TEACHING NOTES Introduction In this session we are coming to the end of the Prologue of Genesis. The first 11 chapters of Genesis gives us the framework of the rest of the Bible story. In the last session the author of Genesis gave us a map of the nations and their origins (Gen. 10). The table of nations in Gen. 10 introduces us to the families and nations that will continue to be a part of the story. Now that the author has given us an overview of the nations, he then gives us a story about how those nations were spread out. ​ Genesis 11:1–2 ESV 1 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. Whole earth = Heb. kal ha erets - Literally, “the whole land”. Instead of thinking about the entire globe we should be thinking of the places mentioned in Gen. 10. One language, same words = Since Gen. 10 describes groups of people with their own languages, we should understand Gen. 11:1-9 as kind of a flashback. The tower of Babel event occurred before or during the details of Gen. 10. People migrated from the east = This phrase can also be translated “people migrated eastward” which would indicate that the people were moving to the east instead of from the east. Since Gen. 3 we have been told in each story that people are headed eastward. Therefore, we should understand that people are migrating away from Eden toward the east. Land of Shinar = In Gen. 10:10 we learned that Nimrod built Babel (Babylon) in the land of Shinar. Settled there = We should see this as a contrast to God’s command to spread out. Instead of filling the earth, they decide to settle down in one area. ​ Genesis 11:3 ESV 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. Make bricks = This shows that they have discovered a new technology. This is the first time bricks are mentioned. This implies that previous structures were built with stacked stones. Burn them thoroughly = This shows a desire to mass produce building materials. Instead of hewing stones, which would take much longer, the people of Babel make bricks for greater efficiency. Bitumen = Heb. hemar - This same word is also used in Ex. 2:3 to describe how Moses’ mother made a waterproof basket (lit. an ark) to float Moses down the river. This tells us that the people of Babel were trying to make a waterproof structure. ​ Genesis 11:4 ESV 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.” Let us build ourselves a city = Like Cain’s city in Gen. 4, they have settled down to build a city for themselves. They are not doing this for God but for themselves. Tower = Heb. migdal - A large stepped structure or elevated garden. While this may lead us to think of a tall watchtower-like structure, it is actually a ziggurat. A ziggurat is a huge stepped pyramid and was a common structure in the ancient world. With its top in the heavens = Lit. with its head in the heavens. It was common in the ancient world for ziggurats to function as a temple-like mountain for the gods. Ancient people believed that gods lived on mountains. Since Shinar was a plain, the people built a mountain in hopes to bring God (gods) down to their city. Question: Why did ancient people build ziggurats? It is a common misconception that the tower of Babel was built as an effort to get to heaven. The idea is that since the garden of Eden no longer existed, people built this tower to try to get back to God in the heavens. However, this is false. Ancient ziggurats were built to encourage the gods to come down to earth. Since ancient people believed that God lived on mountains, and there were no mountains nearby, they built high mountain-like structures in hopes that God would come down to live there. Let us make a name for ourselves = This should sound familiar to readers who have been meditating on Gen. 1-10. This phrase was first used in Gen. 6:4, where the Nephilim are described as “men of renown” (Heb. ish ha shem). The same idea is implied when the author describes Nimrod as having a reputation for being an animal-like giant. The author wants us think of making a name for yourself as a bad idea. Lest we be dispersed = Here we find out their motivation. God wants people to multiply, scatter, and fill the earth (Gen. 1:28; 9:1, 7). The people of Babel want to settle down in one area so they can build a city and become famous. Question: Is there any evidence that tells us the location of this story? Yes. In the area of ancient Babylon there are several cities that were called Babel or Babylon at various times. In these cities there are massive ziggurats. One of these ziggurats is in ancient Ur, which is Abraham’s birthplace (see Gen. 11:27-28). The lower parts of the Ur ziggurat was still standing in the 1900s and has since been refurbished. However, Ur is not the oldest city. In the late 1800s into the early 1900s archeologists excavated the site of ancient Eridu. Unfortunately, by 1948 all work at the site was abandoned and has never been finished. However, what was discovered is now believed to be the site of the tower of Babel. During excavations of Eridu and surrounding cities numerous clay tablets and other writings were discovered. All of them claim that Eridu was the first and oldest city of the region. The ziggurat at Eridu was one of the largest man-made structures of the ancient world. By comparison, the Great Pyramid at Giza in Egypt is 755’ L x 755’ W x 481’ H. The ziggurat at Eridu is approx. 