The Tower of Babel: Pride and God's Purpose

The Tower of Babel: Pride and God's Purpose

27 July, 2025

Thesis: The sermon emphasizes that humanity's prideful rebellion against God, exemplified by the Tower of Babel, ultimately leads to confusion and judgment, while true unity and eternal purpose are found only in God's redemptive plan through Jesus Christ.

Summary: The sermon details the account of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11, framing it as a historical flashback that explains humanity's dispersion after a period of linguistic and communal unity. It introduces Nimrod, a rebellious figure and great-grandson of Noah, as the tyrannical leader behind the construction of Babel, a city established in defiance of God, portraying him as a precursor to the antichrist. The preacher explains that against God's command to scatter and populate the earth, mankind, influenced by Satan, gathered at Babel to build a tower and a city for their own glory, motivated by a fear of dispersion and a unified ambition apart from divine will. God responds by confusing their language and scattering them across the earth, an act presented as both judgment against their pride and mercy to prevent further sin. This event is then contrasted with the day of Pentecost in Acts 2, where God reverses the confusion and division of Babel by uniting diverse peoples through the Holy Spirit, sending them forth with the gospel, and ultimately promising a future unity in Christ as citizens of the eternal New Jerusalem.

Sermon

Amen. Thank you for that singing. I tell you, the harmony was on point this morning. That was some good stuff. All right, I have a letter from God's Pit Crew. It says, "Dear Jessup Grove Baptist Church, thank you so much for supporting God's Pit Crew. Your generosity is truly changing lives, and we are grateful for your kindness. God bless." And that's from God's Pit Crew, so thank you guys for supporting them.

We're in Genesis chapter 11 this morning, discussing the Tower of Babel, the pride of man, and the purpose of God. Now, does anyone remember two weeks ago when we looked at Genesis 10, the Table of Nations? Genesis chapter 11, verses 1 through 9, will be our text. It serves as an intentional and instructive interruption in the flow of the genealogy.

Genesis 10 is called the Table of Nations. Of course, it traces Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their kids and grandkids, and how they spread across the earth. But Genesis 11, verses 1 through 9, zooms in and provides a critical explanation, showing us how and why this dispersion happened. This narrative is chronologically earlier than some of the verses in Genesis 10. So what Moses is doing here in the first nine verses of chapter 11 is giving us a historical flashback to the moment when humanity was once united in language and purpose, but then God confused their language and they scattered. This event is known as the building of the Tower of Babel.

I want to start with a little story this morning. It's about my kids, so hopefully they won't get mad at me. But if you're a preacher's kid, anything that happens in the house is prone to be used against you. I remember Clay, he was, I guess, two, probably about two and a half. He loved building blocks, still loves Legos, but he was into the big, chunky blocks. He would always be building a tower, and he would try to build a fence around it to fortify this fortress.

Layla was just beginning to walk. She was a chunk—she wasn’t always skinny like she is now. Here she came, stumbling around, walking around, and you could just see Clay. His eyes got big because you knew where she was headed. She was headed to that tower he had spent so much time on. Eventually, she falls on top of the tower or kicks it over, and blocks go everywhere. Scattering and confusion happens when the giant baby knocks over your tower.

That's kind of what happened here. God is going to call scattering and confusion at this Tower of Man. The Tower of Babel, of course, comes after the flood. It's about 100 to 130 years later, during the time of a man named Peleg, because the Bible says in his days the earth was divided. Why is this significant? We remember Shem, one of Noah's sons. He was 100 years old at the time of the flood, and he lived for another 500 years. What does that mean? It means Shem, a man who was literally on the ark, who survived the flood, witnessed the building of this tower, witnessed the beginning of national divisions, the spreading of languages. This shows us that little more than a century had passed, and man is already organized and rebelling against God once again. Why? They have Shem. They have a man who was literally on the ark who could have told them, "Guys, this is what happens when you rebel against God. God's going to destroy you." But instead, they pay Shem and his stories no mind.

