How the Mighty Are Fallen
When a group of Middle Eastern terrorists decided to attack the United States, they chose a target that symbolized the nation’s vast economic wealth and its pride in human accomplishment.
In a matter of a few hours, the two huge World Trade Center towers—once the tallest structures in the world—crumbled into a mass of twisted metal and dust, taking nearly three thousand people to their deaths.
The Tower Of Babel Bible Story
But the tragedy of September 11, 2001, wasn’t the first time a tall tower symbolized people’s pride in their accomplishments.
Some four thousand years ago, a group of community leaders and hotshot executives from the booming ancient city of Babel decided to demonstrate how cool they were by building the world’s first high-rise.
Here’s how the New Living Translation (NIT) of the Bible renders the verse from Genesis: “Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies—a monument to our greatness!”
The proposed project was a great unifier for the city of Babel. People contributed raw materials and labor to the project. And as the tower rose into the sky, the citizens of Babel began to feel pretty proud of themselves.
Genesis 11:4 Meaning
God wasn’t too excited about their plans, which they designed to unify all of the people of the world into one common language.
God scattered the people from the plains of Babylonia, sending them all over the world and giving them many different languages that would complicate future building efforts.
it’s not that God doesn’t like big buildings. After all, when God created humanity in his image, he gave us the ability to create enormous, wonderful projects.
And God isn’t upset when people talk to one another. He gave us our minds and our mouths.
What did bother God was the fact that people didn’t consult him before cooking up a plan to promote world harmony by secular means.
The people of Babel wanted to demonstrate their own greatness by building a tower to the sky.
Bible Verses About Pride And Rebellion
They were so arrogant that they thought their tower could prevent their being “scattered over the whole earth” and instead lead to their greater unification.
Similar promises have been made about technological developments throughout human history. The transatlantic cable was supposed to bring the world together.
And the internet would make us all smarter and tear down barriers between countries!
God loves it when people use the talents and skills he has given them to make the world a better place.
But before you build a monument to your own greatness—any symbol of pride and accomplishment—stop and consult God about your plans. He might have a better idea.
God, thank you for giving people tremendous gifts and abilities. But help us to serve you with our talents rather than trying to create a secular utopia on our own.