Seven Covenants: The Tower of Babel I. Introduction A. Review 1. Dispensation of Innocence - Responsibility is to heed the simple single command not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge, Good and Evil. - Disobeying, the fell into sin, lost the state of innocence, were driven out of the Garden and left to fend for themselves for sustenance. - God promised a Redeemer, the Seed of the Woman, and sealed it with a covenant signified by the animal skins He clothed them with. 2. Dispensation of Conscience - Under the burden of providing for one’s own sustenance, humanity is given one simple principle – live according to the moral law written on the heart. - This principle of responsibility is by violated by Cain and eventually the whole of humanity. Violence soon fills the earth with the result that God brings a flood judgment and destroys the whole of humanity, with the exception of Noah and his family, who is delivered through the Flood and into a world cleansed of wickedness. 3. Dispensation of Human Government - God establishes a covenant with Noah in which He gives to humanity the responsibility of self-government enforced by capital punishment. - The blessings of the covenant include the promise that the earth will never again be flooded to destroy all life and that the seasons would continue for as long as the earth lasts.

B. Passage Overview 1. Context 1

a. The account of the building of the tower of Babel is situated between two genealogical accounts. b. In chapter 10, we have the genealogy of the sons of Noah. 1) The sons of Japheth are noted as the people of the coastlands, i.e. those that spread out on the earth. 2) The sons of Ham are noted as those who began to build cities. - Again we see it is the “wicked line” that endeavors to settle comfortably in this world this time through founding cities. - Nimrod: a mighty hunter before the Lord. He is probably the leader in the events that surround the building of the Tower of Babel. 3) Shem’s genealogy is traced to the two sons of Eber. From there it follows Joktan’s descendants and ends at the tower of Babel. c. Following the Tower account in chapter 11, another genealogy of Shem is traced, but this time it follows the other son of Eber, that is Peleg. This genealogy leads to Abram and the Promised Land. d. The passage is situated as an explanation of the previous description of the division of the nations. e. Finally, the passage serves as the final account of the nations before Scripture takes up the central theme of God’s redemptive program. The nations as a whole are not taken up again, except in brief flashes, until the consummation of history as related in Revelation. 2. Literary Structure - Chiasm: “the Lord came down to see”

Genesis 11:1–9 “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to

pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they 2

had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

II. Exposition A. The People (v. 1-2) 1. Unified - “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.” - The emphasis is on “whole” and “one.” - What they endeavor to do, they do in unity. 2. Rebellion a. “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east.” - Again, we see the idea of moving eastward, an indication of departing from the place of blessing. - In fact, Matthews says, “Verse 2 may well be an intentional echo of Cain’s expulsion and punishment, resulting in a vagabond life (4:12– 16). Cain, like the Babelites, settled for urban life (4:17). Both passages share several lexical references, including Cain’s migration toward “Nod, east of [qidmat] Eden” (4:16). As Cain feared insecurity as a “restless wanderer on the earth [ground]” (4:14), the people of Babel feared the wanderings of a dispersed people (v. 4).1 1

K. A. Mathews, vol. 1A, Genesis 1-11:26, electronic ed., Logos Library System; The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 2001), 478. 3

b. “They found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they [settled] there.” - This stands in contrast to the key point of the narrative, that they were scattered. - This indicates an unwillingness to fulfill the commission to fill the earth.

B. The Tower 1. The use of substitutes a. “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” - Literally “brick bricks.” - This is consistent with fact that stones are not readily abundant in the area of Babylon. b. “They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.” - They built on substitutes. - The Babylonian plane did not provide the means to build the tower so they would have to rely on their own strength and ingenuity. - There is nothing about this tower that had its work in God. It was completely a human endeavor. 2. The purpose of the Tower a. “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the

heavens.” - A city would provide security, but the tower was something more. It was to be a gateway into the realm of the divine. - Historically, this seems to be the origin of astrology and the pagan mystery religions, subsequently developed into the eastern religions, Greek and Egyptian mythology, and ultimately witchcraft and sorcery. b. “Let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” - Their motivation is two-fold: to make a name and not to be scattered abroad. 4

- In essence, this is a repeat of what has gone before: Eve’s desire to be like God and the sons of God who sought to be men of renown. - Contrast this with what God tells Abraham when He calls him out of Ur. - “I will . . . make your name great.” (12:2)

C. The Investigation (v. 5-6) 1. Examined by the LORD a. “But the Lord came down to see.” - There is irony here. While the builders intended to reach into the heavens, God had to come down to even be able to SEE the tiny tower. b. “sons of men” - This is the work of mere mortals. There is a hint of derision that echoes Psalm 2. - Psalm 2:1–4. “Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain

thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us.” He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.” 2. Evaluated by the LORD (v. 6) a. “And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do.” - The social construct that they establish is not what God had ordained. Rather than seeking justice and righteousness they seek power, glory, and fame. B. ”Now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.” - This seems to indicate that they will come to believe that they can rebel against God with impunity and not suffer the consequences. - Think technology, internet, medical research etc. 5

- Scientists right now are trying to figure out how to stop the aging process.

D. The Judgment (v. 7-8) 1. “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language.”” - God confused their language to bring disunity to the efforts. 2. “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.” - As a result of the confusion of their language God achieves what He had intended all along, their dispersion over the earth. - It would seem this is facilitated in the days of Peleg when God split the earth. - Genesis 10:25. “To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was

Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.” 3. “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the

language of all the earth.” - Again, there is irony here. They received a name of shame (Babel) as opposed to a name of glory (bab-ili – The Gate of God).

III. PASSAGE APPLICATION. A. Recognize the Folly of Human Pride 1. Human endeavors are doomed to fail - Psalm 127:1. “Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who

build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.” 2. Human vanities are doomed to backfire. - Matthew 23:12. “And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” 6

B. Beware of the Search for Substitutes. 1. The Babylonians built their society on false foundations and ultimately became idolaters. 2. We must not build our happiness on substitutes or we will become idolaters. 3. Consider Pascal: “All men seek happiness. There are no exceptions. . . . Yet all men complain. . . . A test which has gone on so long, without pause or change, really ought to convince us that we are incapable of attaining the good by our own efforts . . . this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite object.” (Blaise Pascal, Pensees, 148) 4. Frederick Nietzsche declared that God was dead. Nietzsche died insane believing that he was Jesus Christ. 5. Consider your own life. Are you seeking substitutes, something that you think will make you happy if you get it? Money? Sex? Food? Romance? Culture? Art? 6. Jeremiah 2:13. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns— broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

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