Bible Study for Today

Why did God cause the multiplication of languages and the dispersion of peoples?

After the Flood, human civilization again began to spread across the earth. Those who traveled east under Nimrod (10:8–10) settled for a while in a place called Shinar. Later, they decided to establish a city as a tribute to themselves and as a way to keep from spreading across the earth (11:4). This was a double prideful rebellion against God. First, their city, with its proposed tower, was to be a monument to their self-reliance. Second, the permanence of their settlement represented an effort to disobey God’s direct command to inhabit the whole earth.

Because it was God’s purpose to fill the earth with custodians, He responded to the people’s prideful rebellion. They had chosen to settle; He forced them to scatter. Their cooperation and self-reliance had been based on their shared language. Instead of using all their resources to obey God, they misused them for disobedience. God chose to complicate communication by multiplying the languages. The location where this confusion took place became known as Babel (related to a Hebrew word meaning “to confuse”). Later it became Babylon, the constant enemy of God’s people, and throughout Scripture the capital of human rebellion against God (Rev. 16:19; 17:5).

Reading for Today:

Genesis 11:1–12:20Psalm 4:1-3Proverbs 1:28-33Matthew 5:27-48

Notes:

Genesis 11:3,4 build ourselves a city. After God commanded the people to scatter to fill the earth, the people, under the leadership of the powerful Nimrod, disobeyed God’s command to disperse. They stopped to build a city and tower in their own honor. The tower itself was not the singular act of rebellion. Rather, human pride caused them to rebel against God.

Genesis 12:1–3 the LORD…to Abram. This passage contains the promise whose fulfillment extends all through Scripture. It is an everlasting covenant which includes four components: 1) seed (see Gal. 3:8,16, referring to Christ); 2) land (15:18–21; 17:8); 3) a nation (12:2; 17:4); and 4) divine blessing and protection (12:3). The covenant is unconditional in the sense of its ultimate fulfillment of a kingdom and salvation. It has great national importance to Israel, as magnified by repeated references in the Old Testament, and great spiritual importance to all believers.

Psalm 4:1 O God of my righteousness. The ultimate basis for divine intervention is God’s righteousness, not the psalmist’s (see Jer. 23:6). distress. This word describes the psalmist in painful situations. When he says “You have relieved me,” he conveys the picture that God has provided space for him.

Matthew 5:31 it has been said. The rabbis wrongly understood Deuteronomy 24:1–4 to mean that divorce only required regulated paperwork and could be granted for anything that displeased a man. Moses provided this as a concession to protect the woman who was divorced, not to justify or legalize divorce under all circumstances.