Context

The Original Commission

1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the
earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and
every creature that moves on the ground.”

The Slightly Altered Plan

3:23 So the Lord God expelled him from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the
ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove the man out, he
placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used
the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Totality of Sin When the World was One

6:5 But the Lord saw that the wickedness of humankind had become great on
the earth. Every inclination of the thoughts of their minds was only evil all the
time.

The Potential Exits, but the Judgment is Withheld

8:21 And the Lord smelled the soothing aroma and said to himself, “I will
never again curse the ground because of humankind, even though the
inclination of their minds is evil from childhood on. I will never again destroy
everything that lives, as I have just done.
The Nations Were Spread Throughout the Land

10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their
lands, every one according to its language, according to their families, by
their nations . . . 10:20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their
families, according to their languages, by their lands, and by their nations . . .
10:31 These are the sons of Shem according to their families, according to
their languages, by their lands, and according to their nations . . . 10:32
These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by
their nations, and from these the nations spread over the earth after the
flood.

Summary

From the beginning, God wanted humankind to multiply and fill up the earth he had
created for them so that they could rule it and care for it. Even after the fall this
does not change. God still desires the same thing from man. However, we see the
awesome potential for evil when mankind is united in their fallen nature. Yet, God
will not meet out the kind of judgment he did in the flood. We are also given a
foreshadowing as God comments about how man is evil from childhood.

- Man needs to spread out and fill the earth

- God will not judge man by wiping them out

- Man is unified and fallen

The Tower of Babel (The Scattering of the Nations)

Chiastic Structure of the Narrative

A – All the land one language (v 1)

B –People settle together there (v 2)

C – Said to one another (v 3)

D – Come let’s make bricks (v 4)

 E – A city and a tower (v 4)

F – The Lord came down (v 5)

E’ – The city and a tower (v 5)

D’ – Come let’s confuse (v 7)

C’ – Not understand one another (v 7)

B’ – People scattered from there (v 8)

A’ – All the land different languages (v 9)

Background to the story (1-2)

Purpose of Settling Down (3-4)

So what is happening?

So what is their sin?

1. They are directly going against God’s commission to fill the earth. They are viewing
God as the enemy who desires them to fill the earth. They do not want to do that.
2. They are making God into a very humanized, Babylonian deity. God in their minds is
one who is like them, who eats and sleeps and can be “bought” with a beautiful structure.
3. They believe that their power together and their religious structure is enough to “trap”
God, to overcome God and force him to do their bidding.

The Lord Came Down (5-7)

The Impact of God Coming Down (8-9)