Babel: God’s sovereign plan working through man’s sin

Genesis 11:1–9 ESV

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

What are we as Christians living in 202 to do with such as story as we find in our main text today? Are we to draw a conclusion that God hates unity of men, or that he is somehow afraid of what mankind is capable of when they come together?

After learning all that we have as a congregation this past summer studying the attributes of God, how can we look at this story in redemptive history and see the Gospel? How can we read these words and learn more of our Heavenly Father?

Well, first things first, we need to have a good understanding of the context of this story. We are back in Genesis, the beginning of scripture. We are picking up after leaving off from last November, and what we saw was the progression of sinfulness in humanity. We started by seeing God create all things and especially man, in which he said was “very Good”. From there we saw how Adam and Eve were tempted in the garden by the serpent and how humanity fell when disobeying the Lord God. They were banished from the garden of Eden and a Cherubim with a flaming sword was placed on the east side to guard it from being found again by man.

Adam and eve were Given initial instruction that would be a constant theme in Genesis, let’s look at them.

Genesis 1:28 ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Notice that before the fall the instructions given were to be fruitful and multiply and FILL the EARTH!

Well after the fall God in no way takes this mandate away from them, even though childbirth and work will be significantly more difficult as a result of sin. And to make matters worse the effects of sin is seen in the children of Adam and Eve.

Cain Kills Abel his brother and God is still merciful to him by not killing him for his actions. The earth is then being populated by the descendants of Adam, yet wickedness is ever increasing, until we get to Noah and the flood narrative.

God decides it is time reset creation and he chooses the family of Noah, being the only righteous one available for God to use at that time. By the time the flood subsides, God repeats a familiar instruction.

Genesis 9:7 ESV

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

So like the instruction given to Adam and Eve, Noah now carries the mandate to increase on the earth and multiply in it. It is important that we remember these things before we approach the story of the tower of Babel. If we just read that text without any prior knowledge of the context it would seem almost childish of God, and paint a picture of an insecure God who fears his own creation, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

Instead, we have an all powerful triune God who creates everything by his eternal decree. We have a loving, caring creator, who for no other reason than his eternal delight, decides to make mankind in his image and likeness, for his own glory. The picture we see is of a gracious God and merciful God who, even after he judges those who defy him, he is still benevolent enough to allow humanity to continue, even though he would be just to completely wipe all humanity off the face of the earth and start over again is he so chose.

And even when Noah and his family are spared and given instructions to continue the mandate to fill the earth and multiply on it and all over it, they still show signs that sin is not easily removed from humanity. We are shown a story in Gen. 9 where Noah gets drunk and exposed and his sons act but rightly and wrongly, and so they carry sinfulness into further generations. But still the earth is being populated according to God’s word… Until chapter 11.

One more thing I would want to cover when heading back into Genesis, Understanding the Author and original audience.

Moses wrote the book of Genesis while the Israelites were wandering in the desert. The stories gave the Israelites a place in history—an identity—which was important for a people coming out of four hundred years of slavery in a foreign country. Knowing the (toledot) Era of generations they came from gave the Israelites context for what God was asking them when they entered the Promised Land, and linked later Israelites to the great men and the mighty deeds of long before. Most of all, the (toledot) or story of these generations showed them how God had worked in the past and how He was sure to work in the present.

Let’s look at this story in depth now.

Genesis 11:1 ESV

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.

Keep in mind that after the flood, there is still relatively few people populating the earth as a whole. As the entire globe was flooded there are not various indigenous peoples all over the planet like it is now. Any bit of humanity resurgent is still all in one basic area. And the bible tells us that they all share one common language having the same meaning to everyone alive at the time.

If you have ever traveled to other parts of the globe you know that this is a major barrier to everything that happens. Language is a powerful tool, as words are the main means by which we communicate with each other. Having to learn a new language or use a translator really slows down your ability to not only communicate but also gain trust when trying to work with other people. It seems as though there is something innate to our being that more easily trusts those who talk like we do. This is a powerful tool when trying to bring unity to a large group pf people, and something we do not often think about unless we are faced with a situation of being around a language barrier. So far this all looks good.

Sometimes sin starts off by looking good to everyone

Yet, so far we do not see a lot wrong with the story we are looking at, as they are all on the same page, and most would agree that is generally a great thing. This is the setting for our story today.

Genesis 11:2 ESV

2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Now notice where they are coming from. People are migrating from the East it says. This implies that people are already scattered over this region, and for some reason they are moving in the same direction.

Also, please remember the story of the Garden of Eden… Once they were kicked out of the Garden God placed an angel with a flaming sword to guard the east entrance of the garden to keep man from getting to the tree of Life. And now these people seem to be moving East. It may be nothing or it may show that they are looking to get back to something that was lost.

Never the less they all seem to settle on the same plain. This is the beginning of this incident, when one people with one language all decide to live in one place.

Genesis 11:3 ESV

3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.

This may seem like unimportant information here, they decide to bake or burn bricks for building and using something called Bitumen, which is basically tar. But there is never anything left in scripture that doesn’t have a purpose. What we need to know is that this was seen as using the latest techniques in building of that time. Rather than mining rock and crushing stone to make a cement based mortar, they are using ingenuity to try a new method of quicker building. But what do they want to do with this building method?

