Daily Devotions
Tuesday, June 3, 2025
Genesis 11:1-3a, 4b-9a – 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 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 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.
This story has a lot to say about words and names. In the beginning, the people of Babel all speak the same language—they have the same names for everything. And they are using that gift of unity to disobey God’s command to multiply and spread out across the whole earth.
They don’t want to do that. Instead, they plan to make a name for themselves by building a glorious tower. And then they will stay in the shadow of that tower forever, defying God’s will.
Of course they come under judgment. They want to make a name for themselves? Fine. God takes away all the other names they had in common, the names for common things—“Bricks.” “Mortar.” “Tower.” “Food.” Their single language is shattered into many languages, and they can’t cooperate any longer. They have lost the words that made it all possible.
That is the end of their tower, and the end of the name they tried to make for themselves. Because that’s what happens whenever human beings try to glorify themselves—disaster comes on us. Our lives fall apart. Making a name for ourselves isn’t such a great idea after all, especially when it involves putting our own wishes and plans ahead of God’s.
But then God sent His own Word into the world, not to destroy it but to save it. The Word of God came down from heaven and was born as a human being, Jesus our Savior. He suffered, died, and rose again to cleanse our proud, sinful hearts. And now He brings us all back together as one people saved by Him, the redeemed human race.
Jesus didn’t come to make a name for Himself. He came to rescue us and to glorify His Father. And that is why God bestowed on Him the Name that is above every name, “so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow … and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:10a, 11).
WE PRAY: Lord, let me carry Your Name, as a Christian redeemed by You. Amen.
This Daily Devotion was written by Dr. Kari Vo.
Reflection Questions:
- Do you know what your name means?
- Did Jesus worry about making a name for Himself? How do you know?
- What does Jesus’ own name mean? What does it mean for you?
Today's Readings:
Psalms 61-62, 65John 13:21-38