1,000’ L x 1,000’ W and the height is unknown. Interestingly, archeologists discovered that the building of this ziggurat seems to have been suddenly abandoned. Research has shown that after Eridu was abandoned people spread out and other civilizations and languages suddenly appear. The people of Eridu built the ziggurat for their god Enki who was the god of deceptive wisdom, water, and divination. They believed that Enki lived in the deep waters of the underworld and was often depicted with a snake. They also believed that Enki taught humans to build cities and develop tools, weapons, art, and other achievements of civilization. The stories of Enki found on clay tablets include such extremely explicit sexual content that modern translations have intentionally censored certain parts of the stories. Question: How does this evidence help us understand Gen. 11? The evidence tells us that the author of Genesis has greatly condensed a story that was already well-known to the original readers. The author wants his Israelite readers to know “the real story” behind this event. Knowing that the people at Eridu had built their ziggurat for another god helps us see why Yahweh decides to stop the project and confuse their language. Yahweh had rescued relaunched humanity only to find them worshiping the god of the underworld. ​ Genesis 11:5–6 ESV 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 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. The LORD came down to see = As we have seen before, the theme/pattern of God “seeing” is an important part of this story. In Gen. 1 everything God “saw” was good or very good. After Gen. 3 we find that God continues to “see” bad. By Gen. 6:11-13 God “saw” that the end of humanity near. Now in Gen. 11:5-6 God comes down to “see” that the humans have once again turned to bad and have the ability to ruin humanity again. They are one people = Instead of spreading out, they are congregating. They all have one language = The benefit of one language is efficient communication which leads a people group to accomplish more at greater speed. This is only the beginning of what they will do = This implies that God foresaw where these people were headed. Building a massive structure for another god would unify the people against Yahweh. The last time humanity did this Yahweh had to flood the land. Nothing they propose to do will now be impossible = Apparently, this project would give these people more pride and encouragement to do even worse. The worship of the underworld god would lead humanity right back to conditions of Gen. 6 that brought on the flood. ​ Genesis 11:7–8 ESV 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Let us go down = Here, as in Gen. 1:26, plural pronouns are used. God is speaking to a group of heavenly beings (Heb. elohim). As we will see many times in the Old Testament, God uses His heavenly beings to accomplish His purposes on earth. Confuse = Heb. balal - to mix up, confound, confuse The LORD dispersed them = Confusing their language causes the people to spread out into other areas. The archeological evidence from this area shows segregated living with differing languages along with large groups spreading out all over the area of Babylon. They left off building the city = The people of Babel stop building the city and tower because they can no longer communicate and work together. They may have also thought that they had angered the god or gods which would have led them to assume that they should stop building. ​ Genesis 11:9 ESV 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. Its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language = The author tells us that a wordplay has occured. The city was called Babel because there Yahweh balal their language. The LORD dispersed them = The author is repeating the same phrase from the last verse. When the author of Genesis shows repetition it’s intentional. The author wants us to notice his point: Yahweh is scattering the people that congregated and refused to scatter. Question: Does the Bible tell us anything else about this event? Yes. In Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah, Moses looks back at this event and provides more details and meaning. God was doing more than merely confusing and scattering people. The tower of Babel events was God’s judgment on the nations. Yahweh has been abandoned by humanity again. How does God respond this time? He gives humanity what they want. But Yahweh hasn’t given up yet. He chooses one family, as He did with Noah, to restart the project again. Genesis 11 is the backstory for the focus of the rest of Genesis which is Abraham and the origins of Israel. Here’s what Moses tells us about Gen. 11. In Deut. 4 Moses is retelling the story of Yahweh’s deliverance of Israel and His mission to give them the Promised Land. Before they go into the land, Moses warns the Israelites that they will be tempted to turn away from Yahweh and worship other gods. ​ Deuteronomy 4:19–20 ESV 19 And beware lest you raise your eyes to heaven, and when you see the sun and the moon and the stars, all the host of heaven, you be drawn away and bow down to them and serve them, things that the Lord your God has allotted to all the peoples under the whole heaven. 20 But the Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day. Sun, moon, stars, all the host of heaven = In Babel we know from ancient tablets that the people worshiped the moon and stars, which in the ancient worldview represented heavenly beings. In the Promised Land the Canaanites are doing the same kinds of things. Lest you be drawn away and bow down to them = Moses warns the Israelites that they will be tempted to turn away from Yahweh and worship other gods. Why? Because these other gods will let them do all the things Yahweh told them not to do. Things that God has allotted to all the people = Most readers often do not stop to think about what Moses is saying. The people living in the Promised Land, along with all the other people scattered from Babel, had been given over to worship other gods. The Hebrew word for “allotted” is halaq which means to divide or distribute. At Babel, God judged the nations by giving them over to the other elohim. In Deut. 29, Moses is describing what will happen to the Israelites if they turn away from Yahweh to worship other gods. Moses describes what the nations will say about Yahweh and His people when they see the destruction of Israel. ​ Deuteronomy 29:24–26 ESV 24 all the nations will say, ‘Why has the Lord done thus to this land? What caused the heat of this great anger?’ 