Genesis 11 – Confuse Their Language…

This iconic chapter is one that many people, even those who do not read the Bible, would probably be able to tell you about. However, the story of the Tower of Babel is only a small part of this chapter. It is a brief story inserted between genealogies. In the previous chapter, we saw how Noah’s sons began to spread out across the Earth, establishing families in differing regions. I must confess that this story puzzles me, mainly because there are so few details which I key in on and really focus on to understand exactly what is happening. This seems more like Genesis 1 than Genesis 2 in that Genesis 2 seems to focus on the details while Genesis 1 paints a broad overview of what God is doing. This is a lot like that. While I do not deny that Genesis 1 or Genesis 11 actually happened, I think the broad nature of the way they are told imply that the significance is not in the details, but in what is actually said.

The Bible tells us that the whole Earth is speaking the same language, which seems to make sense since they all descend from the same family of three brothers. What is interesting is that the language doesn’t break down due to the broad geographic regions of their settling. Imagine traveling back to 16th century England and trying to understand the people there. You would both be speaking the same language and would understand much of what the other said, but many words would be completely foreign, enough of them that speech would be difficult. The exact date of the confusing of language is not something that is available to us, but many of the people in the generations after Noah seem to be living quite long lifespans. Given enough time and isolation, language can evolve quite dramatically. I say all of this to point out that the whole world speaking one language seems pretty significant as it could indicate that their level of technology and means of communication might have been fairly sophisticated. Perhaps this is why God says in verse 6 that “nothing they propose to do will be withheld from them.” In the age we live in today, as scientifically advanced as we are, there are many things that seem just out of our reach.

This brings me to a subject that I’m drawing from the text, but not necessarily out of it, if that makes any sense, and that subject is the idea of progress. In today’s society, but most pointedly in American culture, the idea of progress has been the driving force behind all we do. From the Declaration to Manifest Destiny to Emancipation to Suffrage to Marriage Equality, the idea of progress is what drove all of these major changes. I am not going to attack progress in itself, because progress is not something evil and is indeed something God is actively working toward, however, “progress for progress’ sake” is something that seems to be steering us toward a Babel like society. What I mean by this is that many today believe that science and technology will be able to alleviate all of our problems, “if only those backwoods Christians will stay out of our way”. They dream of a future where man is immortal, needing no body, but living forever in some horrific fusion of man and machine. They see a time coming when we will have conquered nature, and in many ways, this is already coming true. We will eradicate ourselves of all disease, but also be able to one day steer hurricanes, produce children without a father, and genetically alter our DNA to be whatever we want to be. This kind of thinking is exactly what I believe was going on in Genesis 11. While I will not say they had even close to our technology, the idea remains the same: man intended to supplant God from His throne and replace himself as the only authority. Progress can do many wonderful things, but there is a thin line that must be carefully traversed in order to keep our perspective, with God directing the progress.

Man says, “Let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves.” If you have not become convinced of any wrongdoing before verse 4, this quote alone should bring things into perspective. This is not a spiteful God who feels threatened by man who He is losing control over as they become too powerful. This is a God who gave man everything man has and they seek to supplant Him. Look at the language. “Let us”…seem familiar? The idea that this tower would reach to heaven is not literal, but figurative. This tower would reach to a new heaven with man as the God who ruled. They do this “lest they be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

Next, the Lord comes down to see the city and the tower which they had built. This is an anthropomorphism. In future blogs, we will reach anthropopathisms. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of physical human properties to something other than man, like an animal, inanimate object, or in this case, God. God is not literally unaware of the tower and city until he “came down to see” them. This is a literary device the writer is using to allow us to understand something about God which we would not normally be able to comprehend. Giving God eyes and physical space he occupies is not a theological treatise, but merely helps us understand a God who is made of spirit and is omnipresent and omniscient. God was aware this tower would be built well before the creation of the world. But in order for this story to be a story, certain elements are expected, including God being made aware of the existence of the tower and city.

God then proceeds to pass his judgment. He says, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” When God says “Let Us…” worlds can be created and worlds can be destroyed. In this instance, the world man had built for himself without God would soon be destroyed. Remember that at this point they ought to be filling the world, not settling in one spot. This was done in direct violation of God’s command. God, therefore, confuses their language and forces them to be scattered across the world. The Bible mentions that this is why it was called Babel, which comes from a Hebrew word meaning “to confuse”. Interestingly, I could not find an etymological connection to the English word “babble”, but I did find one in connection with Babylon, which would later become the enemies of God’s people and be used as the instruments of God’s judgment.

