Genesis 11:1–9; Proverbs 28:2–5, 29:2–4

Bible Studies for Life
Assistant Professor of Religion, Samford University

What Hope for Society?
Genesis 11:1–9; Proverbs 28:2–5, 29:2–4
The story of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 and the table of nations listed in Chapter 10 seek to account for the diversity of peoples and languages that the ancients knew as a fact of life in their world. The two passages are not presented chronologically since different languages are already assumed in 10:5, 20 and 31 and Babel itself is already known (10:10). Rather, the two stories should be read in a complementary fashion with concern to discover the theological emphasis of each.

Genesis 10 presents the diversity of nations and languages as part of the natural expansion of the world’s population following the flood and harkens back to the divine commands of Genesis 1:28 and 9:1. In contrast, Genesis 11 sees linguistic and ethnic diversity as a divinely sanctioned check on human hubris and self-interest and so parallels the story of humankind’s first disobedience in Genesis 3.

Pursue the Right Reputation (Gen. 11:1–4)
What was the error of the tower builders? Commentators have offered divergent perspectives, and the ambiguity of the text lends itself to many interpretations. None of the activities described — building, seeking national unity — can be thought of as inherently wrong. Some have suggested that the idea of a tower “with its top in the heavens” represented a direct assault on the divine realm, but this language was a common hyperbolic description of the Babylonian ziggurats, impressive stair-step pyramids.

As with the wisdom-seeking in Genesis 3, the problem appears to stem less from the particular activity than the motivation behind it: the tower builders sought to make a name for themselves in order to avoid “being scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” But scattering was what God had in mind. The Lord commanded that humans populate the earth in order to serve as its caretakers. By selfishly walling themselves in, the builders had little concern for the rest of God’s creation and only wished to protect what they had acquired.

Focus on God’s Purposes (Gen. 11:5–9)
The divine judgment upon the tower builders was to give them exactly what they feared: scattering and diversity when they had sought gathering and unity. God accomplished this by “confusing” their language. The Hebrew verb used here (balal, to confuse) is a play on the name Babel, which means Gate of God. In the end, the divine purpose of differentiation was realized and humankind filled the earth as God intended.

Help Establish Godly Standards (Prov. 28:2–5, 29:2–4)
These passages are both an encouragement to people of faith to seek to influence the world around them and a warning against those who too easily assume that all governing authorities by virtue of their position carry a divine imprimatur. Christians should engage in the political process, carefully evaluate their leaders according to the principles of their faith and be wary of political leaders who exploit moral issues in order to gain power. Being a person of faith in society means acting individually and then corporately to establish the justice of the kingdom of God.

The history of Israel shows that whenever the people assumed they would be blessed by God because they believed themselves to be a chosen people, judgment soon followed. God demands ethical behavior from every individual — especially with respect to the most vulnerable in society — and warns those who believe they are the only people for whom God cares (Amos 2:6–8, 3:1–2, 9:7–8).

Baptists are rooted in a laudable tradition that emphasizes individual faith and is suspicious of those who mingle political and religious power. The challenge that Baptists face is to influence their society according to their beliefs without conflating the church and society. The church stands sometimes as supporter and sometimes as critic of society, but Christianity is strongest when Christian remains a noun, not an adjective.