Day 869: Unless God builds the house - Genesis 11 vs 1 - 9

1-3 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 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. 6-7 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. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.” 8-9 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 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. Genesis 11:1-9 English Standard Version

While every part of the Bible is true and important, some parts describe a crucial moment in God's plans, and the history of the world. Today's verses are one such part. Amongst other things, it tells us how the world became filled with a multitude of languages. The backdrop to this event is that when God created the first couple on earth we read that He blessed them, and said: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 1:28) Again, when those who came out of the Ark, who'd been saved through the flood, we read: “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.'” (Genesis 9:1) So God's purpose was always that mankind should fill, and take care of, the wonderful planet He had created. Verse 4 tells how mankind responded.

That verse really describes why the world is in the state it is today. There are those who aspire to be as God, and to make a name for themselves! They seek to build their own empire with their their own rules, and to reject the commandments God had given. Verses 5-7 describe how God threw a divine spanner in their works by confusing the one language they had been using. We can only imagine how this took place, but the outcome was that people went their different ways. The unfinished tower at Babel is a good picture of how all of mankind's rebellious ambitions will end up. Truly, “unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour in vain.” (Psalm 127:1)

We were told previously of a child who was given the name Peleg, “because in his days the earth was divided.” (Genesis 10:25). It seems likely that this 'division' was referring to this parting of ways at Babel. Peleg was born over 100 years after the flood, so the poulation would’ve grown large enough to set out on the venture of constructing a large tower. Can you see a real application today of God's assessment of the skills He had created mankind with? (vs 6-7)

God said “this is only the beginning of what they will do - and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.” This has proven true through the milleniums. Mere human beings have accomplished amazing achievements. These have reached a peak where our generation has seen space travel and the invention of 'artificial intelligence'. Were it not for God's ‘spanner’ at Babel, today's peak would probably have been reached much sooner.

There's one more thought that should surely be made. It's an event that took place nearly 2000 years ago. On a Jewish feast day, following the resurrection and asension of Jesus, his disciples preached to a multi national crowd in Jerusalem. The people were amazed and said: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language declaring the wonders of God!” (Acts 2:7-8) The God who confused the language of rebels, now miraculously told of His wonderful works in words they could understand. God, indeed, was building His house.