But who built the tower? Let's be introduced to this bad guy—his name is Nimrod. We have to go back a few verses. We find him in Genesis chapter 10, verses 8 through 12. We spoke of him very briefly last time, but we're going to look at him in greater detail. It says, "Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord," and therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord." And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. And from that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth, and Calah. Now, why is that significant? It's because Nimrod is going to head up the building of this tower. His father was Cush, which makes Nimrod the great-grandson of Noah through the line of his godless son Ham. So how does the Bible describe this bad guy? It says he is a mighty man—a mighty hunter before the Lord. In Hebrew, that is "gibor." He is mighty. It often refers to a strong or a valiant man, but contextually it can also refer to violent warriors or tyrants. So whenever we read of Nimrod, we think of this mighty warrior king who oppresses people. He is a tyrant. He builds a kingdom for his own name.

It says he was mighty before the Lord. What does this mean? It can simply mean in the presence of or in front of the Lord, but according to the context, it also carries hostile or confrontational nuances. So he is a mighty hunter in opposition to the Lord. He is living his life against the Lord. He is building a tower in defiance of the Lord. He wants to be his own god. Nimrod is the first king mentioned in Scripture, and Babel is the first empire mentioned in Scripture. He is the first king mentioned in Scripture, and he founded cities in two key regions: in the plain of Shinar, which is Babylonia, later to be known as Babylon, and then he builds a city called Nineveh in Assyria. We can trace these two cities, Babylon and Nineveh, throughout Scripture. Both will prove to be hostile enemies of Israel. Now here's the connection to Babel. Even though it's not explicitly mentioned in Genesis 11, many Jewish traditions and early church commentators associate Nimrod with the building of this tower. In fact, the Jewish historian Josephus writes that Nimrod was the one who instigated the building of this tower in order to defy God and establish his own name on the earth. Also, church fathers like Augustine and others saw Nimrod as a symbol of earthly power and pride. It's interesting that his very name comes from a Hebrew verb that means "to rebel." So when we think of Nimrod, we can literally call him Nimrod the rebel. He's the original bad boy. He's going to do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants. He is building a kingdom for himself. Contrast this with a man we're going to meet later on in chapter 11, a man named Abram. Whereas Nimrod is building a kingdom on the earth, Abram realizes that here he has no continuing city. He's seeking a heavenly kingdom, a heavenly city whose builder and maker is God. Did you know that Nimrod can also be seen as an early type of the Antichrist, the man who will come in the last days and set himself up against Christianity, oppose God, centralize power, and exalt human pride?

Let's think about this for a moment. If you've read *Gleanings in Genesis* by A.W. Pink, he makes some interesting comparisons, and I'm going to share some of them with you. A comparison between this first Antichrist figure and the final Antichrist figure. Remember, Nimrod is the rebel, but in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, the final Antichrist—the final Nimrod-type figure—is going to be called the man of lawlessness. They are both kingdom builders: one built Babel, the first post-flood empire; the other rules over a global kingdom. They're both tyrants. Nimrod is a mighty hunter before the Lord. The Antichrist will speak boastfully and blaspheme the name of God, according to Revelation 13. Both of their kingdoms are centered in Babylon, because the kingdom of the Antichrist, according to Revelation 17 and 18, is going to be called Babylon—as well as the exact same city. Both foreshadow a unified government in opposition to God. Both feature a future global dominion. Both embody the spirit of rebellion. Both demand allegiance and worship: Nimrod wanted the worship of his fellow humans; likewise, the Antichrist, the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians 2:4, will set himself up in the temple of God and proclaim that he is God and will demand that all people on the earth worship him. And if you don't, you get killed. Both oppress the faithful. Both have a legacy of pride and rebellion. Both will unite humanity in rebellion to God. At Babel, man unites to make a name for themselves; under the beast, the nations are united in opposition to God. But ultimately, both will be judged. As we'll see here in our text, God judged Babel. And likewise, in Revelation 18:10, Babylon the great will be destroyed in one hour when he is caught by the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Antichrist is thrown into the lake of fire.

