A long, long time ago, all the people on earth lived in one place and spoke the same language. They got along well and worked together. At that time, they moved to a beautiful place in a land called Babel.
The people there had an idea: “Let’s build a big tower that reaches up to the sky!” They wanted to make a name for themselves and become famous. They began to form bricks out of clay and fire them so that they became solid and strong. Then they stacked the bricks, one on top of the other, to build the tower higher and higher.
But God knew that was not good. People thought too much of themselves and forgot God. They wanted to show how important and strong they are. God wanted to remind people that they need Him and that they should live together instead of just looking out for their own glory.
So God did something very clever: He made people stop speaking the same language. All of a sudden, people could no longer understand each other! Everyone suddenly spoke differently, and a great confusion ensued. Work on the tower came to a standstill, because no one knew what the other was saying. People had to stop building.
Because they could no longer communicate, the people moved away in all directions and spread over the whole earth. In this place where the tower was built, it is therefore called Babel, which means “confusion”.
God knew that it was not good for people to make these plans without Him. And so he reminded them that they should live with him and with each other instead of just pursuing their own goals.
Message of history
God wants us to remember Him and work together to bring His love into the world. Plans should not only be for our own glory, but for honoring God and helping one another.
Bible passage
The story of the Tower of Babel can be found in Genesis 11:1-9 (Schlachter 2000):
“And the whole earth had one and the same language and one and the same words. And it came to pass, when they were setting out from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And they said to one another, “Well, let us paint bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And the brick served them as stone and the asphalt served them as mortar. And they said, “Well, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to heaven, that we may make a name for ourselves, so that we may not be scattered over all the earth.” Then the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower that the children of men were building. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is only the beginning of their work; Now nothing they have set out to do will be out of their reach. Well, let us descend and confuse their language there, so that they no longer understand each other’s language. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they ceased to build the city. Hence she was given the name of Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there scattered it over all the earth.”
