When Man tries to Build Without God

Text: Genesis 11:1-9

Genesis 11:1–9 KJV 1900

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of 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 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Introduction:

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing (Chapter 19: All Man’s Babylons) A few years ago the Arizona Republic carried this local profile by columnist E. J. Montini: It is dusk. Gordon Hall stands at an overlook on his 55,000-square-foot mansion in Paradise Valley, a structure built by Pittsburgh industrialist Walker McCune and now owned and being renovated by Hall. He is 32 years old and a millionaire many times over. He stares at the range of lights stretching before him from horizon to horizon and breathes a deep, relaxed sigh. The lights of the city are like the campfires of a great army to Hall, who sees himself as its benevolent general. They are like the flashlights of the world’s fortune seekers, and Hall is their beacon to riches. They are, for Hall, like the stars of the firmament. And he is above them. He is worth more than $100 million, he says, because it was his goal to be worth more than $100 million before the age of 33… There are other goals. By the time he is 38, he will be a billionaire. By the time his earthly body expires—and he is convinced he can live to be 120 years old—he will assume what he believes to be his just heavenly reward: Gordon Hall will be a god. “We have always existed as intelligences, as spirits,” he says. “We are down here to gain a body. As man is now, God once was. And as God is now, man can become. If you believe it, then your genetic makeup is to be a god. And I believe it. That is why I believe I can do anything. My genetic makeup is to be a god. My God in heaven creates worlds and universes. I believe I can do anything, too.” He looks to the horizon, and then he looks behind him, where his great dark house seems to drift like a ship in the night sky. Gordon Hall’s delusion is only another expression of humanity’s primeval desire to displace God, even becoming as God himself.

Hall’s pathetic thinking calls for Francis Thompson’s clearheaded lines: And all man’s Babylons strive but to impart The grandeurs of his Babylonian heart.

History demonstrates that Babylonian hearts are endemic to humanity. Centuries after the fiasco at Babel, Nebuchadnezzar strode over the ramparts of his royal palace and declared, (Daniel 4:30

Daniel 4:30 KJV 1900

30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

Centuries later when King Herod, decked out in royal livery, addressed his people, they shouted, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” (Acts 12:22

Acts 12:22 KJV 1900

22 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.

The litany of history’s Babylonian hearts roll easily from our lips. Alexander the Great. Caesar Augustus—when he died, some feared that God had died. Louis XIV, the sun king. Stalin, who encouraged those who were weary to think of him. Of course, we do not need history to understand this. We have the imperial self—our tendency to become mini-potentates—to exalt our little Babylonian hearts to the thrones of our lives. What does God think of this? And what does he do? This is what this story is all about. And it is told with remarkable skill and care.

The story’s central hinge is in verse 5, where the Lord comes down “to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.” From there on the story becomes a point-for-point inversion of the first half.

We see here: Human arrogance, Heaven’s Awareness, and Heaven’s Reversal.

This story of Babel also mirrors humanity’s attempt in Eden to grasp power apart from God

At its heart, Babel is humanity saying:

“We do not need God to reach greatness.”

And that spirit has never disappeared. When man builds for his own glory, God will eventually bring it down…

This is a common Hebrew literary pattern:

👉 Genesis 10 = The spread of nations (overview/result) 👉 Genesis 11:1–9 = The explanation of how that dispersion happened

Genesis 10 gives us the table of nations—the result of humanity’s dispersion. Genesis 11 then steps back to explain the key event that caused that dispersion: the rebellion at Babel…

Nimrod’s kingdom in connection with Babylon and Shinar is revealing because Nimrod’s name means “we shall rebel,” which perfectly characterizes the heart of the builders of Babel

Genesis 10:25 KJV 1900

25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.

Places the scattering from Babel chronologically during Peleg’s time.

Moses reversed the order to emphasize the high cost of rebelling against God. We are supposed to come to the end of Genesis 10 and ask, “How did the world become so hopelessly divided?”

Beneath these names and nations, we discover four reminders that God is still directing the story…

I. A UNITED HUMANITY — ONE PEOPLE, ONE LANGUAGE (vv.1–2)

(Vs. 1) “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.”

