The illusion of safety in numbers

At the heart of the Babel narrative is disobedience to the command to Adam and Noah to fill the earth (Genesis 1:28; 9:1). The reason that the people of Babel give for building the tower is "lest [they] be dispersed over the face of the whole earth" (11:4). In verse 8 and 9 it is repeated twice that the God's action in response to their building was that he "dispersed them over the face of all the earth."

Why was dispersal so important that people went to such lengths to avoid it, and God went to such lengths to ensure it happened?

God wanted people to spread so that they could image him to the whole earth - not just one corner of it. He wanted his name to be great.

The people of Babel were more concerned with making a name for themselves than God. Spread out across the world they were weak, and desperately aware of their dependence on the grace of God. They felt a safety in the numbers of a city, and their eyes could be filled with their achievements covering God's masterpiece with a thin crust of human ingenuity.

So did God just begrudge people growing up and finding their independence? Did he want to keep us weak so that he was needed, and he was the only strong one? That motivation could be seen to lie behind his statement that "nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them" (v. 6).

But, no. God wasn't being a parent who can't let go and stunts his children as a result. In ripping away the comfort and security of the city from these people, he was showing love. The comfort of the city was a false comfort blinding them to reality as it really is. They may have felt closer to God, more important and safer because of their city and tower, but that was just a mirage in the desert.

Only in Jesus Christ could they not just come close to God but be invited into the divine communion of the Trinity. Only in Jesus Christ could they judge angels and rule the earth as Adam was destined to do. Only in Jesus Christ could they be safe from death and the wrath of God.

God was pushing them out of a false fortress so they would find a refuge in the wilderness in him alone.

• Where do you feel safe? If it is because you have your health and savings you're living in Babel.
• When do you feel worth something? If it is when people think much of you you're thinking like the people of Babel.
• Why do you feel close to God? If it is because of anything you have built you've got an understanding of God (up there, just out of touching distance) which you share with the people of Babel.

PS An interesting application would be to the distribution of church congregations. Tim Chester in a recent talk quoted statistics showing that in Australia the numbers of congregations has fallen slower than the number of Christians (I'd bet it is the same here - Christopher Ash thinks so anyway). This means as Christians we are increasingly huddling together in our medium to large churches, avoiding the 'weakness' of having to rely on God alone in little churches dispersed across the country as "communities of light" (Tim Chester's phrase).