Gen. 11:4-8 4 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, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.” (ESV)

Q: This seems a bit spiteful of God. I would think he would be proud of human accomplishment.

A: The whole point here, is that these folk were trying to “save themselves”.

They figured if they could build a tower high enough, than God could not wipe them out again with another flood. Also, there is an indication that they were hoping by their efforts to “reach into the heavens”–that is code for seeking to enter the ‘spirit realm’ and become ‘gods’ unto themselves. Kind of like what the Serpent offered Eve–their goal was to “make a name for themselves” and become ‘as God’ and live in heavenly realm. So you see, they really were defying and rejecting their Creator.

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