Over the next few weeks we are looking at the top ten Old Testament stories, here is number 9 – The Tower of Babel. These stories you may remember from Sunday School, on closer look they are difficult stories so are often forgotten about in Church.
The story is found in Genesis 11:1-9. It may initially appear to be a story explaining how there are different languages, but in previous chapters we know that different nations had different tongues. Here the bible is not teaching science but teaching theology.
The story describes how years after the flood, when Noah and his family settled down and had more children, they began to move from place to place. When they reached the land of Babylon, they decided to settle there and build a tower so high ,that it would reach the sky. The people were proud, and they thought that they could reach the same level as God.
This pride was their downfall. When God came down to the city and saw what the people were doing, He became very angry. He decided to put a stop to their construction, by making sure that nobody could understand the other. God made sure that all the people there began to speak a different language, so that neighbours could no longer understand each other.
The story serves as a reminder of the consequences of trying to build a society without reference to God.
The tower may be based Ziggurats which were found in Mesopotamia around that time.