Babel: the Tragedy of Man
A Sermon on Genesis 11:1-32
Scripture
The Tower of Babel
1Now all the earth used the same language and the same words. 2And it came about, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks …
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us …
Sermon Description
What is wrong with the world today? Apart from the Bible, one can only speculate about the trouble humans find themselves in. However, with the Bible, one can know the cause of the broken world, as well as the solution. In the Bible, God works out His plan of salvation for His rebellious people. In this sermon on Genesis 11:1–32 titled “Babel” The Tragedy of Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches about the Tower of Babel with this theme of Scripture in mind. In this story, he sees the whole essence of the tragedy of humanity. They displayed great ingenuity in noticing the effect the sun had on clay and used that knowledge to make brick. The tragedy of humanity is that it uses its ingenuity to build a life apart from God. Their controlling ideas revolve around trade, pleasure, and security; thus, the city of Babel was built out of pride and self-sufficiency. The tower was built with brick so it would last forever, yet Dr. Lloyd-Jones notes the trace of humanity’s lurking fear in the building of Babel. There was a threat of being scattered because God abhors the thought of His creation building a life apart from Him. Indeed, God came down, destroyed Babel, and scattered the people.
Old Testament
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) was a Welsh evangelical minister who preached and taught in the Reformed tradition. His principal ministry was at Westminster Chapel, in central London, from 1939-1968, where he delivered multi-year expositions on books of the bible such as Romans, Ephesians and the Gospel of John. In addition to the MLJ Trust’s collection of 1,600 of these sermons in audio format, most of these great sermon series are available in book form (including a 14 volume collection of the Romans sermons), as are other series such as "Spiritual Depression", "Studies in the Sermon on the Mount" and "Great Biblical Doctrines". He is considered by many evangelical leaders today to be an authority on biblical truth and the sufficiency of Scripture.