The Rise || Tower Defense #1

Has the Tower of Babel story confused you? The story is only nine verses in Genesis 11, but I’ve never had it taught or preached in a way that makes sense. I’ve always accepted it as just another story while hearing that some theologians include this as part of the Creation narrative. I went deeper into these nine verses, looking at all the study notes and connective scriptures to see how the rest of the Bible refers to this story. I can’t tell if I’m more confused or less, but I saw some things that connected with knowledge about the New Testament that intrigued me and made sense (at least in my mind.) I spent about six hours looking at these nine verses, I believe, and think I piece together a short two-part series about the rise and fall of this tower. If you read both parts and remain as confused as you were before, or worse, please see your local pastor or Sunday School teacher for the remedy. 

With that introduction out of the way, let’s begin our series, “Tower Defense.” In this blog, we’ll talk about what I consider to be the rise of the tower. It falls in Genesis 11:1-4, which I’ll primarily read from the New Living Translation. I also want to share this story from two other translations to help with the contextual understanding. I’ll go from both the NASB and the NRSV. The NASB is a more literal translation of the original Hebrew, and the NRSV is the middle ground between the literal and the story-telling aspects. 

Genesis 11:1-4

1 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. 

Here’s Genesis 11:1-4 from the NASB: 

1 Now all the earth used the same language and the same words. 

2 And it came about, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 

3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 

4 And they said, “Come let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the earth.

Here’s Genesis 11:1-4 from the NRSV:

1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 

2 And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 

3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 

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; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” 

When studying scripture like this, noticing what’s similar and different is essential. Let’s look at that now. 

Everybody on earth had the same, unified language and the same words. The Hebrew word for language is saphah (saw-faw’), which means lip, speech, or edge. This word represents the mouth (as a body part), a language, or the edge or shore of the sea. The Hebrew concept of words is the word dabar (daw-baw’), which means speech or word. In this context, it refers to the words a person speaks. It refers to the words universally agreed upon and mutually understood by groups of people as a method of communication. It’s the basic understanding of how languages are formed. We make sounds that are linked together and connect them with a meaning that both you and I can agree upon and mutually understand. 

This group of people came from the east and found a spot to settle in the land of Shinar/Babylonia. Why is there a difference in location between these areas? Shinar is a mountain plain located in the city of Babylonia, hence why the terms are interchangeable. This area was founded by Nimrod (an excellent Bible study character to do a deep dive on) alongside cities such as Erech, Accad, and Calneh. Nimrod was a descent of Shem, one of Noah’s sons. 

They were ready to begin settling through the art of brick-making and brick-laying. They wanted to build a city and a tower that reached into the sky/heavens. If you remember back into the Day 2 creation story, we talked about how the Genesis audience would have understood the sky and heavens to be talked about as the same area. I point this out because of the variation shown in the translations. Let’s talk about this tower.

It’s known as a ziggurat. These were common structures around this time designed as temples that looked like pyramids. They had steps or ramps leading up all sides. The ziggurats could get as tall as 300 feet and wide about the same. This would be the town’s focal point. 

The people wanted this tower built to attest to their greatness. It was a monument built for them, not for God. I believe that’s why we see the specific ingredients used for building the tower. If it was for God, it would be made with the best things around. Since it wasn’t for God, they would use whatever was available. They wanted to build it for their own glory and attention. We can relate to this, you know. There are various things that we use as attention grabbers for society. It could be expensive clothes, a big house, fancy cars, or luxurious jobs. They are things we only get to build our reputation and image with others instead of focusing on our relationship with God. If you get it in the right mindset, these things may not be wrong. Getting the best job because you work hard to get it is good. Buying a fancy house because you saved up for years is good. Getting these things because your identity will be developed through them is when it’s wrong. It takes the place of God in our lives. We are on a continuous journey to become the best versions of ourselves and reflect God’s image to the world. We do this through all kinds of areas. We are not to think we can, or have, replaced God.

