Monday 6 January 2014

TFTD - 06 January 2014 - Thoughts from Today's Bible Readings

06 January 2014

Genesis 11; 12
Psalm 14; 15; 16
Matthew 8

"BUT THOSE WHO ARE WISE WILL UNDERSTAND"

Our reading today in Genesis 11 particularly caught our attention because of the reason given for confounding the languages as the descendants of Noah multiplied and said "let us build ourselves a city … let us make a name for ourselves lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" [Genesis 11:3,4]. The reaction of the Creator was to say, "Behold, they are all one people. And they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them." [Genesis 11:6]

As a result the all seeing Creator decided to "confuse their language, so they may not understand one another's speech" [Genesis 11:7]. This caused them to leave off building the city of Babel and be dispersed from one another. We think it is reasonable to suppose that each married couple had their own language and became parents of a nation. It is also interesting to note that the word Babel when put into the Greek language, becomes Babylon.

Another possibly interesting point is the name for God in various ancient languages, it is claimed that the words have such a strong affinity to each other that some philologers are convinced they "have sprung from some common source."

However, our thoughts were particularly arrested by thinking how much language barriers have been overcome in our lifetime. The internet provides automated translation today. Also when you visit other countries, such as when we visited Russia, we found that nearly all the young people were learning English at school and could converse with you. English is becoming the world language, it is the main language of the internet.

So the Divine motive in confounding the languages at Babel is being overcome and a great many clever developments now happen because of worldwide cooperation. Daniel's prophecy that at "the time of the end many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase" [Daniel 12:4] takes on increasing significance. Men have achieved things which we never though possible, such as walking on the Moon and the Hadron Collider project. This adds to the reasons why God must intervene in human affairs. As in the days of Noah, nearly all have done away a need for God in their lives, this includes those who accept their must have been a Creator. We will finish with a challenging quotation, again from Daniel, " … the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end … none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand" [Daniel 12:9,10] How wonderful to be among the wise!
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- DC


Thought for the Day

06 January 2014

"In the days of his flesh Jesus made his Father’s will his own, and glorified Him in all his ways, and the Father acknowledged him as the Son in whom He was well-pleased. The sharing of the divine will which enabled Jesus to identify himself so closely with his Father was ultimately completed by his participation in the divine glory and nature. It is in this true fellowship that we can share. It was the very will of God which the Son made his own, that other children should share the same glory."

- Rodney Spencer
Sharing (1985)

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