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Sermon – The Tower of Babel

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Sermon on the Tower of Babel

Date written: July 2nd Bible Text: 📷

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.

SUBJECT:

Origins, Nations, Language

TITLE:

Studies in Genesis – The Tower of Babel

PROPOSITION:

In this lesson we will look at the history of the Tower of Babel and draw some lessons.

OBJECTIVE:

That each would know more about God’s will for their lives through this history and lesson.

INTRODUCTION:

1. Read:

2. About the Text:

1) When we study the book of Genesis, we study the book of beginnings or origins.

2) We’ve seen the origins of man.

3) We’ve seen the origins of sin.

4) We’ve seen the origins of the geography of the earth explained in the flood.

5) We now begin to answer the question where did the nation of Israel come from.

6) But the question, “What are the origins of the nations of the earth and the various languages?” must be answered first.

7) This is the question answered in the story of the tower of Babel.

DISCUSSION:

I. The History of the Tower of Babel

1. The People of the Tower of Babel

1) After the flood, Noah and his family begin repopulating the earth.

2) God commanded Noah and his family to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth? (📷).

Genesis 9:1 KJV 1900

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

3) 📷 says, “These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.”

Genesis 10:32 KJV 1900

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

4) Some commentators have suggested that the tower of Babel wasn’t built until 100 or so years after the flood.

5) Assuming this period of time, six generations could have come and gone and the earth could have been populated with as many as 30,000 people including men, women, and children.

6) It is this group of people, or a large portion of them, that we find in 📷.

Genesis 11:1ff 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. 10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

7) We also know that it wasn’t long after the flood that man’s problem with sin once again erupted both with Noah and Noah’s sons.

8) Six generations of people also brought six generations of sin.

2. The Language of the People

1) In verse 1 of , we📷’re then told that these people all spoke the same language and that they were all together in the same place.

2) It used to be commonly believed that the language that these people spoke was Hebrew.

3) The Bible, however, doesn’t specifically tell us what the language was that they spoke, only that they spoke the same language.

4) The continued to speak the same language because they continued to remain together as a group.

5) God’s command to Noah and his sons was to replenish the earth. This they were not doing.

6) Had they dispersed like God had intended them to do they would have naturally developed different languages.

7) Since, however, they were together, their single language persisted.

3. The Place of the Tower of Babel

1) We are told that the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat (📷).

Genesis 8:4 KJV 1900

4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

2) This would be in modern day eastern Turkey north of Iraq.

3) From here Noah and his family moved to the south and southwest or as 📷 says they came from the east.

Genesis 11:2 KJV 1900

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.

4) They would be most interested in valleys and plains where crops could easily grow.

5) The Tigris river is southeast of the mountains of Ararat.

6) The Euphrates is west of the Tigris.

7) A westward trek would be in order from Ararat to the Tigris and then to the Euphrates.

8) The Greek historian Herodotus said that this was in the neighborhood of what would later be known as Babylon.

9) The plain (as 11:2 says) was fertile due to the river running through it and provided ample space for a people of 30,000 to locate.

10) This is where they intended to permanently settle.

4. The Plans for the Tower of Babel

1) It was the purpose of the people not merely to stop in this area for a while, but to settle here permanently.

2) This is evident from what we are told about their building materials.

3) The area was not abundant in large stones and such they needed to construct housing.

4) So, they cooked bricks.

5) To hold them together they used bitumen or an asphalt. It made for a type of cement to hold the bricks together.

6) With these materials, they could build permanent houses and a city in which they could all live.

7) In addition to the housing and city, the proposed to build a tower.

8) This was for the purpose of making a name for themselves so that they would not be dispersed in the earth.

9) It seems that they thought that if they, as a society, were great enough, that they could undo God’s will for the earth.

10) Again, it was not God’s plan for them to do this. They were supposed to disperse throughout the earth.

11) Their plans for the city and for their tower are now 100% opposed to God’s plan.

5. God’s Punishment for the People

1) God noted that the people were unified in one place and with one language.

2) It wasn’t that God had a problem with their being unified, but with their being unified for the purposes they had in mind.

3) They were working against God’s plan, not for it and being unified as they were, God’s concern was that there wouldn’t be anything that they wouldn’t do.

