Materials: copy of The Tower of Babel by Alison Greengard, see Answers in Genesis for more research
Objectives:
- to describe the Hebrew language
- to explain why God confused the language
- to explain what happens when people try to elevate themselves to God’s level
Background:
Review the names of the first five books of the Bible. [Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy] These five books are also called the Pentateuch. Noah’s family has spread, but once again the people have forgotten the Lord. There is only one language and many people are living in the same area.
Main Events of the Story:
Discuss the importance of language. God “spoke” the world into existence and He speaks to His people through the written word of the scriptures. This is the reason why we must learn how to read and write: So God’s people can communicate to others about their heavenly Father.
Show the children the book. Have them describe what is different. [the book opens the “wrong” way] Explain that when people read Hebrew, that they read right to left, instead of left to right. Point out the Hebrew characters on the cover. Have the children discuss how these are different from our alphabet. Explain that there are consonants and no vowels. The vowels are the dots under and around the characters.
Read the book.
The word “Babel,” as in the Tower of Babel, means Gate of God. The people wanted to build a tower that would rise to the gate of heaven. Because of man’s audacity, God came down and confused the language. The Hebrew word for “confuse” is Balal. So God took a structure meant to be a Babel and turned it into Balal.
Point out that God says for “us” to go down. This is another example of the trinity in the Old Testament. Have the children discuss what they learn about God and what they learn about Man in the story.
Life Application:
God is patient with humanity. Humanity has a knack for becoming arrogant and prideful. Many times we want to elevate ourselves to be equal with God, or even try to do god-like activities. People want to “make their mark” on this earth. People want to be remembered. So many want to be famous. But what did our Example for life do? Jesus, who did not feel the need to make Himself equal to God, humbled Himself and died on a horrible cross so humanity could live forevermore. We don’t need to elevate ourselves. God will do it for us if we obey His commands. God wants our obedience and many times we tend to do things that we think will honor God, when in the end those actions and behaviors make us disobedient to God. The people wanted to build a tower so they would not be separated from each other. This doesn’t sound like a bad thing until we go back a few verses to where God tells Noah and his family to fill the earth. Disobedience. Obedience is more important than sacrifice. God has a plan for your life. Don’t build a Tower of Babel unless God tells you to.
** Clipart is from http://www.christiancliparts.net
