Genesis 11:4 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

Navigator

Genesis 11:4

Comments

They organised themselves to live in the region, to live there and farm there. So they urged each other to build a high tower so that the top of the tower ‘may reach unto heaven.’ Now this is obviously exaggerated language, but it is very suggestive, and it implies that there is a religious significance in this tower. This tower is going to reach up to heaven. What were they worshipping? The best explanation is that already – although it is not stated – there was worship of the sun, and the moon, and the stars, which later became the Sumerian, and the Assyrian, and the Babylonian religions. Many gods, and the gods of heaven – and it sounds as though it starts even here. From this great observatory, from this high tower, we get the very best view of the stars, and the moon. We are in that realm as it were – a tower that reaches up to heaven. If we can get right up there, we're closest to the skies. Our worship of the heavenly bodies will be more effective. They were idolaters even then. Why did they worship the gods of the skies? Because they gave light and heat and shone and glistened. What is idolatry? It is appealing to invented gods to give you favour, and these were the gods that they chose: the heavenly bodies. They preferred these to the true God who had this unwelcome command for them, not only to live in holiness, but to fill the earth, which they didn't want to do. They didn't want to serve a God who gave them moral commands and instructions. If they worshiped the heavenly bodies, they could imagine standards for themselves, which they did. Subsequently they used high hills, hill tops, but there is not anything like that in the plain of Shinar. So they build a mighty tower, and it must have been visible for miles around in that plain.‘And let us make us a name.’ We, the human race, can be something. We are not children of one God, subservient to him, submissive to him, here to worship him and to follow his commands. We will make us a name. The gods we choose will be to our liking, according to our requirements, so they'll be products of ours. The human race is already trying to be its own god.They have a religion, but it is a religion they have invented. It is a unifying feature of their society, and everybody must subscribe to it. It is a religion which suits them. What kind of religion would suit Nimrod, the rebel? To be sure, a religion which has no revealed ethical standards, but which is man centred. That is the kind of religion that man would want, a religion which requires no conduct from you, a religion which satisfies your craving for belief in God and your instincts for worship, but provides gods you can manipulate, gods that will give you good luck or fortune, and make no moral demands on you. It is also a religion which enables them to be worshipping human achievements – their own power and their own building prowess. The gods help me. I do not really worship the gods; I do, but only for the favours they bestow, because the whole purpose of these gods is to elevate me, and to secure my good fortune. So it is a superstitious religion. Nimrod is an empire builder. He does not want any of those people to be dispersed through the world. This uniting religion will be a further incentive to keep them together. It is not something they will want to leave behind. He will not let them be dispersed; that would leave him with a very small kingdom. If a few dozen nation states were carved out of this population, he would only be king of his small family. His idea is that he is going to be a king and tyrant over everybody. So he wants them in one spot, looking to him. This is part of the motivation for the defiance of God, not to be spread around the world. Of course, people have a tendency to disperse, perhaps through bad relationships. Even in a town of thousands, there will be quarrels and disputes, and people who want to go off and do their own thing. And then everyone must have been aware that God had told them to disperse, and if not there may be a punishment. So how are we going to counter this? says Nimrod. We are going to build this tower. We are going to create a community in which we are all gathered around a religion, not the religion of this God, but an alternative religion. We have all got brick houses and buildings. We have got this mighty tower, a focal point to look up to. All this is in the psychology to avoid dispersion, and it is rebellion against God.

Application

This is always the way we see it. To make an empire is always a religious matter. The men making the empire may not think so; the people who create the European community may not think that this is a religious matter. They may think it is an economic matter, but as far as Satan is concerned it is a religious matter, a matter of controlling. From the top will come down the laws: legislation about homosexuality, legalisation of drug use, abortion. Make it an obligation upon society to accept it, respect it. Make it a criminal offence, gradually over time, to ever say anything against it, or to oppose it. Begin to force employers, possibly even churches, to accept all this. There may be umpteen nations that do not want to proceed with that, but they have to because it is a European directive. So, something which is an intensely religious things or anti-religious thing has to come into all the national laws.

The old Soviet Union – was it an economic matter? Was it to stop the tyranny of the Tsars, or the perceived tyranny of the Tsars – what was it all about? As far as Satan was concerned, it was about religion. Intense persecution of the Christian faith. Empires invariably are. People may say, no, this is a trade empire; this is a security empire; this is an empire just to serve the greed and the power lust of some historical emperor. But as far as Satan is concerned, the empire is always a vehicle for him, to bring his purposes to pass.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

Genesis 11:4 Commentary and Bible Study