Tower of Babel

Kristen · Feb 1, 2002

What exactly happened at the Tower of Babel...and why?

solo66 man · Feb 1, 2002

All the people migrated to a place then called Shinar. They became too smart because the world was all of one language. They decided to build a city and a tower to the heavens. When God saw all that they had done, He said these people will be able to do what ever they decide to do. So, He had His angels inflict them with different tongues which caused them to spread all over the earth. That is the reason it is called Babel.
The first case of speaking in tongues?

Blackwing · Feb 1, 2002

Maybe so but then only one group understood another group and they went away in seperate groups.

They got proud to what they have accomplished and were not giving God His due.

Are there records on how high the tower was before God destroyed it?

Apologist · Feb 1, 2002

I like this commentary:

11:1-4. The sin of the Shinarites (people in a plain in Shinar) appears to be immense pride. 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. This was open rebellion against God, an independence of God. Humility is often equated with trust and obedience, and conversely pride is related to independence and disobedience. Here the people came together to strengthen themselves and in pride to make a reputation for themselves lest they be scattered over the face of the whole earth. This appears to be in direct opposition to Gods command to spread out and fill up the whole earth (9:1).
11:5-9. Their desire to enhance their unity and strength had potential for the greatest evil, according to the Lords evaluation: If . . . they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Thus what they would not do in obedience (viz., scatter over the earth, v. 4) He did for them in judgment (v. 8).
Walvoord, John F., and Zuck, Roy B., The Bible Knowledge Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Scripture Press Publications, Inc.) 1983, 1985.

God Bless

solo66 man · Feb 1, 2002

Well, i guess that about sums the whole situation up.

rkbo · Feb 1, 2002

I think this is interesting:

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
(KJV)

I believe this to be a judicial cognizance of the actual facts. (fancy words huh?) He was concerned with the evil hearted unity of the people. The confounding of their language was to hinder the evil. Evil unchecked will build like a snowball rolling down a hill. You see God checking evil all throughout history.

Martin · Feb 2, 2002

Apologist's commentary said:
"This was open rebellion against God, an independence of God"
This is the real problem.

Sin fundementally comes down to one thing - pushing God of His rightful place : out of the centre of your life (even only a little). The consequence is that "self" becomes the centre of your life and you live without dependance on God i.e. independant of God.
God's intention was that you would live your life in love with Him and in dependence on Him. That is, with faith to believe and accept that God is your provider and will always do the best for you. The independent life says "I can do without God" and seeks to go its own way seeking to serve self, which has now taken over at the centre of your life.

The tower of Babel showed a people who were so sure of themselves that the felt they could reach God on their own efforts (i.e. building a tower to[wards] God) and didn't need God.

This spirit still lives in the world today.....

hagiadzo1999 · Feb 2, 2002

Very true, Martin. Many people feel that they can reach God through their own works, and this is simply not true! We are saved by grace through faith and not of our own works lest any man should boast! God should be the main focus of our lives, and He should direct each step we take!

~N~
<><

BWSmith · Feb 4, 2002

The T of B is not literal history. It is a combination of three mythical forms: 1) the tower story, 2) the origin of language story, and 3) the dispersion of mankind story.

Tower stories are always about people who attempt to climb to heaven. Their building is destroyed by the divinities and they are killed. An example of a language story is the Nam-Shub of Enki from Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta:

"To Enlil in one tounge gave speech.
Then the lord defiant, the prince defiant, the king defiant,
Enki, the lord of abundance, whose commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who scans the land,
The leader of the gods,
The lord of Eridu, endowed with wisdom,
Changed the speech in their mouths, put contention into it,
Into the speech of man that had been one."

Dispersion stories are sometimes linked with a flood and sometimes with the confusion of languages. They are not usually in the context of building a tower; the Biblical version of the story is the only one currently known where all three forms are combined.

Comments?

LuckyCharm · Feb 23, 2002

Hello all... I'm new to this forum and this is my first post. I thought I'd introduce myself by posing a question here that I've already posed on a couple of other boards, with little response. The question actually comes from a friend of mine, and I am interested in other Christian perspectives on it:

"Sodom and Gomorrah were allowed to fall into the deepest of depravity before they were cleansed from the Earth. The entire world was allowed to fall into not heeding the Lord before He sent a flood... WHY ACT IN ADVANCE this time? (In the Tower of Babel story)"

I guess it's actually a two-part question:

1. Is God capricious? Why would He act to prevent sin in one instance, but wait until it was too late in other cases?

2. Does God's action negate human free will and responsibility? If He can prevent sin, why doesn't He?

Looking forward to any responses, and to getting to know you all!

Peace,

Cheryl

Me4him · Feb 24, 2002

"Nimrod" in Hebrew means "Rebel", or one who rebells.

tericl2 · Feb 25, 2002

I would agree with Apologist's post. There was a two fold reason. One being they were beginning to think of themselves as equals to God and two, they were not populating the earth but were, in fact, trying to all stay in one place. Contrary to God's command.

quote by luckycharm

1. Is God capricious? Why would He act to prevent sin in one instance, but wait until it was too late in other cases?

I think the cases are a little different. Here the sin was already committed. His "punishment", if you will, was just less severe.

2. Does God's action negate human free will and responsibility? If He can prevent sin, why doesn't He?

No. They still had free will. They could have stayed together, but as we all know when people are different in any way they usually tend to split into groups containing others like them. Especially in the aea of language. It would have disrupted business and just about everything else in their lives, so the logical thing would have been for them to go off on their own with like minded people.

Andrew · Feb 25, 2002

Actually, the original text does not say "reaches unto" the heavens. The "reaches unto/into" is in italics so it was added by translators.

So I dont think their intention was to build a building that could reach into the heavens cos that's just ridiculous.

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