Hebrew Astronomy: Part 3 Tower of Babel

In my last post, we looked at how the ancients saw Creation as a single reality.

Now we are going to look at the Tower of Babel and how it fits into the Hebrew astronomical world view.

The Tower of Babel Narrative

After the Great Flood, the descendants of Noah decided to build a tall tower at Shinar (Babylon).

The common interpretation is they wanted to make a name for themselves, or make themselves famous.

They wanted to topple God from His throne. But God quashed their rebellion, confounded their language and so they scattered across the World.

This is normally represented as a ‘Just So’ story and is the Bible’s attempt to explain why their are so many languages in the World.

Different Interpretations

There are quite a few other interpretations which give a different flavour to this story.

In terms of Hebrew astronomy, I want to first look at Genesis 4.

Genesis 4 v 26

And to Seth also a son was born, and he called him Enosh. At that time men began to call uponi the name of the LORD.

We see in Genesis 4, how the descendants of Cain built cities and technologies, while the descendants of Seth called on the Name of the Lord.

The Name of the Lord is a similar way of saying God.

In the context of the Tower of Babel, when the text says they want to make a name for themselves, it means they want to make themselves God.

The Tower as a Ziggurat

The Tower was likely a ziggurat. The original Hebrew word translated as tower can also be translated as a platform.

In ancient times, a temple would be built on the top of a ziggurat. This was the house of a god. A sacred space where the god and humans would commune. A place where the Heavens and Earth would meet.

Building the tower to the Heavens wasn’t about erecting the tallest structure which would reach the clouds, so they could invade and overthrow God. But about trying to bring the Heavens and the Earth together.

We see a similar event happen in Genesis 6. Where the sons of God and the daughters of men become one in marriage. And this resulted in the Great Flood.

Genesis 6 v 1-2

When human beings began to increase in number on the earth and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.

The builders at Babel wanted to bring the Heavens and Earth together on their own terms. By achieving this, they would return to the Garden of Eden, without the need for the Creator God’s involvement. They would take control and be the rulers of Creation, not God.

But as in Genesis 6, this would have brought the World to the same Pre-Flood state. An Earth full of sin and wickedness.

Out of God’s mercy, He confused them and they scattered. God could not allow their plan to continue. It would have resulted in disaster.

Conclusion

In Genesis 11, we see the desire for humanity to bring the Heavens and Earth together. God has this aim too, but as the ruler of Creation, He will do it in His own way.

The Hebrews in Genesis were aware of this desire. They understood the Heavens weren’t just the Sun, Moon and stars. It included the unseen spiritual realm, where God’s Throne, the hosts of angels and the demonic spirits existed.

And they understood God’s ordained future, where the Heavens and Earth would be completely connected and humanity would take their place as the sons of God. But it would not be through man’s own intelligence, but through God’s providence.

In the next post, I will look at how God plans to bring this about. And it begins with Abram in Genesis 15.