Genesis 11:4
And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city (Babel), and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
God said to Noah in Genesis 9:1, “Be fruitful, multiply, and replenish the earth" – move about, spread out, scatter across the entire earth.
But here we see the earth’s population staying in one place, building a city with brick, stone and slime, with a tower reaching into the heavens to make a name/monument to themselves. This was done to avoid being scattered over the whole earth under the leadership of Nimrod in defiance to God.
Later in the chapter we will see the corrective hand of God confounding the language of the people so they would scatter form the city (Babel) and move out to populate the face of the earth thereby accomplishing His sovereign will.
Better to listen and follow God’s divine direction than be confounded by your own decision and left babbling.
The Truth
“And the land will tremble and sorrow; For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against Babylon, To make the land of Babylon a desolation without inhabitant.” (Jeremiah 51:29)
