Mission Adam Noah Babylon Abraham Great Commission

Mission Adam Noah Babylon Abraham Great Commission

The Original Mission: Creation and Scattering

Welcome back to Get into the Word. My name is Robbie Galed. Let's go back to the very beginning of the Bible in Genesis 1:27. The Bible says God created man in his own image. He created him in the image of God. He created them both male and female.

Now look at this. God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it." Now, here's what I want you to notice. God creates humanity in his own image, and then immediately he gives them a mission. Go therefore, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

And notice what he doesn't say. He doesn't say, "Find a nice spot and settle in. Get cozy." He doesn't say, "Build something comfortable and stay put." You see, the mission from day one was always to scatter. It was always to spread out, to take the image of God and reflect it into every dark corner of his creation.

The heartbeat of God has always been the same: never accumulation, always replication. It was not about insulation for oneself, but about expansion. And from the first pages of the Bible, we notice that we're destined and designed to be mirrors, walking, breathing mirrors, reflecting God's glory outward into a world he created.

Now, let's fast forward.

Noah and the Fresh Start

Humanity corrupts the earth. Sin is running rampant, and God essentially hits the reset button with the flood. I want you to think of Noah's ark as kind of a floating Eden. It's a fresh start. It's a do-over. It's a recapitulation of creation itself.

And when Noah, after the flood, steps off the boat onto the dry land, I want you to look at what God says to him. God says in Genesis 9:1, these words sound very familiar: "Go therefore and be fruitful and multiply" so that you what? Fill the earth.

And then we get down to verse 6. Very similar language here. God made humans in his image. You see it? "But you, be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it."

Does any of that sound familiar? Where did we just hear that? Oh, I know. In the creation of Adam and Eve in the Genesis account, God just finished saying, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth." It's actually the same command that he gave to Adam. The same mission, the same heartbeat has always been the same for God.

So, at this point, we've heard it twice. God creates, God commissions, God sends. That's always the pattern. That's how he works.

The Rebellion at the Tower of Babel

But then we get to Genesis 11, and the story takes a very dark and very familiar turn. I want you to see what God does in Genesis 11:1–4. This is the story of the Tower of Babel.

The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and they settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make oven-fired bricks for ourselves." They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city. Let us build ourselves a tower high into the sky. Let's make a name for ourselves. Otherwise, we will be" what? "Scattered throughout the earth."

Did you catch that last line? "Otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth." We have uncovered the real issue in the text here. You see, the sin of Babel wasn't primarily about building a tall building to the sky. It was a direct rebellion against the mission of God.

God said, "Go and scatter." And they said, "No, we're actually going to stay right here." They used their shared language, which was a gift from God, not to spread his name—don't miss this—but to insulate themselves. They didn't replicate. They congregated. They huddled up and built a monument to themselves and for themselves.

And when we break it down, they wanted four things. Now watch what they wanted, and I want you to remember this as we continue. They wanted their own authority: "We will reach the heavens." They wanted their own kingdom: "Let us build for ourselves." They wanted their own name: "Let us make a name for ourselves." They wanted their own will: "We will not be scattered."

Every single one of those is a direct reversal of what God commanded, and it's a rebellion dressed up as ambition.

The Chiasm: Understanding Hebrew Literary Structure

Now, here's where it gets really fascinating, and this is the part that most people actually miss. Moses, the author of Genesis, was the one who arranged these stories, and he uses a literary technique that the Hebrews were familiar with called a chiasm. Think of it like a mirror structure.

The sentences at the beginning of the mirror are actually parallel to the sentences at the end of the mirror, where the entire structure funnels toward a shocking center point. Now, the Hebrew writers didn't have bold text like we do today. They didn't have italics or highlighters or capital letters. So, how did they emphasize something? Well, what they did was they used the structure of the sentences to draw people in toward one center main point. Think of it like a greater-than symbol pointing toward the centerpiece.

So, here's how it works. Look at Genesis 11 in chiastic form. The story begins with the whole earth having one language, and then it ends with the language of the whole earth. Those actually mirror each other. Then it goes on to highlight the word "there," where they settled. And then it ends from there, where God scattered them. It moves from "each other" to "each other's language," from "Come, let us make bricks" to "Come, let us mix up their language," from "Let us build for ourselves" to "which mankind has built."

