Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." (Gen 11:1-4)
The Tower of Babel is a story most people are familiar with. A few generations after Noah’s family came out of the ark, the people got together and decided that the real estate market was good, and that they should build “a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens.” God, however did not approve of their plans and ultimately shut down the project by confusing their language and ultimately scattering the people all over the earth. (As a side note, if you have gone through a remodeling project with your spouse, you know that communication can be tricky because even though we use the same words, men and women often speak different languages.)
I want to focus on a few key points here that have some application to our own lives. First of all, they decided to use bricks and tar for building materials instead of stone and mortar. In other words, they wanted to make their own bricks out of mud and straw, and build walls with tar, which was faster and easier than quarrying stone out of the ground, shaping it with chisels and building walls with mortar. They chose to do things their way; the easy way that would produce quick results, but not necessarily a finished product that would endure.
Secondly, they said “let us build ourselves a city…so that we may make a name for ourselves.” No mention of checking with God in advance, who by the way had flooded the world a few generations earlier, to see what He thought of the plan.
If you contrast the Babel project in Genesis 11 with the reconstruction of the temple as described in the book of Ezra you will find several key differences. First, and most importantly, God commissioned the project by appointing the king of Persia to send over 40,000 exiled Israelites back to their homeland to do the work and gave them a fat building fund to start with. The first thing they did upon arrival was not to rebuild the wall or shore up the defenses around the city. Instead they built an altar and offered sacrifices to God. Then they proceeded to build the temple out of the materials that God sent to them; stone, timber, gold and silver, all while God protected them from scoffers and invading armies.
Here’s the take home for all of this: Before you get involved with something, whether it is a relationship, job, home business, or a ministry, don’t make the same mistake as the folks in Babel; don’t leave God out of the planning process and don’t try to make things happen on your own. Don’t try to build a skyscraper out of bricks and tar. Trust me...it doesn’t work.
Take some advice from the book of Ezra; let God do the planning, let Him bring the resources and count on Him to sustain and protect until the work is done. Remember, a project or relationship that God plans, provides for and protects cannot fail. There will always be shortcuts available that produce quick results, but in the long run doing it God’s way is always better. The marriage that has God in the middle will endure the hard times, the minister focused on building God’s Kingdom will prosper while one concerned with amassing a personal fortune will not and the business opportunity that God initiates is more likely to succeed than the ones we strive to make happen.
I challenge you to ask God to examine your life and identify the things you may be building out of bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. Ask Him what you should do about them, and then quickly get busy doing what He says.
Author Resource:-
Bible Teacher at Sherman Full Gospel Church
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