DAILY BYTEAfter the Fall of Adam and Eve, the first 11 chapters of Genesis describe a gradual disintegration of humanity through stories like that of Cain and Abel, and the Flood, all of which culminates in the story of the Tower of Babel.
The story begins in an age described as having only one language and a common speech. Humanity embarks on a rather ambitious building project saying in Gen 11. 4: “Let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the whole face of the earth.”
Archaelogists tell us that at least 5000 years ago rulers of the Eastern world began building ornate ziggurats – tall, pyramid-like towers with their ‘heads in the clouds.’ They were built on 7 levels to represent the 7 heavens and 7 planes of existence. Often the very top layer was clad in blue tiles so as to blend in with the sky.
These ziggurats were believed to be the dwelling places of the gods. Of course, the Israelites would look upon such buildings with theological outrage, so it is no wonder that their story would have God terminate this building project.
The interesting part is how God does it. Not through floods, storms, lightening and wind. Nothing nearly so dramatic. No, God simply ‘confuses’ their language!
The word that is translated as ‘understand’ in the sentence, ‘Let us go down and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another,’ is the word ‘shama’, and this is not about understanding as a cognitive function. No, the word ‘shama’ is about listening, but listening with head, heart and soul. It’s about paying careful attention to one another.
The story of the Tower of Babel is about what happens when people stop listening to one another, it’s about what happens when people get so self-centred that they cannot hear what others are really saying.
There is this constant ego-centric repetition of words and phrases throughout the story, most noticeably in vs 4: ‘Us ... ourselves ... we ... ourselves.’ The writer is obviously implying that the people are proud, egotistical and overly self-concerned. Ultimately, we learn that the more caught up in ourselves we are, the less we are able to truly listen to others.
A couple of years ago, my wife was sharing with me a problem she was having with a couple of people at work. I was only half-listening, because I said something like: “Oh well, that’s easy enough to sort out. Just do x and y and your problem will be solved!”
As I look back, my thinking was probably along the lines of ‘because you see I am a minister, I work with people all the time, so I know how to sort out the problem for you.’
What did I say about the more caught up in ourselves we are, the less we are able to truly listen!
My wife’s response was something along the lines of: ‘No you wool-headed lummox! I don’t want you to tell me how to sort out my problems because I am perfectly capable of doing that myself. In fact, the way I process my problems is to talk it out with you, that’s the first step of me sorting it out, I just need you to listen.’
The story of the Tower of Babel exposes a deep ache in the heart of humanity. We want to connect with God, yet we cannot even connect with each other! We build all sorts of churches, cathedrals, mosques and synagogues in the hope that we can find God there, but until we can connect – until we hear and understand each other – the building itself is actually a waste of space.
This story is about the failure of a community because it valued building projects and work over relationships, towers to false gods like success over community, and fame over friendship. The effect of this egocentrism was that their ears became close to one another, the community died and people became dispersed. They lost each other.
Funny how the people in that ancient story really weren’t so different from us today ...
PRAY AS YOU GO
Loving God, help me to learn to put aside my egocentric ways and constant self concern and to begin to truly listen to others – to listen with head, heart and soul. Amen.
FOCUS VERSE
Genesis 11:1-9 NRSV
Now the whole earth had one language and same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, “ Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
