"And the whole earth was of one language and one speech ... they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top may reach unto Heaven; let us make a name for ourselves ...' But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower ... the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one and they have all one language ... now nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined to do. Come, let us go down and confuse their langauge ...' So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth." (Genesis 11:1-8) IN LIGHT OF THE POTENTIALLY CATASTROPHIC IMPACT OF WORLDWIDE COMPUTER FAILURES IN JANUARY, 2000 (AND PERHAPS EARLIER), THE FOLLOWING COMMENTS ON THE TOWER OF BABEL BY MATTHEW HENRY* MIGHT BE ENLIGHTENING: "Building this tower seems designed for an affront to God Himself. For they would build a tower 'whose top might reach to Heaven,' which bespeaks a defiance of God, or at least a rivalship with Him ... They forgot their place and, scorning to creep on the earth, resolved to climb to heaven ... "They hoped hereby to make themselves a name ... They would leave this monument of their pride, and ambition, and folly ... 'Woe unto him who thus strives with his Maker.' It is God's prerogative to be universal Monarch, Lord of all and King of Kings. The man who aims at this prerogative offers to step into the throne of God, who will not give His glory to another ... It was a very foolish thing for the children of men, worms of the earth, to defy Heaven and to provoke the Lord to jealousy. "He did not come down merely as a spectator but as a judge, as a prince to 'look upon these proud men and abase (humble) them'; to 'disperse the rage of (His) wrath'; to 'look on everyone who is proud and bring him low'; to' tread down the wicked in their place.' (Job 40:11-12) "He allowed them to proceed a good way in their enterprise before He put a stop to it, that they might have space to repent and might be ashamed of it and weary of it themselves. "If men stir up themselves to sin, God will stir up Himself to take
vengeance: "God has various means and effectual ones to baffle and defeat the
projects of proud men that set themselves against Him." PLEASE JOIN WITH ME IN AGREEING PRAYER: "Lord, in his commentary Matthew Henry says that You were wise and merciful in the methods You chose for defeating the Tower of Babel; that although they deserved death, You were very patient and merciful towards a 'provoking world.' We confess to You that we deserve the judgments Your Hand is already
meting out. We see greater ones building on the horizon and we ask You for
Mercy. Please, Lord, release upon Your Church and upon the whole world Understanding,
Godly Sorrow, and Repentance. Amidst Your righteous judgments we beg for
Revival and especially for Your mercy, come what may." *Matthew Henry (1662-1714) was a Puritan pastor, preacher and author whose commentaries on the Bible are probably the best ever written. |