Last time we
considered the consequences of Noah’s prophecy in Gen. 9:25-28, as he prophetically
outlines the futures of his three sons
Shem, Ham and Japheth.
We are not going to deal with Genesis
10 in any detail since it
consists of a long list of the descendants of Japheth (10:2-5), Ham (10:6-20)
and Shem (10:21-32). The final verse
in Chapter 10 essentially summarizes the
chapter: “these are the clans of the sons of Noah , according to
their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad
on the earth after the flood.”
The Bible teaches us
that mankind originated from one couple, Adam and Eve. As a result of
their disobedience the terrible curse of
sin was introduced into the world. That sin
which has affected every member of the human race caused
God to put an end to that by
causing a worldwide flood to swallow up mankind and all that moves, all except Noah and his three sons and their families – and that
simply because of grace. After the flood, the world
was repopulated once more by
three couples who descended from Noah.
The perfect chance
given by God to Noah and his family to get
it right was missed when Noah got drunk. Sin always has knock- on effects. So, Noah’s sin is followed by Ham’s sin. This has an intriguing effect upon
the future of Canaan, the fourth
of the sons of Ham. The Canaanites became a
proverbial stench in the nostrils of God, for they became an utterly depraved people.
And so, in short, we have
observed that man’s basic sin problem, originating
from the fall of Adam, was not washed away by the universal flood. The problem
was that Noah, though He was
chosen by God[1],
was a sinner himself. And so we should not be surprised that as
Genesis 11 follows, that it
doesn’t get any better. Donald Gowan[2] sees
a progression in terms of an increased alienation of
relationships in these first 11 chapters: husband from wife (Ch. 3),
brother from brother (Ch. 4), children from parents (Ch. 9) and now people from
other people (Ch. 11). Why do we grow
apart? In each of these accounts,
alienation at the human level is caused
and accompanied by alienation of humans from their God. This is seen most
clearly in chapters 3 &4.
Chapter 11 : All
these different languages are actually
a curse !
Ethnologists,
estimate that there
are well over 7000 languages in the world. This clearly makes communication a great challenge. But
where did all these different languages start, since
the Bible maintains that we had a common beginning? The Bible has a plain
explanation for the origins of all languages.
In Genesis 11:5-7 we read: 5 And the LORD came down to see the
city and the tower, which the children
of man had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Behold , they are one
people, and they have all one language , and this is only the beginning of what
they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us
go down and there confuse their language so they may not understand one another’s
speech.”
We are told in no
uncertain terms that the origin of these
many languages is ultimately a matter of God’s judgement. If mankind can co –operate by means
of a common language, then the real danger exists that their wicked hearts will unite to plan evil. So,
language becomes another
judgement from God . Within the span of the first 11 chapter of Genesis we have now seen that there have been three
great judgements upon the whole of
humanity: (i) The fall (ii)The flood (iii) flawed communication
We shall now consider
the judgement at Babel before we
conclude with some vital lessons which from
this story. We shall find here an introduction (11:1) and 5
brief scenes and a conclusion.
Introduction : (11:1)
Genesis
11 introduces us to the fact that the world after the flood once only had one
language , after all people who have a
common origin should have a common language. It is significant that at Pentecost the many languages present were made intelligible
(decoded) by the one gospel – pointing
to the great reverse that comes through
Jesus Christ. One day in heaven people
from every tongue , tribe and nation shall praise God again by
means of one tongue. This is what the prophet Zephaniah anticipates: “For at that time l will change
the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon
the name of the LORD and serve him with
one accord.” (Zeph. 3:9)
5 SCENES:
Scene 1 (11:2)
People were on the move, moving eastward. If the ark came
to rest in Ararat (northern Turkey), and if they moved eastwards they
would have arrived at the plain of Shinar
(in Mesopotamia/ modern day Iraq).
Scene 2 (11:3-4)
The sign of a godless
society is that it makes plans without reference to God:
q
They said to one another, “Come and let us make bricks…”
q
Come let us
build ourselves a city, and a tower…ley us
make a name for ourselves.
Building techniques in southern
Mesopotamia were very different to Egypt or Canaan. According to
D.E.Gowan[3],
“Mesopotamia is a place where no
stone is available for building”. Bitumen is found plentiful in the Gulf region which is rich in oil
deposits. Bitumen is tar, and this they
used to cement the bricks together.
These people had big
plans! They wanted to build a tower that connected earth with heaven. They naively wanted
to bridge the gulf between God and man,
and in the end they wanted to be
like God. This was the original temptation in the garden of Eden – to be like
God, and to take over the place that belongs to Him alone! Archaeology
confirms that towers (or ziggurats) became very popular in this region. The great temple
tower of the Babylonian god Marduk was
discovered at the end of the 19th century. It was aproximately 100
metres high. The highest tower today is
the Burj Khalifa in Dubai (at 830
metres, completed in 2010) followed by the Tokyo skytree (at 634
metres, completed in 2012) Man still
tries to build towers for his own glory
today. But back to the tower of Babel. The purpose for building this tower was that the
people in that day wanted to
make a name for themselves. They
wanted glory for themselves. This is nothing but usurping the
glory of God. It is idolatry, and it is strictly forbidden in God’s moral
law. What God said to Baruch, through
the prophet Jeremiah, should also be our
motto : “And do you
seek great things for yourself? Seek them not… “
(Jer. 45:5) The important
issue in life is that God gets the honour. He, in turn will reward those who
put him first.
