THE BEGINNING OF DIFFERENT LANGUAGES

PROCLAMATION

“And The Lord said, ‘Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do … Let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ ”  Genesis 11:6-7 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These are the words of God which were revealed to and written by Moses under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God.  As mankind began to multiply as God had commanded, (Genesis 9:1) some of them journeyed eastward to the land of Shinar.  At this time all of mankind spoke the same language. (Genesis 11:1)  Those in Shinar decided to build a city and a tower of brick and tar.  The tower was to be so high that its top would reach up to heaven and they would make a name for themselves. (Genesis 11:4)  This must have displeased The Lord God because after He saw what they were doing, He confounded their language so that they could not understand each other.  This caused them to stop building the city and the tower, and they scattered in different directions all over the earth. (Genesis 11:5-9)  The place where this occurred is called Babel.  The remainder of the chapter details the genealogy of Noah’s son Shem up to Abram, (Genesis 11:10-32) whose name would later be changed to Abraham.

 

APPLICATION

No one knows what language mankind spoke when they all spoke the same language.  Today there are more than 6,500 languages, dialects, and tongues spoken throughout the world, according to Google.  This is the result of man thinking that he could build a tower high enough to reach to heaven.  Those in charge wanted to make a name for themselves with this tower as their accomplishment. (Genesis 11:4)  All they did was to upset The Lord God who confounded the language of mankind so that they could not understand one another. (Genesis 11:6-7)  The only way for man to get to heaven is by belief in Jesus, The Christ. (John 14:6)  It is only by the grace of God, through faith in Christ, that we are saved.  Salvation is a gift from God.  Nothing man can do on his own can save himself. (Ephesians 2:8-9)