The Lord did it to preserve mankind from pooling his filthy ideas. The unknown always creates a sense of protectionism and suspicion. Language has formed a barrier of information and thus creates ‘natural’ separation. When I travel to the villages and cities in India, China or Africa, I constantly need to find translators. We simply do not know when the Tower of the Babel happened, but we do know that it had great impact on the history of mankind. Get the 300+ page book on Genesis! See details. The genealogy was a whole and not to be split. Genesis 11 did not follow after the genealogy of chapter 10. Others suggest that this division in Peleg’s day refers to the splitting of the continents. “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth and they stopped building the city” (Genesis 11:8). Their point is that the division referred to in the verse is the actual division of mankind that occurred due to the varying languages. “And two sons were born to Eber the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided and his brother’s name was Joktan” (Genesis 10:25). Some have suggested that Genesis 10:25 refers to the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel account in Genesis 11:1-9 does not have these dates and so it is difficult to pinpoint. The flood is quite clear because it was person specific, that is, Noah’s sons were already grown up (Shem was 100 hundred years old). We do not know, however, where it fits in the above genealogical chart. It clearly fits into ancient history of the Sumerians. The date of the Tower of Babel is not quite clear. From Genesis 10 we find 70 people groups. Each language group no doubt was based on a family. God provided grace by separating mankind into a multitude of groups. The Tower of Babel records how the wickedness of mankind again got out of order beckoning God to judge the earth. The tower deteriorates but the rubble becomes covered up with dust and dirt and forms a mound, higher than the ground around it. The temple mound of Babel is still there today as shown in the Google Earth satellite picture above (bottom right). Nebuchadnezzar referred to the people building it had abandoned it because “without order expressing words.” This no doubt refers to the language confusion. Most interesting is a quote from King Nebuchadnezzar about the Tower of Babel (Babylon). It was not only a military lookout station but one in which they think they can commune with the gods. They each seem to have a temple on the top of them which is what the Biblical account suggests. The Tower of Babel is one of many ziggurats that were built in the early Mesopotamian plain. Sin follows mankind because it has infected the nature of man. God’s Word assures us that this ideal world will not be found after the flood and in Noah’s new world. People are always in hope of discovering some utopia, a perfect society. The sin of Noah and his son was shown us (Genesis 9:20-27) to remind us about the inherent flaws of the new society that would form after the flood. God has His own purposes of having people redeemed from every language giving praise to Him. The quest for power and money drive the machine of the world culture. The world is trying to overcome these barriers of language and culture. Genesis 10 paints a broad picture of what was happening throughout the world regarding who was filling the world and to some degree where, but this event further stamps God’s hand on history through the way the multiplicity of languages has been stamped upon the world.
This event has drastically reshaped the world’s cultures. Genesis 11 starts with a recording of what happened in Babylon many years back. This research has been lacking until recently because of opposition from secular groups. We can trace all the languages back to major families. (Wikipedia).įrom the tower of Babel account, we discover the source of the many languages used across the world. So I founded it, I made it as it had been in ancient days, I so exalted the summit.” - King Nebuchadnezzar referring to the Tower at Babylon. I did not change the site, nor did I take away the foundation stone as it had been in former times. Merodach, the great lord, excited my mind to repair this building. Since that time earthquakes and lightning had dispersed its sun-dried clay the bricks of the casing had split, and the earth of the interior had been scattered in heaps. Since a remote time, people had abandoned it, without order expressing their words. “A former king built the Temple of the Seven Lights of the Earth, but he did not complete its head. (Etemenanki - temple of the foundation of heaven and earth).
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