YEA Lesson Library

The Lesson

¿Hablas español? Parlez-vous français? What did you say? Do you speak English? Have you ever wondered why people around the world speak so many different languages? From creation and even after the flood, there was only one language. “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech” (Genesis 11:1). So what happened? Let’s discover the who, what, when, where, and why of the origin of multiple languages.

God gave post-Flood instructions to Noah and his sons. “So God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’” God had given Adam and Eve these same instructions. God wanted the earth inhabited and cared for. He wanted Noah’s sons and their families to spread out and take care of the earth.

So as the sons of Noah and their families moved out and away to inhabit the earth, some of them found an area in Shinar, and they decided to just stay there and build a city. "And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth'" (Genesis 11:4).

They didn't have stone to use for building materials, but they could make bricks out of mud and straw. There was an abundance of bitumen to use for mortar. Archeological evidence indicates that the tower would have been a ziggurat, a multi-storied building popular at that time.

These people were proud and arrogant. They wanted to be known for their skill and the awesome tower they were trying to build. They had the technology to make the bricks, bake them in the sun, and use the natural asphalt for mortar. They wanted to stay together even though this directly defied God's instructions to fill the earth. Who cared what God wanted!

The sons of Noah and their families had just been saved from the Great Flood and blessed by God. Now look at how quickly their attitudes went astray. Where did they come from? Nimrod was Noah's arrogant great-grandson who had a reputation as a mighty man and hunter. He was impressive, and he was impressed with himself. Prideful Nimrod founded the city of Babylon and started building the Tower of Babel. He also led his family and people to disobey God.

But God was watching. He saw the attitudes and the construction. "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built" (Genesis 11:5). Think about it. How puny and insignificant do you think this structure looked compared to God's creation?

God saw that they were united and spoke the same language. He noticed how they proudly focused on disobeying Him - staying in that city and completing the tower. He knew they could accomplish it with the talents and skills that He had given them. But God didn't want them to complete the tower; He wanted them to spread out and fill the earth. He said, “'Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So, the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city" (Genesis 11:7, 8).

Think about what happened that day. People were going about their work as they had always done. Suddenly they couldn't understand what their work-partner said. When a man asked for a hammer, his partner probably said, “What did you say?” But what good did that do? He didn't understand that either. Confusion reigned! There was such a variety of languages being spoken and no one could understand what the other person was saying. All of this happened because arrogant men refused to obey God

You can always count on God accomplishing His plan and winning in the end. "The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect" (Psalm 33:10). Nimrod's plan for a great city and a tower couldn't stand up to the Almighty God.

The same is true today. We can allow ourselves to be filled with pride and become disobedient - thinking we know what is best and desiring to do what we want to do. We may think that we know more than our parents, our teachers, our minister, and even God. We may forget that our skills and talents are gifts from God. Remember, God has a plan, and the plans of people will have no effect on God's awesome redemptive plan of salvation for us and this sin-filled world.

So what can you do to prevent being filled with pride? First, concentrate on being thankful. Everything you have comes from God. Without His gifts you are nothing. Then pray, "Thy kingdom come." "For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of the Lord, to serve him with one accord" (Zephaniah 3:9). Never again will you have to ask, “What did you say?”