Purpose to Life: Genesis 11:1-4
Life is best lived when we seek God’s purpose for us rather than expecting God to conform His will to our sense of purpose. I’ve walked this lesson the hard way many times in life. Rather than seeking God and waiting on His will, I forge ahead and do what makes sense to me in the moment. Only in hindsight do I see the humanity in my ways.
Leaving a mark is intrinsic to what it means to be a human being. Sometimes we want to leave a mark because it means we were noticed. Sometimes we want to be acknowledged. Sometimes we want to be respected. Sometimes it boils down to simply finding meaning in life.
There is nothing inherently wrong with any of these desires. Life is best lived when we have a purpose. At the end of the day, when we put our head on the pillow, we want the day to have meant something. It’s nice if it meant something to ourselves, but it is even better if it meant something to someone else, too.
God doesn’t have an issue with people finding purpose to life. God doesn’t have a problem with us doing something significant, either. There’s nothing wrong with making a contribution to human civilization. The problem comes with the motivation. Look at the motivation for the people in this story. Their purpose is not becoming dispersed.
God told the people to go into the earth and fill it. God wanted the people to go all over creation and become a part of what He made. Humanity was originally created as creation’s completion. God wanted humanity to go throughout the earth and be the capstone.
Instead of following God’s intent, the people stay in one place. Instead of dispersing and completing creation, they seek the opposite. They stay together and build their own civilization. They aren’t interested in listening to what God wants for them, they are interested in doing their own thing.
The people make a great tower. This is likely a description of what we now call a ziggurat. Shinar is a part of the Fertile Crescent; it is the region out of which grew Babylon and Assyria. These nations, including the Sumerians and Akkadians who through conquest became a part of the Babylonian Empire, were known for their construction of ziggurats as worship centers. In fact, these ziggurats were often considered the dwelling place of certain gods.
In this description, we see rebellion within the people in Babel rearing its ugly head. Instead of listening to God, they settled down. Instead of walking with God through His creation, they wanted God to dwell in their creation. Instead of finding purpose in life as God desires for us, they created their own purpose. Life is best lived when we seek God’s purpose for us rather than expecting God to conform His will to our sense of purpose.
