Genesis 11 - 2007-01-05 23:18
Let me start off by saying that I in no way feel that I am in the position to question God’s decisions. I’m not saying what He did was wrong. In the long run, I’m sure it was best for mankind. But out of all the “non-essential” decisions that were made in the Bible, (you know, essential decisions would be: Jesus dying on the cross and rising from the dead to pay for our sins…) this is the one that I wish wouldn’t have had to happen.
Genesis 11:5-9
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 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. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 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.
First, how weird would it be to one day wake up and realize that all the people you used to be able to talk with can now no longer understand you. I have a feeling the words coming out of your own mouth sounded fine to your own ears, and some people could understand you, so you weren’t babbling. But other people would be talking nonsense, quite intently, looking at you as if you were nuts for not being able to understand them.
And second, how nice would it be to be able to visit any country and talk to anyone there without the language barrier. I have students that I am supposed to teach that I can’t even talk to because they don’t know English yet, and I suck at Spanish (and don’t know any other language besides basic conversational Turkish). I have also always wanted to be able to talk to animals. How cool would that be. Just imagine how neat it would have been to be able to be in the Garden of Eden when all the animals could talk. Completely awesome. Mind you, I’m not the only loony who thinks the animals could talk. I believe a Mr. C.S. Lewis also believed this… That’s right, my brain works like C.S. Lewis’s.
Back to the Biblical account of complete confusion. I like the fact that we get the basic idea of what happened and can figure out the end result, but I wish a novel was written about each story in the Bible (and a historical account, not a piece of fiction). Sure, the people build a city and a tower, God came down, made them speak different languages and scattered them over the earth. But did God physically come down? Did he scatter them first and then when they got back together realize they didn’t speak the same language anymore? Did they wake up one morning in a different place, or did they get so frustrated with each other that they decided to move away from each other (being scattered passively by God).
Genesis 12
Did anyone else find it a bit odd that God punished Pharaoh for taking Sarai into his house when it was really Abram’s fault for lying about her not being his wife. You would think something would have happened to Abram as well for that little shenanigan.
Matthew 5:1-26
I remember reading over the Beatitudes when I was a kid and thinking, “I’m meek. I’m merciful. I’m pure in heart. Heck, (for heck is all we could really say) I’m practically all those things! I’m gonna get blessed up to my eyelids!” Now I look at the list and think, “Wow. I suck.” I want to see God. But “pure in heart” is probably not on my top 10 list of “phrases to describe Brian.” I’m pretty sure it isn’t on the top 100. Alright fine. If it were ever on the list, it has been ripped off the list and burned.
Matthew 5:23-24
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that our brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and the come and offer your gift.
I find it interesting that it the responsibility for fixing a wrong, in respects to anger, falls on the person who is the recipient of the anger, not the angry party. I guess the problem for me is that I am rarely aware that someone is mad at me. I can usually only tell if I’m mad at someone. Recently, the only person I have gotten mad at is my son. It is tough when you want him to sleep and he’s tired, yet he screams and resists with all his might your methods of putting him to sleep. It is amazing how angry I can get, and how quickly I can get angry. And if you know me at all, I don’t get angry. You can practically punch me in the nose, and I won’t get upset. Go ahead, next time you see me try it. Okay, perhaps don’t. My temperament has changed recently. :-)