4) This is what is meant by “Nothing…will be impossible for them.” I.E. They won’t be thwarted in any of their plans even if they are against the will of God.

5) In other words, they would soon come to consider that there was nothing that ought not to be done.

6) This was the problem with the world prior to the flood.

7) 📷 says, “And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 6:5 KJV 1900

5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

8) There was no sin that they wouldn’t commit which is why God destroyed the earth.

9) No doubt, He didn’t want the same thing to happen again.

10) The punishment that God levied upon them fit their situation.

11) They had failed to obey God’s command to replenish the earth so God would, more or less, force them to comply.

12) He did so by changing their languages so that not everyone spoke the same language any more.

13) We get the picture that not just two, but several languages came as a result.

14) With these new languages, those who communicated with each other would separate and develop their own communities in other places.

15) We should also note that God dispersed them.

16) The language change was a miracle of the mind.

17) The dispersion may have been miraculous as well.

18) Or it may simply have been a result of the language change.

19) It’s not 100% clear.

20) The bottom line is that God’s purposes were now fulfilled.

21) We also learn from Moses how the different nations and languages of the world came about.

II. Lessons from the Tower of Babel

1. Where people exist, the problem of sin will also exist.

1) 📷 “For all have sinned…”

Romans 3:23 KJV 1900

23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

2) Sin is the constant problem of man.

3) We must seek not to sin, but to do good.

4) 📷 says, “But to do good and to share forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”

Hebrews 13:16 KJV 1900

16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

2. God’s will is to be obeyed regardless of circumstances.

1) I don’t know why they didn’t initially want to separate.

2) Perhaps they loved their families.

3) Perhaps they wanted to be a great people.

4) Perhaps they wanted the easy life.

5) They eventually came to want to “make a name? for themselves.

6) Whatever the reason, God’s will was not obeyed.

7) 📷 says that God saves those who obey Him.

Hebrews 5:9 KJV 1900

9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;

3. Pride will always cause us to think more highly of ourselves than we ought.

1) The people together were very confident.

2) They didn’t think that there was anything they couldn’t do.

3) They wanted to make a name for themselves.

4) Perhaps they thought that if they did such then God wouldn’t separate them.

5) Pride causes us to behave in ways that we normally would not.

6) 📷 says, “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”

Romans 12:3 KJV 1900

3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

4. We ought not to think that there is anything that we can’t do – sin is off limits.

1) Certainly, regarding good things, we have no law against such (📷).

Galatians 5:23 KJV 1900

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

2) However, sometimes we need to ask not “Can we do it? but “Ought we to do it.”

3) We may advance far in our society in knowledge so that we can do a lot of different things.

4) But we need to ask, “Ought we to do them?”

5) Man’s actions need certain limitations if they are going to be orderly and pleasing to God.

6) 📷 says do all things by the authority of Christ.

Colossians 3:17 KJV 1900

17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

5. God’s plans will not be thwarted.

1) God had a plan for man’s salvation through Jesus.

2) This would unfold according to God’s wisdom.

3) Man’s “wisdom? and plans threatened to undo God’s plan for man’s salvation.

4) Hence, God miraculously intervened.

5) Paul wrote, “Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” (📷).

1 Corinthians 1:20–21 KJV 1900

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

6. No society is so great that it can undo God’s will.

1) Many societies have, in the past, tried to ignore God’s will.

2) It has only been to their detriment.

3) Where is Babylon? The Roman Empire? Greece? Persia?

4) What about Sodom and Gomorrha?

5) What ancient cultures and societies that opposed God are still around today?

6) A society that opposes God is not a society that will exist for long.

7) 📷 “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?”

Daniel 4:34–35 KJV 1900

34 And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?

7. God’s punishments are just.

1) God’s punishment for the people was to give them what they wouldn’t do.

2) By changing their languages, the people dispersed.

3) This was what God wanted all along.

4) This was a just punishment and reasonable

5) The Judge of all the earth does right! 📷.

Genesis 18:25 KJV 1900

25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

CONCLUSION:

1. We’ve seen in our study…

1) The history of the Tower of Babel.

2) Some lessons from the Tower of Babel.

3) We’ve also learned the origins of nations and languages on the earth.

4) God caused these events to happen for his purposes and reasons.

5) I’m thankful that He did so that His plan could unfold for man’s salvation.

2. Invitation