Pride and the Tower of Babel 2.0

Written by Daniel Prinsloo
There are similarities between what happened at Babel and what we see taking place all over the world and sadly within the body of Messiah also.
Genesis 11:1 “Now the entire earth had the same language with the same vocabulary.”
Genesis 11:4 “Then they said, “Come! Let’s build ourselves a city, with a tower whose top reaches into heaven. So let’s make a name for ourselves, or else we will be scattered over the face of the whole land.”
Genesis 11:9 “This is why it is named Babel, because Adonai confused the languages of the entire world there, and from there Adonai scattered them over the face of the entire world.”
As we grow in knowledge it is as if we’ve been united by a new “language” of knowledge, the internet. We seek within it all of the answers to explain our existence and to explain God and His Word therefor opening a doorway for pride to enter into our lives. 
We become so distracted and confused as we share information that it is “scattering” us, each in his own direction as every person is seeking his own way in the sea of information and gaining knowledge for prideful pursuits. Brothers and Sisters argue over trivial matters that only add to the confusion. That is what the adversary wants, to sow confusion and in such a way create division and discord. 
This is extremely evident within the Messianic and Torah communities. What is supposed to unite us is becoming a divider because we have allowed our focus to be removed from He who brought us together, Yeshua/Jesus.
All the while we as believers are missing the mark that Torah is pointing to and that is to walk in the humility and love of Yeshua/Jesus and upholding His Word and His instructions out of love, not pride. All of Torah was given by God for His children and for us to walk in love and obedience to Him and to always point to His holiness. To walk in Torah is to deny self and to glorify God. Without the love of God within us our knowledge means nothing. We are nothing before His splendor, magnitude and sovereignty.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3 “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith so as to remove mountains but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all that I own and if I hand over my body so I might boast but have not love, I gain nothing.”
We become the very thing we were disillusioned by, institutionalized religion and following a set of man made instructions, customs and traditions instead of being focused on walking in the Way of Yeshua and following His Torah. Believers get caught up in trying to know and understand something in a “new” or an “inspired” way more than the next person as the entrapment of self-knowledge becomes attractive and everyone is seeking for a “divine revelation” from the Holy Spirit when all the answers are given plainly and clearly in God’s Word. Pursuits to obtain “spiritual gifts” that aren’t aligned with the Bible leads to deception. The enemy wants this as he knows his time is short and the hour is very late in an ever darkening world.  
The author of Hebrews describes it best in what we should pursue, Hebrews 12:14-17 “Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble! And make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame will not be pulled out of joint but rather be healed. Pursue shalom with everyone, and the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God; and see to it that no bitter root springs up and causes trouble, and by it many be defiled. Also see to it that there is no immoral or godless person—like Esau, who sold his birthright for one meal. For you know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He found no chance for repentance, though he begged for it with tears.”
Return to the truth and the heart of God’s Word. It’s all about glorifying Him and His Word is a blessing that yields no burdens. In the pursuit of knowledge and being united under one “language” we are becoming “scattered” and disillusioned. We are getting to a point where our pride is creating a world where nobody understands one other and we should be asking ourselves why this is happening. 
Have we allowed our pride to become more important than God’s Word and what Yeshua/Jesus came to proclaim? Have we become loveless in the pursuit of “wisdom”? Have we become as the people of Babel in trying to “reach the heavens” with our limited knowledge and understanding chasing after the next “divine revelation”, obtaining a new “spiritual gift” or understanding Torah in a “new” way. 
We all have the responsibility to study and seek truth, but we have to do so with humility and not in any way glorifying ourselves. All teaching and sharing of Scripture should be done with focus on glorifying God in love, truth and in humility. When you stand before God, you cannot say, "But I was told by others to do thus or follow that." Or that, "Virtue was not convenient at the time." This will not be acceptable. Remember that you have a responsibility that only you have in your faith walk. It doesn’t matter what we or others think is right, what matters is what God determined to be right from the very beginning of His glorious creation.
Regard the words of acclaimed Christian authors regarding pride:
§ “Pride will always be the longest distance between two people.”
§ “For pride is spiritual cancer: it eats up the very possibility of love, or contentment, or even common sense.”
§ “Pride must die in you, or nothing of heaven can live in you.” 
§ “Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.”
Think on these things and ask to be lead in prayer as we live humbly in service to our King, Yeshua HaMasiach/Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:3-6 “Now we know that we have come to know Him by this—if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God is truly made perfect. We know that we are in Him by this-- whoever claims to abide in Him must walk just as He walked.”
Shalom to everyone!
Daniel