So what we see here is a contrast of kings. Man has always wanted to be his own authority. Man has always wanted to be his own God. Man has always sought to shake his fist at heaven and say, "I am God. I will live my life my way. I will create my own truth. And there's no God in heaven who can tell me what I can and can't do." We have Nimrod who builds a kingdom of man. But later on, we're going to find Abraham and we're going to trace his lineage through the Old Testament. Then we get to the New Testament and we have Abraham's descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the true King of kings, who alone has the right to rule over his people. Whereas Nimrod builds the kingdom of man, Christ builds the kingdom of God. Whereas Nimrod gathers by deception and coercion, Jesus will gather by the Holy Spirit. Whereas Nimrod and the future Antichrist will exalt his name, Christ exalts the name of the Father. Whereas the Antichrist will demand worship, and as a mighty hunter of those who do not, Christ will give his life as a sacrifice, even for those who hate him. Nimrod and, ultimately, the Antichrist kingdom are doomed to fall. But Jesus Christ has a kingdom that will never end. It is an everlasting kingdom. So, Jesus Christ, in contrast to Nimrod and the future Antichrist, is the true, humble, righteous, just, and victorious King who will reign over the universe for all eternity.

Let's first talk about God's intention. What is the purpose of man? It's to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever, right? From the very beginning, that has been God's design. Remember, Adam was placed in the Garden of Eden to have fellowship with God, to reflect God's glory. But Adam and Eve were also placed in the Garden to be fruitful and multiply, so that they would have children, little image-bearers, to go throughout the earth and extend the borders of Eden and the kingdom. They were to scatter over the earth. And then we see, after the flood, God gives that same command to Noah and his sons. "Be fruitful, multiply. Spread little image-bearers all over the earth so that my name, character, and glory can be put on display. Be fruitful and multiply." God's plan was to fill the earth with His image-bearers.

But Satan's plan was the opposite of God's, wasn't it? Rather than scattering in obedience—to fill the earth with God's glory—he stirred mankind to gather in defiance of God, to make a name for themselves, to resist God's name, lest His name be great among the nations. So we can see Satan behind this Nimrod figure. The work of Babel is nothing less than the work of Satan. And that brings us right here to Genesis 11. It's a bold attempt of humanity to seize the glory that belongs to God. It's humanity's attempt to reach heaven by their own effort, to be their own gods, to rival God's rule. Friends, this is Eden's rebellion all over again, except this time it is on a global scale.

Let's read our text. Verse 1: "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech, and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And they said to one another, 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar." Now the word asphalt is the Hebrew word for slime. Remember that. "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top is in the heavens.' Let us make a name for ourselves. Why? Lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

Let's stop there and unpack these verses. The Bible says the people spoke one language—the original language passed down from Noah and his sons. But then it says they also had one speech, which literally means the same word. So is Moses being redundant or repetitive? No, they actually mean two different things. They spoke the same language, yet shared a unified understanding of it. They had the same dialect.

I don't know about you guys, but you can tell a big difference between Yankees and Southerners, right? We may speak the same language, but we don't speak the same dialect. When you say, "I want some sweet tea and some biscuits and gravy," Yankees are going to be like, "We don't do that here." Or you say, "I'm going to mash on something," or "I'm going to cut the light on." They're like, "What on earth are you talking about? You're mashing what? Potatoes? You're cutting lights on and off?" We don't speak the same dialect. But here, language was united. They were also united in purpose. They had an ideological and societal union in rebellion. Now, friends, unity is good, and it is commendable, and it is commended of believers. But unity at the expense of truth, and unity in defiance of God, is the very unity of hell. Sometimes it calls for division. Light has to separate from darkness. Truth has to be divided from error.

God sees this unity as powerful. In verse 6, God says, "The people are one. They have one language." And this is what they begin to do. "Now nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them." This is the power of unity, isn't it? Oh, if the church would understand this. If they would grasp this lesson. If sinners can be united to sin, friends, believers can be united to serve. And nothing will be impossible to us. Sometimes we can learn a lesson from sinners, can't we? They're unified in prideful ambition. So here's the post-flood irony. God says, "Be fruitful, multiply, spread out, fill the earth with my glory." They said, "No. We're going to settle right here. We're going to build this tower for our own glory." So unity was not the problem. It was the reason why they were unified.

