9 Feb 2018, Gen 10-11 创10-11章, The City of Babel 巴别城

Posted on Jan 31, 2018 in Devotions, Genesis |

Scripture Reading        : Gen 10-11

Theme                            : The City of Babel

 

From Noah’s three sons, God made a new beginning in human history. He set apart Shem to be His special channel of blessing, and it was through Shem that Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation, was born (11:10ff.).

Sin always separates: man from God (chap. 3); brother from brother (chap. 4); family from family (chap. 9); and now nation from nation.

Note the name of Nimrod (10:8–10). The phrase “mighty hunter” implies that he was a rebel against God and a tyrant against his fellowman. He founded two cities important in Bible history: Babylon and Nineveh.

Man seeks unity and notoriety, and he tries to accomplish these things by his own wisdom and strength. Lucifer wanted to be like God (Isa. 14:14), and man wanted to make a name for himself. But only God can make a person’s name truly great (Gen. 12:2; Josh. 3:7).

Babel  means “confusion,” and “God is not the author of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33; see also James 3:16). Babylon will appear often in the biblical record as the enemy of God’s people. Wherever there is confusion, the spirit of Babylon—the world and the flesh—is at work. Ultimately, the whole “Babylonian system” will be destroyed (Rev. 17–18).

The confusion of tongues that began at Babel was reversed at Pentecost (Acts 2:7–8). A descendant of Ham, an Ethiopian, was saved in Acts 8; a descendant of Shem, Paul, was saved in Acts 9; and the gentile descendants of Japheth were saved in Acts 10. Unity is not worked up by man; it is sent down by God (Ps. 133; Eph. 4:1–6).

As we share the gospel with others, we are helping to unite what sin has torn apart (Eph. 1:10–11). Christians are indeed the peacemakers of the world. [1]

 

Praying the Scripture

  1. It is amazing how quickly men deteriorated into a situation that deserved God’s intervention and punishment. It only took a few generations for them to fall into the same sin of Satan, Adam and Eve. They wanted to make a name for themselves rather than God (Gen 11:4). Are we not trying to prove we are better than others? Are we not trying to prove that we are clever and talented? Let’s pray that we humble ourselves and obey Him who created us and saved from our sins.
  1. Biblical unity is not that we agree with one another. The incident of Babel proved that there was total unity. Yes, they unified to glorify themselves rather than God. Biblical unity is not that we agree with one another but we all agree with God and His word. God and his Word is our means of unity. If we all agreed with God and his Word, we are unified. That is biblical unity. Let’s pray that we study His Word and achieve unity through His Word.

 

[1] Warren W. Wiersbe, With the Word Bible Commentary  (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991), Ge 10:1.

 
 
 

经文：创10-11章

主题：巴别城

 

从挪亚的三个儿子，神创造了人类历史上的一个新开端。祂将闪分别开来做为祝福的通道，通过闪有了亚伯拉罕，就是犹太民族的祖先（11:10起）。

罪必定导致分隔；人与神（第3章）；兄弟之间（第4章）；家庭之间（9章）；而现在是国家之间。

注意宁录（10:8-10）这名字。 “猎户”在原文这意味着他是一个抵挡神、对待同胞极为残暴的人。在圣经历史里，他创立了两个重要的城市：巴比伦和尼尼微。

人寻求团结和和出名誉，他们试图通过自己的智慧和力量来完成这些事情。路西法想成为神那样（赛14:14），而人想要成名。但只有神能使一个人的名真正的伟大。（创12:2；书 3:7）

巴别是“混乱” 的意思，但“神不是叫人混 乱”的。（林前14:33；也见 各3:16）在圣经的记载里巴比伦经常以与神子民为敌。哪里有混乱，那里就有巴比伦属世和肉体的活动。最终，整个“巴比伦系统”将被毁灭。（启17-18）

混乱的舌头开始于巴比，但也在五旬节时被更正了（徒2:7-8）。迦南的后裔，埃塞俄比亚，在使徒行传8章得救；闪的后裔，保罗，在使徒行传9章得救；同样的雅弗的后裔在使徒行传10章得救。团结，不是人能办到的；它是神所赐的。（诗133；弗4:1-6）

当我们与他人分享福音时，我们团结罪所造成的分离。（弗1:10-11）基督徒才是世界的和平使者。

 

用经文祷告

  1. 人类是以惊人的速度迅速的恶化到一个神必须干涉和处罚的地步。只经过几个世代的时间，人就落入撒旦、亚当夏娃同样的罪。他们想要荣耀自己的名，而不是神的名（创11:4）。我们不是也想证明我们比别人更强呢？我们不是也不断尝试证明自己比神更聪明吗？让我们向神认罪，并求神使我们谦卑自己，并且顺服那创造我们、并且在罪中拯救我们的神。
  1. 符合圣经的合一不是要我们彼此达成一致的意见。巴别塔事件证明他们有一致的行动。是的，他们同心协力来荣耀自己，而不是神。圣经的合一不是我们意见的一致，而是我们都接受神和祂的话。神和祂的话语是我们统一的途径。如我们都接受神和祂的话语，我们就有合一了。这就是圣经的团结。让我们祈求神使我们研读祂的话语，通过祂的话语实现合一。