Genesis 11
The Tower of Babel
The Gatherers Bible Study group took a brief break from their journey along Route 66. They refreshed their coffee cups, stretched their legs, and chatted amongst themselves. When they returned to the table, they reviewed going over what they had already passed through. The Creation. Adam and Eve. The Garden of Eden. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Cain and Abel. Noah and the Flood.
Once they were done with their review, Fuller continued the journey with Genesis 11:1. “‘And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.’”
Staci looked over at Fuller. “What language did everyone speak at this time?”
Fuller shrugged. “I’m not really certain. I imagine though it may very well be the language we’ll speak in heaven.”
“Really?”
“At any rate, we’ll all be able to speak the same language,” King replied. “There will be no communication problem. We will all understand one another quite clearly.”
Fuller nodded. Then he continued by reading Genesis 11:2 - 3. “‘And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.’” He leaned back. “Apparently in this area, there was no stone, so they made bricks. This reveals something about the substantial character of their buildings.”
“But something happened,” King said.
“They thought too highly of themselves,” Barrington replied. “That’s the bottom line.”
Shiva agreed with a nod. “They tried to be something they were not. They tried to reach up to heaven through their own merits, and that just didn’t work, just as it doesn’t work today. You can’t reach heaven by being good or doing good. It doesn’t work that way. The problem here is that these people didn’t even have a clue that they were going about it the wrong way.” He turned to his Bible.
Shiva read Genesis 11:4. “‘And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ ”
“You do notice what they said, don’t you?” King asked.
Shiva nodded. “Of course. They said, ‘Let us build a city…let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad.’ Sounds like a very bad case of I-itis.”
Fronk grinned. “Hey! That was pretty good, Fury.”
“Well, it fits. The whole purpose for this tower was nothing more than a rallying place for man.”
Fuller nodded in agreement. “Absolutely. The Tower of Babel was a ziggurat.”
Staci pursed her lips thoughtfully. “What’s that?”
“A ziggurat is an ancient Mesopotamian pyramid-shaped tower. It has a square base, rising in stories of ever-decreasing size. There’s a terrace at each story and a temple at the top. Some say that the Tower of Babel was a tower of this kind. It’s also been said that the purpose of the temple was to offer human sacrifices. But at the time of its construction, the Tower of Babel represented the rebellion of mankind against the Almighty God. Apparently, it was Nimrod - and we spoke of him earlier, the mighty hunter - who led in this movement. He was the builder of the city of Babel and of the Tower of Babel also. This tower was to be a place for him to rear a world empire that was in total opposition to God.”
“Nimrod doesn’t sound like a very nice person.”
“Sounds like he was driven by obsession,” Erin responded. “Like he was obsessed with power and conquest.”
“He was quite ambitious,” King replied.
Lenox leaned forward. “Ambitious, alright. It sounds like in order for him to realize his ambition and to make his dreams come true, two factors were essential to carry out his plans. First, he needed a center of unity. A sort of headquarters, as it were. He needed a capital, a place to assemble and strategize. A place to look to. That’s why he built the city of Babel. This fulfilled one of his requirements to carry out his dream of world empire. Secondly, he needed a rallying point, not just geographical but psychological as well. This would give motive. Like a spark, an inspiration, or a song, a battle cry. Kind of like, ‘Let’s rally around the flag, boys! We’re going to war!’ Do you know what I mean?”
Barrington nodded. “Yeah. Like an important monument. That kind of thing you’re talking about compels motivation. The New Babylon is where the New World Order meets and where the Antichrist rallies from. Well, I agree, Michael. In Nimrod’s day, it was the Tower of Babel. ‘Let us make us,’ is nothing but defiance against God.”
King glanced at his notes. “But, let’s take a look at what the Tower of Babel is not. It was not built as a place of refuge in time of high water. He wasn’t building above the flood stage, as some expositors have suggested. It wasn’t his purpose. His purpose was far more nefarious than that. This tower revealed the arrogant, defiant, rebellious attitude of man against God. God had said to man that he should scatter over the earth and replenish the earth. But man in essence answered, ‘Nothing doing. We’re not going to scatter. We’re going to get together. We are through with You.’ So absolutely! It is crystal clear that the Tower of Babel was against God.”
