Genesis 11:1-32 "The Tower of Babel"

Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Please turn in your Bibles to Gen 11. Gen 11:1-32 this evening.

We have been looking at the post flood world in Genesis.

At the end of Chapter 9, we read that Noah died.

In Chapter 10… we looked at the nations formed from the sons of Noah… a chapter commonly called “The Table of Nations.”

And, tonight… we look at the “The Tower of Babel” our message title this evening.

You may hear “Babel” pronounced as “Babble”, but that is incorrect.

The english word “Babble”… is a word sound (an on·o·mat·o·poe·ia)… and is often associated with unintelligible babblings… perhaps to reflect on the confusion of languages in this chapter.

But, though language was confused… it was not Babble.

One common tongue became many intelligent languages… though foreign… one to another.

Tonight, we will also quickly read the genealogies of Shem (the son of Noah)… and Terah (the father of Abram).

And, Chapter 11 is the final chapter focusing on “Primeval History” (the origins of the universe… fall… flood…etc.),

… and then beginning in Chapter 12… the focus shifts to “Patriarchal History” as Abraham comes into focus.

So, Let’s Pray… and then close out this first major break in Genesis.

In reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Genesis 11:1–32 this evening, but we are going to read just vv 1-9 now to set the scene…

vv 1-9 “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 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. 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. 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.” 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 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. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 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.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

This eleventh chapter of Genesis tells of an important event in human history… some would say comparably important to that of the Great Flood…

… since the event at the Tower of Babel was one that would also impact the whole earth in that the one language spoken on earth… as read in V1… would become confused (V7)… and many languages would result.

It almost seems like something we would read out of a storybook… it feels like a fiction not grounded in evolutionary science… and micro developments over time…

I’ll say for me… I’m simple enough to trust this account… that an infinite God… though we don’t know how… in a moment changed speech and language… that this is the TRUE origin story to why there are many diverse languages on the face of the earth.

It’s important for us to remember that back in Genesis 3… God cursed… not only mankind for sin… but also Satan, the serpent… for tempting mankind.

And, God declared in Genesis 3:15 to Satan… “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.”

Gen 3:15 is known as the “first Gospel”… the Protoevangelium.

And because of this prophetic declaration by God… Satan has known… since Eden that One would come… a Messiah who would crush his authority.

Therefore, Satan has been plotting against Israel, and against mankind… since the beginning to stop this prophecy from being fulfilled.

In Gen 6, we discussed a strong theory that the sons-of-god who took the daughters-of-men were demons of Satan (based on similar language in Job 1-2)…

And, the goal of Satan was to entirely corrupt the gene pool of mankind where NO Seed of woman could fulfill Gen 3:15…

And it appears Satan was very close… for Noah was described as “perfect in his generations”… which could not be a reflection on a sinlessness, but on genetics.

The flood therefore was necessary to wipe the earth clean of this Satanic attack on mankind.

Now… in Genesis 11 it would seem that once again… Satan is working… influencing Noah’s son Ham… from who’s line would come Nimrod…

… who in Gen 10:9 was described as a “mighty hunter before the LORD”… NOT a hunter of animals, but a hunter of men.

One who would lure and influence mankind for his purposes… and away from God’s intentions.

After the flood… God declared in Genesis 9:1 “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

And we see here in Genesis 11… an act of defiance against God’s commands… specifically as we read in V4 “let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

And likely in defiance to the prophecy of Noah that Ham’s descendants would be servants of Shem and Japheth… seen in Genesis 9:25 “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”

Nimrod was the Nephew of Canaan… who seems to walk in the Ways of Cain… fighting prophetic words spoken over him.

To Cain it was said, “A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.” (Gen 4:12)…

And so… he left the presence of the LORD and dwelt in the land of Nod… built a city… and named and dedicated the city to his son Enoch…

Not to God. He thumbed his nose to God… much like Nimrod thumbs is nose at God’s prophecies and commands as well.

And their defiance is one of leaving the worship and obedience of the One true God… to establish their own system.

And, so it has been down through the ages.

Romans chapter 1 makes this abundantly clear… where mankind suppresses the truth of God in unrighteousness…

… and foolishly establishes their own religious systems… worshipping images of man, birds, four-footed animals and creeping things.

Which have been common images in idolatrous and false religions throughout time.

And, the roots of many false religious systems trace back to Nimrod and his followers.