In the second part of this chapter, we reach the genealogies. I must be honest that my highlights pretty much disappear altogether here, but what is important to me, at least, is the link between Abram and Shem being firmly established. Terah was Abram’s father, while Nahor and Haran are his brothers. We learn that Abram and Nahor both had wives, Sarai and Milcah respectively. We also learn that Sarai was barren and had no children. Lastly, we learn the Terah takes his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran), and Sarai from the land of Ur (a populous city in Mesopotamia) to the land of Canaan in the land of Haran. Abram’s father dies in Haran at the age of 205.

Though we know the family history of Abram, we have to ask ourselves at this point, why is he even being discussed? While indeed he is descended from Shem, there are many others who are his descendants as well, but for some reason we are reading about Abram and not them. The reason for God’s choice of Abram and the blessings He would confer upon him are unknown, but it is important to note that God is actively working in history according to His purposes, continuously pursuing the same goal that man thrive on the Earth and bring glory to his Creator. Below is an image showing the genealogy from Shem to Abram which indicates their ages by beard length, which I found especially amusing:

Genesis 10 – Nations Were Divided…

In the previous chapter, we saw how the flood had ended, and only Noah’s family is alive. They are told to multiply and fill the Earth. God’s mission and man’s responsibility has not changed. His sons Shem and Japheth were found faithful in their father’s weakness, but Ham was cursed by God. In this chapter, the new beginning of the human race begins with a new genealogy following the offspring of the three brothers.

This will be a quite short post today, but that is mostly because there isn’t all that much material to work with here. I don’t want to focus on the names here, but rather the significance of the separation that is taking place. This is background material that we will need to know as we continue reading through the rest of the Old and even New Testament. There are divisions between these brothers before they even have children. Ham’s curse will play a significant role as we continue exploring Scripture. What is most important is that the Bible is setting the scene for the ultimate division that will take place in Chapter 11 at the Tower of Babel.

I’m not going to go over the lands that the different families ended up in, other than in the broad general sense that Shem’s family seems to generally occupy the land east of the Promised Land, being the modern day peninsula of Saudi Arabia. Japheth’s family seems to be a bit further east, as well as north of Shem’s family. Finally, Ham’s family dwell in what would later be the Promised Land as well as the Sinai Peninsula and parts of Egypt.

I would like to note here that these divisions of people groups into different places “according to their families, according to their languages, in their land and in their nations” seems to indicate that this chapter is actually post-Babel. The breaking down of language from one universally spoken to many indicates that this is not written in chronological order. The writer is giving us a picture of how the sons’ families were divided, and in the next chapter, he will show us how this came to be.

Please reference the map below for greater detail on the family divisions.

Genesis 5 – And He Died…

At first glance, this chapter may appear to be only a stepping stone between two narratives; a necessary bridge between Adam and Noah. However, I want to propose that all Scripture is important for study, and that even though I’m quite sure I don’t know everything there is to know about this genealogy, there are important concepts to learn in every part of the Bible. Admittedly, genealogies can become quite monotonous, but paying attention to the details can reap rewards.

The chapter begins by telling us what this section is going to tell us. The author has just relayed the genealogy of Cain, and now it will relay the genealogy of his father, Adam. The author then reminds the reader that man was created in the likeness of God. Another thing that is mentioned is that God called them “Mankind”. If we remember the significance of giving something a name, we see that though God has given dominion of the Earth and its creatures to man, He has dominion over us. We are His vice-regents, who rule under his authority. We also learn that Cain and Abel must have been born when Adam was less than 130 years old, because this is the age when Adam becomes the father of their little brother, Seth. Notice it says he had a son in his likeness, and after his image. Because Adam was made in the image of God, this passes to future generations as well. It was not just Adam, but all of humanity which has this quality of being made in God’s image. Adam lived to be 930 years old. And then he died. This was not what he was designed to do, but because of sin, death entered the world. He did an incredibly long life, though.

