God Starts a Nation (11:27-32)
If Genesis 1–11 is a record of four key events–creation, the fall, the flood, and the judgment at Babel–then Genesis 12–50 is the record of the lives of four key men: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. In this paragraph, five persons stand out: Abraham and his wife Sarah; Terah, Abraham’s father; and Nahor and Haran, Abraham’s brothers. Haran died and left his son Lot behind.
It was God’s purpose to call a man and his wife and from them build a family. From that family He would build a nation, and from that nation, God would bless all the nations of the earth (12:1-3; 18:18). From start to finish, it was a work of God’s grace; for when God called Abraham and Sarah, they belonged to a family that worshipped idols (Josh. 24:2). In both Ur of the Chaldees and Haran, the people worshipped the moon god.
According to Stephen (Acts 7:2), “the God of glory” appeared to Abraham and called him to go to Canaan. Abraham must have shared this amazing message with his family and told them that he and Sarah were leaving. He was supposed to take only Sarah and depart, leaving his family behind (Gen. 12:1); but everybody went with him except his brother Nahor and, of course, his brother Haran who had died. Nahor and his wife Milcah will show up again later in the story (22:20), but Nahor was the man who stayed. Even though he remained in idolatrous Ur of the Chaldees, did Nahor believe the message his brother gave him about the true God of glory? We hope he did.
It appears that Terah did believe and took charge of the family and their travels (11:31), but Terah was the man who stopped. He traveled 500 miles, as far as the city of Haran, and there he settled down and there he died. Perhaps the journey was too great for him, but it was God’s plan that Abraham and Sarah follow Him without their family. The death of Terah left them only with Lot, the son of Haran who had died back in Ur. Lot became the man who strayed, because he finally left Abraham and settled down in the wicked city of Sodom (13:10-13; 14:12; 19:1ff.).
The remarkable thing about God’s call of Abraham and Sarah was that they were childless. Abram means “exalted father,” but he wasn’t a father at all! They were the least likely candidates to have a family and build a great nation. But God’s ways are not our ways (Isa. 55:8-9), and by calling and blessing a barren couple, the Lord revealed the greatness of His power and His glory. Abram would be named “Abraham,” which means “father of many nations.”
There’s quite a contrast between man’s ways at Babel and God’s ways in calling Abraham and Sarah. The world depends on large numbers of powerful people in order to accomplish things, but God chose two weak people and started a new nation. The people at Babel wanted to make a name for themselves, but God promised to make Abraham’s name great. The workers at Babel followed the wisdom of this world, but Abraham and Sarah trusted the Word of God (Heb. 11:11-12). Babel was built by the energy of the flesh and the motivation of pride, but the nation of Israel was built by the grace and power of God and in spite of human weakness.
We live in a confused world and Babel is still with us. But God still has His faithful remnant that follows Him by faith and keeps their eyes on the heavenly city (vv. 13-16).
Are you a part of that remnant?
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion
- What does this mean: “Man proposes, but God disposes”?
- As we read about the cycles of disobedience, judgment, and new beginnings, what do we learn about God’s character?
- What was the goal of building the Tower of Babel?
- What were the positive and negative elements of the unity at Babel?
- How does God use both confusion and unity? How might Satan use them?
- When you daydream, in what ways do you dream of making a name for yourself? How is your local church tempted to make a name for itself?
- How can we tell the difference between godly ambition and selfish ambition?
- Why do you think the lifespan of humans became shorter? (See Gen. 6:3.)
- God called an idol-worshipping, barren couple to build His nation. What hope can we find in this?
- How can Christians use global technology and power in a right way? What are the dangers to avoid?