Pantheism (which means… “All is God” & held by Hindus, Buddhists, and New Age religions)… traces back to Genesis 11.

Polytheism (meaning “many gods”… held by Roman & Grecian mythology… the Egyptians… India, and other nations)… traces back to Genesis 11.

The original pantheon of Babylonian gods… in fact Nimrod was thought as deified by Babylon as the chief of their false gods… going by the name “Merodach” or “Marduk.”

Genesis 11… is NOT just about innocently building a tall Lego tower… and keeping the family together.

The city of Babel… founded by Nimrod… as we read in Gen 10:10)… in the “land of Shinar” in Babylonia…

Which is referenced in V2… of our passage today… and I have a map of.

Shinar was to the east of Israel… in what would become Babylon.

Genesis 11, very much is an origin story of false world religions… a broad road of destruction… that is still deceiving billions of people to this day.

Even to the point that Scripture recognizes that this original Babylonian religious system is the root of all the world’s false religious systems.

Revelation Chapter 17 stands as a condemnation to false religions and tells of the final destruction of the false religious system.

Listen to how this is described in Revelation 17:5 “And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”…

If you’re thinking about a tattoo for your forehead… maybe not those words…

Probably just a bad idea altogether…

But, Babylon… here in Gen 11 and Rev 17… the bookends of the Bible… represents false religion.

Led by the “mother of harlots”… as one commentator describes “the great whore”… the symbol of Babylon…

As she lures the people of the world into unfaithfulness to the true and living God…

And during the tribulation… this false religious system will have great influence over the revived Roman Empire… the world political system of that time.

And… deception by Satan… to steer people away from the truth of God to a lie… has always been his M.O.… and will continue even into the tribulation…

As Revelation 12:9 testifies… “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world...”

And, even at the end of the Millennial Reign of Christ… as Revelation 20:7–8 testifies “Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.”

Many… born in the Millennial reign… who would only know Jesus as ruling the world… will be deceived by Satan… rise in rebellion… and fire will come down from God out of heave and devour them… crushing their rebellion (Rev 20:9)…

And, finally… then… Satan will be cast in the lake of fire and brimstone (Rev 20:10)… which is, I’m sure, his least favorite verse… for it prophecies of his certain and eternal end in torment.

But, until then… Satan is scheming and deceiving… trying to change his fate predicted in Gen 3:15 and Rev 20:10… and he’s taking many down with him as he falls.

So, as we go through this text… know that this is not just a story about a tall tower… and God squashing the early achievements of the people of Nimrod.

So, again we see in vv 1-2… that the whole earth spoke the same language… and descendants of Nimrod journey to the “land of Shinar”… the NLT reads “the land of Babylonia”… which was a fertile Mesopotamian plain… a valley…

Morris states they named the rivers there the Tigris and Euphrates after the two of the four streams that flowed from the Garden of Eden… (Hiddekel, which is thought the Tigris, and the Euphrates).

Some wonder if the intent was to try to re-establish an Edenic like condition… yet in their own image and design.

So often as we read through the Bible… in the OT history of nations… Egypt, Canaan, Assyria, Babylon… we see that they form godless kingdoms as they saw fit.

Even Israel would drift from God… falling into the idolatrous ways of the pagan nations around her.

And the writer of Hebrews warns for us to not neglect the teaching of salvation.

Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away.”

There is a tendency in the heart of mankind to drift from God. To be lured by the ways of the world. To establish their own way… and to attempt to be like God.

The pride of this cause Satan to fall (which you can read in Isa 14 and Ezk 28)… it’s how he tempted Eve… it’s how he tempted Jesus…

And how many are tempted today.

It’s so important to pay close attention to the truth of the Gospel… and the word of God… so that we don’t fall into the same error of drifting away…

Which… is so pervasive in mankind… throughout time… and which none of us are immune from.

In V3, the people of Shinar… who are being led by Nimrod according to Gen 10:10…

… determine to make bricks… essentially clay soil baked in a kiln to form hard bricks… which was stronger and more advanced construction then the common sun-dried bricks… so a special note is made highlighting their advancements.

Asphalt or tar was for mortar… which archaeology have found common in ancient Babylonian construction… which testifies of the veracity of this account.

And these methods lent to establish a city and society… likely self-sufficient from God… and some think with goals of expansion and conquest of the world…

… all with Satan in the shadows whispering in the ears of her rulers.