Now let's talk about the location. It's the land of Shinar—it's ancient Babylon. The tower is built, and it's called Babel. Later, this city will become the city of Babylon. Many believe this to be modern-day Baghdad in Iraq. Again, we see people migrating from the east. Did you catch that? They journey from the east. They dwell in the plain of Shinar, like Cain when he left Eden. What direction did he go? He went east. So going east symbolizes they are going further and further from Eden, further from the presence of God. It is not until we get to Abraham that we find someone going west. We find someone going the other direction. We find someone going closer to Eden, which is symbolic of going back to God. So instead of a garden paradise like Eden, man is attempting to build his own city paradise—a concrete jungle, if you will.

So that was God's intention. Scatter, man says no, we're going to gather. Here's Babel's ambition. Have you ever wondered what motivated man to build this tower? Number one, it was the fear of scattering. They did not want to be scattered, according to verse 4. Rather than being fruitful and multiplying and filling the earth, they sought to centralize their lives. They resisted dispersion. Rather than trusting God's good design, they clustered together. They found safety and security in numbers. At Babel, they gathered with those who looked like them and spoke like them. And in a massive city, they probably felt less vulnerable in a sin-cursed earth. Also, think of how powerful and productive they could be. If Cain's descendants were productive before the flood, think of all that we can do. Together. Let's never separate, for unity without God leads to ruin.

Secondly, it was a unified effort without God. In this text, there are four "let us" statements. The first three are made by man, and the last one is made by God in verse 5. The first "let us" statement is "let us make bricks." Despite their seemingly clever strategy and all their massive blueprints and their ingenuity and their technological advances, enabling them to manufacture bricks, this project is doomed to fail. They thought, "We're building a monument to ourselves. We're the ones who survived the flood. Power to the people. This tower is going to be like a big middle finger stuck up to heaven and say, 'Lord, this is what I think about you.' Power to the people. I'm building a monument to myself. It's never going to be knocked down. I dare you to send a flood again. You will never knock us down." But God exposes them for the fools they are. They intend to build a gateway up to heaven by which they can storm the gates of God and invite themselves in. But notice how Moses describes the building material. It's dry, dusty, clay, bricks held together by slime. That's all it is. And all of their wealth and their power and their prestige is just dusty bricks held together by slime. Interestingly enough, this same word for slime is used in chapter 14 to describe the slime pits around the wicked city of Sodom that the kings of Sodom will get stuck in as they flee before Abraham. But it's also a picture of all governments, kingdoms, and individuals who attempt to usurp the authority of God. They're all destined to fall. They're building castles on sand. Friend, Jesus even said at the end of his sermon on the mount, "Whoever hears my word and obeys him is going to be like a man who built his house on a rock. It's not going to fall. But if you hear my word and you disobey, you're building on sinking sand." Friend, if you're building your life on your own pride, and your prestige, and your smarts, and your wealth, and your ability, and your own righteousness, you are doomed to fail. You're building a building whose foundation is your own destruction. And you will fall. And great will be your failure.

The second statement is "let us build a tower." What was this tower? Most scholars believe it was a ziggurat. It's a stepped temple tower, typical of Mesopotamian structure. These ziggurats were like pyramid buildings, but they were religious structures. They were built in order to connect heaven and earth. When people climbed to the top of these towers, they were said to be communing with the gods. They were in the heavenly realms. Most of the time, these ziggurats would have astrological symbols and zodiac signs. It was associated with false worship and the occult. They worshipped false gods and heavenly beings. The Hebrew phrase, "let's build a tower whose top is in heavens," is written, "crowned with the heavens." So we are building a tower to heaven itself. It's likely that Nimrod considered himself a god, as most ancient kings did. Possibly he considered himself the god Marduk, who was the chief god of Babylon. So we can think of this as a temple dedicated to astrology, occult practices, and what we would call New Age religion. But any New Age religion is just worshipping the same old demons. Only God is worthy of our worship. Satan is at the root of all false worship because Satan is getting man to worship the creatures rather than the Creator.

