Genesis11:1-9 "Now the whole earth had one language and the same words..."

"Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 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. 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.’ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built. And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth" (Genesis 11:1-9).

Question:

I am going to teach the metaphysical interpretation of these verses to my class and would like some additional insight.

Comment:

The Tower of Babel is one of the five great stories (along with the two creation myths, Cain and Abel and Noah's Ark) that open the first book of the Bible, before the narrative focuses on the more specific history of the family of Abraham. I think of them as fireside tales—stories that evolved over many centuries to answer the simple and eternal questions kids might ask sitting around a fire with the adults. Where did we come from? Why are some people mean? What happens if we displease God? And, in this case, Why are people so different and why do we speak different languages.   The common thread through all the stories is the loving Presence of the divine—guiding us, moving us forward, helping us learn the sometimes painful lessons about how to live as spiritual beings in a human experience. One constant theme is that we must be protected from the danger of allowing our expression of our spiritual power to get ahead of our understanding of our true spiritual identity. If we use our powers ignorantly or unwisely, based on an inadequate understanding, we can (and do!) create situations that are severely challenging.   Here the people have decided that if they can create bricks and build earthly buildings, they might as well keep going and build "a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves." (It's hard not to think of the current nationalistic competition to see who can build the world's tallest building. From NYC to Chicago to Singapore to Dubai, the competition gets very competitive, and we're still trying to "make a name for ourselves."   But our ultimate spiritual purpose is not to build a tower to heaven, but to learn to make the creative, loving spiritual choices that will bring the kingdom of heaven into expression here on earth. This is symbolized at the end of the Revelation to John, in the Bible's final chapter, when the perfect and eternal City of Jerusalem descends to become one with the earthly city. The idea of “climbing to heaven” is a recurring theme in our world, but the Bible makes clear from this early story onward that the real focus is meant to be on creating heaven right here where we are.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed