Apr 19
14
Old Testament Reading: Genesis 11:1-9
“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. 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.’ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 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.’ 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, ESV)
New Testament Reading: 1 Corinthians 3:10-14
“According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.” (1 Corinthians 3:10–14, ESV)
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Introduction
The story of the tower of Babel is well known even in our culture, but I’m not sure that it is often understood. I wonder how many after reading this story think to themselves, “what was God so upset about that he would respond by confusing the language of the peoples of the earth to scatter them abroad?” On the surface it might seem as if God is against all cultural progress — as if he was upset that man dared to cooperate with one another to build a city. God’s response to this activity of man probably seems harsh to some, as if it were an overreaction.
But a careful reading of this text, especially when it is considered in the broader context of the story of Genesis and of scripture as a whole, will reveal that there is more going on here. God was displeased, not with city building or tower building per say, but with the spirit of these sinful men who sought to live their lives, to build their city and their tower, independent of God and for their own glory.
The tower that these men built was not just a tower, but a temple — a Mesopotamian ziggurat used to promote the worship of false gods. When these men built their city and their tower their hope was that the god’s would descend to them to bless them, and they would ascend to become like the gods, and make a name for themselves. This construction project was no innocent enterprise. Instead, the building of this city in a plain in the land of Shinar, and the construction of this tower-temple, was an act of rebellion against the God of heaven. The story shows that the same desire for independence and autonomy which drove Adam and Eve to take of the forbidden tree, for Cain to build a city and to name it after his son, and for the sons of God to rule corruptly, harsly and oppressively in the days leading up to the flood, was also present in the world after the flood. Prior to the flood the earth was filled with corruption because men sought to establish their own kingdoms, and not the kingdom of God. And the same is true in the world after the flood. Though Noah and his sons were saved from the flood waters in that Ark of God, and though they set their feet down upon a renewed earth after the floodwaters receded, they did not find themselves in the new heavens and new earth where righteousness dwells. Man was still fallen and in sin. Man still lived in a fallen and sinful world. What wee see is in this Babel story is that men were still eager to pursue, not the glory of God, but their own glory. They were eager to decide for themselves how they ought to worship and to live. With this God was displeased.
This brief story is a literary masterpiece . I wish that I could take the time to describe to you all of the wordplays contained in this text in the Hebrew. I wish that I could show how complex the structure of the text is, for that does help us to undestand the main point. Briefly, let me say that this little story is broken into seven sections. Those sections are formed into an extended chiasmus with verses five as the turning point. Not only is this text structured as an extended chiasmus, it is also organized into two parallel panels which are meant to be compared with one another, with emphasis given again to verse 5. I love this stuff, but it doesn’t preach very well. We will simply consider this text in it’s seven sections consisting of introductory remarks, fives scenes, and then concluding remarks. Let us consider this text scene by scene.
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Introductory Remarks
First, we encounter introductory remarks: “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” (Genesis 11:1–2, ESV).
The stament, “now the whole earth had one language and the same words”, might strike you as odd given what we have already read in Genesis chapter 10. There in that table of nations, as we have called it, the spread of the descendents of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth are
If this is what we have learned in Genesis 10, then how can Genesis 11:1 say, “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.” The answer is that the Bible often recapitulates. It is not always organized chronologically, but sometimes goes backwards in time to emphasize some other aspect or theme in the historical development.
The table of nations in Genesis 10 chronicles for us the dispersion of the peoples of the earth, and even takes us past the Babel incident to the time where each of these clans and nations had their own language. But as we move forward to Genesis 11 in the text, we find that the text takes us backwards in time. Genesis 10 tells us about the dispersion of the peoples of the earth. Genesis 11 tells us why they were dispersed.
These two texts — Genesis 10 and 11 — are not difficult to harmonize.
