Confusing Man’s Language

A Devotional Series from Genesis

Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)

8/8 Reading Portions: Ruth 1; Acts 26; Jeremiah 36, 45; Psalm 9

Genesis 11:6-7

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.”

PREACHING

When YHVH God speaks and it is recorded years later by Moses, these words etched into history exist for our sakes. The preincarnate Christ Jesus was not biting His fingernails in nervous anticipation, fearful of what arrogant man would do. He said, “…this is only the beginning of what they will do.” This helps us to understand that in man’s depravity, failing to give glory to God, failing to worship God, and failing to surrender to His Holy Spirit is only the beginning of grief and sorrow. It’s just scratching the surface of sin, and the worst is yet to come. When He stated that “nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them,” the Triune God makes that statement again for our benefit. By this being written in the Holy account, we might tremble with godly fear that all kinds of evil, wickedness, and unholy mischief will be the result. Apart from God’s intervention through Christ and the Holy Spirit, we will plumb the depths of sin, scale the heights of transgression, and span the depth of iniquity.

But hallelujah! What a Savior! Our merciful and gracious God intercedes and intervenes to bring forth a great act of heavenly genius by confounding the languages of this united, sinful people. On that Pentecostal day in the House of the Lord, and “there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5), they heard Christ’s disciples praising God in their own languages (Acts 2:8-11). It stirred their hearts and prepared their ears to hear Peter preach Christ crucified and risen. Since then, the different spoken languages all over the world, though challenging at times to some, has been a tremendous blessing in the advancement of the gospel. Having been a cross-cultural missionary, I can personally attest to the blessing the challenges of different languages can be, even as a Christian in the military visiting other lands, where a language other than my native tongue is spoken, and where the cultures have been different. Those in the host culture receive us with warm hearts and bright smiles when we attempt to speak their language (sometimes horribly in my case), eat their food, and honor their customs. The communication gap that one might think would be a barrier of hinderance, for Christ’s exaltation and for the gospel’s sake, it ends up being the one thing that makes our feet beautiful to those who hear; as it is written,

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” Romans 10:13-15

Hallelujah! What a Savior!