Presents
Pamphlet #6255 Genesis KC 20-1
Who were the "they" who were migrating from the east?
In chapter 10 we saw the sons of Noah begin to spread forth among the gentile nations, bringing with them their advanced knowledge, such as in astronomy, farming, laws, etc., and also their language, which of course was Hebrew, the first language.
Here is how the Fenton Bible translates Gen 10:5 concerning the sons of Noah:
Genesis 10:5
From these they spread themselves over the seacoasts of the countries of the nations, each with their language amongst the gentile tribes. (Fenton)
Note: It should be pointed out, for those who adhere to a strictly literal translation of scripture and would ignore the figures of speech used by the Holy Spirit, that the "earth" can't talk, and therefore has no language. In the phrase "the whole earth was of one language", "earth" is used to represent the "people of the earth". It is the figure of speech Metonymy (of subject).Genesis 11:1
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
So all of the sons of Noah spoke one language.
[2] And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
The answer should be obvious.
So these descendents of Noah found a plain in what is today the land of Iraq and they settled there.
[3] And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
There's just one problem.
It looks like they forgot to end those stories with the
remembrance of God's "promise of the rainbow",
His covenant that He would not again destroy the earth
with a flood.
So, they decided to make extremely hard (permanent) bricks and use "slime" to bind them together.
Slime is bitumen or what we would call asphalt and is
so tenacious today
that detachment is almost impossible.
It should have been plentiful if we remember where they
were,
in the oil rich country of Shinar, i.e. Iraq.
What is it that they are going to do with these "man-made" bricks?
Build a bridge to the 21st century?
[4] And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
They are going to stop this migrating thing!
They are going to stop obeying God's plan for them to go forth and cultivate the earth, i.e. "till the ground".
They are going to make a name for "themselves", not God.
This was not a good idea!
[5] And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Gen. 11:5 And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of Adam had built. (The Interlinear Bible, Hebrew, J.P. Green )
Gen 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
We learned in the last study that "confusion" is the confusing
of,
or perverting of, God's Word and His plan of salvation.
Man here is attempting to provide his own security and
salvation
using his own blueprints and his own materials.
In the end he may sing "I Did It My Way",
but as he marches into the lake of fire he'll hear the
refrain,
"That Was Bad Idea".
We
also see in this whole affair the first attempt (in this earth age)
to
unify mankind and bring about a New World Order.
And today we see the last attempt to unify man and bring about a New World Order.
Both attempts are made without our Father's inclusion.
Therefore both are Babel.
Therefore both will fail.
There is only one way to unify man and that is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
May He soon return.
So our Father is about to teach a lesson to those who would promote "confusion".
They are going to get a "taste of their own medicine", so to speak.
[7] Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
They received the "gift of tongues", only in reverse.
Whereas in Acts chapter 2 when they spoke
everyone heard and understood in his or her own dialect.
But here at the wonderful Tower of Babel when they spoke NO ONE understood.
And so it is that the diverse languages of man can be
traced back to the 7
or so basic languages imparted to man at the Tower of
Babel.
[8] So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Looks like they forgot to get a permit from the Authority.
This kind of reminds me of Jonah and the great fish
for the simple reason that God will accomplish His purpose
and His plan
with or without the cooperation of man.
The sons of Noah were to spread out from "the face of
the earth"
and they could have done it the easy way and trusted
in the LORD.
But NO!
You can also imagine that since verse 7 says "let us"
go down,
meaning God and the angels (the Host),
that it wasn't too difficult to scatter them, i.e.
"scare them away".
The supernatural have a way about them.
[9] Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
Man today continues to build "towers that reach unto heaven"
to provide him with security and guarantee his salvation.
Since the year 1830 the most popular
"tower" is the Rapture Theory,
whereby you can reach heaven and
escape the Flood of the false-christ, Satan, in the end times.
And with this new modern "tower" you don't have to walk up steps or a ramp either, you can just fly up, up, and away.
But I've got bad news!
If anyone's security is in the Rapture Theory,
they're in big trouble.
In fact their "language" is already confounded.
We as Christians must learn to "stand
fast"
with the gospel armor on and in
place (Eph. 6)
and trust in Him who has all power
in heaven and in earth,
and whom no "tower" of man can
rise above.
The choice remains ours.
It is really simple.
In fact it is binary.
We can choose to either follow God's way or man's way.
The one brings rewards and blessings and eternal life while the other brings death.
Man's "towers" to heaven may sound really wonderful, but they are never a good idea.
And so it was, as the sons of Noah
and their descendents
moved against the gentiles,
that the nations were divided in
the earth.
Proverbs 16:25
There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Live Link to the next study> #6256 Creation vs. Evolution.
Live Link to a TOC of all our studies of Genesis below:
The first 11 chapters of the book of Genesis and chapter studies of the rest of Genesis
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