The Tower of Babel

This is a story of self-sufficiency. In creation, God had said, "Come, let us..." and they thought they'd give the phrase a try. They were not interested in making a name for God, but for themselves. They built a tower (though in their minds it was a kind of temple/stairway to heaven) for the glory of it, rebelling against the God to whom all glory is due! God had told people to multiply all over the face of the earth; this was a scene of rebellion, uniting for the wrong ends. So God had a new "Come, let us" for them: "Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other" (Gen. 11:7). Don't miss the humor: It's the highest man-made tower and God has to go where? Graciously, He made their communication difficult because every word was quickly spiraling into round two (see story of The Flood), and becoming the language of rebellion. God scattered them after all. Years later, certain people would be given special abilities for different languages once again. But it would be for the purpose of announcing the glory of God (1 Pet. 2:5) and that Jesus was the Stairway God had promised and planned all along.