Noah's sons have been fruitful and multiplied. "The whole earth had one language and few words." WOW! What could be better than that? A common language -- that everyone understands. Not too many words to cause meaning to be misinterpreted. Nothing lost in translation. Sounds good to me.
They said to one another, "Come let us a build a city.." Another WOW, a common goal. Working together for the same purpose. How great it that? Continuing on they said, "..and (build) a tower with its top in the heavens,..." The common goal gets even better. Isn't that the plan? That we be one with God? That is my take anyway.
"... and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth." Oops! God doesn't like this last part at all. God feels challenged. I guess God thinks it is God's job to do the naming. But wait, didn't God create Adam and give to Adam the job of naming all of the animal and birds and every living creature. So what is with this?
"Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this in only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them." Ah, they might become Godlike. Well, it isn't likely to become one with God if we don't become Godlike first.
"Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." Well, that was certainly successful. Look at us now. Languages up the kazoo. Translations gone awry. Interpretations ending in war. Yes, the world is now a very big mess and language complications are a very big part of that.
"So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city." The last great common effort -- gone. The wondrous sand castle wiped away by the tide never to be again.
Genesis 11:1-9
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