In Genesis 11, the story of the Tower of Babel shows how people disobeyed God. After the flood, God told them to spread out and fill the earth (Genesis 9), but instead, they decided to stay in one place and build a huge tower to reach the heavens. They wanted to make a name for themselves and be in control, rather than trusting God’s plan.
But God stepped in. He confused their language so they couldn’t understand each other, forcing them to spread out just as He originally commanded. This story is a reminder that God’s plans will always happen—whether we choose to obey or not. It’s always better to trust and follow Him than to try to take control ourselves!
This story foreshadows the gospel: just as humanity tried to build their way to God, we often try to earn our relationship with Him through good deeds or self-effort. But as with Babel, it’s impossible to reach God on our own. Only through Jesus can we be reconciled to God. Our efforts to earn God’s favor will never work—it’s only through accepting that we can’t earn it that we find access to the Father through Christ.
The story of Babel is reversed in Acts 2 at Pentecost. At Babel, God confused people’s languages, causing division. But at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave Jesus’ followers the ability to speak in different languages, so people from all nations could hear the gospel.
Babel was about people trying to reach God on their own. Pentecost shows that God comes to us through Jesus. Instead of division, the Holy Spirit brings unity, gathering people from every tribe and nation into God’s family. This isn’t a story about division, it’s about his plan and power to eventually bring all people back together in Jesus’s name.
Then, in Genesis 12, we see God’s covenant with Abram (later Abraham). God blesses Abram not just for his own sake but to bless all nations. Through Abraham’s lineage, the ultimate blessing—Jesus—would come. Our blessings, like Abraham's, are meant to bless others.
Extra resources.
https://www.gotquestions.org/Abrahamic-covenant.html
11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
10 This is the account of Shem’s family.
Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11 After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.