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Genesis 11:1–9
Key Verse: “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18
The story of the Tower of Babel is short, but its message is strong. It speaks to every generation. It speaks to leaders, families, nations, and churches. It speaks to you and to your heart. It shows how pride grows, how it blinds, and how it ends in loss.
Genesis 11:1 says, “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.” People could understand each other. They could work together. They had peace and unity. This was a gift from God. Unity is powerful. When people agree, they can build great things. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor.”
But unity without humility becomes dangerous. When people walk together without God, they soon walk against God.
Genesis 11:2 says the people moved and found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They did not ask God where to go. They chose their own place. They felt strong. They felt safe. They felt in control.
This is how pride often starts.
Pride does not begin with loud words. It begins with silent thoughts.
• I know better.
• I do not need help.
• I can handle this.
• I will decide my own way.
Proverbs 3:5 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” But the people in Babel leaned fully on their own understanding.
Genesis 11:3 says, “Then they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’” They found a new method. They found new technology. They became skilled. Skill is good. Knowledge is good. Progress is good. But skill without submission to God becomes a tool of pride.
They did not say, “Let us pray.”
They did not say, “Let us ask God.”
They said, “Come, let us make.”
This is the language of self.
Genesis 11:4 shows their real plan. “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.’”
Look at their words carefully.
• “Let us build ourselves a city.”
• “Let us make a name for ourselves.”
• “Lest we be scattered.”
Everything is about themselves.
They wanted glory for themselves.
They wanted security without God.
They wanted fame without obedience.
But God had already given them a command.
In Genesis 9:1, God said, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” God wanted people to spread out. God wanted them to fill the earth. But they said, “No. We will stay here. We will build here. We will make our own center.”
Pride always resists God’s plan.
Pride says, “My way is better.”
Pride says, “I know what I am doing.”
Pride says, “I will decide.”
The tower was not only a building. It was a statement.
It said, “We can reach heaven by our own strength.”
It said, “We do not need God to lift us.”
It said, “We will lift ourselves.”
This same spirit still lives today.
• When people trust money more than God.
• When leaders trust power more than God.
• When ministers trust fame more than God.
• When you trust your own plans more than God.
Isaiah 2:11 says, “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.”
God does not share His glory.
Then Genesis 11:5 says something very important. “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.”
They thought they were building high.
They thought they were touching heaven.
But from God’s view, He had to come down to see it.
This shows you how small human pride is before God.
Isaiah 40:22 says, “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers.”
No matter how high man builds, he is still small before God.
God saw not only their tower. He saw their hearts.
1 Samuel 16:7 says, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Genesis 11:6 says, “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.’”
Unity is powerful. But unity in pride is dangerous.
When people unite to resist God, they can move fast in the wrong direction.
This is why God acted.
Some people think God was afraid. No. God was protecting them.
A father stops a child from playing with fire. Not because he hates the child, but because he loves the child.
Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”
If God had not stopped them, they would have gone deeper into pride and further away from Him.
Genesis 11:7 says, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
God did not destroy the tower with fire.
God did not kill the people.
God touched their communication.
Suddenly, people could not understand each other.
The same mouths were speaking.
The same ears were hearing.
But the meaning was gone.
Confusion entered.
Confusion is one of the fruits of pride.
James 3:16 says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.”
Pride always brings confusion.
• Confusion in families.
• Confusion in churches.
• Confusion in nations.
• Confusion in personal life.
When people stop listening to God, they soon stop understanding each other.
Genesis 11:8 says, “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”
What they feared happened.
They said, “Let us build so we will not be scattered.”
But pride led them to scattering.
What you try to protect through pride, you often lose.
Proverbs 11:2 says, “When pride comes, then comes shame, but with the humble is wisdom.”
Genesis 11:9 says, “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”
Babel became a symbol.
A symbol of human pride.
A symbol of human limits.
A symbol of life without God at the center.
Now let us bring this message to your life today.
You may not be building a tower of bricks. But you may be building a tower in your heart.
• A tower of success without prayer.
• A tower of ministry without humility.
• A tower of business without obedience.
• A tower of plans without asking God.
Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.”
You can work hard. You can plan well. But if God is not the foundation, the work will not stand.
Pride shows itself in many ways.
• When you refuse correction.
• When you despise advice.
• When you think you are always right.
• When you cannot say, “I was wrong.”
• When you look down on others.
Proverbs 12:15 says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise.”
God gives grace to the humble.
James 4:6 says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
To resist means to stand against.
Imagine God standing against a person.
No matter how strong you are, you cannot win that battle.
But imagine God giving you grace.
Grace opens doors.
Grace lifts burdens.
Grace brings favor.
Grace brings strength.
How do you walk in humility?
Here are simple steps.
• Acknowledge God in all your ways. Proverbs 3:6.
• Pray before you plan. Psalm 37:5.
• Accept correction. Proverbs 9:8–9.
• Give God the glory for every success. 1 Corinthians 10:31.
• Serve others. Mark 10:45.
Jesus Himself showed the perfect example of humility.
Philippians 2:5–7 says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who… made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant.”
He had all power. Yet He chose to serve.
This is the opposite of Babel.
Babel said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.”
Jesus showed us how to lay down our name and lift God’s name.
Matthew 23:12 says, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
This is a law of life.
• If you lift yourself, you will come down.
• If you humble yourself, God will lift you.
Look at King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. He said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30. That same day, he lost his mind and his throne. Pride brought him down.
Look at Joseph. He stayed humble in prison and in the palace. God lifted him at the right time.
God still works this way today.
Before you finish, examine your heart.
Ask yourself:
• Am I building for God or for myself?
• Am I seeking God’s glory or my own name?
• Do I pray about my plans or do I only ask God to bless them after I decide?
Psalm 51:17 says, “A broken and a contrite heart, these, O God, You will not despise.”
God is not looking for tall towers.
God is looking for humble hearts.
If you walk in humility, God will walk with you.
If you depend on Him, He will guide you.
If you give Him the glory, He will give you grace.
Let us choose the opposite of Babel.
Let us choose obedience over pride.
Let us choose humility over self-glory.
Let us choose God’s will over our own plans.
And as you walk this way, your life will stand. Your work will last. And God will be honored.
Amen.