It should be remembered that Genesis 10 gave attention to one figure in particular in the line of Ham — his name was Nimrod. We are told in 10:8 that “he was the first on earth to be a mighty man” (he was a great and powerful king), and that “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 10:10, ESV). In Genesis 10 the camera angle is very wide — there we are zoomed way out to consider the spread of the nations in general. But in Genesis 11 we are zoomed way in upon the city of Babel which Nimrod founded to see the true spirit of that civilization which lead to the curse of confusion and to the dispersion. The spirit of that civilization was to build independent from God in the line and spirit of Cain and Lamech, Ham and Nimrod.
Also, it should be remember that in Genesis 10:25 we were introduced to one named Peleg. Peleg was born in the line of Shem, and in the righteous line of Eber. Through Peleg’s line, Abram (who we know as Abraham) would be born. From him the Hebrew people would come. And in Genesis 10:25 we learn that in Peleg’s “days the earth was divided…” (his name means “division”. In other words, it was during Peleg’s livetime that the Babel event happened.
Genesis 10 and 11 do not contradict one another. Instead they complement one another. Genesis 10 describes the dispersion of the nations generally. Genesis 11 looks up close to show us the details. And so with these words the stage is set for our story — “Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east [that is, from mountains of Ararat], they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there” (Genesis 11:1–2, ESV).
Let us take a moment to imagine a world like that? Imagine a world where there was no such thing as a “language barrier”. People would be able to come together much more easily. People would be able to work together much more efficiently towards a common good. Or so you would think. The rest of the story describes what sinful and fallen men in the line of Ham and Nimrod did with this blessing of a unified language. Instead of using it for good, they used it for evil.
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Scene 1
Having had the scene set for us in verses 1 and 2, let us now consider the first scene in verse 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” (Genesis 11:3, ESV).
These words need to be considered carefully if we are to understand the central meaning of this text.
The phrase, “And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly’”, is meant to be contrasted with another well known phrase found earlier the book of Genesis. Notice that the words of these worldly men are similar to the words of God as recorded in Genesis 1:26: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion…” (Genesis 1:26, ESV).
God engaged in a building project at the beginning of time. He made the heavens and earth. And he also made man. And his purpose for man — and this is very significant for our story today — was that man would exercise dominion upon the earth, but under his authority. God is not opposed to kingdom building. In fact, God created man for the express purpose of building a kingdom. Man was created to have dominion on earth and to labor for the advancement of God’s kingdom. Adam was to expand and keep the garden temple of God.
The words of the men who built Babel, and the words of God when he made man are similar so that we might be prompted to compare and contrast them. When we do, it becomes apparent that these city builders are up to no good. They are building a city and a tower, not under God and to advance his kingdom, but they are seeking to establish a kingdom of their own.
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Scene 2
The second scene makes all of this explicitly clear. Verse 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’” (Genesis 11:4, ESV).
The words “us” and “ourselves” are important. “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.”
These men were very ambitious. Ambition – that is, the strong desire to achieve something — is not evil. But there is a between holy ambition and unholy ambition. Ambition that acts for the glory of something other than the glory of God and the good of others is sinful. Often, our ambitions are selfish. And this is why James says in 3:13 of his epistle, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” James is promoting wisdom that is meek — wisdom which first humbly submits to God and has God’s word as it’s source. And then he says, “But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice” (James 3:13–16, ESV).
This is exactly what we see on display in this Babel narrative. Thes men had a kind of wisdom, but it was not the wisdom from above. They did not live in submission to God’s rule and to his word, but sought to establish their autonomy. And their ambition, though great in size, was selfish ambition — “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves.” They wisdom and ambition were not good and godly, but “earthly, unspiritual, demonic”. It is no wonder then that the product was “disorder and every vile practice”, for this is what “jealousy and selfish ambition” produce.
Notice the word “city”. These men desired to build a city. This city was not the city of God dedicated to the glorification of his name, but the city of man. Their ambition was to do what other city builders in the past had done in the line of Cain.
Pay special attention to this – their city, the city of Babel, would in the course of time become the prototypical city of man, and the antitype to the city of God, called Babylon. Babel becomes Babylon in the course of time.
Remember that to Babylon the Israelites would eventually be taken into captivity and then brought out again. In the scriptures Babylon stands for all that opposes God and his people in the earth. And yet God is sovereign even over Babylon.
