Understanding that all the people on the earth are descended from Noah and his sons, one can’t help but wonder if that is true then why are there so many different types of people and languages?
God had told Noah and his sons to fill the earth which meant they needed to spread out over it. Instead of doing this the people moved eastward and settled as a group on the plain of Shinar in Mesopotamia. They were one unified group of people speaking the same language.
When people speak the same language it is easy for them to communicate. They can share ideas and quickly improve the way in which they do things. The Internet is doing that for us now.
There is no inherent problem in people improving their lives. The problem is that people can become prideful about what they are able to do and forget about their need for God. When this happens they go their own way and do what pleases themselves rather than what pleases God. They start worshipping themselves, other gods, money or things instead of the one, true creator God.
The rebellion against God that happened before the flood happened again after the flood. It has been a continual problem throughout human history and it is a problem for our times too. Although God is long-suffering, all men eventually are held accountable for their rebellion against him.
The Bible relates what happened to the people of the earth who were descendants of Noah.
1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4Then 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.”
5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” (Note: The use of “us” shows the unity of the trinity of God from the beginning, the same as in Genesis 1:27.)
8So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it was called Babel–because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
What’s the Big Deal about this Tower?
In building the tower, the people were trying to make a name for themselves and reach God in their own way. They were full of pride about what they were able to do and thought they could control the future.
God couldn’t let this prideful, self-sufficiency continue. He had promised not to send another flood, so at that time he just stepped in and scattered them over the earth and confused their language.
The result of God confusing the language of the people was that one family group couldn’t communicate with another group and the construction of the city and tower was halted. Each family group was cut off from the others, was moved to a new area and had to start over.
In going to new lands, the people would have taken with them the technology and understanding that had been developed up to that time. They still lived comparatively long lives and could pass information on in their own group. Complex structures like pyramids and towers are found all over the world from this time period on. People kept building huge structures to reach the gods.
Because the family groups were isolated from one another and married within their group that would have caused genetic characteristics such as skin or hair color and facial features to become enhanced leading to different characteristics of people in different places.
The Bible doesn’t speak of different races of people. There is only one human race that was divided into family and language groups that eventually developed into different ethnic groups or cultures. Stories of the flood were carried on in these cultures. Over 270 accounts of a worldwide flood exist in cultures around the world from Babylon to China to South America.
The Tower Makes Since of History
History books relate that civilization sprang up all of a sudden in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East in Sumer and Akkad. Shortly thereafter there were advanced civilizations in Egypt and the Indus Valley and the people spread into China, Europe and even the Americas.
People who don’t believe the Bible can’t explain where these people of different languages originally came from and how all these complex societies arose about the same time period. The account in Genesis of the Tower of Babel makes sense of history, explaining why different language groups and cultures exist and how they developed around the same time.
Accepting the Bible as a trustworthy account of history and believing that God is able to and does intervene in human society enables us to make sense of things that have happened in the past. People who don’t acknowledge God and his hand over all people think that everything has to be explained by natural causes without God. They lack the insight given by God.
Denying the truth of God affects our understanding now just as it did at the time before and after the flood. Psalm 10:4 says, In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Prideful people don’t seek God. When we think too highly of ourselves and don’t seek after God, our understanding will be limited to what we can see or make up on our own. We will miss seeing the larger picture of history, the work of God and the true meaning of life.
- Overview Questions: What were the people trying to do after the flood on the plain of Shinar? Why would that displease God? Why did God confuse their language? What else did God do? What was the impact of God confusing their language and scattering the people across the earth?
- Thought Questions: Why do people elevate themselves and think of themselves more highly than they ought? Why does this displease God? Why doesn’t God put an end to man’s evil once and for all?
- Prayer: Pray that you would really see God for who he is and yourself for who you are in relationship to him. Pray that you would learn to walk humbly with God and not think too highly of yourself. Thank God that you have a free will and that you can freely choose to follow him and love him for who he is. Thank him that in heaven there will be no more evil and that only those who have given themselves to God will spend eternity with him.
- This Week’s Memory Verse: Psalm 10:4 What is the problem with pride?
Proud people don’t seek after God.
In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
Question: Why does pride keep people from seeking after God?