This thought of expansion and conquest… is not an unfounded thought given what was said of Nimrod in Gen 10…

… how he was “a mighty one on the earth”… which reflects on his ambition to establish cities and rule over other.

… how he founded several cities… most notably Ninevah in Assyria and the cities in the land that would become Babylon…

… both which would worship pagan gods and later conquer Israel and Judah… as agents of God to judge Israel and Judah for their idolatry.

And, V4 stands out as a pulse of the rebellious nature against God… of this early civilization. V4 again reads “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.””

Morris described practically the entire population of Babel as wanting to construct an “autonomous, man-made civilization, in direct defiance of God’s command.”

Their prideful intent was to establish themselves… to follow their own way… their own religious system… and in defiance of God’s command to “multiply and fill the earth.”

They determine they are quite happy right where they are… and intend to build permanent structures.

Essentially, we don’t need to listen to the command of God… we can do what we want… we can show the world we are unified… we are strong… we have our own identity… our own religion…

Who is God? And, what of His will?… it does not apply to us.

It’s a good thing we don’t live is a world that thinks this way anymore.

I do hope you sense my sarcasm.

They would even say, “Look… we even have “a tower whose top is in the heavens!”

This would be a focal point of the entire city… drawing attention… in no way to God, but to the greatness of their unity, strength… the political power… their religious identity…

With a purpose… NOT to reach the height of heaven, but to build a “tower unto heaven”… one dedicated to heaven…

It was an architectural feat… and testified of many things… but NOT of the One true God.

Perhaps Nimrod realized his influence was not enough… that he would need to topple the influence of God and His commands…

… thus he provides an alternate religious identity to evade the truth of God… which if empowered by Satan… would deceive the nations… as he always does.

The tower is thought to have been built in a Ziggurat form… which was a stepped pyramid… common to ancient Mesopotamia.

I have a slide of the Great Ziggurat of Ur… which is one of several Ziggurat sites in Iraq today.

A Ziggurat by def. is a “temple tower” and it was used for worship.

I have three other slides depicting the Tower of Babel… some are likely fanciful… but the third… from Logos Bible Software… looks similar to the archeological sites…

And, I don’t know if you can read the caption above, but it states, "The Tower of Babel would have been built in ziggurat form. It probably was ancient Babylon's Etemenanki- the "temple of the foundation of heaven and earth." Many babylonian legends and documents describe this structure, as does the Greek historian Herodotus. Ancients believed that deities dwelt on high places and associated the gods with hills and mountains. Babylon was on low ground- the ziggurat was a substitue mountain. It towered above the dust in the lower air and was an excellent place to observe the stars. From a ziggurat's top, heaven seemed closer."

So this ziggurat was build on the plain of Shinar… as an idolatrous worship center…

A tower high above… and ancients in Babylon and other areas… were fascinated with the stars.

9x we read of “astrologers” in the OT… Once in Isaiah and 8x in Daniel.

Daniel who was taken from Judah… enslaved by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon.

Where Daniel rose in power and influence… and prophesied things like Daniel 7:13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven!”

Did Daniel tell the astrologers of such visions and prophecies?

And even tell them of OT verses like Num 24:17 “A Star shall come out of Jacob. A Scepter shall rise out of Israel...”

For when the magi from the East come to Jerusalem, they ask in Matthew 2:2 “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”

Is this all connected? Or just coincidence?

For sure there was a false religious system established in Babylonia…

Which was present in Daniel’s day…

And, Magi possibly from that same area… came to worship the “King of the Jews”… one they were aware of (was that from Daniel?)… and they followed His star… which was like no natural star.

I think it’s connected… and I’m fascinated how God… can even use pagan kings (as we discussed on Sunday) for His sovereign purposes.

Call me simple, but I see a thread of connection weaved through history and used by God.

And even the terrible worship of stars… can be used by God… to bring a caravan of magi to worship Jesus and honor Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Never forget that God is on the throne… even when ziggurats are raised in defiance of Him…

Even when the nations shake their fists at Him… or try to live without Him.

He can use all things for His will… and purposes… even the evil of this day has NO power except what is given from above… as Jesus said to Pilate.

And, God’s will… it will unfold… precisely as written in His word.

