The third reason a Second Temple Jew would have thought the world was so corrupt comes from Genesis chapter eleven. The problem, as we will see, is man wants control, god-like status, and sovereignty over his world.
Background
The corrupt Sons of God had tainted the human race so badly, God decided to start over with Noah. When Noah came out of the ark, God repeated the Edenic command to increase in number and spread out over the earth (Gen. 9:1, 7). God wanted the earth to be full of his rule and his glory.
And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”
Genesis 9:1 (ESV)
Table Of Nations
It is worth mentioning Genesis chapter 10 because it gives an overview of the nations descended from Noah down to the tower of Babel incident. Scholars call this list the Table of Nations.
The Table is not meant to be exhaustive or global—there is no accounting for much of the world. The list names 70 nations. Israel is not mentioned in the list for reasons that become apparent in Genesis 11 and Deuteronomy 32:8–9.
John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016).
It is not exhaustive but it is representative. For now, note the connections between Babel, Shinar (10:10), Peleg (10:25) and the Babel event in chapter 11.
11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
Genesis 11:1–2 (ESV)
They Said Let Us
3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
Genesis 11:3–5 (ESV)
Where have we seen this phrase “let us” before? The phrase “let us” signals their corporate intention. It occurs three times in two verses followed by their rationale, “lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” The occurrences of “let us” in verses three and four stand in ideological contrast to the “let us” in Gen 1:26. When God said “let us” in Genesis 1:26, he wanted mankind to represent him as his imagers who had a relationship with him and who had dominion over the whole earth as his representatives so that his glory, his will and his name would be clearly known. But instead when these people said “let us” they wanted to have all of this for themselves without Yahweh. So what were they thinking? They wanted to have control and to become great on their own terms.
A city provided political and economic security. The tower with its top in the heavens was a temple. Most scholars agree that it was a ziggurat. It didn’t literally reach to the heavens. This was a way of describing a connection with the gods. They wanted to be able to call the gods to their temple and to have the gods do what they wanted. It was not uncommon for ancient people to make deals with the gods. They also wanted to make a name for themselves. They wanted recognition, prominence and power in the world. Their rationale is clear. They did not want to be dispersed over the face of the earth like God had commanded Adam and Eve in the garden and Noah when he came out of the ark.
The LORD Said Let Us
6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
Genesis 11:6–7 (ESV)
Verse six seems to indicate that mankind is very capable. It sounds like there is nothing we cannot do if we are united. This is the way in which God created humans. God gave mankind these abilities at the beginning. The problem is these people wanted to use their abilities, power and authority (whatever you want to call it) for their own purposes. They didn’t want to image (represent) God. They didn’t want to cooperate with God and his purposes. They were in it for themselves.
The “let us” in verse seven not only signals God’s intentions, it also signals the way he prefers to work – in cooperation with others who are loyal to him. We have seen this before in Genesis 1:26.
The Results
8 So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Genesis 11:8–9 (ESV)
The people who wanted to build the tower of Babel didn’t want to be dispersed or scattered. But God had a problem with their motives. The Babel event marks a shift in Yahweh’s relationship with all the peoples of the earth to focusing on a relationship with Israel. In Genesis chapter 12 we are introduced to Abram. In many ways, Abram marks a new beginning. But before we consider Abram, we will look at what the author of Deuteronomy thought about the Babel event.
Questions
- Is there a difference between doing our will and doing God’s will?
- How do we know when we are doing one or the other?
- God has created us to be his imagers, to cooperate with him in accomplishing his purposes on earth (not our purposes). How are we doing this? In what ways are you mirroring God here and now wherever you are?
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