And right in the middle—don't miss this—the very center of the entire structure is this line: "The Lord came down." While they are trying to build up to the heavens, God has to come down just to see their little project.

There's a lot of humor in the text here. They're straining with all of their might to get to the sky, and God has to stoop low, almost comically, to see their little project. And then he confuses their language. He scatters them.

And here's the thing: what felt like judgment to them was really the mercy of God. You see, the curse of Babel was the kindness of God because he stooped low and helped them and kept them from destroying themselves. And listen, you know this as well as I do. God's biggest blessings in my life at times come when he stops my plans before they even start.

Now, here's something that's easily overlooked in the text, and it's important to understand this to get the idea that Moses is trying to communicate with the flow of the narrative.

Chronology and the Law of Recurrence

Genesis 11, the Tower of Babel, actually happens chronologically before Genesis 10. This is a technique in Hebrew called the law of recurrence. The Torah will sometimes do this to prevent people from missing the point of the text. It presents events out of order chronologically to really create tension for the next insight or the next introduction in the text.

And we know what's coming next in Genesis 12. It's the call of a man named Abram. God wants the rebellion of Babel to be fresh on the minds and the hearts of the hearers when they meet Abraham—or Abram—at the time. He wants us to see the contrast in the text.

So, let's pick up the story about Abram at the ripe old age of 75 years old in Genesis 12. Immediately, we're thrust into the story.

The Call of Abram: A Contrast to Babel

And we hear these words. God said to Abram, "Go from your land, your relatives, and your father's house to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will make your name great. I will bless you." You see the repetitive nature here? "And you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you. I will curse anyone who treats you with contempt. And all the peoples of the earth will be blessed through" who? Through you.

Now, let's put Babel and Abraham's call side by side, because the contrast is stunning. At Babel, the people said, "Let us build our own kingdom." God tells Abram, "I will build a nation through you." At Babel, they said, "Let us make a name for ourselves." God tells Abraham, "I will make your name great," and his name's going to be changed to Abraham soon, which means "father of multitudes."

At Babel, they said, "We will rule in the heavens." God tells Abram, "I will bless you, and through you, I will bless the nations." At Babel, they said, "We will never scatter." But God tells Abraham, "Go, leave, multiply."

Did you catch it? Same categories, completely opposite direction. One is built on pride, the other is built on the promise of God.

And this thread doesn't stop with Abraham. It runs all the way through to the life of Jesus.

The Lord’s Prayer as a Reversal of Pride

When Jesus teaches his disciples to pray, I want you to listen to the language of the Lord's Prayer in Matthew 6. Watch the similarities here. It's amazing.

"Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever."

This thread runs through the Lord's Prayer. Notice the comparison. Our Father in heaven—God's authority. Hallowed, or honored, sanctified be your name—his name. Your kingdom come—not mine, his kingdom. Your will be done—not mine, his will.

You see, everything Babel tried to seize for themselves, Jesus surrenders back to the Father.

And this is what you came for. Did you know the same theme and commission is found in the Great Commission?

The Great Commission: The Crescendo of Genesis

Let's go to Matthew 28. If you know anything about me, I'm passionate about making disciples who make disciples. Jesus gives the Great Commission: "All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go."

Now, here's the interesting part. That word "go" is the first word of the Great Commission, and it's a callback to Abraham's commission. It echoes his commission. Remember Abraham: "Go from your land." Jesus says to his disciples the exact same word. And I don't think it's by accident.

And what we're going to see here is in the Great Commission, the entire structure mirrors the reversal of Babel.

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey—or observe—all that I've commanded you. And behold, I will be with you to the end of the age."

Babel said, "Our kingdom." Jesus says no: make disciples of all nations for my kingdom. Babel says, "Our name." Jesus says don't do that: baptize in my name. Babel says, "Our authority." Jesus says, "All authority has been given to me." Babel said, "We won't go." Jesus begins with this one word: "Go," therefore, and then make disciples.

The Great Commission isn't just a New Testament idea. It's really the crescendo of a story that God started writing in Genesis 1. It runs through the rebellion of Babel and culminates with the call of Abraham.

So the question I want to leave you with—and I really want you to sit with this one—is: Which tower are you building? Which kingdom are you advancing? Because every one of us is building something. Every day we build.