25 Then people will say, ‘It is because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord, the God of their fathers, which he made with them when he brought them out of the land of Egypt, 26 and went and served other gods and worshiped them, gods whom they had not known and whom he had not allotted to them. Gods whom they had not known = The Israelites that entered the Promised Land were raised in Egypt and saw Yahweh’s deliverance and provision in the wilderness. They had never known the gods of the Canaanites. Whom he had not allotted to them = Again we see that Yahweh had allotted other gods to the nations. In Deut. 32, Moses sings a song to the assembly of Israel. While we might expect a nice song about the people of Yahweh, Moses sings a song about their disobedience. And again we learn more about the Babel event. ​ Deuteronomy 32:8–9 ESV 8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he divided mankind, he fixed the borders of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. 9 But the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage. Most High = Heb. Elyon - God Most High or the Highest Elohim Gave to the nations their inheritance = An inheritance was linked to lineage. When he divided mankind = Referring to the Babel event. Fixed the borders of the peoples = Referring to nations. According to the number of the sons of God = Some English translations follow the Masoretic Text of the Old Testament which reads “according to the number of the sons of Israel”. But at Babel the nation of Israel didn’t exist yet. The oldest manuscripts of the Torah read “according to the number of the sons of God”. Therefore, the 70 nations listed in Gen. 10 were divided up and given to the sons of God. But the LORD’s portion is his people, Jacob = Here we see that Yahweh has created a nation for Himself. When God calls Abram in Gen. 12, His intention is to work through that nation to reclaim and redeem all the other nations. Question: How did the 70 sons of God turn out? We find in Psalm 82 that the sons of God that Yahweh allotted to the nations turned against Yahweh. They led people into injustice and oppression. In Psalm 82 Yahweh announces judgment on the sons of God and sentences them to death. ​ Psalm 82 ESV A Psalm of Asaph. 1 God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: 2 “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah 3 Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” 5 They have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 I said, “You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you; 7 nevertheless, like men you shall die, and fall like any prince.” 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth; for you shall inherit all the nations! Why is this important? We need to understand that the author of the Torah is giving us all the information we need to know to understand the rest of the Bible story. From creation to spiritual and human rebellions, the author is giving us the framework needed to understand Israel and God’s plan for humanity. Gen. 1-11 Review: Gen. 1: The Most High God, Yahweh is Creator of heaven and earth. Gen. 2: Yahweh creates two humans as kings and priests of creation. Gen. 3: A spiritual being (nachash - serpent) rebells by leading Adam & Eve to rebel. Gen. 4: Violence spreads as humans allow sin to rule them. Gen. 5: Seth’s descendants begin to call on the name of Yahweh. Gen. 6: The sons of God rebel and corrupt humanity with giants and violence. Gen. 7-8: God chooses Noah to rescue humanity from extinction. Gen. 9: Noah fails and his son Ham rebels. Gen. 10: Nations begin building cities of pagan worship. Gen. 11: Yahweh divorces humanity, allotting them to sons of God. Gen. 12: Yahweh chooses Abram to create a nation of priests. New Testament Connection: Many people miss the connection between the tower of Babel event and the New Testament event of Pentecost in Acts 2. As Jesus ascended into heaven He told the disciples that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit to be His witnesses to all nations (Acts 1:8). In Acts 2 we find that the Spirit has come on the disciples and they begin to speak in other languages. A crowd of people from the nations of Gen. 10 are hearing Peter’s sermon in their own languages. They repent, become followers of Jesus, and go home to tell everyone. In Gen. 10 their languages are confused and the people are scattered. In Acts 2 scattered people with different languages are brought together and understanding a sermon in their own language. God is reversing Babel and beginning the process of reclaiming the nations. The promise to Abraham is being fulfilled as followers of Jesus go all over the world to bless the nations. This is part of the story that we are in today. Jesus and Paul call this age “the times of the Gentiles” in Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:25. The times of the Gentiles will end when God has brought in everyone He can from the nations. Then Jesus will return and the new creation begins.