I recently started teaching Sunday School again and the lesson last month was on the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. After all I’ve been learning about faithful Bible reading, I knew better than to assume that I understood why the Biblical authors and compilers included that story!
I found helpful information in this book by Old Testament scholar, John Walton: “The Bible Story Handbook: A Resource for Teaching 175 Stories from the Bible” (I got the Kindle version for less than $10).* For each story included in the book, Walton gives the main teaching points and applications, basic historical background, and some common issues and mistakes in interpretation.
For example, for the Tower of Babel story, I learned that the tower the people were building was common in that era, and was called a ziggurat. It was usually built next to a temple and served as stairs for a god to come down and live in the temple where they could take care of him. The god’s presence would be a sign of their city’s greatness and security.
In Genesis 11, we get to see how the God of Israel feels about this practice. Do the people understand God? Does God need anything from them? Was the tower about the greatness of God or the greatness of the builders? The author notes (humorously, I think), that God came down (without using any stairs) to see what they were doing . . . and He was not pleased.
A little boy in my class asked, “Why was God angry when they were just trying to make a home for him?”
I thought that was a great question!
After the Exodus, God would instruct his people to build him a temple. But it would be very different than anything made by humans so far. In fact, the author of Hebrews, interpreting the temple in light of Christ, says that the temple was “only a copy of the true one” in heaven (Hebrews 9:24 NIV). Each part of the design had a significance that would find its ultimate meaning in Christ and his once-for-all sacrifice.
Of course, the Genesis writers would not have known about Christ; but they would have known that their God is like no other! And maybe that is the point of this story.
I told the kids that morning that each Bible story is like a piece of a puzzle. When we read the Bible, we need to ask what each piece has to tell us about the big picture of who God is and what in the world He’s doing. Each piece may seem strange on its own, but when we understand that it’s an important part of the big picture, we can understand its value.
. . . which leads me to an update on the Bible study I’m writing! As you may know, I plan to write a study based on the words Jesus spoke to women. See HERE for the series of poems and artwork I did on this already.
I’ve decided to start with a study of the words Jesus spoke to his mother, Mary. In Scripture, we see her grow from a teenager to a mature disciple, ready to be part of the newborn church at Pentecost. I think her story will have much to teach us about Jesus and following him.
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