DRAWING NEAR
How has modern science or technology affected your life in good ways? In bad ways?
THE CONTEXT
The years have rolled forward, and Noah and his family have now settled into their home in the “new earth” after the Flood. They begin to repopulate the planet as God has instructed. Over time, the descendants of Noah begin to build towns and villages and cities.
At this point in history, all mankind speaks one language—probably the language that Adam spoke with God in the garden of Eden. Having one common language made it possible for mankind to unite together in carrying out great projects. In this chapter in Genesis, we will see how they would use that gift: to build a great city that would bring glory to themselves.
God looks down and sees that mankind has not changed since the Flood. Man is still intent on becoming a god unto himself, excluding the lordship of his Creator. This time, however, the Lord does not send a great flood to destroy mankind from the face of the earth. Instead, He confuses man’s language, making it difficult for humanity to join together in an effort to become “like God.” This confusion of languages will also lead to the dispersion of mankind throughout the planet—which is what God had commanded man to do in the first place.
KEYS TO THE TEXT
Read Genesis 11:1–8, noting the key words and phrases indicated below.
ONE LIP: The entire human race shares one language, which enables men to unite together for great projects.
11:1. WHOLE EARTH: This most likely means roughly the area that we would now refer to as the Middle East. At this point, the descendants of Noah—who constitute the whole human race—have not spread throughout the planet. God had commanded Noah, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1), but his descendants had apparently disregarded this injunction. Filling the earth would have required that men separate and strike out on their own—a prospect that involved risk. It was far easier to band together and build cities, enabling men to rely on themselves and one another rather than stepping out with faith in God.
ONE LANGUAGE AND ONE SPEECH: Literally, “one lip and one word.” This phrase emphasizes with its repetition that all human beings spoke the same language and had the same vocabulary—they used the same words and phrases. Modern Americans, for example, speak the same language as modern British people, yet the two cultures differ in vocabulary and turns of phrase. Such differences even exist within cultures; one can find distinct differences of dialect as one travels throughout the United States. But such differences evidently did not exist at all in man’s early history. This unity of speech made communication easy and enabled mankind to unite and work together cooperatively. Also, it is important to remember that man alone had the gift of speech—a gift that God had given to Adam specifically so that he could communicate with Him and other people. In this chapter in Genesis, we discover that mankind has always corrupted God’s gifts for his own pleasures.
2. AS THEY JOURNEYED FROM THE EAST: Many translations render this, “as they journeyed eastward.” If the Mount Ararat where the ark landed is the same Ararat that we know of in modern Turkey, then it seems likely that Noah’s descendants moved toward the east—provided, of course, that the Tower of Babel was built in Babylon, which is located in modern-day Iraq. Obviously, we cannot be entirely certain of the exact locations of these sites.
SHINAR: Probably Mesopotamia.
THE GREAT PROJECT: We will now watch and see what mankind will do with his gift of unity and communication. God, as it turns out, is also watching.
3. THEY SAID TO ONE ANOTHER: This is the first subtle hint that men were turning to themselves rather than to God. There is nothing wrong with people uniting together to create things—indeed, this is part of what it means to be made in God’s image. It quickly becomes apparent, however, that man was still trying to become his own god rather than submitting himself before his Creator.
LET US MAKE BRICKS: Here we see mankind acting in the image of God, creating things that didn’t exist before (although man is limited to creating from existing materials, while God can create something out of nothing). This is an early example of people coming together to invent new technologies.
THEY HAD BRICK FOR STONE: Here we see mankind also uniting to overcome environmental obstacles. There apparently was not any stone in the region that was suitable for construction, but this shortage did not stop man from accomplishing his goal.
GLORY TO MAN: The true nature of man’s heart is now revealed: he is seeking his own glory. Man is trying once again to worship himself rather than his Creator.
4. LET US BUILD OURSELVES: Here we discover a problem: mankind’s focus was on itself, not on God. By making this statement, the people were revealing the true motivation of their building schemes.
A CITY: Archeologists believe that this city was the early foundation for what would become Babylon. The city of Babylon is important in Scripture, as it represents the worldly enemy of the people of God.
A TOWER: This may have been a ziggurat, a large structure composed of concentric squares rising to a great height. Such structures were fairly common in the Babylonian region and were generally used as temples to pagan gods.
WHOSE TOP IS IN THE HEAVENS: This was actually an ancient form of humanistic thinking: that mankind could raise itself to become equal with God. In Genesis 3 we saw where this lie originated, yet man still thinks this way in modern times.
LET US MAKE A NAME FOR OURSELVES: Man’s underlying goal is again revealed: bringing glory to himself and his achievements. There is no mention of God—whether seeking His will, bringing glory to His name, or even obeying His commands.
LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD: This was man’s one reference to God’s commands—and it was a determination not to obey them. Man was determined not to obey God’s instructions to spread out and populate the entire earth, so God would have to force man to obey. It is worth noting that man appeared to be afraid of spreading out across the earth. There is an interesting paradox here: mankind’s motives were a combination of pride, hoping to bring glory to itself, and fear—fear of being “scattered abroad.” To be “scattered” is to be forced to move abroad, whereas God had commanded them to “fill the earth”—something that would have been done voluntarily. Man simply could not accept the concept of God telling him what to do. He wanted to be his own god.
GOD INVESTIGATES: The Lord Himself descends to earth—not to bring judgment, but to seek for a way of extending grace.
