Exactly how long after the Biblical Flood of Noah took place the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel incident occurred we have no way of knowing, and since none of the four patriarchs who survived the flood or their direct descendants as listed in the Table of Nations are mentioned in this story by name, it makes it impossible to date this event with any certainty. But at some point between the flood and the story of Abraham, we have the story of the people coming together to build a city and a tower and rebelling against God’s command to spread and occupy the whole earth.
Genesis 11:1-9 1Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3Then 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. 4And 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.” 5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6And 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. 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9Therefore 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. (NKJV)
The story of the Tower of Babel and God’s confusion of tongues is one of the most controversial stories in the Bible. Before we get into the confusion of tongues, let’s look at what the scripture has to say about the building of the tower.
First, this passage contains and very strange statement:
Genesis 11: 5-7 5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6And 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. 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
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Posted by kenh1957 