Over the next few generations that the Bible will list, a pattern will become apparent. It will list how old the person was when he became of a father of the next generation that will be listed. It will then say how many years the person lived after they became a father. Then it will say that they “had sons and daughters”. Lastly, it will do some addition for us and tell us how old the person lived to be altogether, and then end with “and he died”. What can we learn from this pattern? First, we should be aware that this list is not comprehensive, but representative. What I mean by that is that we do not know every branch and every distant cousin on Adam’s family tree. What we have is what we need to have. This is the line that Christ will come from. It is also the line that we all will come from. Second, we learn that people are living an incredibly long time. I almost want to skip over this because I’m not sure how to account for it other than the progressive nature of sin. Lifespans are continually shortened throughout Genesis until the lifespans get short enough that we start to recognize them as moderns as average lifespans. Third, these men are producing families that are quite large. God gave us a command to be fruitful and multiply. It seems that these generations are doing just that, having sons and daughters. Finally, the Bible recounts that none of these men escape the curse that sin brought into the world; death. Death is actually one of the most prevalent themes in this chapter, with one glaring exception.

Seth becomes the father of Enosh; Enosh of Cainan; Cainan of Mahalalel; Mahalalel of Jared; and Jared of Enoch. Enoch stands out because he does not die. His description has a few key features. The Bible takes care to mention that Enoch walked with God. He becomes the father of Methuselah at the young age of 65. But what does it mean that he walked with God? Does it mean that he’s the only one? Or could it mean that he walked with God in a more meaningful way? I think for this question I will have to say that I do not know. I do know that in a real and meaningful way, Enoch seems to be in close communion with God. Close enough that at only 365 (a very middle-aged life during the time), the Bible says that he was not because God took him. This is incredible. Enoch seems to have spent so much time walking with God that God decided to whisk Enoch away from the Earth. I’m not sure exactly what it means that God took him, but I know that it was a result of his good relationship with God. Whether this means that he did not die and was taken to Heaven, or that God decided to call Enoch home and he died, I am mostly satisfied knowing that the Bible mentions Enoch favorably, and that he had a relationship with the Creator even though he too was marred by sin.

His son Methuselah becomes the father of Lamech. Methuselah lives longer than any other person recorded in the Bible. He eventually does die just shy of becoming a millenarian (I made that term up) at the age of 969. Now who is this Lamech? I thought we read about him in Cain’s genealogy. In fact, we did. However, I believe this is a different Lamech. Enoch was actually a name found in the Cain family tree as well, but I believe this is a different person as well. If you look at the graphic at the top of this post (which contains some misspellings), you will notice that many of the names are similar, if not the same. Cain is similar to Cainan. Enoch is the same as Enoch, and similar to Enosh. Irad is similar to Jared. Mehujael is similar to Mahalalel. Methushael is similar to Methuselah. This makes a lot of sense. These people all live in the same geographical region, and we can expect that the names of that region would be related. It’s all in the family.

Lamech becomes the father of Noah and says, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Noah would bring comfort by living a godly life. He would be the man chosen to survive the great flood sent to judge the wicked Earth. Through Noah, all future generations, but more importantly, the Messiah, would come. Noah is stated to be 500 years old, and he becomes the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

This incredible genealogy teaches us that God is still mindful of man, providentially guiding the family through which He would eventually be born. We learn that the effects of sin are passed from generation to generation, bringing the death that the serpent said we would surely not experience. We learn that in the midst of evil, there were a few men of this time, most exceptionally Enoch, who walked with God. Lastly, this is not exactly super important, but it is intriguing to me. I had never thought about the fact that Adam only missed Noah’s birth by 126 years and was around when his great great great great great great grandson Lamech turned 56. Lamech would become Noah’s father when he was 182 years old. Again, nothing Earth shattering, but interesting to think about.

Genesis 4 – My Brother’s Keeper…

Man has been banished from the Garden of Eden. Mercifully, God has allowed man to live, though he deserves death. There is more grace to come. Chapter 4 begins by saying that Adam knew Eve his wife. Well of course he knew her! This is actually a stupid seminary joke that we pull on people sometimes. We ask someone if they know s0-and-so, and when they say they do, we respond with incredulity. “You know her?” I hope you don’t mean in an Old Testament kind of way!” Like I said, seminary jokes are stupid. But the point is that the Old Testament often refers to sexual relations in this way, which is fortunate for those of us who God has given certain prudish qualities. Anyways, Adam and Eve become the parents of the first human child. Adam and Eve were full-formed when God created them, but their son Cain is born of Eve as a baby. Eve seems to have repented of her previous sin in the garden. She says she has given birth to a man (I imagine Adam and Eve can hardly believe this miracle) with the help of the Lord. These are not selfish words, but words of thanksgiving. She does not take all the credit, but gives credit to God who has given her this wonderful gift. Shortly after, she gives birth to Cain’s brother Abel. They could have possibly been twins, but the importance of the story is that they are brothers. The separation of their birth, be it minutes or decades, does not change the point of the story.

