(Tower Of Babel; Birth Of Abraham)
11:1 AND THE WHOLE EARTH WAS OF ONE LANGUAGE, AND OF ONE SPEECH.
A.Chapter Ten carried the genealogies on down to a later time than this Verse, down to the divisions into various nations, languages, and dialects.
B.Chapter Eleven goes back to a time closer to the Flood, be-fore the dispersion of the nations with different languages.
C.What follows here in Chapter Eleven seems to be an explana-tion as to why the dispersion took place in Chapter Ten -- Ten gives the nationalities; and Eleven tells how they arose.
D.Once again there are many people on earth, and it sounds as though they have forgotten about God's judgment upon those who refused to do His will; Now they ignore Him and His will.
11:2 AND IT CAME TO PASS, AS THEY JOURNEYED FROM THE EAST, THAT THEY FOUND A PLAIN IN THE LAND OF SHINAR; AND THEY DWELT THERE.
11:3 AND THEY SAID ONE TO ANOTHER, GO TO (come), LET US MAKE BRICK, AND BURN THEM THOROUGHLY. AND THEY HAD BRICK FOR STONE, AND SLIME HAD THEY FOR MORTAR.
A.Archaeologists have found a lot of this kind of material in the area of the ruins of the ancient City of Babylon, which is near the modern City of Baghdad.
B.SLIME: Those who have studied this building material say that when it is cured, the bricks would break before the mortar.
11:4 AND THEY SAID, GO TO (come), LET US BUILD US A CITY AND A TOWER, WHOSE TOP [MAY REACH] UNTO HEAVEN; AND LET US MAKE US A NAME, LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD UPON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH.
A.It was the custom of the Babylonians to build towers; Ruins of many of them can still be seen in the Mesopotamian Valley.
B.WHOSE TOP MAY REACH UNTO HEAVEN: The word for HEAVEN liter-ally means "heights." We do not know if they had in mind (1) the atmosphere, (2) the stars, or (3) God's throne. Perhaps were just thinking of a tall building (if there were only one building in sight and it were three stories high, that would be the "heights" in that area.
C.Their purposes in building the tower:
a.This would prevent the very thing had commanded from the beginning of human existence - Gen 1:28; 9:1-2.
b.So in God's plan it was not yet time for permanent build-ings; He did not want the people to live in one place, doing as they pleased, but wanted them to be dispersed.
11:5 AND THE LORD CAME DOWN TO SEE THE CITY AND THE TOWER, WHICH THE CHILDREN OF MEN BUILDED.
**God was still interested in these rebellious people even though they had forgotten Him - cf Pro 15:3.
11:6 AND THE LORD SAID, BEHOLD, THE PEOPLE [IS] ONE, AND THEY HAVE ALL ONE LANGUAGE; AND THIS THEY BEGIN TO DO: AND NOW NOTHING WILL BE RESTRAINED FROM THEM, WHICH THEY HAVE IMAGINED TO DO.
A.God knew the effectiveness of "The Tower Of A United People," and it is a lesson for us in the power of unity.
B.They were wrong, but they had power because they thought alike and spoke alike.
C.Compare our speaking the truth of the Word, and staying strong - Ac 4:32; 2Ti 1:13.
D.Why is there religious division today? Because people are not speaking the same language - 1Pe 4:11. Therefore have different ideas about baptism/church/authority/cooperation.
11:7 GO TO (come), LET US GO DOWN, AND THERE CONFOUND THEIR LANGUAGE, THAT THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND ONE ANOTHER'S SPEECH.
11:8 SO THE LORD SCATTERED THEM ABROAD FROM THENCE UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH: AND THEY LEFT OFF TO BUILD THE CITY.
11:9 THEREFORE IS THE NAME OF IT CALLED BABEL; BECAUSE THE LORD DID THERE CONFOUND THE LANGUAGE OF ALL THE EARTH: AND FROM THENCE DID THE LORD SCATTER THEM ABROAD UPON THE FACE OF ALL THE EARTH.
A.LET US GO DOWN: This apparent conference in Heaven is another indication of a plurality of Persons in the singular Godhead.
B.This BEGINNING of languages resulted in dispersion (if people had obeyed the original order would we now all speak the same language and be at peace?)
C.BABEL: "Confusion, confounding."
D.Adam Clarke gives Sylvester's translation of an ancient French poem by Du Bartas, showing how they now were confused:
Some speak between the teeth, some in the nose,
Some in the throat their words do ill dispose --
"Bring me," says one, "a trowel, quickly, quick!"
One brings him up a hammer. "Hew this brick,"
Another bids; and then they cleave a tree;
"Make fast this rope," and then they let it flee.
One calls for planks, another mortar lacks;
They bring the first a stone, the last an axe.
One would have spikes, and him a spade they give.
Another asks for a saw, and gets a sieve.
Thus crossly crossed, they prate and point in vain;
What one has made another mars again.
