1 The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel Genesis 11:1-32
2 Text: Genesis 11:1-32, The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel 1. The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. 2. When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3. Then they said to one another, Come, let s make bricks and bake them thoroughly. (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) 4. Then they said, Come, let s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth. 5. But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. 6. And the Lord said, If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 7. Come, let s go down and confuse their language so they won t be able to understand each other. 8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. 9. That is why its name was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth. 10. This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11. And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. 12. When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13. And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
3 14. When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 15. And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 16. When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 17. And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. 18. When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 19. And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. 20. When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 21. And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. 22. When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 23. And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. 24. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 25. And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 26. When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27. This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28. Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive. 29. And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30. But Sarai was barren; she had no children. 31. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 32. The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran. (NET)
4 In Genesis 11 God provided a summary of Biblical history from the end of the flood to the time of Abraham. Man's pride and desire for power caused him to attempt to create a one-world system. However God spoiled his efforts to do so. God's desire was not earthly power and fame for man, but a Savior who would descend through the godly seed of Abraham. God created only one language for mankind. "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech." (Genesis 11:1) God blessed man by giving him the ability for verbal communication. The language of the early Biblical patriarchs was "Hebrew." Whether or not this was the original language I am not sure. These people built cities and they decided to build a "monument to their greatness." Many have built monument to their own stupidity. No one through about asking God's will in the matter when they were building this tower. The design of it was stated in these words, "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." (Genesis 11:4) Their plan was in direct conflict with a command of God. "God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." (Genesis 9:1) In order to impede their foolish plan God simply changed the language of the various tribes, clans, and family groups. This made it impossible for them to work together. The Lord had command them to go but they did not. "So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city." (Genesis 11:8) Even though the tower of Babel was stopped Nimrod continued to build a city there. Later Babel or Babylon would be the seat for much false religion. Genesis 11 provides us with another major lineage. In Genesis 11 we are able to trace Shem's descendants to Abram. This is the lineage quoted by Luke in Luke 3:34-38. At the end of Genesis 11 the focus begins to be on Abram. The account of the death of Abram's brother, Haran and the death of his father, Terah are recorded in this text. In Genesis 11:30 we read a little statement that played a big part in Hebrew history. "But Sarai was barren; she had no child."
5 Man spoke only one language -- Genesis 11:1-4: In the beginning God created one man and one woman, Adam and Eve. He made it possible for them to enjoy verbal communication. They were able to communicate in speech on the day of their creation. They passed this ability on to their descendants. Until the Tower of Babel man spoke one common language. Until the Tower of Babel there was only one race of men and only one language. God expressed very simply and very clearly His desire for Adam's descendants to spread out and fill the earth with people. In Genesis 9:1 we read, "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." Noah's descendants did spread out some until they came to the land of Shinar, but they stopped there. (Genesis 11:2) It was likely under the leadership of Nimrod (Genesis 10:9-10) that the people decided to build a great city and a tower that would reach to heaven. They were moved with pride and ambition, preferring their own glory instead of God's honour. When will men learn that the way to be truly great and permanently honored is by learning and doing the will of God? Their motivation for building the tower was stated in Genesis 11:4, "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. After God confused their language many of the people left the area of Babel or Babylonia. Many of them carried with them false religion. God confused their language -- Genesis 11:5-9: God has always been displeased with man's disobedience. He knew the intent of these people so He made it impossible for them to continue their project. He confused the languages of the people. This caused great confusion and the building of the tower ceased. The action of causing the people to be congregated and congested in a city was deliberate disobedience to God. He wanted them to fill the earth. There is much evil that comes when many people live close together in large cities. All types of crime come from our cities. Welfare has been largely instituted to take care of unproductive people in our cities. John wrote, "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil." (John 3:19) Even
6 though Genesis 11 does not have as its main theme the Trinity; in Genesis 11:7 the Bible uses the plural word when naming God. "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." (Genesis 11:7) Observe, Let us go down. The Bible teaches that there is one God, but that this one God is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 28:19) When God confused the language of the people He did it in an orderly way. "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations." (Genesis 10:5) The name of the city was called Babel after God had confused their languages. Later in history the name Babylon was given to the city. Learning about Abraham's ancestry -- Genesis 11:10-26: The purpose of this genealogy is to list the descendants of Shem unto Abraham. Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel. This is the same genealogy that was quoted by Luke as a part of the genealogy Luke 3:34-38. It is of interest to observe how much shorter the life span became after the Tower of Babel. Before the tower Shem lived to be six hundred years old. "These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters." (Genesis 11:10-11) After the tower Terah, Abram's father lived two-hundred and five years. The effect of sin was very destructive to mankind physically. Abraham and his family -- Genesis 11:26-32: Abram, Nahor and Haran were sons of a man named Terah. The name Abraham is explained in the Bible as meaning "father of a multitude." "Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee." (Genesis 17:5) In the Old Testament, Abraham was the first of the Patriarchs and was promised by God that his descendants would live in and own the land of Canaan. The Bible provides very little information about Terah, Abraham's father. We know that he had three sons. He lived in Ur of the
7 Chaldees. "And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there." (Genesis 11:31) We also know that he worshipped idols. "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods." (Joshua 24:2) Abram's wife was named Sarai but "she was barren; she had no child." Much of the Old Testament is the story of Abraham and his descendants who were in the lineage of Jesus. Abraham was a man of great faith in God. Let us possess that same kind of obedient faith. To become a Christian you must hear the gospel (John 6:44-45), believe in Jesus as the Christ (Mark 16:16), repent of all sins (2 Peter 3:9), confess Christ as Lord (Acts 8:37) and be baptized for remission of sins. (Acts 2:38) After baptism remain faithful to God. (Revelation 2:10) Life on earth is always better when we have Jesus as Savior and the hereafter with Jesus will be very far better! By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama 36037
8 Questions on Genesis 11:1-32 1. How many languages did the people speak before the tower of Babel was built? 2. The tower was constructed of stones and mortar. A. True B. False 3. Mark all answers that are correct. The people desired to build the tower to: A. make a name for themselves. B. to demonstrate their power to their enemies. C. to build a city. D. to keep from being scattered over the face of the earth. 4. God was not pleased when he saw what they were building. How did he halt the construction? 5. Why was it a sin for the people to build a city to prevent being scattered?_
9 6. God said, Come let us go down and confuse their language... Who does the plural us refer to? 7., a descendant of Ham, was the builder of the tower and the city of Babel. 8. Motivated by pride and egotism the people desired to erect a monument to their greatness, but instead it became a monument to man s to God. Regrettably man is still in against him. 9. List three times God has unleashed his wrathful judgement against sinful mankind. 10. When the people scattered from Babel many carried with them their and.
10 11. Explain the importance of Shem s genealogy in this chapter. 12. In this chapter a very important change is noted in the timeline of the genealogies. Explain what that was. 13. Abraham was originally known as. Why was his name changed? 14. What is the significance of verse 30 that simply states, But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
11 15. Terah, Abram, Sarai and Lot left the land of to go to. They settled in where died.