So… this ancient nation… in the land of Shinar… led by Nimrod… they build the city of Babel… and a tower for false worship… they seek to establish a name for themselves… they seek to stay together and ignore God’s command to “multiply and fill the earth.”

So, God looks down from heaven and decides to intervene… let’s read vv 5-6 again, “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 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.”

Several times in scripture we get a sense that God permits evil to continue, but there is a limit.

Israel would be in Egypt for four hundred years and would not return to Canaan until that time “for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” (Gen 15:16)

In Egypt, Pharoah hardened his heart to God several times before God hardened Pharoah’s heart.

In Romans 1… people who live godless lives… eventually God “gives them up...”

2 Peter 3:9 gives us the heart of God in His waiting… “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God desires for people to come to Him in faith, but if they continue to deny Him… He eventually gives them their desire… a life without God.

And… this ancient culture seems to have reached the tipping point… where God now intervenes… where evil can be tolerated no longer.

And, in all of human history… there are only a handful of moments when these events are recorded:

The Universal Flood (Gen 6-9)

The Tower of Babel (tonight’s reading)

Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19)

Egypt and the plagues (Exo 4-12)

The Canaanite Conquest (Josh 1-12)

Jonah and Ninevah

And, God’s dealings with Israel and Judah for her disobedience… using Assyria, Babylon, and Rome in judgment.

When we read that the LORD (all caps… indicating this is Yahweh… the proper name for God)… “came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built...”

This describes God’s actions in human terms… to “see the city” seems to indicated God was investigating… which is a human characteristic…

Of course God is omniscient… He knows all… so it was not that God was unaware and had to ‘see for Himself’ so to say…

But sometimes the Bible describes God in human terms or with human characteristics… which is called “anthro-po-morphism” meaning lit. “human formism.”

That’s your $.50 cent word of the day.

So, it’s not that God didn’t know what was going on, but to ‘come down and see the city’ indicates God is not officially and judicially stepping in.

The situation was so bad in Babel… that God is stepping in… just like He did with the flood.

We could ask, “What would have happened to the world if Babel was permitted to continue with their godless plan?”

God won’t allow their wicked and godless proposed ideas to flourish.

God would not allow a repeat of the evil before the flood to once again flood the world.

Morris writes about a theory that Nimrod was influenced by Satan… perhaps even promised the world (which Satan indeed promised to Jesus during the Temptation)…

And, purposed to dethrone God through a rebellion to take over the world.

So, God says, V7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Interesting… scene where somehow God determines to stop the efforts of this city and to personally intervene.

Exactly HOW this happens is up to debate.

God calls a council… saying “… let Us go down...”

Who is Us? The word “God” in Gen 1:1 and beyond is plural… and we see God refer to Himself as “Us” in other passages…

Genesis 1:26 “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image… ”

Genesis 3:22 “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil."

One view is “Us” portrays the Trinity.

“Us” is a plural pronoun… so it could be God determines a plan… and just One or two members of the Trinity go to Babel.

Or they just council and confuse the languages… or send angels on Their behalf.

But, a true “in-person” visit… could NOT include the Father.

Scripture is clear that no one can see God:

Exodus 33:20 "But He [God] said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.”

John 1:18 (& 1 John 4:12) state, "No one has seen God at any time…."

1 Timothy 6:16 states God is “dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see...”

No one can behold the true essence of God and live, so God has appeared to man in visions, dreams, theophany’s, anthro-po-morphism… but NOT by His inner essence or nature.

So… in Gen 18… when three men visit Abraham… eat with him and talk with him.

They are physically present… even displayed by Sarah making food for them. This was not a vision.

Two of the men go on to Sodom and Gomorrah… are identified as angels in Gen 19:1… and they rescue Lot and some of his family… and determine the city is utterly wicked and will be destroyed.

The other “man” who stayed with Abraham is identified as the LORD… all caps… Yahweh God.

Throughout Gen 18, Abraham and Yahweh converse.

Abraham's face-to-face encounter can best be answered by understanding this is a Theophany of the pre-incarnate Jesus Christ, who is Yahweh.

As is the Father Yahweh.

Which testifies that Jesus and the Father are one, and both are Yahweh God.

Gen 18 is a dilemma to Jehovah Witnesses… though they try to explain the multiple uses of “LORD” YHWH away saying the men were just angels.

But they were not… one was Yahweh.

Now… what’s interesting about Gen 11 compared to Gen 19… is we have two chapters where God is visiting wicked cities and determining what to do.

