Multiplication, Foolish Ambition, and Confusion

Noah's sons and their families fruitfully multiply and fill the earth with their offspring. From the coastlands to the hill country, the peoples of the nations spread abroad. But such expansion wasn't immediate, or even the original intention of the sons of Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The account of Babel's lofty tower provides the backstory and displays the prideful heart of man, a heart set on making a name for himself. This ambition is not godly diligence, but an unholy lust for power, permanence, and control, even over God himself. But the sovereign Lord will not be mocked! He descends to weigh the achievements of mankind and pronounces a judgment upon them for their vainglorious folly. What once bound them together—their language—will now separate and confuse them. The mandate they disparaged—to fill the earth—is taken on by God himself as he scatters them to the ends of the earth. Yet, this situation will not last forever, for Christ will come to gather his people from all the nations, giving them a Spirit of unity, and binding their hearts together under one word—the word of the gospel that leads to both grace (for them) and glory (for God).