Also note: the reason
they wanted to build this tower, was not just to make a name for themselves,
but they
wanted a unifying ‘something’ so that they would not be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. This is
also contrary to God’s will, for the divine will was that they should subdue
and fill the whole earth (9:1).
Ironically they were condemned to suffer what they tried to prevent. The God whom they opposed, scattered them.
Scene 3 (11:5)
This is the
turning point in the whole story. We move from the way men think and
plan about their future to the way God
thinks about things. The tower, which they
tried to build was in reality so tiny
that God had to come down (see the irony!) to see what they were doing ( the language is anthropomorphic). Here is some perspective :
q Psalm 2:1,4 : Why do the nations rage and the
peoples plot in vain? … 4. He who sits
in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
q Isaiah 40:22: “ It is
he who sits
above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and
spreads them out like a tent to live in. “
Scene 4 (11:6-7)
We need to understand
that God is dealing primarily with people’s motives. Building in itself is not evil. The problem lies in the
motive. And so building the tower becomes
a prelude to something worse. Understand then that human beings, precisely because they are created in God’s image,
they are capable of planning incredible
projects. But because they are fallen beings, they easily
turn their gifts from God into
idols. They will glorify their
own gifts, rather than the Giver of their great gifts . So what will God do?
Remember that
God will not destroy the earth
again until Christ’s second return. So He has to intervene to restrain
evil. Incidentally, from the
Scriptures we learn that before Christ return God will remove all restraints so that man’s unspeakable capacity for
evil may take its course. (2 Thess. 2:6-8) .
And so we learn that, for the time being ,God does not give people
unlimited freedom to do their own thing. And so
God restrained them from plotting
further evil by confusing their communications.
Scene 5 (11:8)
In Scene 1 we saw
people on the move, coming to congregate in one place in the land of Shinar. Now they were
scattered by God. Without the ability to communicate in the same language it
was impossible for them to co-operate.
Conclusion (11:9)
This concludes the
results of God’s judgement. The city they aimed to build lies unfinished. Its
name is Babel – the Hebrew form of the Greek, Babylon. Even though the Babylonians understood the name to mean “the gate of God”, by a play
on words, the Bible reinterprets it as “confused”,
and hence the word “babble” – to be incoherent!)
The real comfort is that the city which the anti- Christ seeks to build in
opposition to the heavenly Jerusalem , will never see its finishing touches.
Jesus will overthrow it.
WHAT CAN WE LEARN
FROM THIS? THE MESSAGE OF BABEL :
1. Babel is about lack of communication, and
it is seen as a divine judgement. Languages are ultimately God’s judgement. They are at the centre of
ethnic quarrels. We see how much ink is
spilled on this subject. Communication is much spoken about, and many seminars
are held, because it clearly isn’t happening! Good communication aims
to break down barriers and prevents misunderstanding and isolationism. Fallen man will never be capable to communicate well, since sin and its cousins (pride, selfishness) will
always drive us apart.
2. In the Bible, Babel or Babylon represents the world power in opposition to God.
Nimrod (10:8) an early king of
Babylon was a symbol of rebellion against God. Isaiah describes another king of
Babylon in satanic terms (Isa. 14:13-15). The book of
Revelation uses Babylon as a synonym of worldly opposition to God and His people (Rev. 17 – 19) . In contrast to Babylon
the great harlot who is left naked and
destroyed, we have the picture of the new Jerusalem , the bride of Christ ,
clothed with dignity and His majesty.
3. In the third place we learn, what alone can effectively deal with
this great judgement: On Pentecost
Sunday when the promised Holy Spirit filled those first believers, there
was a great reversal of Babel. Instead of confusion and
scattering, the language barrier was broken down, and people from different
parts of the world heard the word of God in their own language – every nation
was there – descendants of Shem, Ham & Japheth. The gospel of Jesus Christ
was the decoder! And instead of division and separation, these believers were
brought together (Acts 2: 1 – 47).
This is of course a foretaste of that
great day, when in heaven, with one mouth, we
shall glorify God in perfect harmony, and all who can sing now, will sing then , in the words of Psalm
87:1-7:
He has set his
foundation on the holy mountain; 2 the LORD loves the gates of Zion more than
all the dwellings of Jacob. 3 Glorious things are said of you, O city of God: Selah
4 “I will
record Rahab and Babylon among those who acknowledge me— Philistia too, and
Tyre, along with Cush— and will say, ‘This one was born in Zion.’” 5 Indeed, of Zion it will be said, “This one
and that one were born in her, and the Most High himself will establish her.” 6
The LORD will write in the register of the peoples: “This one was born in
Zion.” Selah 7 As they make music
they will sing, “All my fountains are in you.”
There will be
no confusion then, and no lack of
understanding, and no communication gaps!
The problem and enigma of Babel, which
affects us to this very day , will have been solved forever and ever.
We now draw near to the table which God has prepared for us, as we remember with
thankful remembrance that Christ has died to make us one. The miracle of unity
is already at work with in us. It shall be completed on the day of Christ’s
return.
Amen!
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