This fall, Bethany's Confirmation class has been exploring the major themes of the Bible and reflecting on stories that reveal the larger story God is telling through scripture. These devotionals follow that same path, inviting you to pause, reflect, and discover how each theme connects to your own journey of faith.
Babel | Idolatry | Monday
Shortly after the story about the Garden of Eden and God creating the world, the narrative heads to a place called Babel. Babel is the place where humanity gets everything confused and jumbled.
Genesis 11:1-9
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was 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.
Idolatry is what happens at Babel. The people thought they were just as good as God. They thought they could build a tower that brought them up to heaven all on their own. It can be easy to chuckle at this story and shake our heads at how foolish the people were back then, but the truth is, we still behave like this today. All too often Religion is used as a system where we try to build ourselves up to God.
In short, idolatry is that moment when we try to earn or achieve God’s blessings. This is part of our human journey. We are originally blessed by God, but sometimes we end up in Babel, we end up turning blessings into idols.
Babel | Idolatry | Monday
Shortly after the story about the Garden of Eden and God creating the world, the narrative heads to a place called Babel. Babel is the place where humanity gets everything confused and jumbled.
Genesis 11:1-9
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore it was 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.
Idolatry is what happens at Babel. The people thought they were just as good as God. They thought they could build a tower that brought them up to heaven all on their own. It can be easy to chuckle at this story and shake our heads at how foolish the people were back then, but the truth is, we still behave like this today. All too often Religion is used as a system where we try to build ourselves up to God.
In short, idolatry is that moment when we try to earn or achieve God’s blessings. This is part of our human journey. We are originally blessed by God, but sometimes we end up in Babel, we end up turning blessings into idols.
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