What does the word Babel mean? Why did they name it the Tower of Babel? Babel comes from a word; it means "the gate of God." So this is man's first recorded attempt at building a city in defiance of God. They're going to try to climb the heavens. They're going to try to kick God off of His throne. Once again, man is wanting to be his own god. Friends, isn't that the essence of all sin, taking glory for ourselves? All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When we sin, we are failing to live for God and give Him the glory that He so deserves. That is the essence of all sin. They wanted to reach the heavens, to ascend the heights. You realize that's the exact same thing that Satan wanted before his fall, when he was Lucifer in heaven? He said, "I'll be God. I'll ascend. I'll climb my way up." The Bible reminds us that pride comes before destruction, and a haughty heart before a fall. These people longed for an earthly refuge because they had no heavenly city. They preferred power and control. They provided for themselves. They craved a permanent earthly home because they had no hope of a heavenly home. And we see this all the time, don't we? We see people building their own towers, building monuments for themselves in their houses, their careers, their accolades, and their accomplishments. Because they have no hope of heaven. They're trying to build their own kingdom and their own heaven here on earth. But friends, it will not stand.

The third statement is, "let us make a name for ourselves." They desire to exalt themselves. This is humanity's first "power to the people." It was a movement not for justice, not for truth, but in defiance of God. They wanted to give glory to themselves. So the whole tower stands as a symbol of power, pride, prestige, earthly permanence, identity, security, provision, and protection all apart from God. Isn't that the tendency of human beings? They want all that God can give, just not Him. They want all of these benefits, just not God. They even want heaven, as long as God's not there.

Notice God's observation here in verse 5. "But the Lord came down." Notice that. "He came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of man had built." Now this is God's "let us." Who was He talking to? The same person He was talking to in the beginning when He said, "let us make man in our image." It's the council of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, isn't it? Man was building higher and higher. "Man, this is an awesome tower. How high are we going to go?" "To the very gate of God," someone says. And yet God says, "You puny, pathetic creature, I'm having to come down to look at your monument and all your power and your wealth and your prestige, your monument to man." God says, "It's just an anthill. I can barely see it from my lofty throne. I'm having to come down."

Now let's look at God's intervention. God says in verse 6: "The people are one. They have one language. What they begin to do. Now nothing they propose 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." So God intervenes. Why? Because He knows that the heart of man is hardened. He knows how industrious and how capable mankind is. Why? Because He made them that way. He made Adam and Eve to be able to think, to be able to invent, to create. But the problem is their heart is wicked, and now they're just devising new ways to sin. So in an act of judgment, in an act of judgment and mercy, God does two things. He confuses their language and then He scatters them abroad.

Now how is this an act of judgment? Well, they can't build anymore. But it's also an act of mercy. Because God knows that they are posing a greater danger to themselves. God's not intimidated by them. God's not worried that somehow they'll get high enough. They're going to topple me off my throne. No, God is not insecure. He's going to show mercy because He knows the higher they build, the more hardened their hearts are going to become. Therefore, He's going to humble their pride. He's going to weaken their hardened resistance to their need for a promised Redeemer one day. So He confuses their language. Can you imagine what that was like? Here's your buddy you've been working with for months. You say, "Hand me that block over there." And he looks at you like you've lost your mind. You're like, "What did you say? Hand me the hammer. Give me that chisel." "What? What language are you speaking? Did you get into Noah's stash?" Sounds like gibberish. So what happens? They're like, "Well, we can't understand each other. We can't work together. We're not going to sector this thing off. The best thing we can do is just leave off building this tower and let's scatter. Let's gather with people we can actually understand. And let's finally go throughout the earth and find somewhere we can live."

So God confuses and God scatters. Friend, this reminds us that God always gets His way. Man may propose, but God will always dispose, right? And the meaning of the word Babel. When Moses was writing this to the Israelites, they would have remembered stories about this ancient city called Babel. And even though they knew in the original language, it meant "gate of God," it came to them as meaning something else. In their language, Babel does not mean "gate of God." It means "confusion." So isn't that divine irony? "We're going to build the gate of God. We're going to be gods to ourselves. We're going to worship Nimrod." It turns into confusion. "I don't even know what we're doing here anymore. I can't even understand you. I don't even understand why we thought that we could defy God." The gate of God becomes the gate of confusion. Yeah, they made a name for themselves, didn't they? They went down in infamy, not fame and glory. God proves once again that He will not be mocked.

