Forced to Scatter Abroad

Genesis 11:1-9

Genesis 9:1-2 states, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.” They were commanded to fill the earth, and were to be responsible for the animals. While modern ecologists have recognized this responsibility, most have not taken the trouble to learn what is entailed. Noah’s descendants were no different.

“And the whole earth was of one language, and of 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. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.” (Genesis 11:1-3)

The Ark had grounded on Mount Ararat, at the edge of the fertile crescent. As people moved down the mountain into the Mesopotamian valley they found a fertile area with ample rainfall and moderate weather. The plains around present day Babylon offered easily farmed land, and people quickly settled the area. While there was not a lot of stone for building, fired bricks made an acceptable substitute, and were easily produced and clay mud made a satisfactory mortar. Modern archaeologists indicate that civilization originally developed in the this general area because of the conditions of the fertile crescent, lending further credence to the story. Since there was only one family, only one language was spoken, and there was no communication problem.

“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)

It wasn’t very long after the flood that Ham’s grandson, Nimrod took control of the city known as Babel and started building prestige for himself. Genesis 10:8-10 describes the basis of his empire. “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”

Nimrod’s existence and Babylonian connection is attested by many ancient cultures, leaving little room for doubt. Later he was worshipped a s a God by many groups. It would appear that the construction of the tower of Babel was an attempt to consolidate the empire and retain control of the entire population. Their intent was “…and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” It was a deliberate effort to prevent people from fulfilling God’s command to “…Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,” in Genesis 9:1. The idea of becoming a god led to Satan’s sin, and to Eve’s eating the fruit, and had serious consequences. It is obvious again in Nimrod and the people at Babel.

“And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.” (Genesis 11:5-7)

There is a saying that what man can conceive, man can achieve. While that is not completely true, we are able to figure out amazing things when we share our ideas. Unfortunately, we will try almost everything we dream up and some are really bad ideas. Perhaps a more accurate statement would be, “What man can conceive, man will attempt.” God recognized this about man, and he knew something else about us as we see in Genesis 6:5. “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

If allowed to freely share their ideas and knowledge man would attempt to implement every evil idea they could imagine as well as the good. God had been forced to destroy the world once already because of man’s propensity for evil. By preventing the free interchange of ideas, God could slow the spread of evil, although it would slow some positive developments as well.

As a result of the inability to communicate freely, people began to separate into smaller groups and isolate themselves. Language and close family ties determined how the people banded together, resulting in the divisions we saw in Genesis 10. God used it to force them to fulfill the command in Genesis 9:1, to fill the earth.

“So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:8-9)

Interestingly, every effort to reunite the entire world has failed to date, more than four thousand years later. The Bible portrays the Antichrist being successful in forming a single world government and conditions being much like they were before the flood. Wickedness will abound during his reign, culminating in the destruction of the world.