According to Genesis 10, Noah’s descendants grew numerous enough to become nations and sociologically advanced enough to found cities. We even recognize some of the place names from our study of history—places like Babylon, Nineveh, Assyria, Sodom and Gomorrah. In spite of the population explosion the world was still united by one language.
I actually don’t ever recall hearing a sermon about this story, but it was always part of Sunday School classes. As a child it always seemed a bit ridiculous to think that people would actually suppose they could build a tower tall enough to reach the sky. How absurd! Looking at it from an adult perspective, though, I can’t help but think that many of mankind’s combined efforts seem just as doomed to failure.
Noah’s descendants became urbanized and advanced technologically (Genesis 11:3 tells us that they were making bricks at this point), and they became convinced that, by working together, they could do anything. Why not band together, make a city with a huge tower, and become known all over the world? This early attempt at organization did not even come under the umbrella of trying to improve things for humanity. The whole point of the enterprise was ego-satisfaction: “Come, let us build ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)
The Lord, knowing the dangers of a joint effort by people whose “every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood” (Genesis 8:21), stepped in and thwarted the plan in a masterstroke of communication confusion. God did not want to give mankind the opportunity to band together and promote a godless domination of the world. The languages of mankind were distorted beyond recognition, and the Lord scattered the people “over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:9)
This story fits into the historical and archaeological record of the time. Ziggurats were not unknown in the region (remember diagrams of them in history books?) and the goal of building them had often been reaching the sky or the heavens. It seems that in the case of the Tower of Babel, the people’s goal was to reach heaven themselves, and in so doing, achieve great renown and world domination. They had forgotten their place in the creation order—they were the pinnacle of creation, certainly, but they were not above the Creator.
The biblical account doesn’t really give us much information about the kind of people Noah’s descendants were, but it seems fair to assume that they were godless. There is no record of God communicating with any one of them in the way he had with Enoch or Noah. God had given people the responsibility to care for the rest of creation, but in no sense did He relinquish His ultimate care over the creation to man. Paul’s description in Romans 1:20 is helpful in understanding this story: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
In a short, but vivid story, God shows us the futility of acting outside of His will and He reveals another aspect of His character—His sovereignty is not to be shared. God has created us as reasoning, creative beings, but our creativity and our ingenuity are suitable only within the bounds of His will and direction. If we have the arrogance to make our plans outside of his purview, we should expect that our earth-bound, ego-driven goals will be thwarted or redirected.
The incident on the Plain of Shinar is a reminder of how easy it is to take my eyes off God and spend my energy in worthless, self-aggrandizing pursuits. Revelation 4:11 sets me firmly in my place: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for You created all things and by Your will they were created and have their being.”
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