Newspapers yesterday reported that the Burj Dubai which is under construction has already become the world’s tallest building. Avid Bible readers will recall that the Tower of Babel was the tallest building of its time, erected as a monument to humankind’s independence from God. The direct result was a scattering of people over the face of the earth and a confusion of languages. Pride leads to separation from God and separation from other people.
To celebrate the new world’s tallest building, let’s take a look at how we’re faring some thousands of years after the Tower of Babel. Some of the loudest voices we hear in the media are those of atheist philosophers who proclaim that God is unnecessary to explain the world, so therefore he doesn’t exist. Hmm, interesting logic – the world somehow blasted itself into existence out of nothing, and that can all be explained away by rational science.
Let’s see how we’re faring on the language front. There are 35 languages each of which is spoken as a first language by more than 30 million people. No language is spoken as a first language by more than 15% of people. Even English is spoken as a first language by less than 5% of people. It really seems as if we haven’t made very much progress since the Tower of Babel in respect of either prideful boasts against God or communicating with each other.