Conclusion: Which Tower Are You Building?

With our time, our energy, our resources, our influence, our social media accounts—we're all building something. You see, Babel wasn't a monument to what we can do for ourselves. Babel was about making a name for themselves, separate and apart from God.

And by contrast, the Great Commission is a movement of what God can do when we attempt to make his name great. One stays in one place, the other goes forth. One builds up for themselves, the other pours out for others.

Babel is comfortable. Babel is safe. Babel looks an awful lot like the American dream if we're being honest. Build our name. Accumulate our stuff. Protect our comfort. Stay put. Don't go anywhere.

But the call of God has always been the same. From Eden to Noah, from Abraham to Jesus, and now from Jesus to you and me: Go, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth for the glory of God, and make disciples.

So again, which tower are you building today?

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Until next time, get into the word until the word gets into you.

If you want, I can next turn this into a plain text file or format it as a clean study handout.

a summary outline with key claims

Here is a summary outline with the main flow and key claims.

Summary Outline#

1. Creation establishes the original mission#

• God creates humanity in his image.

• Immediately after creating humanity, God gives a mission: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.

• The speaker’s claim is that humanity was never meant to settle into self-contained comfort, but to spread God’s image outward through the earth.

• Key theme: God’s pattern is not accumulation or insulation, but expansion and replication.

2. Noah repeats the same commission after the flood#

• After the flood, Noah receives language that echoes the creation command.

• The speaker treats Noah’s post-flood moment as a kind of new creation or fresh start.

• Key claim: the mission given to Adam is reaffirmed to Noah, showing continuity in God’s purpose.

• Formula presented: God creates, God commissions, God sends.

3. Babel is framed as rebellion against that mission#

• The speaker argues that the core sin at Babel is not mainly tower-building itself.

• The real issue is refusal to scatter and fill the earth as God intended.

• The Babel builders use God’s gifts, especially shared language, for self-protection and self-exaltation rather than God’s purposes.

• Four Babel ambitions are highlighted:

o their own authority

o their own kingdom

o their own name

o their own will

4. Babel is interpreted through a chiastic structure#

• The speaker says Genesis 11 is arranged as a chiasm, a mirror-like literary structure.

• The center point of the structure is: “The Lord came down.”

• Key claim: the narrative humorously shows the smallness of man’s self-exalting project compared with God.

• Another key claim: what feels like judgment at Babel is also mercy, because God restrains destructive human pride.

5. The “law of recurrence” connects Babel to Abram#

• The speaker says Genesis sometimes arranges events non-chronologically to emphasize theological meaning.

• He argues Babel is positioned so its rebellion is fresh in the reader’s mind before Abram’s call in Genesis 12.

• Key claim: Moses is intentionally setting up a contrast between Babel and Abram.

6. Abram is presented as the reversal of Babel#

• Abram receives God’s call to go, leave, trust, and become a channel of blessing.

• The speaker contrasts Babel and Abram point by point:

o Babel: build our own kingdom Abram: God will build a nation through him

o Babel: make our own name Abram: God will make Abram’s name great

o Babel: seize exaltation Abram: God will bless him and the nations through him

o Babel: refuse to scatter Abram: go, leave, multiply

• Key claim: Babel is pride-driven self-construction, while Abram’s path is promise-driven faith.

7. The Lord’s Prayer reverses Babel’s posture#

• The speaker links the Lord’s Prayer to the same theme:

o your name

o your kingdom

o your will

• Key claim: everything Babel tries to seize for itself, Jesus teaches disciples to surrender back to the Father.

• The prayer is presented as an anti-Babel posture of submission.

8. The Great Commission is the climax of the Genesis pattern#

• The speaker argues that the Great Commission is not a detached New Testament command.

• Instead, it is the culmination of a storyline that begins in Genesis 1, passes through Noah and Babel, and comes through Abram.

• Special emphasis is placed on the word “go.”

• Key claim: Jesus’ command to go echoes Abram’s call and reverses Babel’s refusal to go.

• Additional contrast:

o Babel seeks its own kingdom, name, and authority

o Jesus sends disciples under his kingdom, name, and authority to all nations

9. Final application: every person is building one of two “towers”#

• The speaker closes by turning the biblical contrast into a personal question.

