BULLETIN ARTICLE
24 February 2019
ONE PEOPLE, ONE LANGUAGE
From the three sons of Noah, people were scattered to the rest of the earth. The three sons were Japheth, Ham and Shem. The descendants of Japheth moved to the distant land by the sea and not much was spoken of them. From Ham, came the future enemies of Israel who are the Babylonians with their mighty warrior, Nimrod. These Ham people were the Assyrians, Canaanites, Philistines, Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites. They settled into the places of Sodom and Gomorrah. These are names of those who treated the people of Israel, in future, with aggression, brutality and scorn. These are the people whose wickedness and sin were so grievous. These are the nations which will be subdued in the future by the Israelites and their land taken and become the holy land. From Shem, came the lineage of Abraham and the ancestors of the nation of Israel. The majority part of recorded Biblical history originated from Noah’s son Shem.
It was at the plain in Shinar that people formed their first rebellion after the renewal of the earth – after the great flood. They were the descendants of Ham who settled there. The curse pronounced by Noah on Ham (Gen 9:25) permeated down the generations of the Canaanites. Here is the first evidence of opposition to God and God’s command in Gen 9:1 to “be fruitful, increase in number and fill the earth”. These sons of Ham found Shinar, convenient and commodious, spacious and fruitful, to accommodate them. With mutual daring and resolution, they sought and plotted to “make a name for themselves and not be scattered” and to reach heaven. The motivation was to achieve greater honour and glory for themselves. As a group of people they collectively believed that physical and monumental height and greatness is the way to attain divine grandeur and power.
In spite of the offense they committed, God consulted and enquired with justice and fairness. He weighed their weakness and frailty with their sinfulness and abhorrent behaviour before he judged them for their offence. The righteousness of God was seen in terminating something that the people were doing that was impious. Impudent defiance must always be stopped. The wisdom and mercy of God was clearly seen in pronouncing a moderate judgement on the people. God does not deal with our sins as we deserved but always with compassion and forbearance.
When people are unified in purpose, great feats can be accomplished. But in God’s earth, feats of idolatry and apostasy will face divine intervention. One lesson that can be learnt is to avoid the sin of pride and arrogance and to be humble and rely on God to give us the name and honour. Another lesson that can be learnt is to exercise faith when God calls us to leave, “to be scattered”, and to accept the familiar for the unfamiliar. To live by faith is to leave behind what is known, what we have come to put our trust in and boldly move beyond our field of vision. This is always the way God leads us when we live the Christian life.
