The international terminal at an airport is an interesting place to people watch. It’s a unique space where people from around the globe converge for a brief time. You can hear multiple languages. You see the whole range of human emotion—sorrow, fear, confusion, anticipation, ambition, stress, excitement, joy. In some ways, it gives us a glimpse of Babel.
In Genesis 11, we see the results of sin and pride as the population grew and the people migrated east. Their collective sin had previously provoked a worldwide flood (Gen. 6–9). And now—just decades later— their perverted use of language and power drew a disciplined response from the Lord.
Language is a gift from God that facilitates communication and fosters communion. One primary purpose for language—as God intended—is to give Him praise (Ps. 34:1). However, in the land of Shinar, the people were using their common language to glorify themselves. They collaborated to build a city and a tower that would garner status and praise. The Moody Bible Commentary calls Babel “the first expression of secular humanism.” Human prominence was pursued while divine purpose was ignored.
The LORD “came down” to see their city (v. 5). He was grieved by the human-centered trajectory that the people had established, an act that predicted even greater idolatry in their future. As tall as the tower may have been, it could not reach His heights.
So, for their own good, God confused their language, forcing them to scatter (vv. 7–9). Nevertheless, His heart still yearns for the unified worship of all nations and tongues as prophesied in Zephaniah 3:9: “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder.”
Go Deeper
Why did God confuse the language at Babel? How have you experienced the consequences of a “language barrier”?
Pray with Us
Lord, nothing that we can ever accomplish could reach the heights of Your glory. We praise You for this! We long for the day when people from all nations and tongues will worship You in unity.
If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.Genesis 11:6
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