Shine The Spotlight

Genesis 9:1 - 11:32

We build monuments to great moments and great people. “Lest we forget” is etched on the bronze plates of more than one statue. But monuments are more than just memory aids; in building them we want, above all, to glorify something. We want to honor a person or idealize an event. Shortly after the Flood, God made a covenant (or agreement) with Noah and his descendants. But soon the people forgot God, his goodness, his deliverance, his judgment, and his promise. And they became impressed with themselves, so much so that they decided to erect a monument—to themselves. They built their tower to glorify their greatness; it became, instead, a memorial to their (and our) greatest foolishness—human arrogance.

The people in this story built the Tower of Babel for the whole world to see (Genesis 11:3-4). This tower was most likely a ziggurat, a common structure in Babylonia at the time. Usually built as temples, ziggurats looked like pyramids with steps or ramps leading up the sides. Standing as high as three hundred feet and often just as wide, a ziggurat would stand out as the focal point of a city.

Today, people may not build statues, temples, or pyramids, but they still erect monuments (achievements, expensive clothes, big houses, fancy cars, important jobs) to call attention to themselves. When used to give personal identity and self-worth, these otherwise worthy pursuits take God’s place. God gives us freedom to develop in many areas, but not the freedom to replace him.

As you read this passage of Scripture, check out the attitudes of the builders in the story, and consider any “towers” that you may be building. Tear down anything that stands in God’s place.