The Tower of Babel

In the book of Genesis, there happened a defining moment in the history of mankind, a time where God had separated people to different parts of the world. Center of the event was the building of the Tower of Babel. It was recorded in the book of Genesis in the bible, chapter 11:1-9 :

"Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other,"Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly."They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortat. Then they said,"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth." 

      But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said,"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel--because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth."

At that time, people shared a common language which enable them the ease of communication because no translation or what so ever is needed in order for them to accomplish a tast or goal. But why God confused their languages? Isn't it good for all of them to speak in a common language?

In order to answer that, we will have to look into incidents that had brought the resulting confusion of languages among the people.

First, the objective of the construction of the Tower of Babel.

Genesis 11:4

Then they said,"Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth." 

The objective of them building the tower was clear, they were building it to make a name for themselves. What does that mean then? Anything wrong about making a name for ourselves?

Look carefully throughout the passages, there isn't any mention of God in all the things that they were doing. So what is the problem in the construction of the Tower of Babel? I would say the problem lies with the pride of the people back then. They were building the tower for themselves, nothing to do with God and by mentioning in verse 4 that they want  to make a name for themselves meaning they want to prove that they can do anything they want, just like God. 

There is no wrong in making a name for yourself, but it is definitely not right if the motive behind making a name for yourself is self-centered, is to boast about who you are but not who God is. Thus thats the very reason why God had chose to confused the languages of the people in the time of the construction of the Tower of Babel. The tower symbolizes the pride and the self-centered mindset of mankind.

However there is one thing that is definite good we could learn from the construction of the Tower of Babel, which is the power of UNITY. In verse 6 of chapter 11, the Lord said,"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them."

God knows what these people can do if they are united as one, speaking the very same language and striving for a common goal. God knows, and therefore in the book of Acts in the new testament, God gave them the common language again:

Acts 2:4-11

All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. Utterly amazed, they asked:" Arent't all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

There and then, God gave everyone who obey and follow Him a common language, and from the common language a common goal.

Matthew 28:18-20

Then Jesus came to them and said,"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commonaded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age."

Bold and strong, I encourage you to be. For God knows the potential of His people that when they are united as one, sharing a common vision and passion for His kingdom that there is nothing impossible that we cannot achieve through Him. Humility is the key, and God had given His promises, it is up to us to accept His grace and anointing to fullfill the destiny that He had layed in the lives of everyone of us.