The Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide Bible Study Program – GENESIS OVERVIEW (11)

THE TOWER OF BABEL

Today’s Power Point Lesson covers Genesis 11. It has always been the object of men, and their governments, to concentrate power in a single center since it is easier to control the very lives of other men when power is more centralized. This has been the desire of Satan from the beginning at Eden. He wishes, above all else, to destroy that which God has made. If he is able to control the water we drink, the air we breath, and the food we eat, his desire can be easily realized. (cont’d)

Satan, and the wicked heart of man, never gives up. Napoleon toppled the remnants of the Holy Roman Empire Only to replace it with the idol of ‘l’ancien regime’, which in turn fell. When the League of Nations failed to accomplish the goal Of concentration of world power, the United Nations was conceived as a purported means of avoiding war. Since the inception of the United Nations, there has been more war and bloodshed over the general political spectrum than ever before. In fact, the United Nations stands as a platform to justify so-called “Limited War.” The UN is the modern version of Nimrod’s Tower of Babel.

Nimrod and Semiramus

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech 1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 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. Gen 11:1-2 (KJV) When men begin to concentrate in great population centers their minds turn to evil imaginations. 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. 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. Gen 11:3-4 (KJV) Man will use every resource available to build his pride.

Now the whole earth had one language and one speech Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 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. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” How did the attitude and pride of the people who followed Nimrod defy the will of God?

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Gen 9:1 (KJV) These people did not desire to ‘replenish the whole earth, but they desired to conglomerate together.

The land of Shinar: Shinar was a term used also of Babylon (Genesis 10:10). The multiplied descendants from the ark came together to build a great city and tower, in rebellion against God’s command to spread out over the earth (Genesis 9:1). b. “Let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly” . . . they had asphalt for mortar: Using baked bricks and asphalt for mortar, men built a tower that was both strong and waterproof, even as Noah used the same material in waterproofing the ark (Genesis 6:14). Later Moses’ mother used the same material in waterproofing Moses’ basket (Exodus 2:3). i. “Archaeology has revealed that this type of kiln-fired brick and asphalt construction was common in ancient Babylon.” (Dr. Henry Morris)

Aztec Temple in MesoAmerica Not only was the construction of ‘ziggurats’ popular in Babylon, but in southern Mexico among the Axtec and Mayan cultures. Aztec Temple in MesoAmerica

Drawing of Temple in Babylon

Aztec Temple circa 1100 A.D.

c. Come, let us build ourselves a city: The heart and the materials relevant to the tower of Babel show that it was not only disobedient to God’s command to fill the earth (Genesis 9:1), but it also shows man did not believe God’s promise to never again flood the earth. A waterproof tower was made to “protect” man against a future deluge. i. This was a strong statement of self against God. When they said let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens, they meant it. Man is rebelliously wicked, so he conceives a futile attempt to build a Tower that would rise above the waters of any flood God might send again. He does not even trust God not to destroy the world by water a second time.

d. A tower whose top is in the heavens: The top of the tower was intended to be in the heavens. It is doubtful they thought they could build a tower to heaven. It is more likely they built the tower as an observation point of the heavens; it was built “unto the heavens.” Most astrological and occult practices have a history back to Babel. i. If they really wanted to build a tower to reach heaven, it is unlikely they would start on the plain of Shinar, which is about Sea Level. Common sense says they would start on one of the a nearby mountains. ii. This tower was real. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said the tower of Babel still stood in his day and he had seen it. There is much evidence to show the Tower base is located in the ruins of Babylon.

The name “Babylon’ derives from Babel – the scene of the first ungodly “tongues movement.” (*__~) 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 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. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 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. Gen 11:5-9 (KJV)

God ‘comes down’ to both judge and to save God ‘comes down’ to both judge and to save. The Lord Jesus Christ will ‘come down’ again at the end of time to judge the world of sinners, and to save those who have been redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb.

(Genesis 11:5-9) God scatters them over the whole earth. But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

The men of Babel spoke in languages that sounded like jibberish to all who heard. They could not understand each other no better than a Pentecostalist tongues speaker could make known his own babbling. God is not the author of confusion. The tongues referred to in Acts 2 at Pentecost was Miraculously understood by all language groups present from over the known world. The first unknown tongues spoken came as a result of sin and rebellion. Is it any different today?

The line of Adam through Shem to Abram. 1. (Genesis 11:10-25) From Shem to Terah, the father of Abram. This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

(Genesis 11:29-30) The family of Abram and his brother Nahor. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. But Sarai was barren; she had no child. a. Then Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife Sari (her name means “contentious”) was barren, unable to bear children. b. Abram’s wife was Sarai . . . she had no child: Because the name “Abram” means “Father,” it must have constantly amazed those meeting Abram to discover he had no children. But his present lack of children will play an important role in God’s plan of redemption.

The beginning of the Children of Promise in Abram: (Genesis 11:31-32) The family of Terah and their travels from Ur of the Chaldeans to Haran. And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. They went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan: So Abram’s story begins in Ur of the Chaldeans (Babylon). Joshua 24:2 describes Abram before the LORD called him. He was from a family of idol worshippers and was probably an idol worshipper himself (notwithstanding Jewish legends). i. Abram came from a family of idol worshippers. Later, when Abram’s grandson Jacob went back to Abram’s relatives, they were still worshipping idols.

b. And they came to Haran and dwelt there: Acts 7:2-4 makes it clear the call of Genesis 12:1-3 came to Abram while he still lived in Ur of the Chaldeans. When he received this call from God he was only partially obedient, because he took his father Terah with him to Haran even though the LORD called him to go from Ur by himself. c. Terah died in Haran: Sometimes we can gain meaning from names in the Bible. The name Terah means, “delay.” The name Haran means “parched, barren.” When Abram was in partial obedience, then delay and barrenness characterized his life. When we delay in drawing close to God we also experience barrenness.

Next Lesson covers Chapter 12 – the Call of Abraham