The Tower of Babel?

Question

Does it mean that God was physically living close to planet earth when the guys tried to build a tower to reach up to God?
Why did God say that it is possible for men to do anything if He does not stop them. It beat my imagination because even space shuttle travelling at many thousand metres per second takes decades to reach pluto.( the nine Planet.) Does it mean that the Unverse is really expanding? Is God living on some planet far away?

Answer 1

In those days, God usually come down to see the works of men accroding to the following details:

Genesis 11:3 "And they said one to another, "Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar."

The idea of baking the brick was so that they could make lasting structures, and roadways. The "slime" is similar to asphalt of today. In the Hebrew text the word for slime was "bitumen", [2564 chemar (khay-mawr'); from 2560; bitumen (as rising to the surface): -slime (-pit).] and considering the availability of petroleum in the Iraqi area today, and it's rich deposits, we see their was no shortages of material.

Genesis 11:4 And they said, "Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

In the Hebrew text, "let us make us a great name", reads, let us provide our own salvation." These are the same people that lived and remembered the great flood. All of the souls that lived through the flood and were on the ark were still alive during the life time of this committing of themselves to Nimrod. They knew the devastation that came upon the earth, and that it was caused by God.

They also knew that God had made a covenant with Noah that mankind would never be destroyed by flood waters again. However, they did not believe God, nor did they trust Him. They knew of Nimrod's mighty strength, and most of the people relied on him for security, as we read in Genesis 10:8-11. They trusted Nimrod. Hitler and the Nazi's rose to power under the same conditions, protection, security, law and order. The Germans had faith in Hitler, that he would bring peace and prosperity, however they did not consider the cost.

The people of Nimrod's day just didn't believe in the covenants, and instructions that God gave after the flood, and they banded together for protection from the wild animals, and relied on their tower to offer them salvation from another flood. This was their means to have access to heaven. The term "a name" in the Hebrew text manifested their independence from God, and showed their reliance on Nimrod. Nimrod's Babylonian system is built upon a false hope of peace and salvation.

Genesis 11:5 "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded."

God stated in the Bible what man has to do to be saved, however, even today man is still trying to build his towers to reach his own false peace and salvation. They are trying to bypass the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, and His shed blood on the cross. They reject God's plan for man, and substitute a religious routine and form called "religion", in it's place.

The term "came down" is an anthropomorphic description of God's interposition in the actions of men. This is the ascribing to God what belongs to human and rational beings, irrational creatures, or inanimate things.

Genesis 11:6 "And the Lord said. Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

That thing "which they have imagined to do", is "Babel". Remember, the Hebrew word for the word "Babel", is "confusion". They turned the ways of God into confusion, and followed their own imaginations. They discarded the covenants and laws that God had given to Noah and his generations.

God is now going to teach them a little humility, and try to turn them back to Himself.

Genesis 11:7 "Go to, let Us go down, and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

In the term, "Go to, let us go down" when used in other passages in the Hebrew text [18:21, Exodus 3:8], is always used in Judgment. It is used in contrast to man's commitment, or in verse four; "Go to, let us go up". It is God and the angels that performed this act of judgment. This was an miracle, for all people of the earth were as one family, and of the same language. However, their unity will be divided by their languages.

Genesis 11:8 "So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build a city."

This word "scattered" is the used in Isaiah 8:9, and the reason for the scattering was to preserve the revelation contained in the Zodiac and the constellation. The signs in the heavens are the plan of God; and the promise of God to man of a coming Messiah. Remember, it was God's band of angels that did the scattering, and God planted the confusion through their languages.

People are always influenced by the supernatural form and activity, and in the futuristic sense, all peoples of the earth will again be committed to supernatural powers, and those powers will be the powers Satan will be given by God, when he comes to earth as the Antichrist. Mankind will be looking for a man to rise from the human masses, and not the supernatural form of Satan, coming as the Antichrist. Satan will come pretending to be the Messiah, and he will have lies, wonders and deception of a great magnitude.

Genesis 11:9 "Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

Keep in mind that this event is called "Babel", and in the Hebrew it means "confusion". It was through the confusion of languages, that God scattered the peoples of the earth. It was also the substituting of God's plan and covenants for their own man made devices, and religious form, which is called Babylon, or Confusion. It is God's way of cutting off communication between families.

There is another parallel between Genesis and Revelation, and this is brought out in Mark 13, and Acts 2. This parallel is in the way that the Holy Spirit of God caused the people of all languages of the earth to understand in the same tongue [language]. When the Spirit filled people spoke, there was no need of an interpreter, and there was no confusion in understanding in anyone's mind. Peter told us in Acts 2:14-21 that this is what the prophet Joel spoke of [in Joel 2:28-32], and Peter said that this will also happen in the last days.

The time is coming when all the peoples of the world will hear the words of the Holy Spirit spoken through God's elect, and they will understand even in the dialect of the area they were born. This time will come shortly.

Does it mean that the Unverse is really expanding? The universe is not expanding

Is God living on some planet far away? No, but the spirit of God is all over the universe

Answer 2

After the Flood, God commanded humanity to "increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). Humanity decided to do the exact opposite, "Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth'" (Genesis 11:4). Humanity decided to build a great city and all congregate there. They decided to build a gigantic tower as a symbol their power, to make a name for themselves.

In response, God confused the languages of humanity so that we could no longer communicate with each other (Genesis 11:7). The result was that people congregated with other people who spoke the same language - and then went and settled in other parts of the world (Genesis 11:8-9). God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel to enforce His command for humanity to spread throughout the entire world.

