In the Beginning - The tower of Babel
Historically, this portion of the timeline may have surprised you. So much time passes in just the first few pages of the Bible. We only know snippets of the lives of several righteous people and we’ve seen the population of earth go from something that likely mirrored the population of earth today to a ‘starting over’ of sorts. People go from living 700, 800, or even 900 years to soon averaging no more than 120 year lifespans (Genesis 6:3). In this post-flood era, God still cares about the hearts of man and is aware of what is happening in their lives. We see this in Genesis 11, now years after the worldwide flood.
Genesis 11:1-2 | At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
In Genesis 10, we see the descendants of Noah spread out and disperse across the earth as God had instructed them in Genesis 9. But in chapter 11, there is a group of people who have settled all together in one area to build up a great city for themselves. This city is the same one known later as Babylon, which will be very important on our timeline later!
The self-serving desires of the people in Genesis 11 grow as they become experts at making, hardening, and building with bricks instead of stones like other regions of the world did.
Genesis 11:4 | Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
It may be hard at first to recognize why the tower in Babylonia, known as the tower of babel, was such a problem. But it is riddled with issues. First, almost like an altar built in worship, the people are building something great for themselves, quickly becoming like gods in their own eyes, filled with pride and self-worship instead of worshiping God. Second, their desire to reach the sky should be reflected on with the recent flood in view. They are basically saying, if we do this, then God can’t destroy or scatter us – again, they desire to control their lives instead of surrendering to God and they don’t have faith in God’s promises. These tower builders definitely are not going God’s way.
Genesis 11:5 | But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.
God actually examines their tower. Based on other occasions where we see God on the Earth, it is possible that this is an occasion of God the Son (Jesus) visiting people before His physical birth. Knowing the hearts of the people, God is concerned–
Genesis 11:6 | “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!”
The last thing God wants is another version of the human race from Genesis 6 – a people with hearts so hard that they would not allow themselves to be drawn to God. For their protection, God comes up with a plan –
Genesis 11:7 | “Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
Again, like at creation, the Trinity is all part of this occasion as God says “Let’s” or “Let us,” much like He did when discussing making man in His image. God decides that the best plan is for Him to intervene, creating different languages so that the people in Babylonia are unable to continue building their own empire, which had it risen at this time, may have wiped out people of faith. So-
Genesis 11:8-9 | In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
People group up with those they understand and are dispersed all over the world. Genesis 11 ends with just the lineage of Noah’s one son Shem, following a family tree that underpins God’s people as we come to know them in the rest of the Old Testament.
The tower of Babel and God’s intervention there reminds us of an important Timeless Truth: God alone deserves our worship. The people in Genesis 11 were building a structure that would make them famous or worshiped by others. In their own hearts, they worshiped themselves instead of God already. Praise God that He intervened for their protection and for the reminder to us to avoid building our own kingdoms and to instead, focus on building His because God alone deserves our worship.
What did you learn or what stood out to you about the tower of Babel?
In what ways were the people in Babylonia worshiping themselves?
Why does God deserve our worship?
Why is it important to only worship God?
What are some ways you worship God?
What are some ways you worship yourself?
What other people or things do you worship (serve or put in the place of God in your life)?