THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGES

GENESIS 11:1-4 – Part 1

INTRODUCTION

It is estimated that there are 6,500 languages spoken in the world today. What we are told in Genesis 11:1-9, is that the multiplicity of languages was the result of the supernatural action of Yahweh, the sovereign creator and Lord of the universe.

A QUESTION ABOUT THE ORDER OF EVENTS

3 historical and theological considerations:

1. The Tower of Babel sequence explains why and how the nations were developed upon the face of the earth into various groups and languages.

2. The structure of Genesis 10 & 11 fits into a larger historical theme. Here we see God making a multitude out of one people, but in Genesis 12, He chooses one people (Abraham/eventually Israel) out of the multitude of nations.

3.  Theologically the theme of grace in the midst of judgment is being highlighted by the order of events.

HOW THE STORY OF THE TOWER OF BABEL UNFOLDS

The Prologue: (11:1) Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

The “whole earth” means all the inhabitants of the earth. There is nothing surprising in our being told that the descendants of Noah all spoke the same language (saphah – literally, “one lip” or “one vocabulary”). People who have a common origin will naturally speak a common language.

The immediate descendants of Noah all spoke the same language, the same as had been spoken by men of the pre-flood period. It is probable that this one language was a Semitic language (perhaps even Hebrew), since the names of men and places in the pre-Babal period all have meaning only in Hebrew and its similar languages.

This faculty of human speech and language is truly one of the most amazing attributes of mankind. The evolutionist is utterly unable to explain the unbridgeable gulf between the utterances of animals and human language.

Mankind was created with the ability to speak and to hear in order that there might first be communication between God and man and, secondly, between man and man.

When men began to pervert this divine gift in order to cooperate in rebellion against their Maker, God confused their language and thereby forced them to separate from each other.

Scene I: (11:2) As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.

As the people migrated eastward from the region of Ararat, they finally came to Shinar and the fertile Mesopotamian plain, where they decided to settle and build a city.

That they went eastward indicated that they were not satisfied with any region where they stayed until they finally reached the fertile Tigris-Euphrates plain, and there they settled down. The population soon grew to the point where not all their attention had to be given merely to food production and it became possible for them to develop an urban community.

Scene II (11:3-4) They said to each other, Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly. They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

The development of a godless civilization reminds us of the character and behavior of Cain and his descendants who were self-reliant and self-absorbed, doing what was right in their own eyes.

By their own efforts, this rebellious society was trying to bridge the gulf between God and man, to have contact with God and to be like God. This was the original temptation in the Garden of Eden—to be like God.

Everything about the project was man-centered. The use of “us” and “ourselves” emphasizes that this tower was their idea and for their own glory.

The self-centeredness of this people is also depicted in their boastful statement: “let us make a name for ourselves.” This is the height of pride and arrogance, for it is usurping God’s authority and right as God. In the Bible it is God alone who makes a name for Himself. He alone has the right to see that His name is glorified, for there is no one greater.

God also has the right to make great whom He wills. Psalm 115:3 Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him. God promised to make Abraham and David’s name great. These men were descendants from Noah’s son Shem, and were preparing the way for the coming of Messiah.

Jesus alone is the one who bridges the gulf between heaven and earth; He is the way the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Him (John 14:6). Every other way to heaven is doomed to failure.

Hebrews 9:11-15  So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With His own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—He entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.  Under the old covenant, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people's bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.  That is why He is the One who mediates a new covenant between God and mankind, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.