#DailyDevotion Why We Can’t Understand Each Other Speaking The Same Language
Gen.11:5-9 5The LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people built. 6 “Look, one people!” the LORD said. “And they all speak one language. And this is only the beginning of what they’ll do. Now nothing they plan to do will be too hard for them. 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they won’t understand one another.” 8So the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth, and they had to stop building the city. 9This is why it was called Babylon, because the LORD there made a babble of the language of the whole world. And from that place the LORD scattered them all over the earth.
It is a marvelous thing being made in the image and likeness of God. Unfortunately, because of original sin, this blessing has become our curse. Before and after the flood, every inclination our hearts is wicked. So this great crowd of people gets the Lord’s attention. Hear what the LORD says, “Now nothing they plan to do will be too hard for them.” The problem is we want to use our unity for evil and not for good. To prevent the people there from accomplishing this and to keep them from reaching the full potential of the evil in our hearts, the LORD confused our languages. He says, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they won’t understand one another.” This teaches us three things about the LORD our God.
The first thing we come to understand is the LORD is an “Us.” This isn’t the first time the LORD reveals this about Himself. We see it in Genesis chapter one, “Let Us make man in Our image, like Ourselves, that they might rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the air, and the cattle, over all the earth and everything that moves on the earth.” Jesus fully reveals this about himself when he reveals the name of God to baptize people into the name (singular), “of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Church has called this the Holy Trinity.
Secondly, we learn it is the LORD who gives the gift of speech. He made our speech and he can confuse our speech. He can stop our speech. It is he who opens our mouths. If he wanted to, he could give animals the gift of speech as he does Balaam’s ass. Which tells us something about what we should be doing with our speech. The 2nd commandment tells us to pray, praise and give thanks to God. The 8th tells us not to tear down our neighbor with our speech, or deceive him, rather to build up and help our neighbor with our speech. Jesus says in Matt.26:36, “36But I tell you, on Judgment Day people will have to give an account of every useless word they say.”
Thirdly, this confusion of languages goes even into understanding even the same language. Two peoples peaking the same language still have trouble understanding one another and this is the gift of God from Babel. We do horrific things already with the communication we still have. Imagine the trouble we’d get into if we understood one another perfectly. We think we could make things so much better if we communicated better. We would accomplish much more, but the LORD says it would be for the worse.
However, now that we have the Holy Spirit, let us Christians now use what gift of speech we have to praise God for the gift of salvation provided us by Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of our mouths and who calls us to unity of mind, heart, and Spirit in his kingdom here and in the world to come.
Heavenly Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us so we may use the gift of speech for good, especially proclaiming the saving deeds of your son Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.