The Monday after the Festival of the Transfiguration of our Lord
Posted on February 10, 2025 by under
Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9 (NKJV)
11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then 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. 4 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, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 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. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 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.
Devotion
The Lord told the people to spread out and fill the earth. Instead, they obstinately gathered together in one place. Rather than praise the name of the Lord, they sought to “make a name for themselves” by their deliberate disobedience. The comparison is striking. God has to stoop down to see the greatest accomplishments of man. God laughs at what man thinks is impressive. Man is unable to effectively mount a rebellion against God.
Our world can fall apart when God lifts up his little finger. Natural disasters destroy our homes and possessions. Financial losses can bring irreparable harm. Hate, jealousy, and unfaithfulness tear apart loving homes. The things that seemed important, and by which we “make a name for ourselves,” aren’t.
God’s plan did involve a gathering of His people into one city with one language. However, those things could not be achieved by man’s merit or strength. Jesus Christ would provide atonement for the sins of all mankind. He would use the preaching of the one language of the Gospel in order to gather His sin-sick people into His Church—the city, called the New Jerusalem. The day of Pentecost was a visible picture of the restoration of the one language by which the Apostles would preach the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the end of the world.
Collect: O God, Who in the glorious Transfiguration of Thine Only-begotten Son, hast confirmed the mysteries of the Faith by the testimony of the Fathers, and Who, in the Voice that came from the bright cloud, didst in a wonderful manner foreshow the adoption of sons: Mercifully vouchsafe to make us coheirs with the King of His glory, and bring us to the enjoyment of the same; through the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