“This ziggurat,” Fuller declared, “was clearly a religious symbol. But that’s not a good thing. We all know that with God, it’s a personal relationship that we have with Him…not a religious experience. The Tower of Babel was a place where people would come together to worship the man…for his accomplishments. They didn’t intend to worship the Creator. God was completely out of the picture for them.”
King smiled. “Or so they thought.”
“That’s right,” Lenox agreed. “I believe the next few verses here tell us just how much God was still very much in the picture.”
“Why don’t you read them for us, Michael?”
Lenox read the next passage.
Lenox read Genesis 11:5 - 6. “‘And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.’ ”
Shiva shook his head in amazement. “That’s just heavy. That whole thing, man, is just one tremendous statement.”
Lenox nodded in agreement. “Right. Because since all the people spoke one language, they didn’t have the great language barrier. They could easily get together and pool all of their knowledge and resources.”
“They were restrained from nothing,” King replied. “Their imaginations were not hindered in the least.”
Fuller glanced at his Bible. “Isn’t it interesting what we find here? Man has a fallen nature in spite of the Flood and we still see that he is totally depraved. God can’t ignore this rebellion simply because it is a rebellion against Him. God is going to put up a protective wall, so to speak. He’s throwing up a barrier, and it was necessary because man is a very capable creature. Sometimes too capable for his own good. We’ve been to the moon…We’ve learned how to fly in planes…and we can even have a cooked meal while flying. Man has many capabilities.”
“And we can see what mankind can do with one language,” Lenox said. “Or at least we saw what they attempted to do. Let me continue with this passage.” He read Genesis 11:7 - 9. “‘Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language - ’ I really like that. ‘ - that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of the earth.’ ”
“I think that is really interesting,” Erin replied. “When they began the tower, they spoke one language and were building the tower together so they didn’t become scattered. But they wound up being scattered anyway for doing what they were doing. Isn’t that ironic? Don’t you think?”
“It’s like ray-e-ain on your wedding day,” Fronk sang out. “Like a free ride, when you already paid.”
Staci glanced at Fronk. “But…but now man is scattered all over the face of the earth.”
“Yes. They were together in their rebellion,” King said, “but now they can’t understand one another. A language barrier is a wall that is higher than the Wall of China. It is higher and far more effective. It is that which separates people, and it is stronger than any national border and any ocean.”
Fuller nodded in agreement. “There are a great many who say that languages developed gradually. But God said He confounded their language so that right then, while they were building, they suddenly couldn’t understand a word from each other. The building project came to a sudden and abrupt halt, and the people moved away from Babel. They went in every direction.”
“It’s like Marc said,” Barrington added. “This truly was a tremendous thing that happened. This is a ‘speaking in tongues’ kind of thing when they couldn’t understand each other. It was a miracle. A miracle of speaking and a miracle of hearing. They spoke different languages, and those who heard could not understand them.”
“Let me ask a question,” King began, leaning forward. “This entire incident of the Tower of Babel…Was this a blessing in disguise, or was it a curse upon mankind?”
There was a pause as the group considered the question.
“For the people back then,” Lenox said with a shrug, “it had to have been a curse. The Tower couldn’t be completed because they suddenly had a language problem. It had to have been frustrating.”
“But maybe God meant for it as a blessing,” Staci replied. “Yes, sure. Man would see that as a curse. Of course, they would. Man doesn’t usually see what God sees. Maybe they even thought it was a judgment.”
“But how is it a blessing?”
“Maybe we’re not meant to understand other languages for a reason.”
Fuller paused in thought. “You might have something there. Down through the centuries, mankind has been kept separate, and it has been a great hindrance to him. One thing that is happening today through the medium of television and radio…and air travel is that these language barriers…these walls are being broken down. They are tumbling down like the walls of Jericho. The knowledge and understanding we are after is not doing us any good in obtaining it.”