The rest of this blog will feel confusing. I have a bunch of scripture that connect to this story in ways I don’t fully understand. I believe that it gives us a glimpse into the land and the people. We learn about where they come from, who they are, and how they came to be. It was a struggle to find some definitiveness behind that, but the more I looked at it and researched the different parts of the scriptures, the more I think I understand. At the end of all this, I will share some New Testament insight on how I believe God showed us what he would do. 

Isaiah 11:11

NLT: 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people – those who remain in Assyria and northern Egypt; in southern Egypt, Ethiopia, and Elam; in Babylonia, Hamath, and all the distant coastlands. 

NASB: 11 Then it will happen on that day that the Lord will again recover with his hand a second time the remnant of His people who will remain, from Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

NRSV: 11 On that day the Lord will again raise his hand to recover the remnant that is left of his people, from Assyria, Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands. 

This was a prophecy given by Isaiah. It’s important to note that Old Testament prophecy is often applied to the immediate and distant future. Judah would be exiled to Babylonia, and a remnant (or a portion) would return to Jerusalem in 538 BC at Cyrus’s command. Even with the return, they would still be dispersed throughout the world. The countries listed in this verse would represent the four corners of the known world: 

• Hamath in the north
• Egypt in the south
• Assyria and Babylonia in the east
• The coastlands in the west. 

God’s people will unite in one place when Jesus returns, and we all join God in heaven. When I read this study note, I questioned: “Why does this sound familiar?” Then it hit me.

Acts 1:8

NLT: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

NASB: 7 But he said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by his own authority;

8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remote part of the earth.

NRSV: 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

Note: I added verse 7 to the NASB translation for context. I will talk more about this at the end of the message. Now, back to the rest of the connective scripture. I’ve been wrestling with how to share the various verses with you. I’m going to share all of them all at once and highlight keywords that repeat multiple times. After that, I will reference them and talk more.

2 Samuel 8:2, 8:13; 2 Kings 3:4, 14:7, 17:3; Isaiah 16:1, 42:11

2 Samuel 8:13: So David became even more famous when he returned from destroying 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. 

2 Kings 14:7: Amaziah also killed 10,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt. He also conquered Sela and changed its name to Joktheel. 

Isaiah 16:1: Send lambs from Sela as tribute to the ruler of the land. Send them through the desert to the mountain of beautiful Zion.

Isaiah 42:11: Join in the chorus, you desert towns; let the villages of Kedar rejoice! Let the people of Sela sing for joy; shout praises from the mountaintops!

2 Kings 3:4: King Mesha of Moab was a sheep breeder. He used to pay the king of Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. 

2 Samuel 8:2: David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money. 

2 Kings 17:3: King Shalmanser of Assyria attacked Hosea, so Hosea was forced to pay heavy tribute to Assyria. 

I know this was a lot of scripture, but we’ll discuss it. I have listed it in order of how they connect. 2 Samuel 8:13 connects with 2 Kings 14:7, which connects with Isaiah 16:1, which connects with both Isaiah 42:11 and 2 Kings 3:4. 2 Kings 3:4 connects with 2 Samuel 8:2, which connects with 2 Kings 17:3. Make sense? Good! 

Two groups of people showed up repeatedly: the Moabites and Edomites. Two areas come up: the Valley of Salt and Sela. Three common words repeat: pay/paid, tribute, and lambs. Let me introduce the people and locations first. I will go in-depth with the connective scripture, and then we’ll talk about the words and inspiration I felt from Acts 1:8.

The Edomites were descendants of Esau, Jacob’s brother. The same Jacob who became the father of the Israelites. Esau became the father of the Edomites and followed a very similar storyline to Jacob. Being descendants of Shem, Noah’s son, the Edomites were closely related physically and mentally to the Israelites. They were so similar that they were enemies. You can study the interactions between Jacob and Esau to see how the hostility began and blossomed between them. Because of the tension, Jacob never took the Israelites into or around the Edomite land. 

