Monday, Genesis 11 - Stop the Babbling

...or start it, as the case may be.

In verse 3, it appears that the bulk of humanity came to a consensus: "Let's make Babel, a city for ourselves" (evidently in opposition to the command of God recorded in Genesis 9:7, "Be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein").

So, in response the Godhead also came to a consensus (found in verse 7): "Let's make them babble, lest mankind build a city for themselves!"  You think I’m straining to get this interpretation?  I don't.

Hebrews 11: 8-10 says that "by faith Abraham... looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."  Their city was evidently a direct substitute for the city that God intended for them to seek after.

God had a program and a schedule, but men resisted it and reworked it to their own liking. Sometimes God will allow such nonsense (for a while)... and sometimes he won't. This was a "won't" incident.

Personally, I think it was more than just the geographical dispersion of the population that was important to God. Oh, their rebellious attitude against His instructions concerning people distribution was significant, but even more significant was where that rebellion would have led them

In verse 6 Moses wrote that God said, "This they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do." Was God opposed to general creativity or something? Hardly! God was (and is) opposed to the kinds of things that rebellious men naturally imagine (see Genesis 6:5). He knew that the inhabitants of Babel would feed off one another resulting in a return to pre-flood levels of iniquity. So, He stopped it. He hindered societal communication. It was a case of "divide and conquer.”

For what it's worth, let it be noted that Noah was still alive at this point. He lived 350 years after the flood. In fact, he was even a contemporary with Abraham for some 58 years. One has to wonder what Noah thought when he saw his own grandchildren raising a tower heavenward in opposition to the God of heaven.  Maybe something like, "Here we go again!"

But, once again, God had a solution. However, this time it wasn't the destruction of the masses and the salvation of one family. No, this time it was salvation of the masses through the establishing of a nation from one family.