Love Came Down-Genesis 11:1-9
The Lord had just redeemed His imperfect people from the waters of the flood. They were kept safe in the Ark of His care. He established His covenant of Love with them as an everlasting covenant that never again would there be a flood to destroy the earth. The blessing was upon them and yet the peoples’ lives grew discontent. We see their unrest with God’s abundant provision once again beginning in Genesis 11. The people were unified with a common speech. Harmonious in their understanding of each other, it should have been a time to rest in the Goodness God provided. God allows them to flourish and they become overtaken with themselves, instead of overwhelmed by the Goodness of God. They move away from the Grandeur of God into a land of their own choosing, the foreign land of Babylon, and stay there. And so their discontentment grows as only it should as they leave behind the Settling Presence of God, trading His fellowship for the unsettling community of Babylon. The bond they once shared is far from the commonality they now have as they collaborate to build a monument of their own delight. But, in their self-indulgence they fail to remember that God alone is Mighty, God alone is Worthy, and God alone is Over all! So as they seek to build to eternity, they do so in vain, for only God is able to begin that building process. They could do nothing in their limited lives to reach Him, so He in His Matchless, Incomparable Love came down to them! Genesis 11:7 says, “Come, let us go down...” and I John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” His Love is never ending. It came down at the beginning and later appeared with Jesus’ arrival, just as it draws near to us today!
What next? Jesus loves us and sets us free in Christ! Just as the people who were building the Tower became confused in their own efforts, we as Christians can become confused in the futility of our own thinking. Their ambition was to stay put, but God’s intention was to set them free. So the Lord scattered them from their waywardness and set them free from the deceit. We too are set free in Christ, for He has abolished our sin on the Cross!