While the Israelites were off following YHWH, the Edomites became a pagan nation. They worshipped multiple gods, primarily the God Qos. Qos, to the best of my understanding, is a god about fertility. His name refers to the father of a family or a clan. He looks similar to YHWH, the Israelite’s god. I found it interesting that they followed a god that resembled God but wasn’t God. It shows me that they wanted YHWH but couldn’t receive him because of the tension between the nation’s fathers. Since they couldn’t receive it, they created or found their own God. 

As we see in 2 Samuel 8:13 and 2 Kings 14:7, the Edomites died. 28,000 Edomites were killed at the hands of David and Amaziah. They were forced to consider Judaism and were involved in the attack and plunder of the City of Jerusalem. This is understood to be an act of God’s justice to a people that refused to convert. Does that mean God would or does do the same thing to people today? I don’t believe so. God saw the evil that occurred with the Edomites and grew frustrated with them. God is patient and gave them ample chances to change their ways, but they wouldn’t. Their hearts seem too hard to change, so God gave them the future they expected in their belief structure. 

The Moabites faced a similar situation. Who are these people? *cue Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants meme* They were descendants of Lot’s, Abraham’s nephew, oldest daughter’s son. Let me explain because the story is not good. After Lot’s family escaped from Sodom and Gomorrah, both daughters had an incestuous relationship with Lot to continue the family lineage. Lot’s wife had turned to salt when she looked back at the destruction after God told her not to. The son of Lot’s youngest daughter was named Ammon, who became the father of the Ammonites. As mentioned, the son of Lot’s oldest daughter was named Moab, who became the father of the Moabites. 

The Moabites were located in an area between the Ammonites and Edomites. This leads me to believe that their culture would resemble the Edomites. They were polytheistic. They worshiped Chemosh. Chemosh provided victory and protection to the Moabites. Their worship of a war god (in essence) made them very hostile towards Israel. Their pagan practices tempted the Israelites to commit idolatry, and their lust for power threatened Israel’s possession of the Promised Land. It kind of makes sense as to why David did what he did in 2 Samuel 8:2. 

These were people that originated in the Tower of Babel story. They were the ones that encouraged the building of the city and tower. After understanding a little bit about their backstory, I can see why God needed to disperse them. They were proud people, not wanting to listen and follow the Israelite’s God. They devised their own way and built their own city and tower to connect with God. It was all about them and nothing about God. 

Two cities also came up repeatedly: the Valley of Salt and Sela. We learn in 2 Samuel 8:13 and 1 Chronicles 18:12 that this was the location of the mass deaths at the hands of David and his army. In Amaziah’s story, we learn that he took their capital and called it Jokthe-el. This city was referenced by the Old Testament prophets as the city “doomed to destruction.”

Obadiah 1:3

Obadiah 1:3 You have been deceived by your own pride because you live in a rock fortress and make your home high in the mountains. ‘Who can ever reach us way up here?’ you ask boastfully.

Obadiah refers to Edom’s Judgment, why Edom was punished, and the prophecy of Edom’s destruction and how Israel would be restored. It gives excellent reasoning as to why Edom was punished the way they were. I want to talk briefly about this, but I encourage you to study Obadiah 1:10-14. This section talks about why Edom was punished this way. 

He talks about the family connection with Israel (remember that Edom came from Esau, Jacob’s brother) and how Edom stood by as Israel and Judah fought and when they experienced the Babylonian exile. Listen to what Edom did when Israel and Judah were in strife:

• They gloated during the exile
• They rejoiced at Judah’s misfortune
• They were arrogant
• They looted Israel when Israel was suffering and seized their wealth. 
• They stood in the way of those who wanted to escape the exile, even killing those who tried.

It goes back to what I mentioned earlier. The Edomites had hardened hearts. They did what was right in their own eyes. They didn’t care about their neighbors or their family but instead were only focused on themselves. God’s just response was to allow these people to meet their fate in a way that aligned with their morals and values. (Note the careful word choice I made here.) 

