Inspired by the Babylonian tower temple
The Tower of Babel, oil painting by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, 1563; in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.
There came a time when there was only one good man in all the world, and his name was Noah. Everybody else was bad. God wanted to start over fresh, so he told Noah to build an ark, and Noah did. God told Noah to build the ark that will hold animals, two of every kind, and he did. Noah and his family went aboard when God made the rain come down. It rained and rained until there was a great flood that covered the world. Only those who were in the ark were safe and dry. Everybody else was drowned. God then made the sun come out and dry up the rain. Then everyone in the ark came out.
Noah said, “Look, God has sent us a sign in the sky, the very first rainbow, meaning that He will never flood the world again.”Noah had many, many descendants, and as time went by, they all formed groups and settled in several different places. One such group, which had wandered far and wide, finally reached a place with fertile plains called Shiner in Babylonia.
They all liked this place as soon as they arrived. This is a beautiful place, I think we should all settle down here, what do you all say? Yes, it is indeed a lovely place we can make this into a beautiful town which will be the envy of everyone. So, they all got together and set to work to create their dream city. They were very skilled workers, and they did make a city that was indeed worthy of praise.
News of their beautiful city soon spread far and wide, and many people came to visit and to admire it. One day, the head of the town called all the residents for a meeting. “My dear friends, when we came here, we had decided to make a city that everyone would talk about and admire, as you know, we have been able to achieve that. Not many have been able to match our expertise. However, I think that soon some people will be able to do what we have done, and maybe do it even better! We cannot allow that to happen. I have been thinking about it a lot lately, and we need to do something remarkable which no one else can copy. Do you agree?”
“Yes, we do.”
“I am glad to hear that. Well, I did think of something that nobody else can copy. I will need the cooperation of all of you, my friends, to achieve what we must do and be willing.”
“Yes, tell us what to do for we are all with you.”
“I know that we have some extremely skilled people amongst us, and we’ll be able to do what I have in mind. I was thinking that we should build a tower.”
“A tower! What is so special about a tower? There are towers in many other cities.”
“No, no, you don’t understand. I was not thinking of an ordinary tower.”
“Sir, please tell us clearly what you’re thinking, we really do not understand how we can make a tower that no one else can copy.”
“A tower so tall that it will touch the sky.”
“Do you really think we can do that?”
“Of course, I have faith and trust in the capabilities of our citizens.”
“So, what are we waiting for? Let’s start planning right now.”
The people of the town became very excited, they were extremely proud of their town and were willing to do anything to make sure no other town could surpass them! They were ready to take on the challenge of such a difficult task, as soon as the work on the tower started everyone did what they could, and soon the tower had reached a great height.
“What a marvelous structure, I don’t think anyone can make something better than this. Yes, look at our beautiful town. I know everyone will envy us.”
Meanwhile, God was watching what was going on, and he was greatly distressed though it was a wonderful tower. He could see that the people of the town had changed.
“They had become proud and vain, for they forgot me and thought they did not need me anymore! I see now how the people of this town are so proud of their achievements they don’t realize what is happening to them. Why the people were able to create all this is because there was an understanding and cooperation between them. Without this understanding, cooperation goes away and they would not be able to do anything more.”
Suddenly the people of the town became very confused. They couldn’t understand what was happening. Everyone was uttering words which no one else could understand! What a sight it was, there was chaos everywhere and everyone thought that the other person was babbling. There was utter frustration and confusion.
How could anyone live together if they could not understand each other? As a result, it was not possible for them to work together, so the construction of the famous tower was stopped. Soon the town was no longer the beautiful place that the people had been so proud of, because it was not possible for the people to live together in harmony, and they soon started drifting away to other places.
It was said that this was how the different languages of the world evolved from God. Now that tower will never get completed. If the tower had been completed, the people would have become even more vain and proud and they would have forgotten Him and gone against Him, and that would have led to their self-destruction. That’s why the incompletion of the tower should be called the tower of Babel, and a lesson for all men.
The Tower of Babel – Tower Babylonia Tales from the Bible
Genesis 11 New International Version
Exodus 34:14 For you must not worship any other God. The Lord His name is Jealous God. Do not worship any other God, because I, the LORD, tolerate no rivals. … for you do not bow to yourselves.