(3) The Tower of Babel Incident

 (3) The Tower of Babel Incident

Genesis 11:1-5 "The whole earth was of one language and one speech. As they journeyed eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building."

They arrived at the plain of Shinar and began building the Tower of Babel. Their stated purpose for building the Tower of Babel was to "make a tower with its top in the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." This was an act of rebellion against God. This was the very image of wanting to become like God in the Garden of Eden.

The Bible emphasizes "brick for stone, and tar for mortar." On the surface, this appears to be a development of civilization. However, spiritually, it can be interpreted as a story about altars. Exodus 20:25 states, "If you build an altar of stone for me, you shall not build it of hewn stone, for if you cut it with a chisel, you shall defile it." Deuteronomy 27:6 states, "You shall build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn stones, and you shall offer burnt offerings on it to the Lord your God."

Originally, castles were built with stone, but to make them more solid, people developed bricks and used bitumen instead of clay, developing a material harder than stone. The Bible describes the stone as Christ, but instead of using Christ, the Rock, they used bricks made by humans. They built a castle with bricks made by human thought. In other words, they built a tower that replaced God. They established their own righteousness (name). Their righteousness is as solid as an indestructible stone.

Bitumen (hemar) was used in Moses' ark and Noah's ark, and is related to salvation. However, bitumen appears in the scene where Pharaoh uses the Israelites to build a city (pyramid). There is true bitumen and false bitumen. True bitumen symbolizes Christ, and false bitumen symbolizes idolatry. If a temple is built with true bitumen, it becomes a new temple (Christ), but if it is built with false bitumen, it becomes an old temple. The true temple (the Holy of Holies) exists in the hearts of believers, while the old temple (the Tower of Babel) that worships idols exists in the hearts of false believers. They believe that they themselves are idols.

Genesis 11:6-9 Then the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have one language. This is what they have begun to do. Now nothing that they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. From there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Language is the medium through which humans communicate, but God's words to humanity are accomplished through the Holy Spirit. While people rebelled against God and scattered their languages, making it impossible for them to understand one another, God's people are united by the Holy Spirit and can communicate with one another.

The Word symbolizes Christ. The scattered language that opposes God represents the sinners who must die on the cross. It symbolizes Jesus Christ on the cross. However, if language seeks to find its original form of conversing with God, it becomes language spoken by the Holy Spirit. Language spoken by the Holy Spirit symbolizes Christ, resurrected by the Holy Spirit. This is ho logos.

They built the Tower of Babel to demonstrate their own righteousness. Everyone in this world is building their own righteousness. Within their hearts, there is an idolatrous desire to become like God. This desire stems fundamentally from the belief that evil angels in God's kingdom can become like God without God. God knew their hearts and scattered them. He created them as people made of clay on earth.

In today's world, humans continue to attempt to operate in a coalition of idols driven by greed, the desire to become like God. In the name of religion, they create gods that appear to be God, projecting themselves onto them.

We must regain the language spoken by the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1-4 "When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what appeared to be divided tongues as of fire, which sat on each of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages ​​as the Spirit gave them utterance."