Genesis 11:4 ESV

4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

So we have a rising tension that is now seen in them declaring what they are doing and why they are doing it.

First they want to build a city and secondly they want to build a tower. But they don’t stop there, the tower must reach into the heavens. Why? Why should they build such a tall tower? Well it is obvious with the next few words...

They had a desire to organize themselves and use their own building techniques to show everyone including themselves that they were ruggedly independent of anyone including God. They desire to make a name for themselves. Remember they live in a time where they have heard that God flooded the earth and promised never to do that again. And yet sinfulness within them is driving them to defy God and they desire to show off by building a tower up to the heavens.

It is as if they are saying, we are in control here and can come up there is we want to. But it doesn’t end there, they want to make a name for themselves. They are concerned that others for generations to come will hear of them and be impressed by them. And finally they show their desire for power and control because they know the mandate God has given both Adam and Eve in the beginning and the repeat of it to Noah and his Sons. Look at what they say the result of this project would be...

“Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

They are saying to God we will not let you divide us if we don’t want to go. the first 4 verses here is part one of a two act play. We are left with a rising tension showing how mankind is taking for granted the care and freedom that God has given to them. We are given a glimpse of what happens when people refuse to submit to the plan of God.

They didn’t want to be known as people who live under a God in heaven who is in control of the earth, they wanted to make a name for themselves. and nothing has changed in thousands of years of human history.

Making a name for ourselves is still a sin that plagues the human heart till this day!

For thousands of years humanity has had the very same desire to defy God and make a name for themselves. We have an obsession with leaving a legacy for others in the future to look back on us and be impressed. The human desire to make a name for themselves suggests not only a desire for a reputation, but also for autonomy. Almost every world leader that has gone rogue has had an unhealthy obsession with building a name for himself in order to control and rule over his fellow man. Almost every war that has been fought has had this desire somewhere in the hearts of those leading the charge.

Every period of enlightenment, invention and surging human development has included these types of thoughts by men who would desire to rule, by nations who would be remembered as the greatest, strongest and most powerful. Because of this, this story of Babel becomes a type in the rest of scripture as a picture of the kingdoms of this world, as it will become known as the”city of man”. It is later shown through as the mighty Babylon which is traced its roots back to this original city in the Shinar plain. And before seeing God’s response to these people I would be quick to remind us that when we see people working hard to make a name for themselves, God has warned his people about such behavior.

Deuteronomy 8:17 ESV

17 Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’

It is always God’s desire for his people to be reliant upon him and never able to boast in themselves. It is exactly this kind of thinking that puts the gospel in direct opposition to the the American dream and rugged individualism that so many in our current culture hold so dear to their identity.

We must remember our life is about glorifying God in all things, even our work in this world. God is not opposed to hard work and building things that we can take pride in, but this needs to be in submission to his will and plan at all times.

In this story we see Mankind is again attempting to usurp divine prerogatives of filling the whole earth with God’s people. They wanted to band together and make a great name for themselves. They wanted to be in control and stand in the way of God’s plan. They wanted autonomy from God and glory for themselves.

How should God deal with them? Act two God’s response -

Genesis 11:5 ESV

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.

The Lord is quick to respond to human rebellion. And just like before the flood when God saw the earth was corrupt, he will come to inspect this thing they are obsessed with doing.

But here the Lord has to come down from his heavenly throne to see this city and the tower whose top was supposed to be “in the heavens.” The mocking of human pretension to greatness is obvious and intentional.

But not only did this story speak to God’s people in mocking humanity, it also stood in direct opposition to Babylon. The Babylonians thought that their gods had built Babylon, but scripture is clear when it says that, “which the children of man had built”. It is as if scripture is defying the fables of men who want to think their gods built their cities.

Will this human technology offer security to and save humankind? Far from it; it will have the opposite effect. It will push them over the brink of self-destruction. Because of his faithfulness and grace, God will intervene and foil their foolish plans for attaining their own salvation.

But how? In verse 6 the Lord says,

Genesis 11:6 ESV

6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.

The tension continues here as we see God inspect this sinful plan of man. There are 2 concerns the Lord has here.

First - They are one, all in agreement, united in their defiance against God, a monolith, undivided. Unlike other places before when humanity was getting so desperately wicked, there is not a single righteous Noah among them.

Second - If the people are successful in defying God now, who knows what they will propose next? The reality is that God knows exactly what they would do, and in his divine knowledge he knows it is time to intervene. In fact, for the sake of His kingdom he MUST intervene.

But what is really interesting here is how this is written. Remember what they said to themselves… Twice the people said, “come let us make bricks” - and then again - “come let us build ourselves a city and a tower”. With that in mind look at verse 7.

Genesis 11:7 ESV

7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

Here comes the resolution of this incident where mankind dared to defy God.

The Lord has his own, “come let us” responses for this arrogant people. And the language is absolutely intentional here. In fact one could say this whole story is a mocking rebuke of sinful imaginations that would dare to defy God.

