STORY SAMPLES: EVERY TONGUE, TRIBE AND NATION

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The descendants of the three sons of Noah settled in the Plains of Shinar.  They decided to build a great tower.  They wanted a tower that would be a beacon they could see from miles and miles away.  If they got lost, they could look up and see the tower and walk towards it to find their way home again.  If they needed to tell someone how to find them they could say “just follow the tower and you will find me.”  It all started out so simple, so uncomplicated.  They all spoke the same language and they all understood each other and worked together to get the tower built. Everything was all together before everything began to fall apart.

They kept making the tower taller.  They were never satisfied that it was great enough.  At first they reasoned by thinking the taller the tower, the closer they would be to God.  Soon that thought was over and they began to concentrate on how great and awesome the tower was.  As the tower got taller and taller the people began to be prouder and prouder of their work.  They all thought the success of the building was due to their own individual participation.  They all began to think they had special unique abilities to have built a tower as special as this one. 

The tower kept getting closer and closer to God, but the people kept forgetting about God and remembering how talented they were for building the tower.  Each group thought their part of the building was the very best part.  They began to speak about their work in their own ways, each group speaking more and more different from the others as the tower kept growing taller and taller.  Soon their work was all about building the tower.  No one gave another thought to getting closer to God.  It was just about the tower now.  It was just about how wonderful the people building the tower were.  

One man, a descendant of Ham named Nimrod, thought he was the most special of all the builders.  He was strong and powerful and he thought he could do anything.   He proclaimed that he was the greatest leader on earth and had a large group of people following him as he named himself their king.  He wanted the tower to speak of him and spread his fame all across the land.  He wanted to be known for being the great tower builder.  He pondered how he would use the tower as a symbol to bring the world together under his leadership.  He loved the control that the thought of the tower gave to him. Others working on the tower seemed to have the same idea, only they wanted the tower to stand for their works. 

The tower soon became nothing about God at all, but only about the pride of mankind.

One day while the tower was being increased they heard a horrible sound.  It got louder and louder.  Soon the loud noise replaced all of their talking.  They had all begun to babble.  Their languages made no sense at all.  They no longer could understand each other.  Everyone was babbling.  There was great confusion.   

The one language of the people of the earth that helped them to work in unison and harmony became shattered and broken into many different pieces.  Each piece was beautiful, yet each piece was broken.  Nothing could come back together again.
   

The people lost the hope of getting closer to God with the tower.  They soon left their work and divided into small groups without ever finishing their tasks.  Soon the tower fell down from neglect and lack of care.  Instead of a beacon it became known as the Tower of Babel.  Instead of becoming a symbol of comfort and hope what was left of the tower soon became a symbol of despair and decay, confusion and chaos.  The once lovely tower turned into a pile of rubbish.  Eventually it all turned to dust and blew away.  Not one piece of the tower remained in place.

Thousands of years passed by and the tower was forgotten.  

A man called Jesus came to live on the earth. 

He did not try to be the greatest.

He was very humble and kind.  

He did not demand that people follow him, but many different types of people loved him and followed him anyway.  He did not claim to be a great leader, and he only considered himself a servant. 

One day he died on a cross.

As he was dying they heard him pray; “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

His followers were very sad until they realized he was alive again!

In just three days they learned that He had risen from the dead!

They were full of joy and they walked with him to a mountain called Olivet and they saw him go up in the sky into heaven where God was.  He went up higher than any tower that could ever be built by men.  He was so close to God and they realized He was a part of God.

Those who followed him were amazed.  They were glad and they thanked God for having sent Him.  God sent them a gift to comfort them because they missed Jesus so much.

One day these followers of Jesus went to Jerusalem because Jesus had asked them to do so before he went to heaven to be with God.  The city was busy celebrating a great day of thanksgiving.  People had come from many different countries for the celebration.  They all spoke many different languages.

     

Suddenly these disciples heard a loud sound, like a mighty rushing wind.  It was God’s gift; The Holy Spirit.  They became so full of power that they seemed to be on fire.  Their tongues burned in their mouths.  They went out on the streets that were filled with the people from many different nations.  

   

No one expected to understand the disciples since they spoke different languages, but they

looked upon them and knew that they had come very close to God and God had come very close to them in a whole new way than He ever had before.  God had given them the promised gift of The Holy Spirit.  Jesus had made it possible for them.

   

Suddenly it no longer mattered that they all spoke different languages.  They all understood one another.

Each person heard in their own language.  

Each one understood what the other was saying, though they never had before.

The disciples began to speak to the people in the streets about Jesus.  They spoke of how He had died for the sins of all; how He had been buried; and how He rose from the dead.  Everyone heard the story in their own language and they asked, “So what should we do?”

Peter stood up and told them they should repent of their sins and believe in Jesus and be baptized.  Many people believed the messages about Jesus and they received The Holy Spirit too. 

And that was how God united (through Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit) what sin had scattered and broken.  

It was at the miracle of Pentecost where all the beautiful broken languages that had kept people divided for so many years united and came back together again because of Jesus Christ the Messiah and God's Holy Spirit.

  

The broken picture of the people of every tribe, language and nation that fell apart at the Tower at Babel became a pure new painting of every tongue, tribe and nation united under God.

What started the prophetic Table of Nations in Genesis (the first bookend of time) will end in Revelation (the last bookend of time.)  

What sin has scattered from the beginning of time will one day unite in one glorious song to The Glory of God.  

In the end God will reverse all the effects of evil and turn it to good.

In Genesis we read of Adam and Eve, in Revelation we hear of Christ and his Bride.  Those of mankind who at first were cast out because of sin have been covered by the garment of Christ and in the end will be invited back in to participate in The Marriage Supper of The Lamb. 

In Genesis Satan came to deceive mankind.  In Revelation we learn that God will bind Satan and allow him to deceive mankind no more. 

In Genesis men were only given dominion over the earth.  In the Revelation it is revealed that man will reign with Christ over Heaven and earth and the whole universe forever.

God’s glory will once again return to the earth when Christ returns and walks through the East Gate of Jerusalem.  He will forever be with His people; those who have repented, believed and received the precious gift of The Holy Spirit.  

Who would have thought that all of this has been planned by God from The Foundation of The Earth for the 70 nations who descended from the three sons of Noah?  This is yet another of the surprises of the miracles that came from Pentecost!

Do you have a Tower of Babel in your life? 

The curse of it can be reversed and you can live under the blessings of God again.  Do not wait for a thousand years.  Repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ.  He died for you.   Reach up and receive God’s Holy Spirit.  Your life will be forever changed.   Jesus died so you can experience the comfort and peace that passes all understanding.    

God has a gift for you. 

All you have to do is let go of your own plans and let God show you His. 

The Holy Spirit will be your guide.  

May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you always as you travel on and walk further and further into The Kingdom of Heaven.