I am preparing for another adventure, as in a few weeks I will travel to Quebec, Canada to participate in an English Camp. The Orthodox Presbyterian Church has various missionaries throughout the world, and sends short term teams to help them. A few months ago, an email was sent challenging us to ask God what we could do to support these efforts, with a list of various opportunities. With my nest empty for the whole summer, I felt God’s call that this was a time for me to help.
There were many needs that I could not meet, even with God’s strength. Needs for skilled electricians and construction workers to help rebuild after Superstorm Sandy, more construction needs in Japan, medical missions to various points in Africa. But then a category caught my eye- work with children. I could do that! And Quebec is only 10 hours away. After some time in prayer, I felt this was God’s call to me, and I set the process in motion to go.
But one nagging question keeps coming up- “Do you speak French?” Hmm….I took it in High School many years ago- and was not very good at it then. I have traveled to a few countries where French is spoken, but if I tried speaking French there, it must have been painfully obvious that I was not good at it, because people always replied in English! I have gotten a dictionary, and Pimsler language CD’s, but don’t have much time for a crash course. And I find myself quite frustrated when I try to remember and pronounce French words.
Then I remember that God made it this way. “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people 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 dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man 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 will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them 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 dispersed them over the face of all the earth.”(Genesis 11:1-9)
The people are concerned with making a name for themselves, gathering together in a city and disregarding God’s command to “fill the earth and multiply”. They are prideful and arrogant, thinking of themselves more highly than they ought. I find it interesting that this is after God has destroyed all but Noah and his family in the flood. It does not take long for sin to corrupt the world again.
God is, of course, omniscient, and had no need “to come down to see the city and tower”. This is rather an indication that His judgment is always perfect and fair, based on His divine knowledge, not only of actions, but of the motivations of the heart. In Hebrew the word Babel means to confuse, but to Babylonians, it meant “gate of god”.
So frustration in communication with those who speak another language is part of God’s judgment for man’s pride. And it is really a grace, because it draws us more to rely on God than on other fallen humans. It is often when we feel most isolated and alone that we turn to God with total surrender.
This frustration will not remain forever. When Christ returns and God judges the whole earth, Zephaniah tells us “For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples
to a pure speech,
that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord
and serve him with one accord.” (3:9)
This is a reversal of the curse of Babel, which divided people from each other. God promises to draw together all of His people to worship Him together. “From beyond the rivers of Cush
my worshipers, the daughter of my dispersed ones,
shall bring my offering.”(3:10)
And God promises further that “On that day you shall not be put to shame
because of the deeds by which you have rebelled against me; for then I will remove from your midst
your proudly exultant ones, and you shall no longer be haughty in my holy mountain.”(3:11) This is the restoration of our relationship to God through the mediation of Christ. And this restoration means perfect peace for all of God’s people.
“But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly.
They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord, those who are left in Israel;
they shall do no injustice and speak no lies,
nor shall there be found in their mouth a deceitful tongue.
For they shall graze and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.”(3:12-13)
To do no injustice and speak no lies are attributes of God. We are promised to be made perfect, as He is perfect, a process that he carries out through the rest of our lives here on earth. We call this sanctification.
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”(1 Peter 1:13-16)
Of course, God does not expect this perfection on our own. Nor does He tell us to be holy before we come to Him. As the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to reveal Jesus Christ to us, we are given this holiness in ever increasing amounts.
I will try to keep this in mind as I struggle with French!
soli deo gloria,
Diane