April 30, 2023: Worship Service Family Worship Series No.12 ,"Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel”　

We will think about the two stories of Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel today.

These stories are famous, but do you mean to link them? 

Yes, I do. The story of Noah's Ark has many animals in there, making it fun for children, and the people in the story of the Tower of Babel are descendants of Noah, so it will be helpful to know what happened after Noah.

OK! Let's get started!

One day, God said to Noah. " Noah! This world has become full of evil. I am so sad that I regret having created humankind. I will protect you and your family, and I will cause a flood to destroy all humankind." Noah said, “Dear God, please give the villagers a chance for salvation. I will tell them this story and bring them to repentance." However, this caused Noah to be treated as a madman by the people, and no one believed his story.

Nevertheless, Noah did not give up. And while persuading the people, he began to build the ark on top of the mountain with his wife, and his three sons and their wives as God had commanded.

When Noah finally finished making the ark, he warned the villagers again, but they did not believe him to the end, so Noah's family gathered the animals into the boat in pairs, one male and one female. Then they fastened the door.

As the ark door closed, it began to rain. People ran for cover, but it was too late. In the end, they drowned and died.

The rain continued to fall for 40 days and 40 nights. Finally, the land dried up, and everyone could get out of the ark. Then God promised Noah's family, "From now on, I will bless your descendants abundantly."

God showed them a rainbow as a sign of His promise. First, Noah's family pitched a tent to worship God and prayed there. It was a new start for humankind.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. After a while, Noah's descendants forgot God’s first blessing and began to live selfishly away from God’s will. 

Noah's descendants spoke in one language, but about 100 years later, they devised high technology to make asphalt and bricks instead of stone. They said, "Let us make our ideal city! We should build a tower so high that it will reach to the heavens and create our nation that will surpass even God!" They united and started to build the tower.

God was very disappointed and mad when He heard their ideas.

After that, God confused them and made them speak many different languages. Finally, the tower was left unfinished, and the people were scattered all over the world according to their languages.

Today's story was a long one. Thank you so much.

How many languages are there on the earth today? 

The construction of the tower failed. Does it mean that there are now many different languages in the world?

I heard there are about 6,900.

Wow! That's a lot. I guess it is easier to have one language. By the way, you said that the people who tried to build the Tower of Babel were descendants of Noah.

Noah's sons were Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and we know that Nimrod was a descendant of Ham. He was a man of such power that he built the cities of "Nineveh" and "Babel," which became the capitals of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires.

Does the name Babel mean anything to you?

Babel is the name of the land, and it means "confusion”.

God trusted Noah's family and let them live, but Ham's descendants were going against God. It means that no one will ever be able to please God forever. That's why God sent Jesus into the world, didn't He?

That's right. The history of humankind began with Adam being blessed by God, but as human beings gradually gain power, they become arrogant and feel that they can live without God, or rather, they want to create their own rich world. Maybe our world today is the same. Is it the confidence that we can live well enough on our own? But is that the case?

The Bible tells us that although God created the heavens and the earth and loves and nurtures humankind with all His heart, people are foolish beings who do things that go against His will. When we have problems, we desperately ask God for help, but when we get it, we lose gratitude and gradually return to our selfish lives. We should always be thankful. So let's praise and pray. Sophia, please pray for us.

Yes, I will.  Dear Father, we worship you, and we talked about Noah's Ark and the Tower of Babel. I am so sad and ashamed to think that God felt like destroying human beings. God loves us, but we often grieve Him without realizing it. It is the same for me. Please forgive me. Please help us to be pleasing to God. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.