Now the whole earth used the
same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that
they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
As we enter back into the book of Genesis, we see Moses
provide for us the context for the story that we are going to look at this
morning. Moses explains that at this point in human history, the whole earth
used the same language and the same words. Now this phrase, in the language
that this letter was originally written in, means that the entire human race
not only spoke the same language. In addition, the entire human race had the
same vocabulary. Words were defined the same way by every human being.
You see, up to this point in God’s story, all of humanity
was united under one language and a common vocabulary. Part of being created in
the image of God; part of bearing God’s thumbprint in our lives, is that we
were divinely designed for relationships and deep and meaningful communication.
One of the things that separate humanity from the rest of creation is this unbridgeable
gap between humanity and the rest of creation when it comes to communication.
The reality that humanity originally had a common language is further evidence
of the reality that we are the result of God’s creative activity, not
evolution.
Moses then explains that after the flood, the descendants
of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Jepheth, journeyed east from the place
which the ark had originally settled.
Now this journey occurred over the span of several hundred years. And
during that time, we see humanity begin the process of repopulating the earth
after the flood.
As a matter of fact, Genesis chapter 10 records for us
the genealogies, or the family trees, of the three sons of Noah. Thus, Genesis
chapter 10 and Genesis chapter 11 are complimentary in nature. Genesis 11
unpacks for us how the people listed in Genesis chapter 10 arrived at the
places where they eventually settled.
Moses records for us that after several hundred years the
descendants of the three sons of Noah arrived in the land of Shinar and settled
there. The land of Shinar is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in
what is now modern day Iraq, which is marked in red on this map. Now, with this
context in mind, Moses then brings us into the story, beginning in Genesis
11:3. Let’s look at it together:
They said to one another,
"Come, let us make bricks and burn them
thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for
mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower
whose top will reach into
heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered
abroad over the face of the whole earth."
Now to understand the significance of what is happening
here, we first need to understand the command that God had given Noah and his
sons after He had rescued them from the flood. In Genesis 9:1, God commanded
Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. After
extending grace to humanity through Noah and his family, God commanded humanity
to produce life.
However, Instead of following God’s command in Genesis
9:1 to fill the earth, humanity decided to rebel against God’s command and
settle together in one place by building a large city. Moses then reveals for
us the motivation that drove their rebellion: "Come, let us build for
ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let
us make for ourselves a name,”. You see, this city was to serve a symbol. This
city was to serve as a sign of humanities self sufficiency. This city was to be
built by humanity, for humanity, in order to represent the greatness of
humanity. Let us build for ourselves a city.
And as part of this huge city, there would be a tower
whose top would reach into heaven. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “But
Dave, why would humanity want to build a tower that would reach into heaven if
they were rebelling against God?” The reason why humanity was motivated to
build a tower that reached into Heaven was because this tower would be
humanities attempt to confront God and challenge God’s greatness.
Just like Eve, humanity had a desire to become like God
instead of walking with God. Humanity wanted to look God in the eye and
challenge God as an equal instead of living in the relationship with God that
they were created for. As Moses records for us in the second half of verse 4,
humanity wanted to make for ourselves a name. In other words, instead of making
much of God, humanity wanted to make much of themselves.
Humanity, united as a result of
a common language and common vocabulary and united in their prideful and
arrogant selfishness and rebellion, began to build a fortress city that would
stand in opposition to God and would enable them to rebel against God’s command
to fill the earth. This fortress city would enable humanity to be self
sufficient and secure from being scattered by God throughout the earth.
Tomorrow, we will see how God
responded to humanity as they built this fortress city to rebel against God and
make much of themselves…
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