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 does the text say?
We learn about the Tower of Babel incident, when all the people of Earth had one language and undertook a building project for sinful motives: to make a name for themselves (self-exaltation) and to prevent being scattered in the earth (disobedient self-preservation). God graciously put an end to their building project by confusing their languages, which led to a stop of the project and a scattering of peoples in the Earth.
What does the text teach us?
We see a glimpse into the sinful heart of man—self-exalting and disobediently self-preserving—and the gracious and just character of God—confusing their languages so that they would not be able to continue in the path of sin. We also God’s mighty power.
How does the context inform our understanding?
In Genesis 10 we learn about how 70 nations were formed from the 3 sons of Noah, nations that were diverse in character and language. Genesis 11 takes place chronologically within Genesis 10 and explains how the scattering and filling of the Earth came about along with the diversity of languages and cultures. In Genesis 12:1-3 we learn that all the nations will be blessed through the seed of Abraham—who is also the seed of Eve.
What might have been the aim of the author to the original audience?
Partly to recount the true history of the world, including the scattering of the nations and many languages; partly to teach us about God—God at times, thwarts sin and disobedience through acts which hinder our attempt to sin; partly that we might too not repeat the same sins and rebellion as the builders of Babel—self-exaltation and self-preservation; partly to show us the great power of God—He is mightier and more powerful than Babylon and all proud attempts of man to disobey Him.
Fallen-Condition Focus
This passage revealed the fallen-condition of self-exaltation and self-preservation—instead of seeking to make much of God, we make much of ourselves; instead of trusting God and obeying Him even when it feels scary or uncertain, we choose a path of ease and prioritize comfort about Christ. God graciously thwarts the attempts of the builders of Babel by confusing their language, which led to a kind of enforced obedience. It was a GRACIOUS judgment to confuse the people’s language. Here we see the SIN of humanity met by a GRACIOUS judgment of God. This leads to a gospel connection: we, in our fallen condition, repeat the sins of the builders of Babylon—self-exaltation and self-preservation—and our only hope is in the GRACE of God shown to us in the GOSPEL, where Christ, the humble self-sacrificial servant, in love, dies for our sins and delivers us from the power of self-exaltation and self-preservation. We are safe in Christ and because Christ is so wonderful, we joyfully take the path of humble God-exaltation and sacrificial love.
Message to Today’s Audience:
The Tower of Babylon not only explains why there are so many different languages and peoples groups—it does do this, but does not merely do this—it also shows us the sins of self-exaltation and self-preservation, sins which only God can deliver us from. God had the perfect solution to these sins in days of Genesis 11, a judgment that led to a kind of enforced obedience. In the gospel we see God graciously thwart our sin in an even more wonderful way: Jesus, the humble God-exalting King, took the judgment for our sin (self-exaltation and self-preservation) on the cross, and He leads His people to a an even more wonderful kind of obedience to God—a Spirit-filled, joyful renouncing self-exaltation and self-preservation out of love for God and love for neighbor, spreading the good news of the gospel to the ends of the Earth.
***Only God can rescue us from our preserve love of self.
In the Tower of Babel, God graciously stopped the ungodly building project—a project rooted in the love of self—by disrupting the languages of the people. Through the gospel, we see Jesus came to rescue us from our perverse love of self—self-exaltation and self-preservation.
SINS:
Self-exaltation. We need to see, recognize, and feel the awful evil of self-exaltation. This act dishonors God and rejects God as the greatest and more glorious Being in all of existence. This sin embraces a lie—I’m more worthy of exaltation than God. It is a rejection of love for neighbor, by leading out neighbors into sin themselves.
Self-preservation. When God calls us to sacrificially love of our neighbor, self-preservation is an act of self-love above love for God and love for neighbor. It promises safety, but only leads to death and ruin.
GOSPEL:
Jesus never sinned the sin of self-exaltation and self-preservation. Phil 2:5-11 teaches us about how He—though in very nature God—humbled himself (not exalting himself) and choose the path of self-sacrifice in love for His people. He came to rescue us from our sins by dying on the cross. He deals with our sins and then we are filled with the Holy Spirit and scattered out to love our neighbor and share the gospel with them—that others too might be freed from the love of self.