And remember also how the city of Babylon functioned symbolically in the book of Revelation? There, Babylon symbolized the wicked and godless kingdoms of the earth. In Revelation 14:8 we read, “Another angel, a second, followed, saying, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality’” (Revelation 14:8, ESV). Concerning the great prostitute of Revelation 17 we read, “And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: ‘Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.’ And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly” (Revelation 17:5–6, ESV). And in Revelation 18 the fall of Babylon, who stands for all of the wicked kingdoms of the the earth, was foretold. Verse 2: “And he called out with a mighty voice, ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast” (Revelation 18:2, ESV). Verse 10: “They will stand far off, in fear of her torment, and say, ‘Alas! Alas! You great city, you mighty city, Babylon! For in a single hour your judgment has come’” (Revelation 18:10, ESV). And verse 21: “Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, ‘So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more’” (Revelation 18:21, ESV). At the end of time the kingdoms of this world will be judged and banished from the earth so that only the kingdom of God remains.
Notice that these men — these who were associated with Ham and Nimrod — not only desired to build a city, but also a tower with its top in the heavens. This was not just any old tower, but a temple — a Mesopotamian ziggurat. These structures were similar to the pyramids found in Egypt. But instead of being finished off and polished into that pyramid shape which is so familiar to us, these ziggurat were built up level by level, with a base that is wider than the second and third levels, and so on.
It would be nieve to think that these structures — both the pyramids of Egypt and the ziggurat tower of Babel – were mere and meaningless structures, as if the men who made them said, hey, lets build something big and cool. No, they were built for religious purposes. They were constructed being driven by the religions fervor of their makers. These men built this tower to reach to heaven. Their hope was that the god’s of heaven would descend upon the mountain that they had built, and that by their mountain they themselves would manage to ascend to heaven.
Their objective was to make a name for themselves. This means that their goal was to advance and to establish their own name. In the context their quest must have been to establish their names in the heavenly realm amongst the God. In essence, they were attempting to do what Adam and Eve thought they were doing when they ate of the forbidden fruit — they thought they would become like God. These early Babylonians built their temple with the hopes that it would function like a stairway to heaven — the god’s would descend to them, and they would ascend to take their place amongst the god’s. Their religion was, in this sense, no different from all of the other man made religions of the world — they sought to obtain immortality by their own effort, by their own building.
But the scriptures are clear. Now that man is fallen — now that the covenant of works has been broken — there is no way for man to ascend to heaven or to have fellowship with God by his own efforts and by his own building. God himself must provide a way. God himself must build. And here is the distinguishing characteristic of the Covenant of Grace through which we are saved. In the covent of Works God says, do this and you shall live. But in the Covenant of Grace God says, I will… I will do such and such. I will provide a Savior, I will establish my kingdom. I will build my church. I will finish the work that I have begun in you. Christ is the mediator of the Covenant of Grace. It is only through him that salvation is possible. And was is required for one to partake of the benefits which Christ has earned? Answer: Faith alone. Faith in Christ alone and the work he has accomplished on our behalf.
Contrast what these early Babylonians said with what God said to Abram when he called him out of that pagan culture to make him in to a great nation and to bless the nations through the Christ who come from his loins. These early Babylonians said, “come… let us make a name for ourselves”. But “the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3, ESV).
Friends, if anything of the kingdom of God is to be built after man’s fall into sin and after the breaking of the covenant of works, it must be built by God and according to his revealed design.
Here in this story the building of the tower of Babel we find men building, not for God and under his rule, but fop themselves and according to their own wisdom. More than this, they are found fighting against the explicit decree of God. They built their city and tower “lest [they] be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”
But we should remember that after God create Adam and Eve, “God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion…” (Genesis 1:28, ESV). And after God brought Noah and his sons through the flood and into the world that now is, he “blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth’ (Genesis 9:1, ESV).