In Gen 11… He determines to confuse their language.

In Gen 19… the two angels destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

So, we do have an account where angels are involved in a significant judgment of an evil city.

So… are holy angels also a part in the Gen 11 confusion of languages? We don’t know for sure, but they have been involved elsewhere in Scripture.

We also see in V7… leading in to V8… is God’s purpose of intervening in Babel. “to confuse their language” and then in V8 “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.”

God had instructed mankind to “multiply and fill the earth” and God will not be mocked.

This was going to happen despite their efforts to come together and not be scattered.

James writes and warns against the plans of man… man’s will apart from God’s will.

James 4:13–16 reads, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.”

Jesus also told a parable about a Rich Fool in Luke 12… who built great barns to store his plentiful crops…

And we read in Luke 12:19-21 the rich man’s thoughts which exclude God. The rich man thinks, “And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This man was a rich fool because he had a lot of plans, but God wasn’t a part of them… and he would lose everything.

And what happened in Babel is not so different from any other time… either in the life of a nation or the life of a person… who drifts from God… stores up treasure for themselves… and thinks NOT about God… NOR the will of God.

What should happen is prayers for wisdom… to discern God’s will.

Waiting on the Lord… until His Holy Spirit moves.

Using our resources to honor God… to grow His kingdom.

And, I’m sure we could add other wise steps, but you get the point… and it’s so common to miss these steps… and to become self-centered… even to the point that a whole city would drift from even considering God’s will…

… to being led by their own desires and for their own glory.

… even to the point that they invent their own Gods.

And as discussed before… there comes a point… when either an individual… or a city… or a nation drifts so far from God…

… where God intervenes. Sometimes in divine judgment… and sometimes in God’s wrath of abandonment… as we read in Romans 1… where “God gave them over to a debased mind.”

In our Revelation study, we are going through the Seven Churches of Asia Minor (Rev 2-3)… and even in church life… 5 of the 7 churches are rebuked for similar issues as to what happened in Babel:

“A loss of love for Christ… tolerating false teachings… tolerating immorality… spiritual deadness… lukewarmness… and self-deception.”

What we’re reading in Genesis 11 is not just history… or the origins of why there are so many languages on the earth, but it’s a common and sad tale of drifting from God… and the result thereof.

And, we must humble ourselves to not put ourselves on the throne… lest we err in the same way… and write God out of our personal and national history.

Our nation is fighting for it’s identity… and there are many who want to go in the way of Babel.

I don’t plan to sit idly by and watch that happen.

Paul told Timothy, “Fight the good fight of faith...”

I don’t want our nation to experience the wrath of God’s abandonment… or for some Angels to visit and investigate us in judgment.

And, back in vv 7-8… Babel had rejected God’s will… but God’s will be done… and He accomplishes it by confusing their language…

Formerly the earth had one language… now they don’t understand one another’s speech.

Which causes them to V8 ‘scatter abroad… from Babel… over the face of the earth.”

Which they willed NOT to do back in V4.

But as God said to do… “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.” (Gen 9:1)

And God’s will reigns for He is Sovereign God.

And, you can imagine the chaos of this moment…

Morris described it this way: “It is not hard to imagine the surprised confusion that quickly spread through Babel. Presumably individual members of each family group could still understand each other, but otherwise everyone else was talking nonsense. Various ones thought others were mocking them. Foremen became irritated when their crews would not obey their orders, and workmen imagined their bosses were making sport of them and trying to make them look bad. In the palace itself, mighty Nimrod found it impossible to get servants to carry out his commands, and then became furious when those he instructed to punish them wouldn’t do it. Loud, incoherent arguments erupted throughout the city, and full-fledged chaos eventually reigned. Finally there was nothing to do but separate, with only individual family units remaining intact. No further urban cooperation between families was possible; so each family group had to learn how to meet its own needs directly. Eventually, if not immediately, each family became a tribe and moved away from Babel to work out its own manner of life, as God had intended them to do in the first place.”

And so… families would disperse by language… becoming tribes… and the more industrious tribes would from cities… and nations…

Pushing smaller tribes out to distant regions.

And with micro evolution… certain genetic characteristics and variations would dominate various regions… skin color, hair color, facial features, height, temperament, and so forth.

Not as a curse by God… but simply variations of one human race… all of whom God loves.