King glanced through his notes. “Here…let’s take a quick journey along our Route and pull over against this tongues movement as the events happened on the Day of Pentecost. Are you all familiar with this from the book of Acts?”
“The second great tongues movement,” Barrington said with a nod. “Yes. Although in that event people understood what was being said in their own language.”
King nodded. “Yes. At this time, we find that the gospel was preached in all the languages that were understood by the people there. Now this was not speaking in an unknown tongue. That was never involved in the tongues movement to begin with. On the Day of Pentecost, God is giving His answer to the Tower of Babel. God is saying to mankind, ‘I have a gospel and a message for you, and I’m coming to you with the gospel in your own language.’ This is the thing that God has done, and today the Bible has gone out in more languages than any other book. In spite of opposition from the Devil and the Antichrist, it is still being translated into tongues and dialects and is being brought to literally hundreds of tribes throughout the world. You see, the gospel is for all mankind, and the reason and the purpose for the talking in tongues was to let the human race know that God had answered the Tower of Babel. He had a redemption for man now. The mission has been accomplished. It is not necessary for man to try to work out his salvation. It never was, although man has always tried to work his way into heaven. But man can listen to God’s message and turn to Him. The gospel is for us, all of us, no matter who we are or what language we may speak. It’s for all of us. It’s for the nations of the world. We are told in the final book of the Bible that there will be gathered into His presence, ‘…a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues…’ 1 ” He turned to Fronk. “And on that note, we can resume our Route along Genesis. We begin to pass the Tower of Babel, and, William…you can now help us begin a journey along Abram’s Family Line.”
“From Shem to Abraham,” Fronk said, rubbing his hands together with anticipation. “That’s what we’re getting into, peeps! And that means we’re coming up to Abraham himself who starts out as being simply Abram. We’re taking up the line of Shem since it is the line which will be followed throughout the Old Testament. Are you ready, peeps?” He looked around the table at the others. Before any of them could respond, he said, “Alriiiiiiighty then! Let us begin in Genesis 11:10 - 26. ‘These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood.’ First of all…this is not that Shem from the Three Stooges! This is one of the sons of Noah. And after the flood, there were two years gone by before he had a son. I‘d also like to point out that Noah had sixteen grandsons.”
“Really?” Shiva inquired.
Fronk nodded. “Absopositive-a-lutely! And I can name every single one of them.”
Barrington laughed. “Without looking at your notes?”
“Why, coitenly! But first…let me continue with the rest of this passage. Here we come to Shem’s genealogy. ‘And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Selah: And Arphaxad lived after he begat Selah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Selah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: And Selah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.’ And do you know what I think?”
“What?” Erin inquired.
“I think there was a whole lot of begetting going on here. But this brings us to the final two verses of this passage. However…let me tell you who the sixteen grandson of Noah are. Ready?”
Lenox nodded, grinning. “We’re ready if you are.”
“Don’t look at your notes,” Staci warned him.
Fronk laughed a Popeye laugh. “Who needs notes? Everything is right up here.” He tapped his forefinger on his forehead. He stretched his neck to the left and to the right and then cracked his knuckles. “Okay. Here we go. The sixteen grandsons of Noah are…Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras, Cush, Mizraim, Phut, Canaan, Elam, Asshur Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram!” He mimicked tossing a basketball through a hoop and pretended to roar as if an audience were cheering. “He shoots! He scores!”
“Admittedly, William,” Fuller said with a shake of his head, “you certainly are full of surprises.”
“That was impressive,” King admitted. “How are you able to remember those names. Not even I can do that.”
Fronk shrugged. “I have a thing for names, Daryl.”
King looked at him. “My name is David.”
Fronk slapped his forehead. “Oops. Silly me.” Then, he clapped his hands together. “Alriiiighty then! Let’s move on to Genesis 11:24 - 26, and then, you, my friend, can have the floor and tell us all about what’s next.” He cleared his throat. “‘And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.’ ” He nodded to King. “You’re up, my friend!”
