This past weekend at Eastbrook, we concluded our preaching series, “Fractured,” drawn from Genesis 4-11 even as we celebrated Palm Sunday. This is the second part of a two-part series on Genesis 1-11 that paralleled our Lenten journey. You can access the first part of this series on Genesis, “In the Beginning,” here. This sixth and final week of the series I preached from Genesis 11:1-9, exploring the story of the Tower of Babel and connecting it with the beginning of Holy Week.

You can find the message outline and video below. You can access the entire series here. Join us for weekend worship in-person or remotely via Eastbrook at Home.

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“Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Genesis 11:7)

The God-displacing Efforts of Disordered Humanity (11:1-4)

The unity of language (11:1)

The movement eastward to settle (11:2)

The will to build a city with a tower (11:3-4)

The desire to enter the heavens via this tower (11:4)

The longing to make a name (11:4)

The fear of being scattered (11:4)

The Effortless Work of God with Humanity (11:5-9)

God’s intention to confuse language (11:5-7)

God’s movement to unsettle and scatter (11:7-8)

The desire to disrupt the city and tower-building (11:6)

The descent to the heaven-reaching tower (11:7)

The name they made is “confusion” (11:9)

Moving from Fractured to Restored

Learning to be humble by turning from idols

Learning to trust God instead of our own ways

Learning to pursue God’s kingdom instead of using God to build our own

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Dig Deeper

This week dig deeper in one or more of the following ways:

• Draw, ink, or paint Genesis 11:1-9. As you do that, let God sift through your own heart in relation to sin, temptation, pride, and control. What is God bringing to the surface as you draw? Consider writing that down or sharing your prayer reflections with a friend.
• Watch the Bible Project video, “Day of the Lord”
• Explore great works of art on the Tower of Babel, such as:
  • Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Toren van Babel
  • Endre Rozsda, La tour de Babel
• Read John Walton, “Beware Our Tower of Babel”