The Story of the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)

The Story of the Tower of Babel" (Genesis 11:1-9)

Some church leaders make use of people's mind of competition by publishing all donators' names and offering amounts densely on the bulletin. When people see all the donators' names and offering amounts, they may be forced to offer more money out of their wrong mind of competition or of pride. However, this is not what God wants to see from us.
From Adam's time till the affair of the tower of Babel, all the people in the world spoke the same language.
We still have some existing evidences for this fact. The most ancient words that people have been using are such as mother, father, fire, and the numbers one, two, and three.
If you compare some different languages for the word 'mother' for example, you may find that every language for the word mother contains 'm' sound.
In the case of the word 'father,' every language contains one of the labial consonants ‘b,' 'p' or 'f.'
               
'아버지’ in Korean contains the 'b' sound, 'father' in English contains the 'f' sound, and 'Pater' in Greek contains the 'p' sound. But, 'b' 'f' and 'p' are all the same labial consonants.
'불‘ in Korean, '火’ in Chinese, 'fire' in English, 'feuer' in German, and 'pur' in Greek contain the 'b,' 'p' or 'f' which are also all the same labial consonants.
'Prometheus' in the Greek myth was a god who stole 'fire' from the god's palace and brought it down to the human world.
Ancient people could count or had the expression of only one, two, and three in number. Beyond the number three, they could not count or they didn't have an expression.
'하나‘ in Korean, '一’ in Chinese, 'one' in English, 'ein' in German, 'hen'(ἕν) in Greek are also from the same origin. Only difference is whether you pronounce it with smooth breathing or with rough breathing. You may say either 'Allelujah' or 'Hallelujah.'
'둘‘ in Korean, ’two' in English, 'duo'(δύο) in Greek contain the same dental consonants.
A hieroglyphic or a pictograph, the Chinese characters were made about 4,500 years ago, that is, 2,500 years BC.
They suggest that the Chinese ancestors obviously knew the events of creation, Noah's ark, and the affair of the Tower of Babel, etc.
For instance, '복(福)‘ in Chinese points to the event that God placed a person in the garden of Eden.
'주(舟)‘ in Chinese means 'a small ship', but '선(船)’ means 'a big ship.'
How many people can board on a big ship?
At least eight people according to them!!
Who were those eight people?
Noah and his wife, Ham, Shem, Japheth and their wives on Noah's ark. Noah's ark was the first big ship that had eight people on it excluding all sorts of animals.
'홍(洪)‘ in Chinese means a great flood.
When there was a great flood on the earth, eight people cooperated to survive.
The Chinese ancestors worshipped a god in heaven. They called him shandai(上帝). The Hebrew God Almighty was called 'Shaddai' or 'El-Shaddai in Genesis 17:1 and Psalm 91:1. Shandai and Shaddai point to the same god, the Almighty Jehovah God.
               
There was a man called Nimrod among the descendants of Ham, one of Noah's sons.
Nimord was a mighty hunter (Gen. 10:9). As he was very brave and strong, many people thought that it would be good if he could be their king and rule over them.
So, they decided to work together and build a big city, and they wanted to build a great and tall tower in this city Shinar. They wanted the tower to be very strong.
They said to each other: "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly."
They used baked brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
I constructed a retaining wall using the natural stones instead of bricks for my garden, but I found that the stone retaining wall is easily fallen down.
They used bricks with tar to make their high tower strong and not to be easily collapsed.
Why did they want to build a high tower?
The answer is in verse 4: "Then they said (to each other): 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'"
Firstly, they wanted not only their tower but also themselves to reach heavens.
What's wrong with this?
They wanted to be like God.
How was Eve tempted by the serpent?
When the serpent told the woman, "When you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God" (Gen. 3:5), she took some and ate it, and she also gave some to her husband, Adam.
Human beings were created by God the Creator.
We must know who we are.
We should not go beyond our boundary into God's domain.
Secondly, they wanted to make a name for themselves.
People want to donate more if their names are published in a newspaper or are told on a TV. Being famous is what most people want.
If you become famous, many people may show their respects to you.
But, if you become famous, you may be too much proud of yourself.
So, instead of glorifying God's name, you may want to glorify your own name.
               
Some biblical scholars claim that the purpose of their building a high strong tower was to worship God more seriously getting closer to Him, as the high towers or altars are now being used for that purpose for their god in that region.
But even if this were true, God was not pleased with them very much because this was not what God instructed them to do.
Thirdly, they wanted not to be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
What was wrong with this?
This was the result of their unbelief.
They did not believe God's promise to Noah and his sons in Genesis 9:11,
"I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood, never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."
So, they wanted to build a high tower to survive from a future potential great flood.
God did not like their intention and plan and said in verses 6-7:
"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. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."
God scattered them from there over all the earth.
Then, they stopped building the city and the tower.
The tower was called "Babel."
The original meaning of "Babel" is "a gate of God" or "a gate to God."
But when God confused the people's language and scattered them, the meaning of the word was also changed to "confusion."
What shall we do to be better Christians?
We have to search ourselves whether we have something wrong in our conducts and speeches by the Word of God.
We try to show our whole trust upon God and lean on Him in our everyday lives.
We try not to be arrogant or proud of ourselves too much but to be humble before God.