“Thank you, William. Now we are going to follow the line of Abram, whom, as you have already shared with us, we know as Abraham. Along the Route 1 of Genesis, we’re now going to follow the line of Shem, and we are actually going to go right through the Bible - the entire route of Route 66 - following this line. The Word of God will follow this line directly to the cross of Christ. God has recorded all this as preliminary. He has now demonstrated to man that he is in sin. In the incident of Cain and Abel, what did we find?”
“We saw that Cain would not acknowledge that he was a sinner,” Fuller responded. “In him we saw a demonstration of the pride of life.”
King nodded. “And at the Flood…?”
“We saw the sin of the flesh,” Shiva began thoughtfully, “because the people then were given over to the sins of the flesh. They were indulging in violence and their every thought and imagination was evil.”
“They were blind to their need of God,” Erin pointed out.
King nodded. “Yes. They were deaf to His claim, dead to God, dead in trespasses and sins. God gave them an invitation through Noah. They spurned the invitation and remained in the sins of the flesh. Then…here at the Tower of Babel, we see the sin of the will, rebellion against God. That was the Tower of Babel. Sometimes we need to ask ourselves if we have our own little Tower of Babel which we have built.”
Staci looked at him curiously. “What do you mean, David?”
“I mean…are we in rebellion against God? It is natural for human nature to be in rebellion against God. We see human nature at work every day, whether we are aware of it or not. Men and women, before the Rapture - and more so now in the Tribulation - are standing against God. Rebelling against Him. They have built their very own little Tower of Babel. Now we are going to continue to follow the line which is going to lead directly to Christ. Let’s look at the generations or the families of Terah.” He turned to regard Barrington. “My brother, you have the next passage.”
So Barrington read Genesis 11:27 - 32.
Barrington read Genesis 11:27 - 32. “‘Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.’ ”
“Do you know what the name Haran means?” King asked the group.
There was a pause. When no one had an answer, Fuller said, “It means delay.”
“Does that mean something here?” Erin asked.
King paused. “Everything means something. I just happen to like trivia. That was something I just tossed in. Is there a significant reason for Haran’s name to mean delay? Did his parents name him that for a specific purpose? Who can say? I do know that there is a tragedy in these verses if you look at it very carefully. Has anyone picked up on it other than myself?”
Staci frowned. “I think I know what you’re referring to. Haran died before his father did.”
King nodded. “Yes. That is a tragedy. It is always a father’s wish to see his sons and daughters to grow. To finish school. To get a career. To raise a family and have children of their own. A father’s desire is not to see their children face death. We do not know the specifics of Haran’s death, but the Bible only tells us that Haran died before his father Terah.” He paused. “Now…we are coming to a close along Route 1 of Route 66. Does anyone know what that means?”
Lenox nodded his head. “Sure. Right where we’re at, right at this point in Genesis - and, for that matter, the Bible as a whole - takes a turn. There’s a great Grand Canyon which goes right down through the Book of Genesis.”
Barrington let out a chuckle. “What are you? A tour guide?”
“Nonetheless, my brother,” King began, “he is right. The first eleven chapters are on one side of the canyon, and the last thirty-nine chapters are on the other side. In the first eleven chapters, we covered over 2,000 years, as long a period as the rest of the Bible put together.”
Shiva whistled. “Wow. Eleven chapters doesn’t seem to be enough to cover 2,000 years, man.”
“But it is so. Now contrast that 2,000 years with the 350 years from Genesis 12 through 50. In these first eleven chapters we have seen the Creation, the Fall of Man, the Flood, and the Tower of Babel. Those are four great events which covered that long span of years.” He smiled. “Now…now we come to what I like to call some of the greatest character studies we will ever come across. There are many great men and women in the Bible that we will be able to study in detail. One of them is Abram…who later becomes Abraham. We will see God’s call and promise to Abraham, and we’ll witness Abraham’s response. We’ll also see Abraham’s lapse of faith…And that is only the beginning of the story of Abraham. This all begins in chapter 12.”