Here these people of Babel aligned with Cain, Ham and Nimrod say, “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.” These people were living in all out rebellion against the God of heaven as they sought to develop their culture independent of him.
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Scene 3
The third scene, which is found in the fifth verse, is the pivotal scene in this story. There we read, “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built” (Genesis 11:5, ESV).
If you know anything about the God of the Bible, the Creator of heaven and earth, you know that he does not need to “come down” to see anything on earth, but is omnipresent and omniscient, that is to say, all present and all knowing. Why then does the text say that “the LORD came down to see the city and the tower…”?
The statement is ironic. The Mesopotamians built their tower-temple in hopes that their god’s would come down to them. Instead, the one true God of heaven descended to inspect and to judge.
The stament is also mocking. From a human perspective the ziggurat built by these people in the plane of Shinar was an impressive sight to behold. How far they got in the process we are not told, but I’m sure the project would have been considered an engineering marvel. But from God’s persecutive, the project was small and insignificant, So small was it that God had to “come down” to see. This highlights how terribly short these people fell short in reaching their goals to build a tower which reached to heaven. The God of heaven had to “come down” to see it.
It really is ridiculous — and if were not so serious, I would say, comical — to consider how much we make of ourselves. We think that we are so big and powerful, so intelligent and creative, so independent and supreme. But if we were to compare ourselves to the God who made us, we would see clearly that we so small and insignificant.
Listen to Isaiah 40:21-23. “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness” (Isaiah 40:21–23, ESV).
These sons of Ham and of Nimrod were so proud of themselves. The thought they could reach up to heaven with the tower they built. But God is so highly exulted above us, and so small are we, that he had to “come down” as it we to see their little achievement.
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Scene 4
Let us move on to scene 4 which is found in verse 6. There we read, “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” (Genesis 11:6, ESV).
This is a problem, not because God is opposed to progress, but because he, in his mercy, is opposed to progress that is Godless. He is opposed to Godless progress for it is neither to his glory, nor for our good.
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Scene 5
Scene 5 is found in verse 7, where we read, “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech” (Genesis 11:7, ESV).
To confuse their language means that God caused the peoples who were then unified and speaking one language, to speak many languages, and thus they would be divided.
Clearly, this was an act of judgement. Because the people used their unity for evil, God cursed them with disunity. No longer were they able to communicate to build their city and temple, and they were dispersed.
We might also view this same act as an act of mercy. By confusing their languages and by dividing them God restrained the peoples of the earth from running headlong into sin. By pouring out this judgment evil was restrained. These men and women were running full speak towards the establishment of the kingdom of Satan and of the anti-Christ, but showed mercy when he disrupted their plans. God will do this from time to time in the world and in our own lives. He will judge and will chasten us because he is merciful and kind.
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Concluding Remarks
In verses 8 and 9 we find concluding remarks. “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 11:8–9, ESV).
Genesis 11 doesn’t take us any further than Genesis 10 did historically, but it does take us further as it pertains to our understanding of the spirit of this world and of God’s activities within it.
There are two kingdoms present within this world — the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man. God is Lord and king over both kingdoms. He is Lord and king over the kingdom of God, for that kingdom is made up of those who desire to live in obedience to him and for his glory. But he is also Lord and King over the city of man, for God is ultimately sovereign over all things. Even those who oppose and resist his rule are not outside of his sovereign control.
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Application
Let me make a few points of application as we close.
First of all, the story of Babel should encourage us to be careful with how we build in this life.
Let us take care to build our own personal lives according to God’s word.
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great” (Luke 6:46–49, ESV).
Let us also take care as we seek to build Christ’s church. We must build according to God word and for his glory, and not our own.
This is what the apostle was speaking to when he wrote those words which we read at the start of this sermon. “According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.” (1 Corinthians 3:10–14, ESV)
Secondly, be careful how you pursue life eternal. Not by works, but by grace. Not by our efforts, but through faith in what God has built.
“What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (Romans 9:30–33, ESV)
Thirdly, let us be faithful to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ locally and to the ends of the earth.
“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”” (Acts 2:5–11, ESV)
