Lessons From Hymns (5)

Genesis 11:1-9
Human pride sets itself up against the authority of God. This is the oft-repeated story of the ‘Tower of Babel’. The end of godless men is sure - ‘Tower and temple, fall to dust’ (Church Hymnary, 405). Sin can be analysed psychologically in terms of the human attitude of proud independence - ‘let us make a name for ourselves’ (5), sociologically in terms of sin’s pervasive influence on a whole society (this was the sin of a whole society), and theologically in terms of the divine judgment which human sin brings upon itself (5-9). What a contrast there is between the Tower of Babel and the great declaration of Proverbs 18:10 - ‘The Name of the Lord is a strong tower’. In Babel there is scattering (9). In the Lord, there is safety - ‘A righteous man runs to it and is safe’. Do not imagine yourself to be strong (Proverbs 18:11). True strength is in Christ alone (1 Corinthians 1:27).

No comments: