Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech." So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-9 NASB)
Why would my Master care if His human creatures built a tower and city or not? What would it matter if they had the same language and one name? In fact, wouldn't things be better if that were true? What was it that was so terrible about a unified humanity?
I don't really know. Although I haven't searched exhaustively, so far I haven't found a corresponding account in ancient texts of the region of Mesopotamia. There's one for the flood, and some others that correspond to other features of the first 11 chapters of Genesis, but not this one, at least I haven't found it yet. And there are not a lot of references back to this account in the rest of Scripture. So it has not been possible for me to find commentary on this account either internally in Scripture or externally in archaeology. I will have to settle for oblique references and possible tangents to this event. There's a lot of room for error in such research, if it even is research.
On the surface though I find a few possible pieces of evidence. For instance, Yahweh goes down to look at the city and His comment is that "now no purpose of theirs will be withheld from them." I find this to be the best clue as to what my Master is concerned about in this. Yet, there is another earlier in Genesis 10, it's just much more circumstantial than this one. These two are the best pieces I have at the moment.
The response of Yahweh to the building project almost damages the Sovereignty of Yahweh. He sounds afraid or concerned that His domination will be diminished by a unified humanity; as if people really did have the ability or power to diminish Him. It sounds this way on the surface, but I think that my Master is really more concerned about His human creatures missing their purpose for living entirely.
Paul says in Acts 17:24-28 that people have been created by God that they might seek Him. I believe that building a tower and city to unify the people of the land become people seeking themselves. Their purpose in building was to assure that they remain unified. The tower would reach to the heavens, yet not to be with Yahweh, but to be seen across the plain of Shinar, and maintain their unity. The ancient "towers" of the Mesopotamian region were step pyramids, and were always temples. It seems the worship from this tower would have been of someone or something other than Yahweh.
At this point I want to bring in the oblique circumstantial evidence from Genesis 10:7-12 (verse 7 because I believe it indicates that 8-12 was inserted rather than organic to the passage). Nimrod is where I believe the problem with the city and tower really lies. He is a strange character. In Micah 5:6, his name refers to the Assyrians, and there is a city "Nimrud" that has been found in the northern region of the two rivers. The references to him in Genesis 10 and 1 Chronicles 1 sound like the Nephelim from Genesis 6. He was a "Mighty One on the Land"; and I believe a distraction from following God.
With someone as capable as Nimrod around, where's the need for Yahweh? Yet Nimrod himself seems to be a "mighty hunter before Yahweh," so I at least sense that He is a follower of Yahweh to some extent. The reference seems to indicate that Yahweh is pleased with Nimrod, or at least not displeased. But the people of the plains wanted to be one people unified around a city and tower they have constructed. Nimrod is not mentioned, and they don't want to be unified around Yahweh. I think that is where the problem begins. A person powerful enough to distract them from their dependence upon Yahweh leads to a self-reliant solution to their desires for identity.
That's my suspicion, but really the only real evidence support only that they were not really interested in solutions coming from Yahweh, but self-reliant ones. Even if they intended the tower as a place to worship Yahweh, He wasn't included in the project. He had to come down to look at it on His own initiative, not invited in the project at the first. The purpose was not to glorify Him, but to unify the people. So, the response of Yahweh is to bring about the very thing they were trying to avoid.
I get distracted by things that lead me away from my Master. Lately I have looked around me at others and wished I had what they have. I have looked away from what my Master has provided me, and focused on what He hasn't. And the irony is that I have done this in the midst of having been provided an amazing trip to the West Indies. It's insanity it is. That's crazy to be so distracted. Yet I have been. It hit me this morning. I looked at what others had, or could do, or whatever, and wished I were someone who could have those things. I wasn't content with what my Master provides to me, I wanted more.
I'm back now though. I certainly hope I have come to my senses. Now I need to go back through my pictures and review the wonderful place I was blessed to enjoy last week. It would have been nice to have enjoyed it more while there. Matthew, thy name is Bonehead.
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