08_The two cities Gen 11:1-9 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn 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, 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. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. On April 15, 1912, the Titanic, a ship hailed as unsinkable, a marvel of human engineering, sank on its maiden voyage, disappearing into the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. Designed to showcase human mastery, it went down, taking with it over 1,500 lives. This catastrophic event serves as a sobering reminder of the limitations of human effort, even at its peak. Genesis 11:1–9 gives us a far earlier illustration of the sheer scale at which God’s power surpasses the greatest efforts of mankind. In the land of Shinar, a man named Nimrod, described in the Bible as “a mighty hunter before the Lord,” established a kingdom that included Babel. His name in Hebrew suggests rebellion, and the Jewish historian Josephus portrays him as a man defying God’s authority. Josephus writes that Nimrod vowed revenge against God for the flood, planning to build a tower so high that it would withstand any divine act. Though the Bible doesn’t confirm these specific intentions, the narrative in Genesis reveals a striking parallel—a people united in seeking godlike greatness without God. As mankind spread out after the flood, a group journeyed eastward, settling on a plain in Shinar. Their decision to work together and build a city with a high tower that would reach the heavens seems admirable. It might even appear to be an example of collaboration and progress. But a careful reading shows that the tower was motivated by their rebellion. They did not want to be scattered, but to make themselves a name and an identity. They desired to find their own security in their unity. They hoped to take pride and find fame in their achievement. Instead of spreading across the earth and