• Babel becomes a symbol for self-made identity, comfort, accumulation, and safety.

• The Great Commission becomes a symbol for mission, fruitfulness, movement, and making God’s name great.

• Final key claim: every person is building something with their life, and the real question is whether it serves self or God.

Key Claims List#

1. The creation mandate is the first form of God’s mission.

2. Noah’s commission repeats that same mission after the flood.

3. Babel is chiefly rebellion against scattering and filling the earth.

4. Babel’s core temptation is self-rule: our authority, our kingdom, our name, our will.

5. God’s scattering at Babel is both judgment and mercy.

6. Abram is intentionally presented as the contrast and reversal to Babel.

7. The Lord’s Prayer teaches the opposite posture of Babel: your name, your kingdom, your will.

8. The Great Commission is the crescendo of a mission that begins in Genesis, not merely a new command in Matthew.

9. Human life still faces the Babel-or-mission choice: self-exalting construction or God-centered multiplication.

Compressed One-Paragraph Summary#

The speaker argues that the Great Commission begins not in Matthew 28 but in Genesis 1, where humanity is created in God’s image and commanded to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. That same mission is repeated to Noah after the flood, but at Babel humanity rebels by refusing to scatter and instead seeks its own authority, kingdom, name, and will. Abram is then presented as Babel’s opposite: instead of building for himself, he is called to go and trust God’s promise to make him a blessing to the nations. The same reversal appears in the Lord’s Prayer, where Jesus teaches submission to the Father’s name, kingdom, and will, and culminates in the Great Commission, where Jesus sends disciples to all nations under his authority. The final application is that every person is building either a Babel-like life centered on self, comfort, and name-making, or a God-centered life of fruitfulness, movement, and disciple-making.

If you want, I can next turn this into a peg-and-rope node outline tied to Genesis → Noah → Babel → Abram → Lord’s Prayer → Great Commission.

a node-style peg map linking Genesis → Babel → Abram → Lord’s Prayer → Great Commission.

Here is a node-style peg map in a simple study format.

Master Rope#

Genesis Creation Mission → Babel Rebellion → Abram Contrast → Lord’s Prayer Reversal → Great Commission Crescendo

Node 1. Genesis Creation Mission#

Primary peg: Image + blessing + commission

Core text

• Genesis 1:26–28

Main idea

• Humanity is made in God’s image.

• Humanity is immediately given a mission.

• The mission is outward: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it.

Key claim from the video

• God’s design from the beginning was not static comfort, but outward expansion of his image and glory.

Keywords / pegs

• image

• fruitful

• multiply

• fill

• subdue

• spread

• reflect

Ropes out

• to Babel: refusal of “fill the earth”

• to Abram: restored “go” pattern

• to Great Commission: disciple multiplication across the earth

Node 2. Babel Rebellion#

Primary peg: Self-made kingdom against God’s mission

Core text

• Genesis 11:1–9

Main idea

• People gather instead of scatter.

• They build for themselves.

• They want a name for themselves.

• They resist being spread over the earth.

Key claim from the video

• Babel’s central sin is not merely architecture, but rebellion against God’s commission to spread and fill the earth.

Four Babel subnodes

1. Our authority

o “We will reach the heavens.”

2. Our kingdom

o “Let us build ourselves a city.”

3. Our name

o “Let us make a name for ourselves.”

4. Our will

o “Lest we be scattered.”

Keywords / pegs

• settle

• city

• tower

• name

• pride

• stay

• gather

• self

Key interpretive peg

• Babel = accumulation, insulation, self-exaltation

• Opposite of Genesis mission = replication, expansion, God-exaltation

Ropes out

• back to Genesis: direct inversion of fruitful/multiply/fill

• forward to Abram: contrast node

• forward to Lord’s Prayer: reversed by “your name / your kingdom / your will”

• forward to Great Commission: reversed by “go”

Node 3. Abram Contrast#

Primary peg: God’s promise over man’s pride

Core text

• Genesis 12:1–3

Main idea

• Abram is told to go.

• God promises to make Abram’s name great.

• God promises blessing through Abram to the nations.

Key claim from the video

• Abram is presented as a deliberate contrast to Babel.