If we accept the Biblical teaching that mankind has a common origin in Adam, then this simply makes sense: that there was a time when humanity spoke one language instead of the hundreds on the earth today.

The implication is not merely linguistic uniformity but a profound unity of thought, purpose, and understanding.

As John Phillips would observe, “This deep cohesion, intended by God perhaps for harmonious spreading, ironically becomes the very instrument for humanity's direct confrontation with divine command.”

So the story’s beginning stresses that the picture is universal, including all of humanity in original linguistic solidarity. This communion of language ought to have promoted a godly oneness of faith, but sin was alive and well among Noah’s descendants.

Humanity begins united.

One language. One people. One shared purpose.

Now, unity itself is not evil.

But unity can be dangerous when it is disconnected from God…

God had already commanded humanity:

“Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”

They were supposed to spread…

(Vs. 2)

Instead:

“They found a plain… and they dwelt there.”

They settled.

They resisted dispersion.

They chose collective security over divine obedience.

The mention that they moved “from the east” indicates trouble because in Genesis “east” or “from the east” suggests movement away from God.

Adam & Eve - “East of the Garden.” (Gen 3:24)

Lot left Abraham - “Journeyed East.” (Gen 13:10-12)

Abraham sons by his concubine Keturah were sent - “Away, Eastward.” (Gen 25:6)

Jacob fled His homeland - “Ino the land of the people of the east.” (Gen 29:1)

As they wandered eastward from Ararat (Armenia), they settled in Mesopotamia on the broad, flat plain of Shinar in what the Talmud would call the “valley of the world.” Moses’ clear statement that they “settled there” (v. 2) is not incidental, because “settled” is the opposite of “dispersed” (v. 8), which is the story’s dramatic outcome. Their settling was in direct opposition to God’s post-flood command to “fill the earth” (9:1).

Application:

Not every movement of togetherness is righteous.

Unity without submission to God can become organized rebellion. Next the text draws our attention to the second reminder…

II. A PRIDEFUL HUMANITY — BUILDING FOR THEIR OWN NAME (vv.3–4)

(Vs. 3) “Go to, let us build us a city and a tower…”

Having established humanity’s rebellious direction, Moses treats us to some well-chosen sound bites from their community dialogue that indicates their sinful resolve.

Notice the repeated phrase:

“Let us…”

Let us build

Let us make

Let us establish

Let’s be honest this morning there are a lot of stupid movements under the guise of unity…

This quotation in effect mocks the would-be tower builders because sun-dried or kiln-baked bricks set with tar was a Babylonian invention, whereas Israel used stone and mortar. The implication is, “We use stone; they have only brick!” Only fools would choose brick in preference to good Palestinian stone… They were making a tower in spite of God… there is a way which seemeth right…

“The heart and the materials relevant to the tower of Babel show that it was not only disobedient to God’s command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), but it also shows man did not believe God’s promise to never again flood the earth. A waterproof tower was made to protect man against a future deluge.” - David Guzik

This is humanity operating independently of God. Their goal:

(Vs. 4) “Let us make us a name…”

That is the heart of Babel.

Not worship.

Not obedience.

Not God’s glory.

Their own name.

Their own fame.

Their own security.

This is the essence of pride:

👉 Building life around self instead of God.

They feared:

“lest we be scattered…”

Exactly what God had commanded. So Babel is direct rebellion.

Application:

Pride still builds towers today.

Careers without God

Families without God

Churches without God

Success without God

Whenever humanity seeks significance apart from God, Babel is repeated. But even as the world expands, God is preserving a line of promise…

III. A SOVEREIGN GOD — GOD COMES DOWN (vv.5–7)

(Vs. 5) “And the LORD came down…”

This is one of the great ironies of Scripture. They built a tower to reach heaven…

“Their tower was so microscopic that the all-seeing omnipotent God had to come down to see. It was as if God stooped down like a man on his hands and knees and lowered his face to the earth to see the great tower.” - Kent Hughes

Psalm 2:4 KJV 1900

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: The Lord shall have them in derision.

No matter how high man builds, he never rises above God.