I won’t say that God told David and Israel to kill them. God allowed Edom to self-destruct. God allowed their greed and arrogance to get the better of them and that the armies of David would overtake them. God gave Edom plenty of chances to repent, and they chose not to. So, God let them self-destruct. I pull this mindset from the story of Pharaoh, Moses, and the Ten Plagues and how I understand the concept of Pharoah’s heart being hardened. I see a lot of similarities in actions here. 

Back to Sela. The renaming of Sela to Joktheel affirms what I’m interpreting as well. Joktheel is translated to mean “God subdued.” God empowered David’s army to overtake the Edomites, allow the land to come back to the Israelites, and allow the survivors to choose, once again, to follow YHWH. This battle ended the independence the Edomites once had and allowed the Israelite nation to continue doing God’s will. 

So, we learned about the people and cities that stemmed from the original Babylonia, but what about the common words that showed: pay, tribute, lamb. My first response when I noticed the common words was that this was pointing to Jesus. Jesus used his own life as a tribute to pay for our sins. He was the sacrificial lamb, as we hear it so often today. I also did the word studies on these words, and I believe I’m right in this understanding. 

As used in 2 Kings 3:4 and 2 Kings 17:3, pay is the Hebrew word shub (shoob), which means to turn back or return. This word is used to talk about giving a payment as an answer to a demand. 

2 Kings 3:4 talks about how King Mesha paid the king of Israel an annual tribute of 100,000 lambs and the wool of 100,000 rams. Israel and Judah had the most fertile land and strategic military and trade positions in the ancient Middle East. So much so that Moab became jealous and wanted to seize this land.

Thanks to Ahab’s strong military leadership, the country was under Israel’s control for a while. When he died, Mesha attacked. Israel’s next king, Ahaziah, did nothing about the attack, but his successor, Joram, did. He joined forces with the King of Judah, Jehoshaphat, and fought the Moabites. Together, they brought them to the brink of surrender. When they saw Mesha sacrifice his son and successor to their god, Chemosh, they left. The Israelites and the people of Judah left in disgust and withdrew. They won, but they. 

A similar story occurs in the 2 Kings 17:3 passage where King Shalmanser attacked Hosea, leading Hosea to pay a massive tribute to Assyria. The King continued to demand this type of tribute from Israel repeatedly. Hosea, King of Israel, grew tired of this and rebelled. They joined forces with King So of Egypt. The battles continued with King Shalmanser as he battled, attacked, and took over Samaria for three years. 

The tribute mentioned here is the Hebrew word minchah (min-khaw’), which means a gift, tribute, or offering. It was used to describe an offering as a gift. We see this word used in the 2 Samuel 8:2 passage. The Moabites spared by David were either so grateful to be saved that they offered money to David as a thankful response or scared that if they didn’t pay this tribute, they would face the same fate as the others. We don’t know, or at least I don’t know the accurate reasoning. I base either one of those responses on the context clues. 

The word for lambs used here is the Hebrew word kar (kar), which means basket-saddle. It refers to the lamb of the ruler. For better understanding, let’s look back to the Isaiah 16:1 passage. 

The escaped Moabites would go to Sela, which we can understand as Joktheel. This is now a safe land captured by the Israelites after the battles that David and Amaziah committed. The Moabites sent an offering of lambs to Jerusalem, asking for Judah’s protection. They would’ve seen or heard about the massacres that had happened to their people and the Edomites and were understandably afraid. Jerusalem would be a safe place for them for the time being. Isaiah encouraged Judah to accept them into Jerusalem as a sign of compassion. This is God’s people doing what God would’ve wanted.

It’s about fifteen minutes into this reading. Let’s recap everything we talked about so far. 

In Genesis 11:1-4, we learned that everyone had the same unified language and communication structure. The people settled in the land of Shinar/Babylonia. They wanted to build a city and a tower to signify their greatness. This tower is known as a ziggurat, a temple that resembled a pyramid and was designed to be the town’s focal point. They didn’t build this for YHWH but for themselves. They used whatever resources they had around them.