The Bible now mentions each brother’s job. Interestingly, Abel’s job is mentioned first. Abel is said to have been a keeper of sheep. Cain, though older, should have been mentioned first, but the Bible tells us after that Cain is a tiller of the field. A shepherd and a farmer. Some people have tried to allegorize this story by saying that Cain being a farmer triumphs over his brother, the nomad, thus showing how civilization came to replace our hunting and gathering days as primitive man. But I reject this, mainly because I do not see how a shepherd could not be considered part of civilization. A major part of being able to settle in one place is the domestication of animals. Also, we shall see that Cain ends up not being able to farm. This is hardly the story of civilization replacing nomadic life that some have proposed.

In the process of time (again, not super relevant to know how long) Cain brings an offering of fruit of the ground to the Lord. It seems that this might have been a requirement. I would guess that this is not something that Cain would have wanted to do, but probably did begrudgingly at the behest of his parents.  Abel also makes a sacrifice, but his is the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. Now before we get to God favoring Abel’s sacrifice, I think we should consider the fact that there might be parts of this story that are missing. While we can make conjectures (as I did just above), I think the story we have is what we are meant to have. We know that Cain and Abel both bring sacrifices. It seems that there is nothing intrinsically wrong with Cain’s sacrifice. We do know that God wants our best. Abel brings the firstborn and the choicest meat as an offering. We do not know the quality of Cain’s fruit, but there’s nothing saying that these are not the choicest of fruits. I think we can assume that this is a heart issue rather than a problem with the content of their offering.

Whatever the reason, God respects Abel and his offering and does not respect Cain and his offering. Notice, it is not just the offering that is being judged, but the person. Abel is respected and Cain is not. There must be a reason. We know that Cain’s response to the snub is quite unfavorable. The Bible says he became very angry, and his countenance fell. That’s a nice way of saying that he had murderous intentions. This is a hostile action toward God. A repentant person would ask for forgiveness for their failure to live up to their expectations. This is not Cain’s response.

The Lord speaks to Cain, omniscient as ever, still wanting Cain to have another opportunity so that he could not blame God for not knowing the truth. God asks him why he’s angry. Then He says, “If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.” This reminds me of the verse saying (I like the KJV here), “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) Cain’s sinful heart makes him a target for the enemy. His sin is going to rule over him if he does not rule over it. Also, notice that God tells him if he does well that he will be accepted. I do not think this is just referring to the offering. I think this is once again dealing with a heart issue in Cain. God is the best at double-entendre. Last thing I’ll say about God’s advice here is that we were commanded to rule over the Earth. But this includes ourselves. Man cannot go around ordering all of creation without first making sure he has mastered himself (wisdom, courage, moderation).

The next word after this always gets me – “Now”. I don’t know how long this is after his conversation with God, but I can bet it wasn’t too long. “Now, Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel and murdered his brother and killed him.” Sin digs its roots deep into our hearts. We find ourselves doing things we never thought were possible. We must have constant vigilance or we too can murder our brother. Jesus shows us that we are all murderers in our hearts in the New Testament. We would all kill our brothers if we thought there would be no consequences.

God steps in, as He always does. Once again, He accommodates Himself to man, pretending to be one of us (not omniscient). He asks Cain where his brother is. Cain gives his infamous response, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” This response reeks of sarcasm. Does he realize who he is talking to? It’s almost like he’s challenging God. “If You don’t know, how could I?” Both Cain and God know this is a lie. God was once again giving man a chance to confess his sin, but instead, Cain follows his parents’ example by hiding (behind his lie) and blaming (God). God doesn’t buy it. He says that the voice of his brother’s blood cries out to Him from the ground. Because of this he curses Cain from the earth. No longer will the ground yield a crop for his hand. The image that God is painting here is the same one presented in the New Testament: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Cain has sown his brother’s blood into the ground. Therefore, he will never reap anything good out of the ground again. God says Cain is to become a fugitive and a vagabond on the Earth (this is the opposite of civilization).

