Genesis 11 Devotional

A Name Only God Gives

““Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.””Genesis 11:4 (BSB)

At Babel, people unite around a project: a city with a tower reaching to the heavens, built to make a name for themselves and to keep from being scattered (11:4). It sounds like progress. But it is the same reach that began in Eden, now made by a whole society: glory and security apart from God, on their own terms. With quiet irony, the LORD has to come down to see the tower they thought reached heaven. He confuses their language and scatters them across the earth (11:5-9).

The chapter does not end in confusion, though. It narrows to one family line and to a man named Abram, whose wife Sarai cannot have children (11:30). In the very next chapter, God promises to make Abram's name great and to bless all the families of the earth through him (12:2-3). What Babel tried to seize, God gives as a gift. Significance and security were never meant to be built by us. They are received from the God who calls.

To think about: Where are you trying to make a name for yourself, and what would change if you received your worth from God instead?