God Contradicts In The Story Of The Tower Of Babel

Throughout the book of Genesis, there were several instances where God encouraged the humans to work together and prosper; however, in the story of the Tower of Babel, God thwarted the plans of the people. They disobeyed God’s orders, so He punished them for what they had done. God did this to fulfill his original plan. This is one of the first instances where God basically contradicts something He has previously said to do. The Tower of Babel was not only a sin against God, but also the cause of the division of mankind. In Genesis 1:28, God tells Adam and Eve to multiply upon the earth and to fill it up with life. Similarly, in Genesis 9:1, God tells Noah and his sons to go about the earth and replenish the human race that had been destroyed in the flood. In Genesis 11, Noah’s descendants are mentioned again. They are a people who speak but one language. Instead of following God’s orders to disperse about the land, they all plan to stay in one place together and build a city. The people then decide that just a city is not enough; they need to be sure God cannot stop them. They begin constructing a tall tower to reach the Heavens. God is displeased with this idea when He examines it, so he casts multiple languages upon the people and spreads them across the earth, like his original decree commanded. With the cooperation of the people as a whole, God saw what they could accomplish if they all worked together. …show more content…
He was almost fearful of the potential mankind had. God said in chapter 11 that the people would be able to accomplish anything they attempted to do, as long as they worked together. If God had not intervened, technology today could quite very well be far more advanced than it currently is. One cannot possibly image all of the advanced and possibly dreadful things that would be in society today. God then decided that the best possible solution to prevent the people from further accessing their ability to succeed would be to divide up the clans of people and send them to different regions across the world. Imagine how frightened the people must have been: to awaken knowing a completely different language, and also not really knowing anything at the same time. God pretty much had to knock the people off of their high horses and bump them down a notch on the totem pole. God not only scattered the people as an act of prevention, but he also punished them for the sin they had committed. God had instructed them to go forth and spread out among the lands. They basically decided to the exact opposite. The people thought it would be best if they stayed together. They began to build the tower because they wanted to make a name for themselves instead of letting everything they do glorify God. The people of Shinar building the Tower of Babel was almost like a direct slap in the face to God. In Genesis 22, God instructs Abraham to sacrifice his only son to Him. Abraham obeys and begins to sacrifice Isaac, but God stops him. Because of his obedience, God rewarded Abraham with not having to sacrifice the only child he has and by later blessing him with more children. If the