Genesis 11:1

Genesis 11:1  says, And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.  The world was still united.  Even though we were told groups of people, or nations, would descend from Noah's three sons, for a long time after the flood, the people were united with only one language.  Matthew Henry points out that God had told them to go populate all the world, but they were still remaining grouped together.  They may have felt that there was more security in numbers, but we must remember that our real security is in following God's commands.  Verse two states, 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.  The people found a place that looked good and all decided to live there.  Again, this was not what God had instructed them to do.  Verse three declares, And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.  Though they did not find building materials, they figured out how to make them.  When we are following God's leadership, He will provide us with what we need to accomplish His work.  Sometimes through, we decide to make our own provisions, but we can never accomplish what God wants us to do through our own abilities.  Even though we may need to work to accomplish God's purpose for us, we should always be sure that we are working under His guidance.  Verse four adds, And they said, Go to, 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.  Matthew Henry points out that the people were acting in defiance to God.  They were building a city so they would not be scattered, which is what God had told them to do.  We have that same command, which is to go into all the world with the gospel.  They wanted to build a tower to reach into heaven and preserve their names.  The only place we need to have our name remembered is in God's book of life.  God's people had always lived in tents, but now they wanted something more permanent.  We will never have a permanent home on earth, no matter how big and ornate we may build it.  Verse five declares, And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.  God knows what is going on in the world, and He judges whether things are being done according to His will.  Verse six adds, 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.  God noted that the people were united and were more capable of accomplishing great things, even if it was against God's will.  No matter how great we may think we are and how much power we may think we have, we are still but a part of God's creation.  Verse seven says, Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.  God gave the people several different languages.  I cannot imagine what it was like to suddenly have groups of people who no longer understood each other when they had a short time before.  Verse eight states, So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.  When we defy God, He will destroy our plans, if not immediately, then in the coming judgment.  Verse nine concludes, 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.  Even today, when someone is speaking in a way we don't understand, we say they are babbling.