Then God says:

(Vs. 6) “Nothing will be restrained from them…”

God was not threatened by humankind’s corporate potential. “Oh no, if they band together, what shall I do?” Instead, he was troubled by what would happen to humanity if the human family was left unchecked. They would build up a delusion of self-sufficiency through their false religion, corporate security, and political uniformity.

They would throw off God and attempt to rule the universe. And in their delusion they would never turn to God. Their Babylonian hearts would become impenetrable and irredeemable

It means unchecked sinful unity would accelerate rebellion.

So God intervenes.

(Vs. 7) “Let us go down, and there confound their language…”

God confuses speech.

Communication fractures.

Construction stops.

Humanity scatters.

This is judgment— but also mercy.

By dividing them, God restrains deeper evil.

Application:

Sometimes God disrupts human plans not to harm us— but to protect us.

“The division of the languages is a fascinating subject. Modern linguists know man did not invent language, any more than man invented his own circulatory or nervous system. Most modern linguists believe language is so unique that the only way they can explain it apart from God is to say that it was part of a unique evolutionary process.” - David Guzik

There are times when unanswered ambitions are acts of divine mercy… And finally, we are reminded that all of it remains under His sovereign order.

IV. A REDEMPTIVE GOD — GOD’S PLAN CONTINUES (vv.8–9)

(Vs. 8) “So the LORD scattered them abroad…”

Babel failed.

Man’s kingdom was interrupted.

But God’s purpose was not.

Humanity is scattered— just as God originally commanded.

Think what it was like for a family to leave the area of Babel and go out on their own. They must look for a suitable place to live, and once they found it, they must exist by hunting and gathering, living in crude dwellings or caves until they could support themselves by agriculture and taking advantage of the natural resources…

Families would multiply rapidly, develop their own culture, and their own distinctive biological and physical characteristics influenced by their environment. In the small population, genetic characteristics change very quickly, and as the population of the group grew bigger, the changes stabilized and became more or less permanent.

The whole account of what happened at Babel with its anti-God dictator, its organized rebellion against God, and its direct distrust of God’s promise shows man hasn’t gotten any better since the flood. Time, progress, government, and organization have made man better off, but not better.

What rebellion resisted, sovereignty accomplished.

And this is crucial:

Genesis 11 does not end with Babel.

It moves toward Abraham… Genesis 11:10-26

(Vs. 27-32)

Terah's incomplete journey and death in Haran are divinely orchestrated, marking the crucial transition from a patriarchally-led migration to Abram's singular, God-directed journey of faith to Canaan, underscoring both human limitation and divine sovereignty in advancing God's redemptive plan.

Joshua 24:2–3 KJV 1900

2 And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3 And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

This passage explicitly states that Terah and Abram's family served other gods "on the other side of the flood" (i.e., in Mesopotamia), emphasizing that God sovereignly called Abram out of an idolatrous background.

Application:

While man tries to build his own kingdom, God is preparing His covenant plan.

Man builds Babel.

God builds redemption.

No rebellion can stop God’s purpose.

No human pride can overturn divine sovereignty.

GOSPEL CONNECTION

Babel divided humanity through confused language.

But in Acts 2, at Pentecost:

languages are heard

the Gospel is proclaimed

nations are gathered

At Babel: 👉 Pride scattered.

At Pentecost: 👉 Christ gathers.

Jesus is the greater answer to Babel.

He does not call us to make our own name.

He calls us to surrender to His.

Philippians 2 says:

“God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”

Babel says: “Make your own name.”

The Gospel says: “Bow to His name.”

CONCLUSION

Genesis 11 teaches us:

Humanity united.

Pride emerged.

God intervened.

History was redirected.

Babel reminds us:

The greatest danger is not bricks and towers—

It is the human heart trying to reach glory without God.

FINAL CALL

Every person is building something.

A life. A future. A reputation. A legacy.

The question is:

👉 Are you building for your name? 👉 Or are you living for His?

Because anything built apart from God will ultimately fall.

STRONG CLOSING LINE

“Babel was humanity’s attempt to reach heaven without God—but only Christ can truly bring man to God.”