I mentioned the Tower of Babel story (Gen. 11:1–9) in chapter 11, which examined how ancient biblical people understood their world. Genesis 11 isn’t the only passage that talks about that event. Deuteronomy 32:8–9, one of the most important passages in the Old Testament for understanding the worldview of the people of the Bible, does as well. The ESV translates it this way:
When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he divided humankind,
he fixed the borders of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.
But the LORD’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
When God divided the nations—the punishment at Babel when the languages were confused—he distributed them among “the sons of God.” Some Bible translations have “sons of Israel” instead of “sons of God.” But Israel didn’t exist at the time of the Tower of Babel. God called Abraham and began the nation of Israel after Babel (Gen. 12). “Sons of Israel” can’t be right. “Sons of God” is also what the Dead Sea Scrolls say, the oldest manuscripts of the Bible. The ESV has it right.
Deuteronomy 4:19–20 is the opposite side of that coin. That passage has God allotting these other gods to the nations he dispersed at Babel. These two passages associated with the rebellion at Babel are the Old Testament’s explanation of why the other nations worship other gods: it’s divine punishment from the God of Israel.
So the Tower of Babel event is similar to Romans 1, where Paul tells us that God gave humankind over to its own rebellion. Because the nations would not obey him, God basically gave humanity over to lesser gods. God gave them what they wanted—other gods to follow. The result was self-destruction and idolatry.
This event, alongside the call of Abraham and origin of Israel that followed (Gen. 12), frames the rest of the Old Testament. It explains the spiritual conflict of Israel’s God against other gods and the nations in hostile opposition to Israel. Sadly, the gods of the other nations seduced God’s own portion, Israel (Deut. 17:1–3; 29:22–28; 32:17).
This conflict extends into the New Testament as well. Paul rarely uses the word “demons” to describe the spiritual opposition we face. He uses words like “principalities,” “powers,” “thrones,” “dominions,” and “authorities,” which all convey the idea of geographical rulership. The message is that the whole world is under the dominion of unseen powers of darkness, save for those who are in Christ. Babel explains why that is so.