Genesis 11 – The Tower of Babel
Timeline: 2450 BC
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Just one hundred years after the flood, the inhabitants of the earth spread eastward from the place where the ark was to seek a more convenient place to live. That direction indicates that the ark was not in Mt. Aramaic but possibly in Iran. At first they migrated together in the land of Shinar where they settled near to one another. Genesis 11:1-4 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 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." The whole world had one language. Rather than obeying God, who told them to populate the Earth, the families of Ham settled in Shinar and remained together as a single people group with a single culture. Nimrod, the son of Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, rose to power with ambitions for earthly and divine power. Babel was one of the cities he had founded. Proud of the society they had established, the people displayed the same anti-God spirit as had brought about God's judgment through the flood. The people began to build the city of Babel. This was the beginning of humanism and secularism. Using baked bricks and asphalt for mortar, men built a tower that was both strong and waterproof, the same material Noah used in waterproofing the ark. Were they afraid of another flood? They tower they built was called a ziggurat. These were religious temples in ancient Mesopotamia that served as a connection between humans and the gods. They were also symbols of power and wealth. This ziggurat was a symbol of their advanced civilization and complete self-sufficiency that they thought would make them independent of God. Some ziggurats still exist today and are found scattered around Iraq and Iran. Before there was written word of God, the Gospel story was written in the night sky and was passed down from father to son. "Zodiac" literally means: "the path to life". The tower of Babel was decorated with depictions of the zodiac. Many scholars believe that it was build it in order pervert the story in order to deceive mankind. Most astrological and occult practices have a history back to Babel. These signs were seen as a way to understand and control the heavens. Genesis 11:6-9 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. "Let us go down" – This plural reference to "US" is another subtle reference to the Trinity. Perhaps this was a time when God came down in the form of a man, Christophany—an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ. God, in dividing man both linguistically and geographically, put a check on the power of their fallen nature. Not understanding one another, they felt themselves practically separated from one another. Misunderstanding naturally followed, and caused mistrust and separation ensues. Those with common speech gathered to make separate communities among themselves. Chinese writing is one of the oldest forms of writing, which in its pictograph form may date to around 3,000 BC or even earlier. The earliest cuneiform tablets, known as proto-cuneiform, were pictorial, – a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 3500-3000 BC. It's also interesting to note that the earliest form of Hebrew was pictorial in nature. The earliest forms of writing were partly, if not largely, composed of pictographs – characters that told a story as they were being used in written communication. In the early history of humankind a small number of major events had transpired which needed to be recorded. As these early forms of writing were being developed, the character sets had the capability to capture the core meaning of these great stories in the very characters themselves. The earliest civilizations, dispersed from the Tower of Babel event across the planet around 3,000 BC, documented these major events in their character sets. The earliest form of Chinese characters, which is among the earliest form of writing display evidence of these biblical events. See The Creation Account revealed in ancient Chinese language. For instance, Chinese character for ship, 'chuan' (船). The three radicals making up the character have been interpreted as suggesting a vessel (舟) for eight (八) people (口), and since Noah's Ark was a ship that carried eight people, this is the origin of the Chinese character. Genesis 11:10 -26 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. The bible is a reliable collection of historical documents that tell a unified story leading to Jesus as the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises. While genealogies seem boring, they are very important. Genealogies listed in the Bible are given special attention because it was through their lineage of godly people that ultimately led to the birth of Jesus Christ. This was so important to God that He caused the names of the successive first-born males, as well as their dates of birth and of passing away to be remembered and recorded in his Word. Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. During the period between Noah and Abram, the earth's population increased greatly. Nations were established, languages were divided and human life span was shortening. Notice that Adam lived 930 years but then the average life span began to get shorter. Genesis 11:27-30 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. The Book of Genesis covers more than 20 generations yet, it spends almost a third of its text on the life of one man – Abram who became Abraham. Abram – (name means father) was from a family of idol worshipers and was probably an idol worshiper himself. Sarai – (name means contentious: causing or likely to cause an argument; controversial) Genesis 11:31-32 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. Now begins the story of Abraham. |