As for physically living close... please read this passage from the "Babel" story (Gen 11:5), "And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower..." So? Too close? HE WAS RIGHT THERE!!!

Oh... He did not say that it was possible for men to do ANYTHING if He did not stop them... you conveniently left off an important modifying phrase... (Gen 11:6) "nothing will be restrained from them, WHICH THEY HAVE IMAGINED TO DO." That does NOT mean mankind can do ANYTHING, but anything which they have "imagined to do." Due to man's FINITE nature, his imagination (believe it or not) is ALSO FINITE. Therefore, whatever man can imagine, and EVERYTHING man can imagine is FINITE and not INFINITE, which is implied by your saying "anything."

Please... if you are going to continue these vain attempts at using God's word to discredit Him, please... PLEASE at least get your story CORRECT. It discredits YOU instead.

Have a nice day!

Answer 3

The answer is not that they were building the tower.
The key to understanding why God confused the languages lies in the fact that these men were building the tower to make a name for themselves, and to not be spread over the surface of the earth.
It has always been God's intention from the creation on, to have the earth full of humans, and these people were trying to rebel against God, by not doing so.

Answer 4

What simplistic foolishness.

They were not trying to see how high they could build, that is absurd. They were obviously a lot cleverer than you appear to be.

They were trying to establish a man made religion to replace God's revelation.

Can't you understand anything?

Answer 5

They Did Not Make a Celebrated Name for Themselves

THE Bible does not name the builders of the infamous tower of Babel. The account states: “They now said: ‘Come on! Let us build ourselves a city and also a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, for fear we may be scattered over all the surface of the earth.’”—Genesis 11:4.

Who were “they”? This event took place some 200 years after the Flood. By then Noah, about 800 years old, lived among thousands of his descendants. They all spoke the same language and lived together in the general area where he and his sons settled after the Flood. (Genesis 11:1) At some point in time, a portion of this enlarged population moved eastward and “discovered a valley plain in the land of Shinar.”—Genesis 11:2.

An Utter Failure

It was in this valley that the group decided to rebel against God. How so? Well, Jehovah God had expressed his purpose when he commanded the first human couple to “be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) This was repeated to Noah and his sons after the Flood. God instructed them: “As for you men, be fruitful and become many, make the earth swarm with you and become many in it.” (Genesis 9:7) In opposition to Jehovah’s direction, the people built a city so that they would not “be scattered over all the surface of the earth.”

These people also began to build a tower with the purpose of making “a celebrated name” for themselves. But contrary to their expectations, they did not complete construction of the tower. The Bible record shows that Jehovah confused their language so that they could not understand one another. “Accordingly,” says the inspired account, “Jehovah scattered them from there over all the surface of the earth, and they gradually left off building the city.”—Genesis 11:7, 8.

The complete failure of this venture is highlighted by the fact that the names of the builders never became “celebrated,” or well-known. Actually, their names are unknown and have been erased from human history. But what about Nimrod, Noah’s great-grandson? Was he not the leader of this rebellion against God? Is not his name well-known?

Nimrod—An Insolent Rebel

Doubtless, Nimrod was the ringleader. Genesis chapter 10 introduces him as “a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” (Genesis 10:9) The Scriptures also say that “he made the start in becoming a mighty one in the earth.” (Genesis 10:8) Nimrod was a warrior, a man of violence. He became the first human ruler after the Flood, appointing himself as king. Nimrod was also a builder. The Bible credits him with being the founder of eight cities, including Babel.—Genesis 10:10-12.

Hence, Nimrod—an opposer of God, a king of Babel, and a constructor of cities—undoubtedly shared in building the tower of Babel. Did he not make a celebrated name for himself? Concerning the name Nimrod, Orientalist E. F. C. Rosenmüller wrote: “The name was given to Nimrod from [ma·radh′], ‘he rebelled,’ ‘he defected,’ according to the Hebrew meaning.” Then Rosenmüller explains that “Orientals are accustomed not rarely to call their noblemen by names given after death, from which comes the, at times, amazing agreement between names and things done.”

Several scholars share the opinion that the name Nimrod was not a name given at birth. Rather, they consider it to be a name given later to suit his rebellious character after it became manifest. For example, C. F. Keil states: “The name itself, Nimrod from [ma·radh′], ‘we will revolt,’ points to some violent resistance to God. It is so characteristic that it can only have been given by his contemporaries, and thus have become a proper name.” In a footnote, Keil quotes historian Jacob Perizonius as writing: “I would believe that this man [Nimrod], as a ferocious hunter and surrounded by a band of comrades, in order to incite the rest to rebellion, always had in his mouth and geminated that word ‘nimrod, nimrod,’ that is, ‘Let us rebel! Let us rebel!’ Hence, in later times, he was designated by others, even Moses himself, by that word as a proper name.”

Clearly, Nimrod did not make a celebrated name for himself. The name given to him at birth apparently is unknown. It has been erased from history, as have the names of those who followed his lead. He did not even leave any offspring to carry his name. Instead of receiving glory and fame, he has been vested with infamy. The name Nimrod has forever labeled him an insolent rebel who foolishly challenged Jehovah God.

Answer 6

live life here on earth

Answer 7

yeah, you'd think the whole getting out of the atmosphere would be challenging, as well. did they have pressurized cabins back then?

Answer 8

la torre di babele?