Following the Living Way - Jesus Christ

The Tower of Babel & Mankind's Current Enterprise

Here is my latest article for the church newsletter.

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:1-4)

This is a very peculiar story. At first glance, it seems almost silly that God would want us to know this information, and that He would take space in His Word to describe this scene. What could a tower built thousands of years ago have to do with us, aside from describing the origin of different languages? Actually, I believe this is a story that is even more relevant to us than to people in past centuries.

The “whole world” at this time consisted of the descendants of Noah, the only survivors of the Flood. But we should not underestimate how many people could have been involved here – this incident took place in the time of Peleg, the great-great-great grandson of Noah, and according to Genesis 10 there were many people on the earth. Yet all of Noah’s descendants knew the same language and speech.

God had commanded the descendants of Noah to spread out over the earth and fill it. Instead, they gathered together in the plain of Shinar. This is the land of Babylon (modern-day Iraq). In the Bible, Babylon is the city of evil, the city of man’s rebellion against God, the city representative of a proud and evil world. In Revelation, Babylon is the evil city at the end of history that rules over the whole world. The location here in Babylonia should alert us to the fact that something bad is going on.

The people decided to use baked bricks instead of stone to build this tower. The text seems to imply that this was a new technology for them. They decided to use their newfound knowledge to build a city, and the architectural masterpiece of the city would be a tower that reaches to the heavens. Did they think they could reach God? Or was this some astrological method of worshiping the stars (which many pagan peoples did)?

Whatever the specific spiritual purpose of the tower was, the overall purpose of the city and tower was to “make a name for” the people, and to prevent their being scattered over the earth. This was a project of arrogance, designed to show how strong and smart they were, and a project of rebellion which (they believed) could keep them from having to obey God.

So, Genesis 11 tells a story of:
1) The whole world of human beings united together,
2) with one common language,
3) using new technology
4) as the basis for arrogant self-expression,
5) and rebellious disobedience to God.

Does that sound like it relates to today’s world?

Many people, both religious and secular leaders, are talking about the incredible potential mankind has, the things we can accomplish together with technology, how we are “one world community.” There are, of course, many wonderful things that technology can do. But we who know the Lord’s Word know that all the technology in the world cannot fix the sin in the human heart.

Don’t ever fall for the lies stating we can all be “one humanity.” We are not one. Those of us who follow Jesus Christ are in opposition to those who follow this world’s ways. That’s not because we are elitists; it’s because we’re following One who does things completely differently, One who is opposed to the selfish pride of mankind. We want those who follow the ruler of this world to come over to God’s side, but God’s ways will always be opposed to sinful man’s ways.

Don’t believe the lie that we can create the kingdom of God on earth. Jesus Christ Himself will bring God’s kingdom to earth. We can get glimpses, or foretastes, of that kingdom through the Holy Spirit’s power, through experiences with God, through loving each other. But the full kingdom will come with Jesus, not because we make it happen. Sinful humanity, separated from God and refusing to come to terms with Him through Christ, will never build anything godly. That’s the lesson of the Tower of Babel, and it’s a powerful reminder to us living in this world.

posted by Rob @ 11:09 AM