Genesis 11:1-9
There is the Kingdom of God – the realm in which God rules and reigns. Jesus came announcing the nearness and availability of God’s Kingdom rule to anyone who would welcome it.
Throughout the Bible are scattered the records of a thousand other little kingdoms, built by men generally uninterested in yielding to God’s influence and control. Chief among these kingdoms is Babel. Elsewhere, Babel is Babylon or Shinar.
And from the first book in the Bible until the last, this city represents the best (or worst, depending on how one views it) of what man can produce and create apart from God’s kingdom rule.
I’m not sure why this particular story was passed down from one generation to the next before making its way into the Hebrew scriptures, but I do believe there is one, big glaring point for us today.
Whatever we build of our own little kingdom – whether on our own or in cooperation with millions of other humans – is at best, temporary and at worst, evil.
This little kingdom of Babel was brought down. It would be brought down again in Nebuchadnezzar’s day and is promised another momentous ruin in the Revelation. And the big takeaway for each of us is:
Are you going to invest your life in building your own little kingdom? Your tower of Babel? Or will you allow God to come into your life to offer his rule and his grace so that you can invest the rest of your life in a Kingdom that will outlast everything?