It’s a simple story, really: God said to scatter and fill the earth and live under His reign. People decided to stay together and build a great name for themselves. God intervened and made them do what He said in the first place. Let’s break it down a bit.
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. Genesis 11:1
In the course of several generations after Noah, each family unit or tribe may have developed some variations in their speech, but there was still only one language. Slowly, variations of language would develop as each family, tribe or nation becomes isolated from the others. But developing different languages, especially those that are built on entirely different structures and sounds, would take a long, long time to unfold.
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 make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "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." Genesis 11:2-4
It all seems so positive. In fact, if you change just a few factors in their story, it sounds very much like values of this generation: “Let us collaborate in an international alliance of the greatest scientists and scholars, to generate a new technology, enabling us to accomplish what once was thought to be impossible. Together, we can. Our only limitation is a lack of imagination.”
What could possibly be wrong with cooperation? Isn’t unity a good thing? What about peace on earth? Those are, admittedly, fine goals, and God would be pleased with love and cooperation. But this is not healthy unity done for the right reasons. It is unity perverted.
Notice how many times the words “we” and “ourselves” and “us” show up in this short space. Whatever God had said about scattering, filling the earth, and so forth, these families were doing the opposite. They were building a great tower. And I guarantee it was not an office building or apartment building. The passage doesn’t directly say it, but this seems to be some sort of ziggurat—a tower intending to reach up to the very heavens themselves. Either to worship some false god, who they assumed would be way up there at the top, or else to simply build a monument to themselves, and let themselves be the god whom they worship. Humanism at its purest, you might say. Humans are at their lowest when they elevate themselves to the highest places.
Notice what they were looking to do: 1) Make a name for ourselves. 2) Not be scattered over the whole earth.
God sees this going on, and He concludes that if this is allowed to go unchecked, there will be no limit as to what they can do. More accurately,
“Nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”
In other words, “There will be no limit on how perverse things will get if they have no constraints to hold them back.” There would need to be something to hold them back, or they will destroy themselves and everything else.
For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 2 Thessalonians 2:7
Remember how around the time of the great flood, God announced that human lifespans would be limited to 120 years, instead of lasting nearly a millennium? He seems to have performed a global climate change that cut human life by nearly 90%. I think that’s because a man who lives nearly a thousand years is far more dangerous than a man who lives only 120 years. He builds his power base, and doesn’t need a succession plan to keep his dream alive. Imagine a mob boss or a crooked politician whose effective career lasts hundreds of years, rather than decades. Every year that goes by, he entrenches himself further and becomes all the more corrupt. It was untenable.
In the same way, if everyone decides NOT to scatter and subdue, most of the planet will go wild, while one section burns out. The ventures that mankind takes on are not godly and noble, but full of selfish ambition and pride.
If God gets what He wants, who wins? I’m asking, can you think of any commandment God ever gave us that leads us to early death or poor health? I can’t. So when God tells us to do something, is He being selfish and doing us harm, all to stroke His Eternal Ego? What do you think, based on what you know about His character?
On the other hand, can you think of any sin that is good for you? Something that helps you live longer and better? I can’t. The old cunning serpent from the Garden still wants to steal, kill and destroy.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10
What comes is the long-term result if mankind gets what they want? What will they do? Wreak havoc on the earth. Ultimately, nothing good comes of it—even for the very people who dream it up. No, they need to follow the wise command to scatter, fill and subdue, not to gather, build and pollute.
Then, see two things that God does:
V5 “The Lord came down to see”.
No matter how big and clever we think we are, God’s already there! He has to look DOWN on our highest of towers.
V8 “So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth”
No matter how clever we think we are, we cannot thwart God’s plans. Not just “we SHOULD not.” No, we CAN NOT.
How God scatters them is to confuse their languages. And suddenly, communication is difficult, strained and divisive. Sooner or later, they will scatter, and cloister with others who speak the same language.
Was it God’s will to keep people divided by language? Well, He demonstrates on the Day of Pentecost that it was not! Suddenly, Babel is reversed in Jesus, by the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit. God can divide us instantly by language, and He can draw us back together by language just as easily. Such will be our lives in heaven. Praise the Lord!
(To be continued)
