Lest We Be Scattered Abroad

Call to Worship

Isaiah 2:2–4 NKJV

Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; And all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, “Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, And rebuke many people; They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Intro

Last week, in Chapter 10, we saw the Table of Nations

The origin of all nations

Chapter 10 tells about where all the nations came from and where they went.

Chapter 11 begins by telling us how that dispersion came about.

Genesis 11

Genesis 11:1–9 NKJV

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 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. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 11:1 “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.”

This precedes some of what was described in the previous chapter, since there is still only one language.

Many assume there was only one language for humanity up to this point, but we don’t know for sure.

At a minimum, there was one language in common with Noah and all his descendants up to this point.

Depending on the lifespans given, this took place somewhere between 100 and 500 years after the flood.

Septuagint life span adds 100 years to several ages of the fathers when they had their son.

We’ll talk more on this in future chapters.

Genesis 11:2 “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.”

As they moved away from the mountains of Mountains of Ararat, they came to a plain.

The plain is to the south and east of Ararat,

The location of Babel is believed to be where Babylon would later be, in modern day Iraq.

Genesis 11:3 “Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.”

Genesis 11:4 “And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.””

Open defiance towards God

Let us make a name for ourselves.

Some speculate that they were building a tower to avoid death from another flood, but that seems unlikely

It would make more sense to build on top of a mountain instead of on a plain.

This is just straight defiance.

Genesis 9:1 “So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

They didn’t.

Instead the stayed together and determined to build a city and a tower that reached to heaven.

There reasoning: “lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.

This was an act of rebellion.

Also, Cities are most often associated with sin.

Who built the first cities in Scripture?

Descendants of Cain

The first cities built after the flood are Babel and those founded by Nimrod,

Soddom, gomorroah, babylon, sidon, Tyre, Nineveh.

The only “good city” is Jerusalem, but even the earthly City is a wicked place

Matthew 23:37–39 ““O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ””

Where Christ was crucified.

Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, this was direct disobedience to what God had commanded humanity in the recreation.

So God is going to intervene.

Genesis 11:5 “But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.”

The language used here is great:

The omnipotent, omniscient Creator of God uses anthropomorphic language to belittle his rebellious creation

The tower being built to “reach the heavens”; God had to “come down” to see it.

The accomplishments of man are nothing in comparison to the accomplishments of God.

1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

What did this tower look like?

It’s believed it was a ziggurat, a stepped pyramid.

Not only are these structures found all over Mesopotamia and the earliest pyramids in Egypt, but they are found all over central America.

It would make sense that a design used by ancient peoples all over the world would have first been used while all the people were united as one.

Genesis 11:6 “And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.”

Genesis 11:7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.””

Genesis 11:8 “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”

Genesis 11:9 “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Application/Conclusion

Humans were not created to be connected to everyone, nor were they created to be alone

In the world: Globalism- Modern Day Tower of Babel

Elimination of distinct nations

In the Church: Pentecost- undoing of Babel

Many in the modern day evangelical church will say that Pentecost was a reversal of Babel, which is partially true.

The curse of Babel was confusing the languages so that the people could not work together for evil.

The miracle at pentecost was uniting all the nations, all the tongues, in the Gospel of Christ.

but that does not mean we should all speak the same language.

It does not mean that we should act like nations are not real or work to erase national distinctions

Already/not yet

Nations are not made obsolete in the Church

Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

In Christ Jesus, we are all on equal footing, but we are still

Slave and free

Male and female

Jew, Greek, scythian,

Our ethnicity, our race, is not erased

One of the errors of the Roman Catholic Church was trying to universalize the Church with one language, instead of allowing the peoples to worship in their native tongue.

Tying into what I said last week about Race: It’s not sin to love your kin.

Paul loved his own people more than other people.

He wished that he could be damned so that the Jews could receive Christ.

He did not wish that for the Gentiles.

It’s ok to prefer your own people.

In fact, it is generally a sin to not love your own people.

1 Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

If we neglect our own family, but take care of other people, we are worse than an infidel.

Especially, our own household, but that applies to extended family and even up to nation.

It is natural that we provide for our own countrymen before the need of other nations.

The Christian faith does not erase nature, but perfects it

Romans 1:28–32 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.”

The word translated “unloving” in verse 31 is ‘astorgos’, which is the inverse of ‘storge’, which is translated in the KJV as natural affections.

Personal: To God be the Glory

1 Corinthians 10:31 “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”