And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
- Some things divide like language, geography (including terrain, oceans, rivers, etc.), culture, religion
- All of them can be easily overcome except language
- Geography-you can move alongside the other people group
- Culture-both can adopt part or all or accept the other
- Religion-both can adopt part or all or accept the other
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.
- Shinar is Babylon (Daniel 1:2), hence the "Tower of Babylon"
- It is a generic name synonymous with Babylonia
- King Amraphel ruled there in chapter fourteen of Genesis
And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;
Genesis 14:9
With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.
Isaiah 11:11
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
Daniel 1:2
And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.
Zechariah 5:11
And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be established, and set there upon her own base.
(Genesis 11:3)
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
- The burning of the brick meant permanence, as unburned bricks crumble over a short amount of time with rain.
- Perhaps tar was used for mortar instead of cement.
- Certainly there are tar pits there. Wikipedia: "Tar pits in Hit, Iraq"
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.
- They were given the mandate to fill the earth, first at Creation, then after the Flood, they were not told to "gather together in one spot and work together to make a name for ourselves"
- Combined, man can come up with all sorts of evil ideas People were evidently moving away from the place where they had gathered in Babylon and in order to "make a name" for themselves, they
- The same thing happened in the early Church. God asked them to bring the Gospel worldwide; they stayed at Jerusalem. He had to send a persecution to accomplish this
- Babylon, according to the ancient historian, Herodotus, covered two hundred square miles. It was surrounded by walls three hundred and fifty feet high and eighty seven feet thick. The walls were guarded by two hundred and fifty watch towers and outside the walls were protected by a deep moat.
And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
(Genesis 9:1)
And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
(Acts 1:8)
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
(Acts 8:1)
And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
(Genesis 11:5)
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
- A Pre-Incarnation of Christ Himself
- The term children of men could be for two reasons: to distinguish them from children of God, or to show this was a generation at least removed from the Flood survivors
- It was both a city and a tower; most remember just the tower of Babel.
- Being a city was not enough for them; they wanted also a tower
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.
- Man in the flesh is sinful enough alone, but man in the flesh being sinful combined with many, many other men is a tragedy waiting to happen
- The last time God destroyed them with a Flood; now He will extend mercy and just scatter them to the four winds
- This is an illustration of the Sovereignty of God
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.
(Romans 9:15)
For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
(Exodus 33:19)
And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
(Genesis 11:7)
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
- There is no natural explanation for the existence of all human languages, so this is it, right here.
- It is not like man to invent languages to divide up with, but rather to unite under one.
- Here is the Trinity again, saying "let us", then it is "So the LORD", the "US"
And God said,Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in hisown image,in the image of God created he him; male and female createdhe them.
(Genesis 11:8)
So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
- It is impossible to work together when you cannot understand each other's speech for such a large project.
- They would also have to naturally scatter into groups in order to communicate with one another
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.
- This is the origin of the people groups, by isolation into nations, bringing out different characteristics such as skin color, eyes, hair, etc.
- The language only caused them to go. The isolation caused them to differentiate.
(Genesis 11:10)
These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
- Shem was the middle child, Japeth was the eldest, making Ham the youngest
- Genesis chapter 5 is the genealogy from Adam to Noah, this is from Shem to Terah who had Abraham, who had Lot, completing the major patriarchal list
- One thing liberal "scholars" like to do is ascribe generational "gaps" to the genealogies, which do not exist.
- This is the justify the belief in the long ages of the earth and is not gotten from the text itself
- One thing noted here after the Flood is the shortening of the lives of people, a direct result of more UV radiation, due to the collapse of the firmament at the onset of the Flood.
Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
(Genesis 9:22, 24)
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.......
......And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
(Genesis 11:11)
And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
- Arphaxad is included in the genealogy of Jesus, through Joseph
Which was the son of Cainan, which was the son of Arphaxad, which was the son of Sem, which was the son of Noe, which was the son of Lamech,
(Genesis 11:12)
And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
(Genesis 11:13)
And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:14)
And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
(Genesis 11:15)
And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:16)
And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
(Genesis 11:17)
And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:18)
And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
(Genesis 11:19)
And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:20)
And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
(Genesis 11:21)
And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:22)
And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
(Genesis 11:23)
And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:24)
And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
(Genesis 11:25)
And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
(Genesis 11:26)
And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
(Genesis 11:27)
Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
(Genesis 11:28)
And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
(Genesis 11:29)
And Abram and Nahor took them 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.
(Genesis 11:30)
But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
(Genesis 11:31)
And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
(Genesis 11:32)
And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis Chapter 12