One of the earliest stories in the Bible is about the Tower of Babel. Frequently taught to children, and rightly so, as an explanation for why there are so many different languages spoken in our world, there is another lesson to learn.
Genesis 11: 3-4:
Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
What was the goal of building this mighty tower? To reach the heavens and to make a name for themselves.
Our family recently visited the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, AL. It was quite impressive. We were able to get up close to the huge rockets that had been designed to jettison man into space, to the moon and beyond. The ingenuity it took to accomplish these tasks is inspiring.
On the surface, the whole project of exploring space seems just an extension of the exploring that is done here on earth. Man has always been inquisitive and eager to look beyond their current boundaries. Eager to discover something new, see something no one has ever seen before. When I think of our space program, that’s what I think of — curious adventurous people trying to find out more about God’s creation.
As we meandered through the museum, we came across a large wall with only one thing on it. It was a quote by Wernber von Braun. Von Braun, we had learned at the beginning of our visit, was a rocket scientist from Germany. He had an amazing mind for rocketry which served the Nazis during WWII as well as later inventing Saturn V for the US NASA program. It was all very impressive but the quote on the wall unveiled his goal, his dream, his inspiration for his life’s work.
The quote said:
“The rocket will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which still tie him to this planet. It will open to him the gates of heaven.”
Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? Man has not changed. There are those who choose to challenge God. To deny the power of God by attempting to attain the power of God. It appears Wernber von Braun was one of these. Trying to reach the gates of heaven via man’s ingenuity instead of via obedience and submission to God is very much what the men of Genesis 11 were trying to do.
God was not happy with the people of Genesis 11. God wants and wanted man to seek Him and to find Him but not through man’s own power. To find God, we must submit to God. Attempting to find Him using our own methods is doomed for failure but man continues to try and man will continue to fail. What did God do to the people who so arrogantly attempted to make a name for themselves and to reach the heavens?
Genesis 11:6-7 :
And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
He stopped them in their tracks. They could no longer work together if they could not speak each other’s languages. They were forced to form smaller groups of people who could understand each other.
Our Tower of Babel which is NASA has done some amazing things but also sees many setbacks as man attempts to find heaven. It is a futile attempt. God will unveil and reveal heaven to those He chooses, those who follow His will, when He chooses.
Paul said in his sermon to the Athenians in Acts 17:26-27:
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us…”
God has set the boundaries for us to live in. We can attempt to live outside these boundaries but only temporarily and with little comfort. Why would God set boundaries for us? Not to challenge us to make a name for ourselves or to reach into heaven but so we would seek Him and find Him. While some go to great measures to seek their own desires, God promises us that if we seek Him, we will find Him because He is not far from each one of us.
