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. 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.
About thirty years ago, Waffle House owners in the Atlanta area noticed their cooks dipping into extra toppings on orders of hashbrowns they made for themselves and friends. “They would dice up pieces of ham or add cheese,” says Jim Hosseini, executive vice president who was then managing a Waffle House in Georgia.
Although the Norcross, Georgia-based chain has been around since 1955, it wasn’t until the mid-80s that its hashbrown ordering lingo rolled out. For years, diners could only order them scattered on the grill and smothered with onions. But on February 9, 1984, menus at restaurants across the country debuted covered and chunked, the beginning of a timeline of new ingredients inspired by Waffle House chefs and customer demands.
The order of ingredients listed on the menu reflects the order items were added—first it was cheese, then diced ham, and then tomatoes and jalapeños. “All of this grew organically in the restaurants by our cooks and our customers. There were no grand marketing plans that put it all in motion.” “When we added chili, it was like a dam broke and everyone wanted it,” Hosseini says. “Then people in Texas started putting gravy on their hashbrowns. It wasn’t one or two units—it was as if someone walked into Texas and sent a secret memo saying ‘Go to the Waffle House and order gravy on your hashbrowns.”
And as for all the way? There are brave among us.
In our last session we saw how dangerous it can be when you make plans that ignore God and His purposes. The generations that followed Noah and his family failed to follow God's command to spread out over the earth and multiply. Instead, they chose to cluster together in Shinar. In their vanity the people thought they could be like God if they built a tower that could reach heaven itself. Today, we are going to see God “scatter, cover, and smother” them.
In verse five, the people who settled in Shinar decided to construct the city and the tower without God's approval. Their plans and construction activity did not go unnoticed. The Lord, in fact, took an interest in what they were doing and came down to see. The expression “came down” is a human way of describing the involvement of God in the matter. God, of course, is all-knowing and did not need to come down in order to see what was going on.
The city and the tower that seemed so great in the people's eyes were not great in God's eyes. When we lose sight of how big God is, it becomes easier for us to see our own accomplishments as bigger than they actually are. Our pride always grows in direct proportion to the distance between us and God.
Applying the Scriptures: Do you believe an awareness of accountability to God would have impacted the efforts of the people of Shinar? How does that awareness impact what people do today?
God came down to look at the tower and, more importantly, to hold the people accountable for engaging in this prideful initiative without His approval and without regard for Him. This was one of many occasions in the Scriptures that illustrates the truth that pride goes before destruction (see Proverbs 16:18).
Notice verse six. God was concerned about humanity's inclination to pursue its own ambitions without regard for Him. With a common language to unite them and to facilitate communication, the people were poised to fulfill whatever evil purposes they desired. Filled with pride, they were intent on building a civilization that did not acknowledge God. Humanity was on a slippery slope that would plunge mankind into deeper rebellion against God. God chose to intervene. He frustrated their plans for moving even farther away from Him.
In verse seven God finally had enough and decided to go down and deal with the rebellion. At least two approaches might be taken in interpreting the phrase “let Us.” The phrase could refer to God's conversing with the heavenly hosts of angels. Angels often performed God's will in dealing with humans, especially in dispensing judgment (1 Chronicles 21:12). However, a second-an in my judgment more likely-understanding of “let Us” places it alongside Genesis 1:26, where the Godhead (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) spoke in concert.
We need to be reminded that God did not literally have to go down from one location to another to accomplish His purpose. Being God, He was already present in the midst of the people even as they worked against Him. Rather, the phrase “go down” gives the idea of divine movement to intervene in human affairs directly. God actively engages every aspect of His creation whenever and however He chooses.
God's solution at Shinar was to confuse (“confound” KJV) their language. Losing the ability to communicate to one another, the people would be unable to cooperate in the building of the city and its tower. Although this verse does not specify how the people's languages were affected, Genesis 10 indicates that the division of dialects followed tribal lines. The various people groups were able to communicate within their families, but suddenly tribes were unable to engage effectively with other groups.
Many New Testament scholars point out that God reversed this punishment after Christ's resurrection and ascension. When the Holy Spirit fell upon believers on the Day of Pentecost, people of many different dialects and languages were miraculously able to understand as the disciples spoke of the magnificent acts of God (Acts 2:1-12).
In verse eight we see the immediate impact of God's judgment on the people at Shinar. People working alongside one another suddenly could not communicate. The huge tower no doubt required the collective effort of craftsmen and workers from all the age groups. The intricate interactions necessary to continue construction required clear understanding between laborers and supervisors. Without the ability to speak effectively with one another, they could not continue the project.
Interrupted communication also could have led to disgust as their frustrations with one another increased. Conflict likely emerged as masses of people could no longer work, engage in commerce, or relate in a normal manner. The sudden and ongoing confusion caused by their language barriers disrupted people's lives.
One immediate result was they stopped building the city. Here the text does not specifically mention the tower. Since the tower was integral to the city and symbolized the people's selfish pride, we can assume that project also came to a sudden halt. Imagine the widespread vexation as workers walked away from their jobs in utter confusion.
The text does not indicate how long it took the people to decide to separate and find a new land for each group. The Scripture only reveals the results: they were scattered. Several important facts can be noted about this occurrence. First, the scattering began from the land of Shinar. As each people group could only communicate with their own families, they became isolated from other tribes.
Second, the Lord directed the scattering. He caused them to separate according to language groups and to move away from one another. In His sovereignty, God exercises His will actively. He does not merely react to human events. He takes action to fulfill His purposes.
Third, the groups were scattered widely: “over the face of the whole earth.” They covered the whole earth. God intended for human beings to exercise stewardship over the entire earth. In addition, He knew that these groups ultimately would need larger areas as they multiplied. The scattering was necessary to get the people back on a course that was best for them-that is, on God's course.
God smothered the ambitions and pride of the people in Shinar. If we want to see God's best for our lives, then we must maintain a humble, dependent attitude. Proverbs 3:34 NKJV) says, “Surely He scorns the scornful, but gives grace to the humble.”
Today, ask the Lord to reveal to you if there is any pride in your heart that needs to be dealt with. Ask God to create a humble and dependent spirit within you so you may receive the grace of God.
Serving Christ, Loving Others, and Growing Together,
Dr. Bryan Cox
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