圣经学习1：The Tower of Babel 巴别塔
2008-04-22 17:33阅读：
Genesis
11:1 那时，天下人的口音，言语，都是一样。
And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
11:2 他们往东边迁移的时候，在示拿地遇见一片平原，就住在那里。
It happened as they traveled east that they found the plain in the
land of Shinar; and they lived (dwelt) there.
11:3 他们彼此商量说，来吧，我们要作砖，把砖烧透了。他们就拿砖当石头，又拿石漆当灰泥。
They said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn
them thoroughly. They had brick for stone, and they used tart
for morter.
11:4 他们说，来吧，我们要建造一座城和一座塔，塔顶通天，为要传扬我们的名，免得我们分散在全地上。
They said, “Come, let’s build for ourselves a city, and a
tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make
for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over
the face of the whole earth.”
11:5 耶和华降临，要看看世人所建造的城和塔。
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which
the children of men built.
11:6 耶和华说，看哪，他们成为一样的人民，都是一样的言语，如今既作起这
事来，以后他们所要作的事就没有不成就的了。
The LORD said, “Behold, there are one people, and they have
all one language. And this is what they begin to do, Now nothing
will be withheld from them, which they intend to
do.
11:7 我们下去，在那里变乱他们的口音，使他们的言语彼此不通。
Come, let's go down, and there confuse their language, that
they may not understand one another's speech.'
11:8 于是，耶和华使他们从那里分散在全地上。他们就停工，不造那城了。
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there upon the
surface of all the earth. They stopped building the
city.
11:9 因为耶和华在那里变乱天下人的言语，使众人分散在全地上，所以那城名叫巴别（就是变乱的意思）。
Therefore the name of it was called Babel; because the LORD
confused the language of all the earth there and from there
the LORD scattered them abroad upon the surface of all the
earth.
圣经典故之巴别塔
巴别塔（The Tower of
Babel）取自《圣经》旧约全书中的《创世纪》，讲的是在大洪水以后诺亚的后人来到一个叫西纳的地方居住，突然间心血来潮想建一座高可通天的宝塔，以纪念人类在地球上所创下的丰功伟绩。上帝得知这个消息后很是不高兴，于是就变乱了他们的语言（这之前地球上的人们只会讲一种语言，估计这种语言已经失传）。由于每个人说的话其他人都听不懂，当时也没翻译这种职业，所以人们根本就没办法把塔盖起来，这座塔也就永远地停工了。这些人同时又觉得再也没有生活在一起的必要，于是就分道扬镳了，分散到了世界的各个角落，分别成为我们七大洲的祖先。唉，人们当时要是不冲动该多好，大家现在也就用不着学英语了。就像人类渴望能重回伊甸园，把另一个树上的果子也偷来吃以长生而不老那样，人类也无时无刻不梦想着能拥有一种每个人都能懂的语言。
Questions for discussion:
1. When
does the story take place?
2. What
is their intention of building the tower?
3. What
is God’s attitude towards the people’s action？
4. How
does God prevent the people from building the tower? Why does he do
so?
5. What
message does the story have for us today?
What is the significance of the story of the tower of Babel? Why
did it cause God to confound the language of people, giving them
each a new tongue?
The story of the tower of Babel is about disobedience
(不服从) and arrogance（自以为是） and the human need to
erect symbols of our achievement（建造标志以纪念自己的成就）.
The story takes place after the flood that destroyed all but Noah
and his family. The world was still united by language and probably
tradition. “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one
speech.” (Genesis 11:1)
Those who lived in the region of Shinar, (Sumer in ancient
Babylonia) “… 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. 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.”
(Genesis 11:3-4) This building they set out to create was probably
to be a ziggurat, a multi-storied tower/temple. These buildings
were pyramid-like and reached as much as 300 feet. Stone steps lead
up each side of the structure to a temple.
However, this was not a temple for God that they were building, it
was a monument to themselves. Their intention was to reach heaven
with it and proclaim themselves gods. This didn’t please God in the
least. “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which
the children of men builded. 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.” (Genesis 11:5-6)
God’s concern was not for Himself; He knew these people could not
capture His throne. His concern was for them and what else they
might attempt in their arrogance. Out of mercy and a desire to
prevent them from causing themselves pain and suffering, God took
action. “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language,
that they may not understand one another's speech.” (Genesis
11:7)
By disrupting the Babylonians speech, God was able to slow down
more than just their progress on the tower. It effectively split up
their entire society. “So the LORD scattered them abroad from
thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build
the city.” (Genesis 11:8) Common language is a key element in
commerce, relationships and every other important aspect of life.
Without that common ground, their common society couldn’t
function.
We may wonder what the big deal was in this story. What kind of
problem could a tower possibly be? There was never any chance that
it could actually reach heaven, so what was God’s big worry? With
sin, it’s seldom the actual deed that is the big problem; it’s the
attitude that is troubling. The Babylonians were arrogant believing
themselves to be creators and denying the power of the Creator. We
don’t have to look far to see similar arrogance in the modern
world.
If we look back only 60 years, we can see evidence of terrible
arrogance that lead to devastating destruction. Nazi Germany’s
fascination with creating and sustaining a master race lead them to
horrendous experiments in the guise of science. Few would consider
their actions appropriate or scientific. The arrogance of the
Nazi’s destroyed millions of people. The people of Babel were on
this same kind of path; believing that there were no boundaries on
what they could do.
But we don’t even have to look at history to see the arrogance of
man played out in the field of technology. A glance at the
newspaper on any given day will reveal a similar attitude of
superiority. We pride ourselves on our technological advancement
and indeed, technology has done wonders for our society. Yet,
destruction and devastated lives are harvested every day from seeds
of arrogance sown by humans believing that there are no
boundaries.
Life must have boundaries to continue safely. In everything, we
have to come to a point where we say, “This is too far,” or we risk
destroying ourselves, on a personal or global level. Scientists
play with the building blocks of life like they were children’s
toys even when they don’t have clear-cut understanding of the
consequences of their work. This is not to say that we shouldn’t
learn, experiment and develop but we must do so with humility,
bowing to a knowledge greater than our own.
It is not just on a global or national level that we demonstrate
our arrogance, though. Each of us is guilty of this kind of pride
to a degree. All of us at one time or another have built a personal
tower of Babel as a symbol of our greatness. For some, the tower is
fancy homes or cars; others have towers built on a string of ‘good’
deeds. These things are not bad, it’s when we use them to define
who we are and show others how special we are that the things
become personal towers of Babel. It’s our attitude, not the tower
that is a problem.
Arrogance is our way of telling God, “I don’t need you and I don’t
have to answer to you.” We put ourselves on the throne and we
suffer for it. God confounded the language of these early people to
try and spare them the consequences of their behavior. It certainly
must have been a wake up call to them proving that they were not
gods. By dividing them, God reminded them who they were and Who He
is.
Similarly, God gives us wake up calls when our arrogance gets out
of hand. If we look closely at our lives, we can see times when we
have been slapped off of our own pedestals and reminded that we
weren’t ‘all that’. Sometimes it takes a big slap before we get the
message and that can be very painful. We’re better off keeping a
check on our attitude and being on the look out for signs of
bricklaying in our own backyard. Once we get started on a tower of
Babel it’s easy to get carried away with the project and forget
that we’re not the master builders we believe we are.
