The Word of God is full of truth. Some truth we love and seems pretty easy to go with, and other times the truth is hard.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Hebrews 4:11

As I have been studying Genesis 11, I have felt the sharpness of this powerful sword. It has pierced my heart this week. It has brought me to a place of repentance and has caused me to seek Him more. I pray I share His Word with you that your eyes would be opened, your ears clear, and your heart soft.

” Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.  It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.” Genesis 11:1-2

Here we see that there is one language among the people. Everyone could communicate without hinderance which made is easy to work together.

^“They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:3-4

They began to make a plan to build a city and a tower. Now, that alone does not sound bad. They are settling down and want to make a place to live. “The problem is the motive, “let us make for ourselves a name.”

^“And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ” Genesis 11:5-8

God came down and looked at what they were doing. He was not pleased. They had been one people, with one language. If they had decided, they were going to build their own name, and dismiss God’s name then they would continue to go down a path of pride which leads to full out rebellion against the Lord.

God saw the pride in their hearts and their actions and could not allow them to continue living that way. It would lead to the very same world He just destroyed by the flood. So God confused their language. They were speaking in different tongues, and they dispersed over the earth.

Reading this caused me to go back and study how Satan fell. We know satan as the serpent, and as the devil. We know him as the evil one, but he was not always that way.

“You had the seal of perfection,
Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your covering:
The ruby, the topaz, and the diamond;
The beryl, the onyx and the jasper;
The lapis lazuli, the turquoise, and the emerald;
And the gold, the workmanship of your settings and sockets,
Was in you.
On the day that you were created
They were prepared.
You were the anointed cherub who covers,
And I placed you there.
You were on the holy mountain of God;
You walked in the midst of the stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways
From the day you were created
Until unrighteousness was found in you.” Ezekiel 28:12b-16

Satan was a beautiful angel. He was an anointed cherub. God placed him there, and He was blameless in all his ways. What caused him to walk away from all of that? Click To Tweet

“How you have fallen from heaven,
O star of the morning, son of the dawn!
You have been cut down to the earth,
You who have weakened the nations!
But you said in your heart,
I will ascend to heaven;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God,
And I will sit on the mount of assembly
In the recesses of the north.
^I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.” Isaiah 12-14

Satan said in his heart, he would ascend to the heavens and would raise his throne above the stars of God. He was going to make himself like the Most High. He wanted to be God.

In both of these places of scripture, there is a heart of pride which has led to rebellion. God couldn’t allow the people at Babel to continue living in that pride because it would lead to rebellion and complete Godlessness. God couldn’t allow Satan to be in heaven any longer because he would continue on that path to take God’s place.

[bctt tweet=”There is only on God on the throne, and when anyone else tries to take that place, God has no choice but to bring discipline and judgment.” username=””

Pride comes in many forms. It can camouflage itself in a way we do not even realize it is happening in our hearts. God is faithful to show us our hearts to us when we ask Him to examine them. I want us to take some time to ask God to examine our hearts. Ask Him to reveal any pride that may be hiding in there.

Next week we will dig more into what pride and rebellion are. We will look at what God’s word says about them.  We will discuss where they can lead to if we are not guarding our mind and hearts in Christ Jesus. Finally, we will learn about humility and what God says about that.

Heavenly Father,  We thank you for Your Word! We thank You for the way You speak to our hearts through Your Word.  We pray that You would examine our hearts today. Show us if we are trying to be on the throne. Reveal to us if we are trying to make a name for ourselves instead of You. May we honor You and glorify You in everything, Lord! In Jesus Name, Amen!