What we have here, friends, is a contrast of cities. We had a contrast of kings. We also have a contrast of cities because we can trace this very city, formerly Babel, now Babylon. We can trace it all throughout the Scriptures. And every time we read about this city, Babylon, which continues to be a great city, it always represents human rebellion and pride and defiance of God. We find it first here under Nimrod. Then we find it again in the prophets because who took Judah captive? The Babylonians. Where did they take them? To Babylon. We read about it in Isaiah and Jeremiah, and Daniel eventually goes there. But then we find it all the way in the very end of the Bible, in the book of Revelation, chapter 17 and 18. And what is the city, the kingdom, the empire of the Antichrist called? Babylon. Is this a coincidence? Absolutely not. But just as the first Babylon was destroyed, so will the last one be. We can read through Revelation, God's judgments, the judgments upon the earth. And then we get to Revelation 18, and it portrays this city, Babylon, as being utterly destroyed. The merchants of the earth are weeping, they're mourning because the source of their wealth and luxury is gone. This Babylon that was once a proud and exalted city in defiance of God is set ablaze. And the Bible says the smoke of her burning goes up to heaven. In chapter 19, Jesus Christ, the true King, returns. Returns to earth riding a white horse, and He is faithful and true. And He judges and He makes war on the Antichrist, this final Nimrod figure and his armies. And they're defeated. And the Antichrist is thrown into the lake of fire, and Jesus establishes His kingdom. Not Babylon, but Jerusalem. And He reigns upon the earth.

So at Babel, God came down and confused their language. At the final Babylon, Jesus Christ will come down and utterly destroy His enemies and reign as the true King of the earth. In contrast to Babylon, we have a better city, don't we? We have New Jerusalem. From Genesis to Revelation is really a tale of two cities, if I can borrow that term. Babylon is the city of man. New Jerusalem is the city of God. Babylon was built by Nimrod. The New Jerusalem is built by God Himself. The foundation of Babylon is brick and slime. The foundation of the New Jerusalem is precious stones. Here at Babylon, men are united against God. In the New Jerusalem, mankind is united in worship to God. Babylon, the gate of God, becomes confusion. Jerusalem is the city of peace. Whereas Babylon, symbolized in Scripture as the great harlot, New Jerusalem is symbolized by the bride of Christ. Isn't that amazing? I'm looking forward to that New Jerusalem that will descend from heaven. That place Christ has prepared for us. An eternal city that has foundations that will never be destroyed. Where there's no more crying or mourning or pain or death. I'm looking forward to being in that city. But the thing is, friends, every person is a citizen of one city or the other. Either you're a citizen of Babylon, of this earth that's going to be destroyed, or you're a citizen of heaven where you will live in eternal fellowship with your Creator.

Let's read this last verse. "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 upon the face of the earth." I'm going to give you one last point. Did you know that we find in Scripture the reversal of Babel? It comes in the book of Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. So Acts chapter 2 is God's answer to Genesis chapter 11. Because the day that the church was born by the coming of the Spirit is the great reversal of Satan's work and man's rebellion at Babel.

I'm going to read this to you. You don't have to turn there. If you want to, you can. Acts chapter 2, verse 2. It says, "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they, that's the disciples, were of one accord in one place." There they are united together for the glory of God. "And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance." Listen to this. "There were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven." Huh. Wonder where these nations are. Wonder where these nations came from. It comes from Genesis chapter 11. "And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together and they were confused," just like they were at Babel. But this time they are confused for a different reason. Because everyone heard them speak in his own language. At Babel they are confused because they can't understand the language. Here they are confused because they can understand the language. "They were amazed and marveled, saying to one another, 'Look! Are these not Galileans? And how is it that we hear them speaking in our own language?'" And they were from Parthia, they were from the Medes, the Elamites, from Mesopotamia, the same place the Tower of Babel was built. They were from Judea, and Cappadocia, and Pontus, and Asia, and Egypt, and Rome, all over the earth. Cretans and Arabs. And what did they hear the disciples speaking? "We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God."

