Genesis 11:9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth… 1. How vain and disastrous it is for men to contend against God; they cannot effectually resist Him; they can only destroy themselves. Especially if their contention is against any of the plans and arrangements connected with His eternal covenant — if the work which they are opposing, or the providential dispensation against which they are rebelling, has a direct bearing on His glorious design for the redemption of the world, and the salvation of souls, — if they are labouring to shut out Christ, or what is Christ's, from His own domains, from hearts and homes that should be His, — how idly and madly do they kick against the pricks! 2. How wise it is, and how blessed, to acquiesce in God's allotment of the good things of life, and in His manner of bringing His purposes of love to pass! The blessed Lord is the God of Shem; — but Shem suffers wrong, and has to exercise long patience before deliverance comes. Still it is enough that Jehovah is his God; let him not be careful or anxious. "Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all other things shall be added unto you." 3. In regard to the duty and the destiny of nations, the purpose of God is here revealed. (1) On the one hand, schemes of conquest, and of concentrated dominion, are seen not to be of God; and however He may sometimes make them subservient to His own purposes, He will always, in the end, pour contempt on the proud ambition of man. (2) Orderly dispersion and colonization are of God. In particular, in the line of Japheth, to which we belong, and among the isles of the Gentiles, colonization seems to be especially the Divine rule. (3) But even if Japheth should prove unfaithful in the use of the privileges and opportunities of his high calling, as enlarged by God, and permitted to dwell in the tents of Shem, — and for his unfaithfulness should be cast away, — there is hope for the world still. "Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem," is still, after all, the rallying watchword by which faith is quickened, and expectation stirred. For "salvation is of the Jews"; and it is concerning the seed of Shem that the animating question is put, — "If their fall be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fulness?" (Romans 11:12). The Lord, whose name is blessed, is still the God of Shem: Israel is still "beloved for the fathers' sake."(4) Finally, the division of languages, though an obstacle to schemes of human ambition, will not be suffered to be an obstacle to the triumph of the cause of God. Of this, God Himself gave a proof and pledge, in the miracle wrought on the day of Pentecost, — the counterpart of the miracle at Babel. The separation of nations will not hinder the unity of the faith. (R. S. Candlish, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. |
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