Genesis 11
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
From Shem to Abram
10 This is the account of Shem’s family line.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
Abram’s Family
27 This is the account of Terah’s family line.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.
32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.
Genesis 11 (NIV)
This chapter tells the story of people who came together with a shared vision to accomplish something great.
It teaches us that when people come together speaking the same language (sharing similar ideas and feelings, bearing the same vision) they can accomplish ANYTHING. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew 18:19 that if any two people agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by our Father in heaven. There is strength in unity, there is power in agreement.
Later in the chapter, we also learn about Abram’s ancestry and his family.
Lessons from Genesis 11
- One language and a common speech – there is power in unity: a good relationship cannot be built on disagreement, two people who don’t talk the same language (understand each other well because of shared ideas and feelings) cannot work together to complete a common goal. You need to be mindful of this when embarking in projects or relationships with people: nothing solid can be built in discord, beauty lies in harmony.
- Vision, the birthplace of great accomplishments: everything that you see and interact with today sprung from vision. It takes a person (or people) with great vision to accomplish great things. When God created mankind, He gave us the ability to think and create, the ability to visualize and realize. What are you doing with yours? In your quiet times, dare to visualize greatness. It doesn’t matter how old you are, what you have or who you know. It may seem impossible to you or improbable, but not for God, entrust Him with your vision. With God, all things are possible!
- It takes work to make a vision come to life: envisioning without doing anything creates nothing but an unfulfilled dream. If you want to achieve great results, you need to get up and get to work, it’s not enough to just dream and talk about your dream.
- Start with the brick and tar: the vision of the people was to build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens – that is a huge project. However they didn’t start from the top of the tower, they started from the building blocks: “Come let’s make bricks”. See that vision you have that seems so big and out of reach? Start by making the bricks. If you dream of opening the biggest salon the world has ever seen, start by learning the art (hairdressing, manicure, pedicure or whatever else), reach out to your entourage and offer them your services, build a clientele and bit by bit expand your reach. Whatever it is that you dream of doing, start from the little actionable steps, commit everything to God and stay consistent. Someday you will behold the whole manifestation of your tower in Jesus name.
- When pride settles in, the fall is near: “Come … and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves” (Genesis 11:5 AMP). The people were motivated by pride and ostentation [“let’s make others notice us”] and so their plans did not come to pass. God does not like pride and boasting. When you start to focus on showing off and begin to think more highly of yourself than others, you are setting up yourself for failure. Let anyone who boasts boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31).
- Generational blessings: Noah’s son Shem (one of those Noah spoke blessings over), became an ancestor of Abram (who God later renamed Abraham). When you study the Bible further, you will learn about just how much God blessed Abraham and his descendants after him. Speak blessings over your children and their offspring.
Reflection
- Whatever you can conceive in your mind, you can achieve.
- If you decide to work with people, make sure they share your vision.
- Is there anything that you have in mind to do that seems out of reach?
- Write down the vision (goals, objectives, outcomes etc).
- Write out the actionable steps necessary for that vision to be realized.
- Starting from where you are, what is the first step you can take today?
- Commit it all to God and make the decision to be consistent.
- Check out this post about how to achieve your goals.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a step.
Affirmation
- I can achieve anything I set my mind to.
- My mind will be filled with good ideas from God and I will act on them.
- My dreams will not die, my visions will come to pass.
- I commit all my plans to God [name the plans] and I declare that they will all succeed.
- In all I do I shall prosper.
- I will not give up in the days of little beginnings.
- I will not walk in pride, but I will give God glory in all I do.
Further reading
- James 4:10 NIV [Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.]
- Matthew 18:19 NIV [“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”]
Prayer
Father, today I commit all my plans to you. I pray for wisdom to know exactly what to do, where to go and who to work with. Fill my mind with the right ideas to nurture my vision into fruition. Everything I do will be for your glory, in Jesus name. Amen.
Community
Leave a comment to let us know what lessons you learned and revelations you got from this passage of scripture.
Share the message with others that they too may be blessed and edified.
God bless you!
