S240P12 – Loaded statements: the descendants of Noah

Gen. 11:1‭-‬4

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

God had taken Noah and his family through quite the adventure over a number of years.  Before the flood, the people of the Earth had become increasingly wicked to the point of God lamenting having made mankind.  In all that darkness and evil, there was one man and his family who provided a glimmer of hope.  God would destroy those who lived to defy him, and He would usher Noah and his family into somewhat of a new Earth.  These righteous ones would restart the populating of the planet, but it would not take long for unrighteous intentions to surface.  The building of the Tower of Babel is the first recorded sign of man again trying to separate himself from God and from his fellow man. 

The statement of intent to build the Tower tells us at least two things.  First, these of Noah’s lineage wanted to reach the heights of God.  They were not satisfied with being part of humankind but wanted to be deified.  They were building not for the name of God but in order to build a name for themselves.  This is because, secondly, they wanted to separate themselves from the rest of the lineage.  They wanted to be elevated above the rest.  God’s plan was to scatter the descendants of Noah to repopulate the world, but these descendants wanted to be established then and there.  They seem to have thought themselves too good to follow God’s plan or to be directed like the rest.

Those who planned the Tower of Babel were concerned with only what they could get for themselves.  They wanted to reach the heavens, which is the realm of God, as if to attempt to dethrone or replace him.  They also felt a need to distinguish themselves from the rest of the population, which was made up of their family.  These are people who should have been working together to build the nations instead of trying hard to stand apart from one another.  God would frustrate their plans in order to fulfill his own, and He still works like that, lest we would stand in his way.  Father, remove from us the desire to deify ourselves, to make a name for ourselves or to elevate ourselves above our brothers and sisters.