GENESIS 11
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confusedthe language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. – Genesis 11:1-9
GENESIS 11 WHEN GOD DISPERSED AND CONFUSED MAN
A poem inspired by these verses by ILMA
As the earth was being populated after the flood and having one language
The Lord God saw how man’s desire to build themselves their own idols
The people began to build with bricks a very high tower to reach heaven
They thought that they needed to make a name for themselves with the tower.
Once again, God sees the wickedness and sinfulness of man
The Lord God had to stop their plot against his own plans
So, the Lord dispersed them and divided them over the earth
They began speaking different languages and became confused.
The story of the Tower of Babel is very significant to us all. Even though it was a very short narrative in the bible, it showed a unified humanity using all it had to establish a city and a tower that is the opposite of what God planned it to be. This story manifests man’s wickedness and unfaithfulness to God. Man’s desire to glorify himself and be like God is so powerfully described in this chapter.
REFLECTION
- What does the Tower of Babel symbolize for us humans? What’s the lesson here?