5. THE LORD CAME DOWN TO SEE: In Genesis, God generally came down to earth in physical form to bring judgment. However, His motivation in such “reconnaissance missions” was always to seek an opportunity to extend grace. Here we find Him coming to the earth to investigate the great city and tower that mankind was building, and it is likely He was doing so to see if He could defer His judgment.
6. THE PEOPLE ARE ONE: Here we discover an interesting insight that goes directly against the universal thinking of modern mankind: it is not good for fallen humanity to be united as one! God declared that it was dangerous for sinful mankind to be so united. It was, in fact, an act of divine mercy when He frustrated men’s language and scattered them abroad.
NOTHING THAT THEY PROPOSE TO DO WILL BE WITHHELD FROM THEM: The implication of this statement is that if God were to withhold His hand, man would go from bad to worse. His observation that “this is what they begin to do” suggests that the human race was heading back toward the level of depravity they had reached during the days of Noah when God was forced to slay all the living. If God did not intervene quickly, the entire human race would slip back into the deepest levels of wickedness.
GOD’S MERCIFUL JUDGMENT: The Lord pronounces His judgment and scatters mankind abroad for its own protection.
7. LET US: God is speaking to Himself, just as He did when He decided to create mankind in the first place (see Genesis 1:26).
CONFUSE THEIR LANGUAGE: Again, as we have discussed, God was actually being merciful at this point, because the united civilization was heading rapidly toward major disaster. By making it difficult to communicate together, God effectively forced men to divide themselves into independent cities and nations. It is interesting how hard we have strived to overcome this barrier today. We are in an age of increasing worldwide communications, and the Internet, satellite communications, smartphones, and other technologies are coming together to close the language gap. On the surface this seems like a good thing, but the book of Revelation reveals that the global reunification of mankind will ultimately end in disaster.
8. THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD: Man’s worst fears were realized. Ironically, this scattering did not bring destruction to mankind; on the contrary, it led to man’s dominion over the entire planet. Although men may refuse to obey God, they will ultimately be forced into compliance. God’s will shall be done, whether man wills it or not. In the end, “every knee shall bow . . . and every tongue shall confess” (Romans 14:11)—voluntarily or otherwise—that Jesus Christ is Lord.
9. BABEL: A play on a Hebrew word meaning “confusion.” Again, the location is uncertain, but it is probably the ancient city of Babylon, located in modern-day Iraq.
UNLEASHING THE TEXT
1) What exactly was mankind doing in this passage that was displeasing to God? Why were they doing these things? Why was God not pleased?
2) Why did God want people to spread out and populate the earth?
3) Why do you think the descendants of Noah failed to follow this command?
4) When have you experienced the frustration of poor communication? When has a misunderstanding worked out for good in your life?
EXPLORING THE MEANING
Man’s greatest achievements cannot remove the curse. From the beginning of human history, people have tried to elevate themselves above the constraints of earth and, ultimately, above the curse of death. It was Adam’s desire to elevate himself to the level of God that brought the curse on mankind in the first place. We see the same behavior repeated at the Tower of Babel.
Mankind has not changed over time, and we are still pursuing the same futile dream in the twenty-first century. We are driven by the hope that modern science, medicine, technology, and other fields of study will enable us to one day evolve into a higher plane of existence beyond the threat of disease and death. Even our present-day space exploration represents an attempt by people of different nations to cooperate, communicate, and work together—again in the hopes of escaping the confines of their earthly environment.
However, the Bible is clear: wherever man goes, he carries the curse of sin along with him. There will never be any escape from death until God Himself sets up His eternal kingdom (see Revelation 21:1–4).
Man’s natural instinct is to abuse God’s gifts. We saw this principle at work right at the beginning, when Adam abused his privileged status by choosing to disobey rather than to obey. We see it again in Genesis 11, when mankind used the gifts of speech and creativity to bring glory to self rather than to God.
This is the natural tendency of man: to elevate self to equality with God in an effort to avoid being accountable to the Creator. The end result is always the same: man is alienated from his fellow men and also from God. The good news, however, is that this is not the natural tendency of regenerate man. We are given freedom from the bondage of our sinful nature through the Holy Spirit, who enters our lives when we accept God’s gift of rebirth through the blood of Christ. Through Jesus, we gain a new set of gifts—spiritual gifts—and learn a new way of using those gifts to the glory of God.
God is always working to offer grace. God often descended to earth in the book of Genesis because the sin of mankind had reached a point of crisis. He came down to investigate and see whether the reports of man’s wickedness were true. This was not because He lacked knowledge—because He didn’t know for sure—but because He was looking for a way of offering grace to sinful human beings.
We saw this in the garden of Eden, when God came to Adam and led him to confession of sin (see Genesis 3). God confronted Cain and offered him guidance on how to repent and avoid greater sins (see Genesis 4). He would later come to Abraham to seek a way of avoiding the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (see Genesis 18). And He came to the Tower of Babel, looking for a way to prevent mankind from completing their reckless path toward destruction.
Ultimately, God would come to earth in human form in the person of Jesus Christ. This would be the ultimate act of grace and redemption, bought at the ultimate price: His own death on the cross. Yet this also shows us how much God desires to be reconciled with mankind.
REFLECTING ON THE TEXT
5) In what ways are modern societies repeating the mistakes of the people at Babel?
6) When have you relied on other people, or on technology or science, rather than on God? When have you been forced to rely on God alone?
7) When have you tried to avoid obeying God’s Word? What was the result?
8) How have you seen God’s grace in your own life?
PERSONAL RESPONSE
9) Are you using the gifts of God for your own profit or for His glory? Is your life characterized more by your own glory or the glory of God?
10) In what area is God asking you to be more obedient to Him?