Daily Devotion for Wednesday 9th October 2024

Genesis 11: 1 – 9

Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.  And as they migrated from the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.  And they said to one another, ‘Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.’ And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.  Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’  The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.  And the Lord said, ‘Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.  Come, let us go down, and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.’  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.  Therefore it was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Reflection

Empires usually insist on one language to be used throughout their lands – it’s why so much of the world speaks English.  Other languages are, at best, tolerated but are often left to wither on the vine. Just as Latin (and Greek) were needed to get on in the ancient world, so English came to be seen as a mark of progress and its imposition on place names in Wales, Ireland, and Scotland serves to hide earlier histories, languages, and perspectives; we come to realise that maps aren’t neutral documents.

We don’t know much about the background context of today’s story.  Clearly there’s a fear about enforced uniformity; overreaching isn’t just about the building of the tower but about the people wanting a name for themselves.  The people feared being scattered over the earth as all imperial leaders worried about their dreams and projects being scattered to the winds.  God, however, frustrates these imperial designs and frees the people to speak their own languages again.  One might read this as God as liberator frustrating the designs of the rich and powerful who wanted to build the city and free those enslaved builders.  

In various places around the world there are political moves to impose uniformity; in India Hindu nationalism seeks to marginalise other traditions and to cast, in particular, Muslims as somehow being other than Indian.  In America the debates about undocumented people (relied on, and exploited by, business) underscore an anxiety by some white people that they will soon no longer be the largest grouping in the US and may lose their power.  In much of Europe disquiet about the mass migration of people (often due to the politics and selfishness of those of us in the West) has led to political movements seeking to restrict immigration, civil rights, and opportunity.  

Babel reminds us that God rejoices in diversity and does not desire linguistic nor cultural uniformity – and neither should we.  

Prayer

Confusing and confounding God,
shake us when we seek to reject your diversities,
when we wish others spoke like us,
and when we assert we know best.
Shake us awake, O God,
that we may see the world as it is,
and learn to understand what it could become.
Amen.