Contrast table peg

Babel

• let us build our own kingdom Abram

• God will build a nation through you

Babel

• let us make our own name Abram

• I will make your name great

Babel

• seize upward greatness Abram

• receive blessing from God

Babel

• we will not scatter Abram

• go, leave, move in faith

Keywords / pegs

• go

• promise

• bless

• nation

• name

• trust

• nations

Key theological peg

• Babel = self-made ascent

• Abram = faith-based obedience under promise

Ropes out

• back to Babel: contrast and reversal

• back to Genesis: renewed outward movement

• forward to Great Commission: nations blessed through sending pattern

Node 4. Lord’s Prayer Reversal#

Primary peg: Surrender back to God what Babel seized for self

Core text

• Matthew 6:9–13

Main idea

• Jesus teaches prayer centered on the Father, not the self.

• The prayer reorients the disciple around God’s name, kingdom, and will.

Key claim from the video

• Everything Babel tried to seize, Jesus teaches disciples to return to God.

Three main anti-Babel pegs

1. Your name

o against “make a name for ourselves”

2. Your kingdom

o against “let us build ourselves a city”

3. Your will

o against “we will not be scattered”

Keywords / pegs

• Father

• hallowed

• kingdom

• will

• daily bread

• forgive

• deliver

Key interpretive peg

• Babel posture = self-exalting ambition

• Lord’s Prayer posture = surrendered dependence

Ropes out

• back to Babel: exact posture reversal

• forward to Great Commission: kingdom-centered outward obedience under Christ

Node 5. Great Commission Crescendo#

Primary peg: Genesis mission brought to fullness in Christ

Core text

• Matthew 28:18–20

Main idea

• Jesus has all authority.

• Disciples are commanded to go.

• The mission now explicitly reaches all nations.

• Baptism and teaching extend Christ’s rule and name outward.

Key claim from the video

• The Great Commission is not a disconnected New Testament command; it is the crescendo of the Genesis mission.

Key parallel pegs

• Genesis: be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth

• Abram: go, and blessing will reach nations

• Great Commission: go, make disciples of all nations

Anti-Babel parallels

• Babel: our kingdom Christ: all nations under my kingdom

• Babel: our name Christ: baptize in my name

• Babel: our authority Christ: all authority is mine

• Babel: we will not go Christ: go therefore

Keywords / pegs

• authority

• go

• disciples

• nations

• baptize

• teach

• with you

Key theological peg

• The mission expands from image-bearing spread to disciple-making spread.

Ropes out

• back to Genesis: fill the earth

• back to Abram: blessing to all nations

• back to Babel: full reversal of refusal to go

Master Contrast Spine#

Genesis

• God creates and commissions

Babel

• man resists and centralizes

Abram

• God calls one man to go in faith

Lord’s Prayer

• Jesus teaches surrender of name, kingdom, will

Great Commission

• Jesus sends disciples outward to all nations

Compact Rope Statements#

Rope 1: Genesis → Babel

• Genesis says fill the earth.

• Babel says stay here.

Rope 2: Babel → Abram

• Babel says make our name great.

• Abram hears God say, I will make your name great.

Rope 3: Babel → Lord’s Prayer

• Babel says our name, our kingdom, our will.

• Jesus teaches your name, your kingdom, your will.

Rope 4: Abram → Great Commission

• Abram is told go, and the nations will be blessed through him.

• The disciples are told go, and disciple all nations.

Rope 5: Genesis → Great Commission

• Be fruitful and multiply.

• Make disciples of all nations.

Central Peg of the Whole Chain#

God’s mission moves outward; human pride pulls inward.

Or even tighter:

God says go outward for my glory. Pride says stay inward for our name.

Possible node tags#

• Creation Mission

• Image of God

• Fruitful Multiply Fill

• Babel

• Name

• Kingdom

• Will

• Abram

• Blessing to Nations

• Lord’s Prayer

• Great Commission

• Reversal Pattern

• Mission Thread

• Anti-Babel

One-line peg summary#

Genesis begins the mission, Babel resists it, Abram restarts it in promise, the Lord’s Prayer reorders the heart for it, and the Great Commission globalizes it in Christ.

I can also turn this into a more formal RCETM-style node sheet with fields like Node ID, Core Claim, Anchor Verses, Contrast Verses, Rope Links, and Wonder Connection.