There are a few stories in the Old Testament that we tell our children often. The tower of Babel is one that explains why there are different languages in our world. However, there is more to that story than linguistic division.
Genesis 11:1-9- And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
The tower of Babel was the most infamous city under a man named Nimrod. He wanted to unite humanity under one ruler- himself.
Genesis 10:8-10- And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
The goal of this tower was to reach up to God in heaven. It was obviously the devil trying to accomplish his original scheme to "be like the Most High", and he was using mankind to help him.
Looking at this through a theological standpoint, the Tower of Babel was man’s attempt to reach heaven through his own works. He was doing this for his own glory, and it failed miserably.
Another story that we don't generally connect with the tower of Babel is the story of Jacob's dream.
Genesis 28:10-19- And Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And, behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.
Jacob dreamed of a ladder that reached to heaven. There are two curious things about this story. The first, Jacob was made these promises by God because he was Abraham and Isaac's son. It wasn't because he was deserving. The second, it was a promise of a physical land given to his lineage- the same promise given to Abraham and Isaac.
This was God showing Jacob that heaven could only be reached through God’s way. Jacob called the place Bethel, the house of God.
Many years passed after that promise, and the Jewish people did receive the land that was promised. However, they didn't get to go to heaven. When they died, if they were considered righteous, they went to Abraham's bosom; if they were unrighteous, they went to hell. Both of these places were in the middle of the earth as told by Jesus in Luke 16.
Jesus came to this earth to provide the way that was shown to Jacob. He is the only way through which we can enter heaven.
John 1:51- And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Jesus was cluing Nathanael in on who He was and what His purpose was.
Luke 19:10- For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
Christ's main purpose was not to deliver the Jews from their enemies. It was not to set up His millennial kingdom. The purpose of His first coming was ALWAYS to die for sins.
John 18:11- Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?
Hebrews 9:13-14, 22, 28- For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
The sacrifices of the Old Testament could temporarily "purify" the flesh by covering the person's sin; it could not take the sin away completely. But the blood of Christ is powerful enough to remove sin completely!
Every attempt man has tried to get himself to heaven through his own merit has failed. God provided a way for any man to "make it" to heaven, but it can only be accomplished through His son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
John 14:6- Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