The Isaiah 11:11 passage helps us understand the land they settled in. This verse was a prophecy given by Isaiah, which is applied to the immediate or distant future when he wrote this. The countries listed here would represent the four corners of the known world at the time:

• Hamath in the north
• Egypt in the south
• Assyria and Babylonia in the east
• The coastlands in the west

The passages of 2 Sam 8:13, 2 Kgs 14:7, Isa 16:1, Isa 42:11, 2 Kgs 3:4, 2 Sam 8:2, 2 Kgs 17:3 all associate with the people, land, and commons that originated with the Tower of Babel, and are shared throughout the Bible. 

The Edomites (descendants of Esau) and the Moabites (descendants of Lot’s oldest daughter’s son) are connected. They were both connected to immediate relatives of the Israelite nation, worshiped gods like YHWH but not YHWH, and enticed the Israelites to commit to their pagan lifestyle. Both people were overtaken by the Israelite army through David and Amaziah. Through learning their history, we learn some of the reasons why God would want to disperse these people. 

The Valley of Salt and Sela were crucial areas where these groups were overtaken. The Valley of Salt saw the death of 28,000 Edomites and their Capital, Sela), overtaken and changed to the area where God subdued, known as Joktheel. We learned about the prophetic destruction of this area through the prophet Obadiah. The people gloated and rejoiced as Israel’s and Judah’s suffering. They were arrogant and exploited these people through looting and seizing wealth. They even got in the way of innocent people trying to escape. I saw a lot of “heart-hardening” similarities in this interpretation that I see in the story of Moses and Pharaoh.

I also discussed three words that repeatedly came up: pay, tribute, and lamb. Pay refers to giving a payment as an answer to a demand (as seen in 2 Kgs 3:4 and 2 Kgs 17:3). Tribute refers to an offering or gift given (as seen in 2 Samuel 8:2). Lamb refers to a lamb of a ruler (as seen in Isaiah 16:1). 

I wanted to change gears here and discuss how I see this connecting to Jesus and the New Testament story of Acts 1:8. I mentioned in the word study section that the words pay, tribute, and lamb connect to what Jesus did for us. Jesus was the sacrificial lamb, used as a tribute to pay the price of our sins. I believe the stories I referenced here show us what type of sacrifice and warfare this entitled. We hear a lot regarding spiritual warfare in the New Testament. I even did a whole series on the armor of God that we should wear when in spiritual battle. While we don’t see war and judgment as we read about in the Old Testament, it still happens. The idea that God will continue to fight for people who do not do what is right and allow patience and repentance to occur is still a line of thinking we recognize and acknowledge today. Let’s read these stories and look at them from a cultural perspective. We understand that the Israelites are fighting against what the Moabites and Edomites believe because their beliefs are from YHWH (for example). Through this, we can better understand who God is and what the work of Jesus represents for us today. We continue to see dialogue about living life in a Godly way instead of a worldly way. This dialogue also existed in the Old Testament, as we’ve seen. In the Old Testament, God’s justice was served through war, murder, slavery, and more. We recognize how inhumane that is today and see that condemnation in the New Testament and today. We now understand that the battle was never against humans but against spiritual mindsets and attitudes. That is an internal battle all of us go through and that we can help others wrestle with. 

Acts 1:8

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 

This comes before Jesus returns to heaven. His disciples asked him, “…has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” (v. 6) Jesus said that the time this will happen will not be for us to know. Instead, we will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes. We will be Jesus’ witnesses, telling people about him everywhere – in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. This sounds so similar to what Isaiah 11:11 says. God dispersed the crowd to bring them back through Jesus. God said that they were too powerful themself and sent Jesus to bring them together again in unity. We’ll discuss that more in the next section, but I see the Pentecost story previewed to us through the acts of Genesis 11:1-9. 

It’s been a massive revelation to me to see this and go through everything to get to this point. I hope you found this as interesting as I did. I know this was a long message that bounced all over, but the point I share is that God sent him people apart to bring them back through Jesus. 

Next week, I will finish the Tower of Babel story and talk about the fall of these people and how the Pentecost story is shown here. Until then, stay blessed.

Here is a list of links that I referenced in this blog that helped with my understanding to key places and people: