From Prophet Noah came three great families: the families of Shem, Ham and Japheth (Genesis 10). As mankind began to populate the world again, the problem of pride and disobedience grew again. Genesis chapter 11, recorded for us by Prophet Moses, tells how the people ignored God’s instructions. God had told the children of Noah to fill the earth again. However, we read this:
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” … 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 11.1-4
In the land of Shinar, also known as Babel, the people decided to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth. They were seeking for themselves:
a. Protection – they did not want to be scattered in the world.
b. Selfish satisfaction – they wanted to do something by their own strength.
c. Honor – they wanted to have a great name for themselves.
God looked upon this pride of man and his ability, and he judged it: man’s pride and ability were dangerous. If things were left like this, another great act of judgment would be needed to cleanse the world, causing death and destruction to many. Therefore, God did a marvelous thing. He said:
“Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. Genesis 11.7-9
From Prophet Moses we see that man’s sin always leads to corruption. Sin is full of selfishness, pride and rebellion against God. We also see God’s mercy when he did not destroy the world, but patiently saving a few so that the world was once again a home for mankind. We also see that when man decides to rule all people in this world there will be great evil. Mankind was trying to find meaning for life through this effort of pride. However, they were disobeying God’s command to fill the earth. To protect the world from man’s evil again, God confused their language and scattered them across the earth. This is how different countries began in our world.