The Lord counters this threat to his kingdom by confusing their language so that they can no longer understand each other. The single language had made their unity and defiant cooperation possible. By confusing their language the Lord shatters their unity and cooperation. God shatters the monolith Babel. This judgment reveals God’s faithfulness to his plan of salvation.

“God resolves upon a punitive, but at the same time preventive, act, so that he will not have to punish man more severely as his degeneration surely progresses.” Gerhard Von Rad, 20th century Scholar

For the Lord here breaks up Babel, a monolithic anti-God kingdom, in order to begin his kingdom on earth anew with Abram and Israel, and ultimately through Christ with his church. It all begins here at Babel with God acting on behalf of his divine plan, which will include extending grace to sinners throughout human history by the finished work of Christ.

This is part of a Sovereign plan of salvation for sinful humans to be saved from their sins, and God uses this generations sinful attitude as the catalyst for sending them all over the earth to populate places where his salvation will penetrate for generations to come.

Genesis 11:8 ESV

8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.

The final outcome of this incident??? The very thing they were trying to avoid. The whole reason for building a city was to have independence from God and autonomy, a name for themselves and protection from being dispersed to all the earth.

They had tried to disobey God’s will that they “fill the earth.” In spite of their disobedience, the Lord accomplished his will.

God’s sovereign plans are unstoppable no matter how sinful humanity grows

This is such an encouragement to us in these days reading this story, because it doesn’t matter what man is capable of doing in his own sinfulness, or how bad people want to make a name for themselves… If they are defying God and attempting to work against his plan, it is no big deal for God to simply overrule their actions with his own divine activity. Nothing can thwart God’s plans… nothing!

And yet God will give these people exactly what they want… A name for themselves.

Genesis 11:9 ESV

9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

So the conclusion is this - God scatters defiant humanity across the whole earth to later only be recipients of his gracious salvation in Jesus Christ. God scatters the self reliant! God scatters the inhabitants of Babel in order to restore his kingdom on earth.

And think of those who first heard these stories as told by Moses. What a message of hope this was for Israel to hear while in Moab, who, like their fathers before them, must have stood in dread of the Canaanite cities, “large and fortified up to heaven!” (Deut 1:28). Yet they were about to be God’s army entering Canaan to annihilate these secular city-states. And beyond that as well...

This Babel narrative certainly gave hope to Israel when they suffered in exile in Babylon. Israel’s God had to come down from his throne in heaven to see this “great” city humans had built; and how puny it was compared to Israel’s God, the Creator of heaven and earth. He scattered the defiant inhabitants of Babel in order to make room for his kingdom on earth. This God could also shatter the Babylon that had enslaved Israel and restore his people to the Promised Land.

The Babel narrative also gives hope to the Christian church. In New Testament terms, at Babel God shattered the consolidated power of the antichrist. God scatters the inhabitants of Babel in order to restore his kingdom on earth. After shattering Babel, God can call Abram from among the idol worshipers (Josh 24:2) to continue the line of the seed of the woman, and as we will see God will give him a name and make him great in stark contrast to this story.

And from out of the nation that God will promise to Abram, a descendant will come to fulfill prophecy and save his people. Jesus will be that descendant who will do for his people what they cannot do for themselves and he will then command the church to Go into all the world and make disciples in the great commission of Matthew 28.

God’s promise of blessings to the nations will then be seen at Pentecost, when the Spirit is poured out and people proclaimed in many languages and tongues the Gospel of our God. But it wont just be the enabling of people speaking that will be miraculous at Pentecost, it will be the hearing of the good news of Jesus Christ. God enabled people to “hear” each other again, which resulted in amazing unity among people from different nations. For the church of Jesus Christ, Pentecost reversed the judgment of Babel.

In contrast to Babel, which represents a human, secular kingdom, Jerusalem represents the kingdom of God. In contrast to Babel, which represents human autonomy and might, Jerusalem represents the city where people rely on God for security and seek to obey his will. But Jerusalem at Pentecost was only an initial fulfillment of God’s promise to bless the nations.

And long after the initial fulfillment of God’s promise will come the final fulfillment, as describe by John in Rev 21.

Revelation 21:10 ESV

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,

Revelation 21:23–24 ESV

23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it,

Revelation 21:26 ESV

26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.

The church today lives in the time between the initial fulfillment of God’s promise of blessings for the nations and the final fulfillment. Today the church finds itself in the age of fear. People are afraid of rogue nations, terrorists, weapons of mass destruction and now pandemics on top of it all.

In the midst of all this Christians, too, may be tempted to seek security not in God but in a nation bristling with armor and defensive shields. The story of Babel tells us that our human ingenuity and mightiest accomplishments mean little in the eyes of God if they counter his purposes. Our ultimate security lies not in human “towers”, Our security lies in the transcendent, sovereign God alone. He alone is able to break down kingdoms that oppose his redemptive purposes for his world and people. He alone is able to bring his peaceable kingdom on earth. And he will do it!

Today as we looked back to where so much of the division began let us also look ahead to be reminded of where we are headed. For those of us in Christ we have much to anticipate, so let us hold tightly on the God that has had a grip on us since before we knew him.

Revelation 21:1–4 ESV

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”