The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 5: Tower of Babel (2024)

Episode Date: January 5, 2024

Today we read about the descendants of Noah, and the story of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 10-11, as well as Psalm 2. Fr. Mike reveals the errors of these characters, and how we also can fall into the same traps. Unlock the full experience of The Bible in a Year (with Father Mike Schmitz) with the Ascension App! (https://link.ascension-app.com/fRv0ZJ4OMDb) Get access to an interactive reading plan, the complete text of the Bible, episode transcripts, summaries, and more. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/bibleinayear. Please note: The Bible contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, I'm Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of Scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using the Great Adventure Bible timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. This is day five. So let's get started. We are reading today from Genesis chapter 10 and chapter 11, the last chapters in the early world period, as well as reading Psalm 2. The translation that I always use in these podcasts

is the revised standard version, the Catholic edition. I'm using the Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. Speaking of, if you want to follow along with this reading plan, you can download your Bible in a Year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a Year. And you can also subscribe in your podcast app. And lastly, you can also sign up for our email list and get updates and notifications by texting Catholic Bible, all one word, Catholic Bible to 33777.

Once again, we are reading today, Genesis chapter 10 and chapter 11 and Psalm 2. Let's get started. Genesis 10 and 11. These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. The sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshach, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, Rephath, and Torgamer. The sons of Javin, Elisha, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the sons of Japheth in their lands, each with his own language, by their families in their nations. The sons of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush, Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Ramah, and Sabtaka. The sons of Ramah, Sheba, and Adan. Cush became the father of Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Akkad, all of them in the land of Shinar. From that land, he went into Assyria and built Nineveh. There he had both Ir, Kela, and Rezin between Nineveh and Kela, that is the great city. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lihabim, Naphtuhim, Pashursim,

Kazluhim, whence came the Philistines, and Kaphtarim. Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvidites, the Zimorites, and the Hamathites. Afterward, the families of the Canaanites spread abroad, and the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Adma, and Zeboim, as far as Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth,

children were born. The sons of Shem, Elam, Ashur, Arpashad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram, Asur, Arpashad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpashad became the father of Shelah, and Shelah became the father of Eber. To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Pelig, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Jaktan. Jaktan became the father of Amadad, Sheleph, Hazemarfeth, Jerah, Hadaram, Uzal, Dikla, Obal, Ibama El, Sheba, Ofer, Havilah, and Jabab. All these were the sons of Joktan. The territory in which they lived extended from Misha in the direction of Sefar to the hill country of the east. These are the sons of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah according to their genealogies in their nations,

and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. Now the whole earth had one language and few words. And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built.

And the Lord said, behold, they are 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 now will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down. And there confused their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad, and from there over the face of all the earth,

and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was a hundred years old, he became the father of Ar-Peshad two years after the flood. And Shem lived after the birth of Ar-Peshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters. When Ar-Peshad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. And Ar-Peshad lived after the birth of Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Shelah had lived 30 years,

he became the father of Eber, and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters. When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg, and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters. When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Rehu. And Peleg lived after the birth of Rehu 209 years and had other sons and daughters. When Rehu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Sarug. And Rehu lived after the birth of Sarug 207 years and had other sons and daughters. When Sarug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nehor. And Sarug lived after the birth of Neor 200 years and had other

sons and daughters. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. And Nahor lived after the birth of Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters. When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran was the father of Lot. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth in Ur of the Chaldeans. And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and Iscah. wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and Iscah. Now Sarai was barren. She had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of

Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran. Psalm 2, God's promise to his anointed. Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and his anointed, saying, Let us burst their bonds asunder and cast their cords from us. He who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord has them in derision.

Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, I have set my king on Zion, my holy mountain. I will tell of the decree of the Lord. He said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Now therefore, O kings, be wise. Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and trembling. Rejoice, lest he be angry and you perish in the way.

For his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Father in heaven, thank you so much for your word. Thank you for revealing yourself to us in this story, in the story of the Tower of Babel. We thank you for revealing yourself in even the stories of these genealogies of how the first people on this planet continued to create families. And we ask you to please, as you reveal brokenness in families, let us reveal the brokenness in our own families.

As you reveal how you've worked through broken people, help us to trust you in our brokenness, because we know that you can use all things for your glory, that you can use all things, even for the salvation of the world. You use broken things to make things new, and you use wounded things to make things whole again. And so we just praise you, Father, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Amen. So we had the story of not only the genealogies in chapter 10,

but also the Tower of Babel in chapter 11. One of the things about this is it's remarkable because it seems like this is the last story, the last two chapters before we meet Abram and Sarai. So Abraham and Sarah, we're going to meet them in tomorrow. But today it's the last two chapters in the early world period that are here in the great adventure Bible. And so we have the story of obviously the descendants of Noah, you know, Shem, Ham and Japheth and how those all sons play out. But there's one particular person that he sticks out for me because his name is Nimrod. Cause that's just kind of a, I remember that was like an insult when I was a kid. I think if someone was doing something stupid, call them a Nimrod. I don't know why, but that's what it is. But Nimrod in

