Episode 258 - The Dispersion of Nations - Genesis 11:1-9

Gen. 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 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. 4 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.” 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 that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Here we are at another familiar story from the Old Testament: the Tower of Babel. The funny thing about Bible stories is that it’s not uncommon for people to give the stories a title that really misrepresents what the story is about. This story is really not about a tower.

So what is it about? Well, remember that at the beginning of time and after the flood, God commanded people to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. In short, have babies and spread out. This command helps set the context for what happens in this story. It’s also helpful to remember that we’ve already witnessed that humanity still has a sin problem.

The story begins with Noah’s descendants still sharing a common language, and they migrate to a place where there are natural resources on which to survive. The name Shinar means “between two rivers.” These are likely the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and would mean they settled in the area that is part of modern-day Iraq. Certainly, the rivers would have supported whatever agriculture they were doing and even hunting since animals would have also needed water. But we read that they recognize they have the resources to make bricks and build structures. (v.3)

In verse 4, we learn about the intentions and collective spirit of the people. “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.” They have lofty dreams of building a city with a magnificent tower. As a child I was taught that they believed they could reach God by building a tower “with its top in the heavens.” I don’t think that’s the point because first of all, they don’t say that’s their purpose and secondly, they express their purpose immediately afterward, “let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” (v4b) What’s wrong with this?

Let’s begin with the expression, “let us make a name for ourselves.” From the opening verses of Genesis names have been important, haven’t they? When God created things, he named them. He gave them their identity. Then, when he created humanity in his image, he gave Adam the responsibility of naming the animals. Adam also named Eve. It seems to me this expression, “let us make a name for ourselves,” reveals a sense of pride that is indirectly saying, “We don’t need God.”

The second part, “lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth,” is a bit more obvious. God had made it clear that he wanted the people to fill the earth. But what appears to be the entire population of the earth seems to join together in saying, “No! We’re not going to do that.” The conflict of this story is not the tower. The conflict is the hubris of the people to defy God collectively.

I love verse 5. “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” I’m not sure. But I suspect we’re supposed to laugh because the LORD had to come down to see it. They think they’re building something grand. But it’s like God needs a magnifying glass to see it. Then, he qualifies this project as something built by “children of man.” Is there a hint of “Isn’t that cute” embodied in that statement? Perhaps I’m reading too much into that. But if it’s not somewhat sarcastically humorous, it should probably cause a bit of tension in the reader. In this case, we should feel like we’re among the conspirators when someone says, “Uh oh. Here comes the LORD.”

Verse 6 gives us the LORD’s quick and precise assessment of their actions and the implications of it. The bottom line is that if he let this defiance go unchecked, nothing would stop them from that mindset of doing what they wanted to do and not following the LORD.

Verses 7 and following give us the LORD’s solution to stop their current act of defiance and, in turn, lead them to obey the LORD’s command to fill the earth. He confused their language so they could not communicate and cooperate to collectively continue their disobedience.

This story does serve to provide details about how the people listed in the table of nations from the last chapter got to where they are and how they came to develop different languages. However, we should not miss the theological principle that mankind may defy the LORD, but even with a concerted and collective effort, we cannot thwart God’s ultimate plans. He will accomplish it.