Apparently, humans are nothing if not predictable. We've cycled from blessing to rebellion to divine rebellion to utter destruction and then to a fresh start from which we could pursue flourishing ... and yet, here we are at Genesis 11.

Through the waters of judgment, God washed the earth clean of the violence and lawlessness brought on the by offspring of the divine rebellion and God initiated a covenant never again to destroy the earth with water. Afterward, He blessed Noah's family and renewed the original mandate to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. I'm sure everything felt ... new.

To some degree, everything was new, except the human heart. God commanded us to spread out on the earth and to prosper under His name. Instead, we sought to stay together and make a name for ourselves.  Instead of being content for God to come dwell with us, we thought we'd make our own way to Him by building a mighty tower to the heavens.

When God descended to see what we were up to, He rightly assessed that our unity, though productive and mighty, was still centered around man-made accomplishment and pride. Together, united in purpose, there was no destruction we couldn't and wouldn't bring on ourselves. The autonomy He provided was the very thing exposed by Babel; the human instinct and pension for self-exaltation.

So God took action, again, to set us on the path He intended all along. He confused our languages and scattered the people throughout the earth. Genesis 10 actually lays out what is known as the Table of Nations, a list of 70 nations resulting from the scattering at Babel. This number will come up again as we see this cycle of rebellion and redemption continue in later weeks.

Babel wasn't about the city, the tower, or ultimately even the language. It was about mankind once again taking his own path instead of trusting God; about rampant pride and self-exaltation. It was ultimately about identity: "Let us make a name for ourselves." This phrase will be the key to the every devotion this week.

Our entire culture right now is oriented towards the exaltation of self. We are told to pursue our "real self" instead of trusting in God to define who we are. On some extremes this ends up in issues like gender dysphoria, while on others, uncontrolled arrogance and a lack of empathy. The algorithms of a social media driven landscape have only made this worse in recent years.

As you navigate your daily life, how do you find yourself "making a name for yourself" versus allowing God to define who you are?

Father, I have an innate bend towards self-preservation, pride, and self-exaltation. Forgive me for the times I try to "make a name for myself" instead of trusting in You to define who I am. Give me strength to remain humble and dependent on you. Amen.