God Speaks
At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
10 This is the account of Shem’s family.
Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11 After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. 15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17 After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. 19 After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living. 29 Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.) 30 But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: This chapter is pivotal in understanding the biblical view of the origin of the various languages on earth today. God had instructed Noah and his family to “be fruitful and multiply and repopulate the earth.” (See Genesis 9:7) This implied that, in addition to having many children, they were to spread out on the planet; however, out of the free will God had given them, the people chose to seek to make a name for themselves by sticking together and building a city with a special tower. This was likely in rebellion against God or represented worship of other gods. It was also the opposite of seeking to honor God their creator and faithfully doing what He directed as Noah had done. Therefore, God confused their languages so that they had great difficulty communicating with each other to carry out their plans. [Babel sounds like a Hebrew term that means “confusion.” This may also be what was referred to in Genesis 10:25 in the naming of Peleg, which means “division.” He is also mentioned in Genesis 11:18.] God’s purpose was accomplished in Genesis 11:9. Verses 10-30 trace the lineage of Shem down to Abram. God is in the process of focusing on one faithful person and his descendants to carry out His plans for mankind.
Prayer: Dear all-knowing and all-loving God, thank You for the gift of language. By it we have the ability to communicate with You and with other people. Please help me to use it to honor You, first between the two of us and then also to point other people to trusting and obeying You. Holy Spirit, please help me to seek to please Father God by trusting Him and doing what He says. Lord God, I want to be what You want me to be and do what You want me to do. All for Your glory, LORD. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will ask the Lord to show me, in the Bible, some specific way He wants me to obey Him, then do it.
- I will confess to God and at least on other trusted person a specific sin or habit in my life that must go, then ask His help to overcome it.
- I will seek to communicate the Good News of Jesus Christ to someone of a different language background.
- I will try to help someone younger in the faith to grow closer to God.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.