These masons then, seeing the storm arrived
Of God's just wrath, all weak and heart-deprived,
Forsake their purpose and, like frantic fools,
Scatter their stuff and tumble down their tools.
E.Almighty Jehovah is Sovereign in the affairs of the world, and He will not tolerate any attempt to take over His author-ity, nor will He condone pride and rebellion against Him.
F.Humanistic teaching has written God out of secular history books, but His Name can never be erased from the truth.
On Verses 10-25 compare 10:25 and 11:16 -- (Genesis 10:25, And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.) (Genesis 11:16, And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:); Ham and Japheth are now out of the picture, and we begin to follow the descen-dents of Shem, which becomes the lineage of Jesus Christ.
11:10 THESE [ARE] THE GENERATIONS OF SHEM: SHEM [WAS] AN HUNDRED YEARS OLD, AND BEGAT ARPHAXAD TWO YEARS AFTER THE FLOOD:
11:11 AND SHEM LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT ARPHAXAD FIVE HUNDRED YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:12 AND ARPHAXAD LIVED FIVE AND THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT SALAH:
11:13 AND ARPHAXAD LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT SALAH FOUR HUNDRED AND THREE YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:14 AND SALAH LIVED THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT EBER:
11:15 AND SALAH LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT EBER FOUR HUNDRED AND THREE YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:16 AND EBER LIVED FOUR AND THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT PELEG:
(Genesis 10:25, And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.)
11:17 AND EBER LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT PELEG FOUR HUNDRED AND THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:18 AND PELEG LIVED THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT REU:
11:19 AND PELEG LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT REU TWO HUNDRED AND NINE YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:20 AND REU LIVED TWO AND THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT SERUG:
11:21 AND REU LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT SERUG TWO HUNDRED AND SEVEN YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:22 AND SERUG LIVED THIRTY YEARS, AND BEGAT NAHOR:
11:23 AND SERUG LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT NAHOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:24 AND NAHOR LIVED NINE AND TWENTY YEARS, AND BEGAT TERAH:
11:25 AND NAHOR LIVED AFTER HE BEGAT TERAH AN HUNDRED AND NINETEEN YEARS, AND BEGAT SONS AND DAUGHTERS.
11:26 AND TERAH LIVED SEVENTY YEARS, AND BEGAT ABRAM, NAHOR, AND HARAN.
A.ABRAM is the next really important person to be named (how important he is!); Note that he is named first, although he was not the first born.
B.How we know Abram was not born when Terah was 70:
11:27 NOW THESE [ARE] THE GENERATIONS OF TERAH: TERAH BEGAT ABRAM, NAHOR, AND HARAN; AND HARAN BEGAT LOT.
**So we learn that Abram had a nephew named LOT.
11:28 AND HARAN DIED BEFORE HIS FATHER TERAH IN THE LAND OF HIS NATIVITY, IN UR OF THE CHALDEES.
**This left the two brothers, Abram and Nahor.
11:29 AND ABRAM AND NAHOR TOOK THEM WIVES: THE NAME OF ABRAM'S WIFE [WAS] SARAI; AND THE NAME OF NAHOR'S WIFE, MILCAH, THE DAUGHTER OF HARAN, THE FATHER OF MILCAH, AND THE FATHER OF ISCAH.
**So Nahor married his niece; This was not yet forbidden as incest, and was not forbidden before Lev 18.
11:30 BUT SARAI WAS BARREN; SHE [HAD] NO CHILD.
11:31 AND TERAH TOOK ABRAM HIS SON, AND LOT THE SON OF HARAN HIS SON'S SON, AND SARAI HIS DAUGHTER IN LAW, HIS SON ABRAM'S WIFE; AND THEY WENT FORTH WITH THEM FROM UR OF THE CHALDEES, TO GO INTO THE LAND OF CANAAN; AND THEY CAME UNTO HARAN, AND DWELT THERE.
11:32 AND THE DAYS OF TERAH WERE TWO HUNDRED AND FIVE YEARS: AND TERAH DIED IN HARAN.
A.These Chapters (1-11) close with the world seemingly in spiritual darkness and hopelessness.
B.This Section could have been much longer (however, human beings did not write it!)
C.Liberal scholars (including some who are religious, and even some who supposedly are in the Lord's church) say these eleven Chapters are not factual, but are "just Hebrew myth."
a.The style of writing is straightforward history, with no suggestion of myth or allegory; the style is not differ-ent from the rest of the Book (Chapters 12-50).
b.The Lord Jesus referred to this first part of the Book on several occasions, speaking of it as literal history.
c.All of the first eleven Chapters of Genesis are referred to by New Testament writers, and discuss these events as having actually taken place.
d.If these eleven Chapters are not literally true, then they are not related to redemption, and the integrity of the New Testament comes under suspicion.
e.These Chapters present as history the Messianic seed-line from Adam, showing its preservation, and its direction toward Christ.
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