Cultures would develop… and in just a few generations… as verified by archaeologists… the world would be inhabited… and God instructed “fill the earth.”

And, with the scattering of the nations… Project Babel would fail.

The attempt to establish a city and a world without God would cease.

Thus V9 reads, “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.”

We don’t know exactly how God performed this miracle to confuse languages, but a miraculous judgment indeed occurs.

God does not wipe out the Godless city of Babel with water or fire and brimstone, but causes confusion…

Which is a method God also employs to accomplish His will.

God promised Israel… as they entered the land of Canaan this in Exodus 23:27 “I will send My fear before you, I will cause confusion among all the people to whom you come, and will make all your enemies turn their backs to you.”

God sends Angels before His people… Exo 23:28 says He will send hornets to drive out the Hivites, Canaanites, and Hittites.

God can move in a number of ways to accomplish His will… still to this day.

What’s interesting about the word “confused” is it is the Hebrew word “Balal” which means “mingle, mix or confuse.”

And it would seem this word was connected to the name “Babel”… a name that literally means “confusion.”

And, those who would remain in this area and establish “Babylon”… another city meaning “to confound or confuse”…

… they would establish a city… that would become an epicenter of confusion… especially in religious matters.

So this is the origin story of languages… and of one more failed attempt to thwart the plan of God.

Now… we are going to quickly read through the genealogies of the rest of this chapter… which takes us from Shem… to our next major character… Abram…

Gen 11:10-32 “This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.

Gen 10:25 notes that in the days of Peleg “the earth was divided” which points to the confusion of languages at the Tower of Babel… which happened four generations after the flood.

V17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

Another observation we see in this genealogy is the declining number of years that people live. No longer do we read about people living 900+ years…

Longevity of life was declining.

V20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.”

So, at age 70… Terah has a son nameed Abram… he will be renamed Abraham (in Gen 17:5)… and from his line would come Israel… and the Messiah.

Now closing out the chapter… Terah’s family comes into focus… which gives us insight as to where Abraham came from.

V27 “This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. [another key figure in the chapter’s ahead] 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

His country… Ur of the Chaldeans… where was this?

About 140 miles southeast of Babel… which you can see on our final map.

#1 is a likely location of Babel according to Answers in Genesis.

#2 is Ur of the Chaldeans.

Abram was born only a few generations after the Tower of Babel incident…

… and his family was living in the land settled by descendants of Canaan… a land that had sunken into very evil ways.

So, it’s no wonder that Chapter 12 opens with God telling Abram, “Get out of your country, From your family...”

In Joshua 24:2 Joshua said, ““Thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.”

So, Terah was an idolater… and God called Abram to leave his family and land that worshipped this evil.

V29 “Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, [another major character moving forward… who is the 1/2 sister of Abram according to Gen 20:12… kind of weird] and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, [who was his niece… also odd, but not yet forbidden by Mosaic law] the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Which is an important note… a turns into a trial of trusting God’s word… that they would have a child.

And, they fail to trust which leads to self-induced trials.

How much better is it to trust God’s word and wait upon the Lord… instead of trying to make plans happen by our own efforts?

V31 “And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.”

So, this passage seems to suggest that Terah may also received a command to leave Ur and go to Canaan.

But, upon reaching the city of Haran (which was thought to be west of Assyria], thought established by his deceased son Haran (mentioned in V28)…

Terah may have needed to travel here to settle the affairs of his son who died prematurely.

But, Terah discontinues the journey to Canaan… for what reason we don’t know.

Some think there was prosperity and comfort in Haran…

Some think he cannot further depart from the memory of his son.

Regardless… Terah dies in Haran… which is a sad ending.

He had become useless to God’s will… as he served idols and held onto the world.

And, this happens at times… where people sometimes put off the calling of God… elevating personal will and desires above God.

Which has been a theme of our message this evening.

That person never realizes their calling, but again… God’s will be done… and He will raise up another…

… who will experience the blessing of walking with God in the center of His will… what the latter person would fail to realize.

So, Terah, by all rights becomes dead to God’s will and the plan for his life…

But, the call is renewed through Abram… and he would go forward in obedience… to experience the blessings of the Lord.

And, he becomes the center of our story moving forward.

Read ahead.

Let’s pray!

If you need prayer for anything, please see us before you leave.

And, may God bless the rest of your week ahead!