“It be Captain Jack Sparrow we be after, and a fortune in gold . . . Run up your white flag, you scurvy scum, and bring me Captain Jack Sparrow, or I’ll be sending you to Davy Jones Locker”—Pirates of the Caribbean
Talking like a pirate can be fun and entertaining, yet not everyone can understand what you are saying. To them, it is just a bunch of babbling—a completely different language. Today, there are too many languages and dialects to count.
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech (Genesis 11:1 NIV).
Can you imagine the whole world speaking one language? It would be so much easier to communicate with other countries; less misunderstandings. But we don’t all speak the same language. And it is all because of human arrogance.
Verse 4: Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
The world is still like this today. People want to make a name for themselves, to put themselves on a pedestal. No one is ever satisfied with what he has or who he is. They want more and they want to stand out.
Verse 9: That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
God knew that if He let them continue to build the tower, the people would eventually be as sinful as they were before the flood. He had to put a stop to their arrogance. They wanted to be like God, to be admired and possibly worshiped. The phrase too smart for their own good comes to mind.
We must be careful not to set ourselves up higher than God. He is all-knowing, the God of creation. He will put a stop to any arrogance on our behalf.
People turn a blind eye to the Word sometimes. They seem to forget that God is everywhere and knows everything. They need to wise up and get with the program. God is patient, but He will only let us go so far.
For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12 NIV).
We really need to heed the words in this verse. God gives us a fair warning. His Word is true. His Word is law. And God will have the last say.
Think about it.
Debbie Mitchell