Thursday, April 7, 2005 Lenten Fast
Patriarch Tikhon, Enlightener of North America
6th Hour: Isaiah 28:14-22 1st Vespers: Genesis 10:32-11:9 2nd Vespers: Proverbs 13:19-14:6
Genesis 10:32-11:9 LXX, especially vs. 4: "And they said, Come, let us build
to ourselves a city and tower, whose top shall be to heaven, and let us make to ourselves a name...." Here is an example of
human pride run riot. The elements of human vanity are blatantly manifested: a group migrates from the east and finds a
plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwell there (vs. 2). Without considering their debt to God, they think to exalt
themselves and proceed to build a way of life of their own devising. Divine intervention disrupts their scheme. It is ever
an act of grace that awakens men to their need for God, and teaches humility and the inestimable value of the Lord's
wisdom, which exceeds human thought. A man says to his neighbor, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire"
(vs. 3). The neighbor is stimulated by the vision. He joins in the endeavor. They say to one another, "Come, let us build to
ourselves a city and tower" (vs. 4). Where is God in all of this? These men are descendants of Noah. They should realize
that their very life and breath comes from God. In fact, they act as if God does not even exist. They build a city on "God-less-ness." Such is elementary humanism: to act as if God were not, to give Him no place in life as one plans, sets goals,
and carries out projects. "The sinner praiseth himself in the lusts of his soul, and the unrighteous man likewise blesseth
himself therein....God is not before him" (Ps. 9:23,24 LXX).
The Lord perceives that "now nothing shall fail from them of all that they may have undertaken to do" (Gen. 11:6 LXX).
Where is the inborn imperative for the creature to accept boundaries? Life apart from God is delusion and confusion. Let
us heed St. Theophan: "we should feel with our whole heart that we have no one to rely on except God, and that from Him
and Him alone can we expect every kind of good, every manner of help, and victory."
Observe: out of pride our forebears on the plain of Shinar presumed, not just to build a city and a tower, but to erect a city
and a tower "whose top shall be to heaven" (vs. 4). It is the devil's lie to Eve all over again: "ye would be as gods" (Gen.
3:6 LXX). Lucifer's prompting to exalt oneself lurks at the doorstep of us all: "I will go up to heaven, I will set my throne
above the stars of heaven....I will go up above the clouds; I will be like the Most High" (Is. 14:13,14).
Notice what God answers Satan through His Prophet: "But now thou shalt go down to hell, even to the foundations of the
earth" (Is. 14:15). And likewise, the Lord confounded the tongues of the Godless men on the plain of Shinar and scattered
them "over the face of all the earth" (Gen. 11:8). The Lord Jesus plainly warns us against self-exaltation: "For whoever
exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Lk. 14:11).
In Hebrew, the place where the tower was built is called "Babel," which means "Gate of God;" but it is noteworthy that the
word also is a homonym of the Hebrew verb to produce confusion, "balal." Whenever we rely on our own wisdom, ignore
the word of God, and fail to apply His wisdom, even initial success will certainly be followed by confusion and scattering.
The Lord gives us dominion: "Thou hast set [us] over the works of Thy hands" (Ps. 8:5 LXX), yet so often we prefer our
own wisdom: "Let us make to ourselves a name" (Gen. 11:4).
Beloved, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men" (1 Cor. 1:25). May He
deliver us from simple, Godless, proud, self-confident human reasoning! "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the counsel of the saints is understanding: for to know the law is the character of a sound mind." (Prov. 9:10 LXX).
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who loveth mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge, and open the eyes of our
mind to the understanding of Thy gospel teachings.