Cain says this punishment is greater than he can bear. Let’s ask Abel about what Cain can bear. At least he’ll still be able to draw breath. He points out that anyone who finds him will kill him, which one can imagine might be true when everyone who is on the Earth at this point would be related to Abel. This is where God gives Cain the infamous mark. I call it infamous for two reasons. First, because it would have made Cain infamous to all the people he met, a mark of shame and guilt. But secondly, because of the terrible interpretations that this verse has been given. Here’s a poem (“On Being Brought from Africa to America”, 1773) by a famous African-American slave, Phillis Wheatley, to explain:

‘Twas mercy brought me from my Pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God, that there’s a Saviour too:
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye,
“Their colour is a diabolic die.”
Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain,
May be refin’d and join th’angelic train.”

First of all, let me explain that this poem is incredibly beautiful and worthy of its own analysis. I encourage you to read it and study on your own. Personally, I memorized it. It’s only eight lines! But notice the part I bolded. “…Negroes, black as Cain” refers to the belief that the mark of Cain actually applied to his descendants as well, and that these descendants settled in Africa. This would be the reason that black people have dark skin. It is a mark of shame meant to mark a cursed race. But this interpretation is ridiculous. First, we do not know what this mark was, but it hardly seems necessary that God mark every inch of Cain’s body. The text also never mentions that this curse is to go to his descendants. We see later that Cain’s son, Enoch, will start a city. How could he have a city if the curse applies to him as well? Cities need food, and if Cain’s curse applies to his descendants, then they would be unable to provide food for themselves sufficient to create a city. Also, notice Africans, as well African-Americans, are more than capable of producing crops from the ground. If one part of the curse clearly did not pass to future generations, why should another part of the curse? Let’s also remember that all of Cain’s offspring seem to have died during the flood. The only people who survive are Noah and his family, who are not descendants of Cain. The last thing I’ll say about this is that though this mark has been used to subjugate black people as somehow cursed and lesser, I implore you to go back to Wheatley’s poem and understand that even if Africans somehow inherited this curse, they ought not be treated any differently. We can all become Christians.

Regardless, Cain receives this mark. The mark is less of a punishment than it is an act of mercy. It is God’s response to Cain’s objection that people will kill him. The mark is meant as a warning to others that Cain is protected by God. God will repay seven-fold for anyone who should kill Cain. “Vengeance is Mine, and retribution…” (Deuteronomy 32:35) The reason God protects Cain from others seems to be partly because He has already punished Cain. No man can administer justice better than God.

Cain must now go even farther from Eden. It says that he left the presence of the Lord. Sin has that effect. He dwelt in the land of Nod on the east of Eden. Where is this land? To be honest, I don’t know. I couldn’t tell you where Eden is either, though we know this must be somewhere in the Middle East near the Euphrates River. The word Nod, in Hebrew, means “wanderer, exile or fugitive.” Some scholars have suggested that Nod is not a geographical location, but rather it simply means that wherever Cain went would be called the “Land of the Wanderer (Nod).”

Verse 17 tells us that Cain has a wife and that he “knew” her. Where did this wife come from? She was not mentioned before. The only explanation that I have is that she must be one of Cain and Abel’s sisters. Either way, she gives him a son, Enoch. Cain also builds a city and names it after his son. There must be a significant population by this point in order to support a city. The Bible then presents a genealogy of Cain’s descendants, and that list ends with Lamech, who “took for himself two wives”. This is not the model that God set forth in the garden. While many critics of the Bible point to polygamy in the Old Testament, the presence of polygamy does not condone the act itself. We see that this is not the only sin pattern in Lamech’s life. He also has killed a man, though he claims it was in self-defense. He is so sure of his innocence that he reassures his wives that anyone who kills him, God will avenge him seventy seven-fold.

Adam and Eve are not idle either. Though they mourn the loss of their son Abel, they move forward and have another son, Seth. “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” Notice that Cain is no longer considered part of the family. I think that somehow this might also reveal another clue into Cain’s jealousy of Abel. It is possible that Abel might have been given the birthright of the firstborn child. This would have rightfully been Cain’s, but due to sin ruling in his life, he may have been passed over in consideration for the birthright. This seed could refer to just another child, but it may also refer to the seed (Gen 3:15) through which the serpent’s head would be crushed. We know that, in fact, Jesus does come through Seth’s line. The birthright, whether before his death or after, has officially passed from Cain and now resides with Seth.

Seth has a son and names him Enosh. This chapter concludes by saying, “Then these men began to call on the name of the Lord.” What a contrast to the family of Cain. Adam, though fallen, seems to have gotten back on track and brought his family under the leadership of the Lord. The same cannot be said for the family of Cain.