chapter 10, it sounds like he's a pretty impressive human being. In fact, it says he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. And he created this kingdom, essentially. Babel, Erech, Akkad, all of them in the land of Shinar. So Babel is Babylon, right? So that's the understanding is ancient Babel is what would come to be ancient Babylon. And Nimrod being the very first of all the people who would establish like a kingdom, all the very first of all the people who would ultimately, in many interpretations,

would become a tyrant in his quest for ambition and his quest for power and his quest for control. So Nimrod sounds like, in our translation, the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition, sounds like that's a pretty impressive guy. And he was an impressive guy. Sounds like he was a positive person, almost like a hero. And yet, as the story unfolds, we realize that in the heart of Nimrod was what was in the heart of the people who created the Tower of Babel. And that is this kind of ruthless ambition. It's this ambition, not for excellence, but an ambition for power. And this is the difference for a lot of us. I mean, because there's a clear teaching in scripture, a clear teaching from our Lord

that excellence is actually to be sought after, that to truly be great is a great thing. Like the desire to be a great saint. I came across the story recently of St. Maximilian Kolbe, and on the eve of his ordination, he had written out his goals. And among his goals, his number one goal, he said, I want to be a saint, to be a great saint. I want to be a saint and a great saint. So that kind of ambition, to be a saint and a great saint even is something that

I think the Lord puts in our hearts. The Lord puts that in our hearts and he wants us to cultivate that. He wants us to really pursue that because that's true excellence. That's actually being who we are made to be and being that person well. That gives glory to God. The opposite of that kind of excellence is what we see with Nimrod. It says, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now, that word, that term before the Lord could be taken as like, you know, in the Lord's sight, just kind of as if his strength came from God and it was an honor to God. But there are some ancient Christian commentaries that say that before the Lord, it went in opposition of the Lord, that in spite of the fact that God had given him these incredible gifts as a descendant of Noah, that Nimrod had used that to accumulate power, to

accumulate control, and simply for his personal self-ambition. And again, why would we think this is possibly a good interpretation of this? Because of chapter 11, where it says, now the whole world had one language and few words. And the people in the land of Shinar, remember that's Nimrod's area, that's where he created his kingdom. It says that they said, come, let us build a city with a tower in its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves. See, the key is not that they wanted to build a big tower. That's fine. That in fact could be impressive. In fact, think about the incredible churches that have been built to honor the Lord, to be places of a sanctuary for the people of God to be able to come together as brothers and sisters, as sons and daughters of the Father,

and give the Father glory. Like incredibly beautiful churches around the whole world. Like that, that's great. That's phenomenal. That's incredible. To build something excellent is not the point. That's not the problem. They say, let us build this and let us make a name for ourselves. And that's the difference between excellence and ambition. That's the difference between wanting to have a life that glorifies the Lord and a life that simply glorifies myself. You know, as we continue these first days, I mean, gosh, we just only started this journey to the Bible. This is going to be incredible. One of the things we can always ask ourselves is, Lord, am I striving to live up to that

call to excellence? Am I striving to live like St. Maximilian Kolbe in his prayer of make me a saint and a great saint, Lord? Not for my own glory, but because that's who you made me to be and I can glorify you, God, when I am the saint you called me to be and created me to be and redeemed me to be. When we do not pursue that,

then there's something in us that is unsettled. There's something in us that is not, we're not being the people we're meant to be. At the same time, we might find ourselves pursuing and racing and chasing, and we might realize that I'm chasing after the wrong thing. I'm racing for the wrong reason. What I'm chasing after is my own fame. What I'm chasing after is my own glory. What I'm chasing after is I want to make a name for myself. I want to be known. Our call as disciples of Jesus Christ is we allow him to give us gifts and then we use those gifts for his glory and for the betterment of the people around us.

Right. It's just, you know, it's like what in one chapter from now, when God speaks to Abram, we're here this tomorrow. God speaks to Abram and says, I will make of you a great name. I will give you a great name. And that's what we want to strive after. Not the fact that I want to make a great name for myself, but I'll receive, I will receive the name that the Lord has for me. I want to glorify his name. Always we want to pursue that excellence. We want to be the people that we're called to be. I mentioned this many times. St. Francis de Sales has this saying, be who you are and be that well. Be who God made you to be and be that well. But to pursue excellence rather than merely pursuing power, influence, fame. That's what the Lord has placed in our hearts. So like

St. Maximilian Kolbe, let's make our resolution today that not to be like a Nimrod, not to be a Nimrod in opposition of the Lord, defiant, wanting to make a name for ourselves. But like St. Maximilian Kolbe saying, Lord, make me a saint and make me a great saint. This has been a great couple days

just beginning our journey together. So I want to let you know I'm continuing to pray for you. Please keep praying for me and we will continue to walk together in the Lord's word for the rest of this year and it's going to be phenomenal.

If you haven't yet, you can text the word Catholic Bible to the number 33777 for updates and whatnot. If you haven't subscribed yet to this podcast, please, I invite you to do that. If you haven't subscribed yet to this podcast, please, I invite you to do that. If you haven't gotten your personal download

of the Bible reading plan, just go to ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year and you can follow along with us while you're reading. We'll follow along with us while you're listening. Anyways, oh my gosh, what a gift to be with you. God bless today and my name's Father Mike. Praying for you.