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What is the significance of the story of the tower of Babel? Why did it cause God to confound the language of people, giving them each a new tongue? What message does the story have for us today?
The story of the tower of Babel is about disobedience and arrogance and the human need to erect symbols of our achievement. The story takes place after the flood that destroyed all but Noah and his family. The world was still united by language and probably tradition. “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” (Genesis 11:1)
Those who lived in the region of Shinar, (Sumer in ancient Babylonia) “… said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 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.” (Genesis 11:3-4) This building they set out to create was probably to be a ziggurat, a multi-storied tower/temple. These buildings were pyramid-like and reached as much as 300 feet. Stone steps lead up each side of the structure to a temple.
However, this was not a temple for God that they were building, it was a monument to themselves. Their intention was to reach heaven with it and proclaim themselves gods. This didn’t please God in the least. “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 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.” (Genesis 11:5-6)
God’s concern was not for Himself; He knew these people could not capture His throne. His concern was for them and what else they might attempt in their arrogance. Out of mercy and a desire to prevent them from causing themselves pain and suffering, God took action. “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.” (Genesis 11:7)
By disrupting the Babylonians speech, God was able to slow down more than just their progress on the tower. It effectively split up their entire society. “So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.” (Genesis 11:8) Common language is a key element in commerce, relationships and every other important aspect of life. Without that common ground, their common society couldn’t function.
We may wonder what the big deal was in this story. What kind of problem could a tower possibly be? There was never any chance that it could actually reach heaven, so what was God’s big worry? With sin, it’s seldom the actual deed that is the big problem; it’s the attitude that is troubling. The Babylonians were arrogant believing themselves to be creators and denying the power of the Creator. We don’t have to look far to see similar arrogance in the modern world.
If we look back only 60 years, we can see evidence of terrible arrogance that lead to devastating destruction. Nazi Germany’s fascination with creating and sustaining a master race lead them to horrendous experiments in the guise of science. Few would consider their actions appropriate or scientific. The arrogance of the Nazi’s destroyed millions of people. The people of Babel were on this same kind of path; believing that there were no boundaries on what they could do.
But we don’t even have to look at history to see the arrogance of man played out in the field of technology. A glance at the newspaper on any given day will reveal a similar attitude of superiority. We pride ourselves on our technological advancement and indeed, technology has done wonders for our society. Yet, destruction and devastated lives are harvested every day from seeds of arrogance sown by humans believing that there are no boundaries.
Life must have boundaries to continue safely. In everything, we have to come to a point where we say, “This is too far,” or we risk destroying ourselves, on a personal or global level. Scientists play with the building blocks of life like they were children’s toys even when they don’t have clear-cut understanding of the consequences of their work. This is not to say that we shouldn’t learn, experiment and develop but we must do so with humility, bowing to a knowledge greater than our own.
It is not just on a global or national level that we demonstrate our arrogance, though. Each of us is guilty of this kind of pride to a degree. All of us at one time or another have built a personal tower of Babel as a symbol of our greatness. For some, the tower is fancy homes or cars; others have towers built on a string of ‘good’ deeds. These things are not bad, it’s when we use them to define who we are and show others how special we are that the things become personal towers of Babel. It’s our attitude, not the tower that is a problem.
Arrogance is our way of telling God, “I don’t need you and I don’t have to answer to you.” We put ourselves on the throne and we suffer for it. God confounded the language of these early people to try and spare them the consequences of their behavior. It certainly must have been a wake up call to them proving that they were not gods. By dividing them, God reminded them who they were and Who He is.
Similarly, God gives us wake up calls when our arrogance gets out of hand. If we look closely at our lives, we can see times when we have been slapped off of our own pedestals and reminded that we weren’t ‘all that’. Sometimes it takes a big slap before we get the message and that can be very painful. We’re better off keeping a check on our attitude and being on the look out for signs of bricklaying in our own backyard. Once we get started on a tower of Babel it’s easy to get carried away with the project and forget that we’re not the master builders we believe we are.
(All Scripture is KJV)
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