Now that humans have learned how to make sturdy baked bricks, it occurs to them that they can "save" themselves from scattering all over the earth as the Lord instructed them to do. They intend to build a city of such glory and renown that no one will ever want to leave it. They intend to build a tower so tall that it can reach heaven itself. Many scholars believe that the purpose of the tower is to provide a means of escape should another global flood ever occur. The Lord has given His word never to bring another global flood, but they don't trust Him.
Another theory regarding the tower is that the people now consider themselves so great that they think they can be on equal footing with God. They believe they can enter heaven itself, not by the righteousness which must be imputed by faith in the Lord, but by their own efforts. In that sense, they are attempting to make "gods" of themselves. But isn't that what man does when he refuses to allow God to be Lord of his life? Isn't he, in essence, making a god of himself and serving only himself?
Some scholars and archaeologists think the tower was to be used for astronomy and astrology. The remains of several ancient observation towers still remain here and there on the earth. It is believed that people used them to calculate days and months and seasons (for the purpose of planting and harvesting) and also that people used them for the purpose of astrology. Astrology is condemned by the Lord in the Bible. It was practiced by many ancient pagan cultures who believed in false gods and who made choices about their lives based on astrological charts.
If you don't believe there's any harm in reading horoscopes or in casting astrological charts, let me just tell you that someone related to me became so caught up in such things that they dropped out of church, fell into a sinful lifestyle, and basically tore apart everything good in their life and ended up losing almost everything. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, but take my word for it: something very dark lurks behind what is presented to us as a harmless hobby. The Lord regarded astrology as an occult practice because it is an occult practice. It puts people in a position to be influenced by the hidden forces of evil, and you don't know what might stealthily creep into your life when you begin messing with something that the Lord specifically forbids in His holy word. My relative was so caught up in what they were doing that when I spoke out against astrology I thought for a minute that this person was going to hit me. The rage in their face was shocking and frightening and I honestly felt like I was in danger. But thanks be to God, the Lord stepped in and turned this person's life completely around at just the right time and in just the right way, which is what He is going to do in today's passage for the people on the plain of Shinar.
"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; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'" (Genesis 11:4) The devil had a similar attitude when he declared, "I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God." (Isaiah 14:13) Satan didn't want to lift up the name of God; he wanted to make a name for himself. This is what the people on the plain of Shinar want to do. They want to make a name for themselves instead of giving glory and praise to the God who created them.
The Lord is going to intervene. For the sake of the human race, He can't allow every person on the face of the earth to band together to finish the task of trying to reach heaven on their own efforts. You know and I know that they weren't capable of building a tower that could actually reach the throne room of Almighty God, but they didn't know it, and this isn't a valuable use of their time. It's not a valuable use of time, manpower, mental effort, emotional investment, or spiritual focus. "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building." (Genesis 11:5) Did the Lord literally come down in person and walk through the city? Earlier in Genesis we were told it was His habit to walk in the garden with Adam and Eve. I suspect these appearances are what are known as "Christophanies": Old Testament appearances of Christ. There are several instances of these appearances before the Lord was born into the world in human form, and we will study them as we go through the Old Testament. But let's stop and think about this for a minute. We know Christ came in the flesh and dwelt among us, but long before the day came when He was born into this world as a human being, He was personally interacting with mankind. Long before He hung on the cross for us, He intervened for us in other ways. Here in Genesis 11, He intervenes on behalf of the human race. He changes the course for them. He redirects them from a path that will bring them no good.
"The Lord said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'" (Genesis 11:6-7) I picture the pre-incarnate Christ walking through the streets of the city and observing the ongoing construction of the tower, then I picture Him back in heaven discussing everything He saw with the two other persons of the Trinity I don't know if it happened this way, but I can't help seeing it this way in my head. Then God the Father says to God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, "Let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
"So the Lord scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel---because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth." (Genesis 11:8-9) If the human race had devoted itself to the worship of the Lord from the very beginning on up until now, I believe we would all be speaking the same language. I believe we would have enjoyed a beautiful unity and fellowship with each other, no matter what our race or sex or background or nationality. If we had honored the Lord as we should, all our great projects would have been projects that helped people and that honored our Creator. They would not have been projects that lifted up the name of man to the level of the name of God, which is what the people at the tower of Babel were attempting to do.
Left to our own devices, we would have either made ourselves extinct long ago by doing ridiculous and harmful things or else we would be so wicked and reprobate that life here in this world would be hell on earth. But the Lord came down. But the Lord came to the rescue. Time and time again, the Lord intervened in history and in the personal lives of human beings. Finally, at the right season in time, the Lord came down in the flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. The One who is above all things, the One whose name is to be praised, the One who is high and lifted up, lowered Himself to come down and be made flesh and live in a world that human beings have polluted with sin. He pulled off the greatest rescue ever known. He did it with His own flesh and with His own blood. He did it out of love. From Genesis to Revelation we could sum up this miraculous rescue with one verse from our passage today: "But the Lord came down."
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