Sin Divides
“Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:9)
Whereas Genesis 10 tells us who dispersed, Genesis 11 tells us why the peoples dispersed. God would not have us forget the “why,” for in it lies two most important truths. First, God would have us remember our shame. The dispersion of peoples into clans, tribes, and nations occurred because of sin. Quite simply, sin divides. Sin first separated us from God, and it has separated us from one another ever since. Already, Genesis demonstrates how sin divides families (Cain and Canaan), but there is far more to come. But let me ask a question – how often do we accept division as a given? We watch the world turn with wars and rumors of wars, yet none of us weep. How many denominations arise because of sin and division (1 Cor. 11:19)? Families are daily shattered by sin, and our first response is anger, not grief. C.S. Lewis’ portrayal of hell in The Great Divorce is an appropriate, for he pictures hell as a group of people always moving further and further away from each other.
Alongside our shame, God would have us remember His salvation. The LORD dispersed the people as an act of mercy, to keep sin from reaching that crescendo of which Genesis 6 describes. He scattered with the intention that He may gather. Where sin separates, God sent the “ministry of reconciliation, that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” (2 Cor. 5:18-19) He had a plan to unite all things on heaven and on earth in Christ that they may be one in righteousness and peace always (Eph. 1:10). Is this not what we see in Acts 2? Men of many nations heard the gospel in their own language. When the Good Shepherd brought His sheep to Himself, He also brought them together. Look around at our own churches. Many of us would have no relationship were it not for the shared relationship with Christ. The day will come when every clan, tribe, and nation will gather around the throne to worship Him who sits on it and the Lamb (Rev. 79-10).
To us who claim a part in Christ, do you have part in one another? If you find yourself isolated from the world and from the church, it may be a sin problem. If the shame of sin has been replaced by the reality of reconciliation, no believer should be severed from the body. The God who scatters also gathers, so let us gather together and worship.