So let's think about this reversal. At the Tower of Babel, man takes his own initiative to gather in one place in defiance of God. But at Pentecost, the disciples are gathered in one place and they are waiting on the promise of God—the Holy Spirit. At Babel, human beings sought to climb their way up to God. But at Pentecost, God comes down to them. Friends, let me pause there for a gospel application. You don't have to try to make your way to God. You don't have to try to be good enough, to work hard enough, or to be a better person. Let me tell you, God has already come to you in the person of His Son. He lived a sinless life. He died the death you deserve to die. He was buried, and three days later He rose from the grave. God has already come to you. Now you just need to receive Him by faith. Amen.

At Babel, communication was restricted. God confused their language. But here at Pentecost, people from every tribe and region and language are proclaiming the wonderful works of God. At Babel, God dispersed the nations in judgment. But at Pentecost, what does God do? He gathers the nations together and unites them in one body called the church. And then, at Babel, the people scatter all over the earth. But at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit indwells believers and sends us to the ends of the earth so that we may make disciples, so that people from every tribe, language, nation, and tongue may be saved. So friends, the gospel is the power that unites all believers in Christ to the glory of God. So we go from confusion in Genesis 11 to communion in Acts chapter 2 and in the end of Revelation. So God undoes the division caused at Babel. The sin of Babel is reversed in the cross of Christ. In Christ, we become one people. We become one church, one humanity with one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. And one day, we will all speak the same language once again because the Bible promises in Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 9 that God will purify the lips of the peoples and with one voice and one language they will glorify God together. How about that? We will be one people in one city with one language united in one purpose: to glorify the name of Jesus.

So what's the gospel connection as they come and give us a hymn of invitation? Man seeks to make a name for himself. Man seeks to gather in defiance of God. But they ultimately fail because we're not God. We're not made for our own glory. We can't handle that. At the end of chapter 11, we meet someone else. We meet a man by the name of Abram. In chapter 11, Nimrod, the mighty conqueror, falls. But then we meet a new man, God's man. And he will not build cities. He will dwell in tents. And God will exalt him. And God will make his name great because it is through his descendants that the Lord Jesus Christ will come. And like Abraham, we realize that this earth is not our home. Here we have no continuing city. We're not building a tower, a monument to ourselves. Christ is preparing a city for me where I am safe and secure. As believers, we are citizens of the heavenly city, Philippians 3:20. So friends, you do not have to labor to make a name for yourself here on this earth. Friends, as believers, we don't live for the applause or the approval or the accolades of man. We live to hear him say, "well done, good and faithful servant." We're not building monuments to our own name. We live instead to exalt the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, friends, your identity is not found in a job that you have. Your identity is not found on a degree hanging on the wall. It's not in your mighty towers that you can build. It's not by how much wealth you have in the bank or how nice your house is. Friends, your identity is found in who you are in the Lord Jesus Christ. And who you are in him is chosen, loved, elect, adopted, forgiven. And you are an heir of the kingdom of God, not of Babel that will fall, but of New Jerusalem that will last forever. You are an heir and a co-heir with the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't find our security in numbers, in a big house or large bank account or influential friends. We find our safety and security and identity and purpose in the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm going to ask you, what city are you a citizen of? And if you're lost this morning, you can become a citizen of the New Jerusalem, of the eternal city. You don't have to follow Nimrod. You can follow the true King Jesus Christ. You don't have to build your tower on sinking sand. You can build your life on the rock, as the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our true King. And we are living for that eternal city. So if you're lost, the Lord is dealing with your heart. What do you need to do? You need to do the same thing that Peter preached to the people at Pentecost. Repent. Turn from your sin. Place your faith in Jesus Christ. Believe that He did everything that was necessary for you to be forgiven and saved. You just need to receive that salvation as a free gift. You need to cast yourself on the mercy of God. Repent and believe the gospel. This altar is open.