cities, states, and national government. With the internet we hope in social media and the power of networking. But God destroyed the Tower of Babel because he knew their efforts would only destroy themselves (science has given us medicine and the nuclear bomb; the internet has connected us and increased accessibility to pornography). God makes social order for our good, but let us not worship society, thinking that is where our hope lies.