Gen. 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
In this chapter, we will take a closer look at events surrounding the building of the tower of Babel and the ancestral record of Abram.
After the flood, the peoples of the earth spoke one language and one speech. Their words, the way of saying them and all meanings were the same.
Gen. 11:2 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.
Gen. 11:3 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.
Gen. 11:4 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.
Observations:
The land of Shinar has already been established as part of Nimrod’s kingdom. He was the recognized leader of men at this time.
“They said,” but they were obviously following someone’s lead.
They already had the knowledge of how to make bricks and use mortar to hold them together. (See note on 9:20-21.)
The command had been to be fruitful and replenish the earth—not to congregate in a big group in a city.
Their desire was to reach the heavens and make a name for themselves (pride).
Their purpose was to keep from being scattered. This was in direct disobedience to God’s command.
See notes on Nimrod from chapter 10.
Gen. 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
This verse is interesting since it says, “the Lord came down to see the city and the tower.” Why? In what form? He is omnipresent and omniscient. He didn’t have to leave heaven/His dwelling place. (This would also imply that heaven is UP.)
Gen. 11:6 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.
Gen. 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
Gen. 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Gen. 11:9 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.
There is an inference here that man can accomplish some pretty incredible things. (This is very apparent in our day and age. Isn’t it interesting that the more we are able to communicate with one another, the less that language is a barrier, the more quickly “advances” in knowledge and creativity are made.) I think the more we are able to do “on our own,” the less likely we are to see the need for a Savior. (So, I think it was another act of mercy that God confused the languages.) Babel is where God confused the language of the whole world and scattered people over the face of the earth.
Gen. 11:10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
Gen. 11:11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
Gen. 11:13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
Gen. 11:15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
Gen. 11:17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
Gen. 11:19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
Gen. 11:21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
Gen. 11:23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
Gen. 11:25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
Gen. 11:26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Gen. 11:27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
Gen. 11:28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Gen. 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Gen. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
Gen. 11:31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
Gen. 11:32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Now we are given a more detailed listing of the genealogy of Shem to Abraham. This is specific to the people for whom this history is being recorded. God is very careful throughout scripture to document the lineage of the Savior as well as the kingly and priestly lines of Israel.
Observations:
Shem was 100 years old two years after the flood.
Terah = Abram’s father
Nahor & Haran = Abram’s brothers (Were they triplets?)
Haran died while his father was still alive.
Sarai = Abram’s wife; she was barren (childless).
Lot = Haran’s son
Terah took Abram, Sarai and Lot and left Ur of the Chaldees to head for Canaan.
They stopped when they reached Haran.
Terah died in Haran at age 205.
No explanation is given of why Terah wanted to leave.
Shem was still alive (age 390) when Abram was born and died 15 years after Abram died; Eber died 29 years after Shem died.
There is a significant drop in life expectancy from Shem (600) to Abram (175).
Abram was contemporary with them all.
Person Died Son Father’s age at son’s birth Total
Shem 600 Arphaxad 100
Arphaxad 438 Salah 35 135
Salah 433 Eber 30 165
Eber 464 Peleg 34 199
Peleg 239 Reu 30 229
Reu 239 Serug 32 261
Serug 230 Nahor 30 291
Nahor 148 Terah 29 320
Terah 205 Abram 70 390
Gen. 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen. 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen. 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Gen. 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
Gen. 12:5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
The Lord speaks to Abram and tells him to leave this land and his relatives. According to Stephen (as recorded in Acts), God called Abraham to leave his homeland before they came to Haran.
Acts 7:2 “And he said, Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken; The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran….”
As we continue to read these verses, it would seem that God spoke to Abram a second time after his father died, since verse 4 seems to indicate that Abram responded in obedience shortly after the LORD spoke to him.
No other background is provided regarding Abram’s relationship with God. Maybe the time in Haran allowed time for that relationship to grow. It also seems that Abram wasn’t surprised at hearing God speak to him.
Abram and Sarai were childless (v11:30), but God promised to:
make him a great nation
bless him
make his name great
make him a blessing to others
bless those who blessed him
curse those who cursed him
bless all peoples on earth through him.
The only thing Abram had to do to receive God’s blessing was obey God’s call in faith. I liked this comment by Deffinbaugh: “Faith is not developed by living life by some kind of map, but by using God’s Word as a compass, pointing us in the right direction, but challenging us to walk by faith and not by sight.”
So, at age 75 Abram sets out to obey God. He takes his wife, his brother’s son Lot, and all their substance and the souls (servants) they had gotten in Haran.
There is one thing Abram chose to disregard—God told him to leave his kindred, but he chose to take Lot with him. That seems to disregard God’s instruction to leave his family, even though he probably looked on the fatherless young man as a son. This choice will prove to have future consequences for Abraham and for future descendants of both men.
I liked this application from Ray Stedman: “The opinions of others, the traditions of men, the pressures from family and friends, the attitudes of our employers and others around us -- these are the kindred we must be willing to forsake when we hear the call of God. When God confronts us with his call, these are not to count any longer. We are to renounce this concern about what others think and be preeminently concerned about what God thinks.”
And this observation: “Everyone is living in one of three places -- Ur, Haran, or Canaan…..Ur is the land of death and darkness, the land into which we were born. Haran is the half-way house where we gain the outward appearance of being religious but where there is no inward reality. Canaan is the land of power and blessing, the place of the Spirit's fullness.”
Gen. 12:6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
Gen. 12:7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
Gen. 12:8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.
Gen. 12:9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
They traveled to Sichem (Shechem) in the land of Canaan and God appeared to Abram. Twice in verse 7 we are told that God appeared to Abram. Until this time he had been obeying someone he had only heard. (Thought: How would it change our lives if we actually thought that God would show up to see us at any time?) Just because we can’t see Him, we seem to think He can’t see us—at least that is what many of our choices and actions indicate.
God tells Abram that He will give this land to his children. In response, Abram builds an altar to the Lord. He leaves Shechem and goes to a mountain east of Bethel. When he pitches his tent, Bethel is on the west and Hai (Ai) is on the east. Again he builds an altar to the Lord and prays.
Once again, Abram picks up his journey and heads further south.
Gen. 12:10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.
Gen. 12:11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:
Gen. 12:12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Gen. 12:13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.
Gen. 12:14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.
Gen. 12:15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house.
Gen. 12:16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.
There was a great famine in the land so Abram heads to Egypt to provide for his entourage. We are not given any indication that God instructed him to do this. The last command we heard was for Abram to go to “a land that I will show thee.” He did that and received God’s promise to give that land to him and his children. He had trusted God to this point. Why not through the famine? How I can identify!! God is so faithful and provides in so many wonderful ways. Why do I ever worry and doubt that all of a sudden He is not going to come through in a given situation or circumstance? We are so quick to try to “do it myself” instead of asking for and waiting on God’s direction or provision.
Now we know that Abram was 75 when he left for Canaan. How old was Sarai? According to Genesis 17:17 Abram is ten years older than Sarai; so she is at least 65.
Evidently, she was still very beautiful since Abram decided to lie about the fact that she was his wife because he feared for his life. Again, he doesn’t trust God enough to protect him from the Egyptians. Sad thought to this wife—He doesn’t seem to be concerned about how his decision will affect her.
Sure enough, the Egyptians thought she was beautiful, and she was taken to Pharaoh’s palace. Pharaoh gave Abram sheep, cattle, donkeys, servants, and camels for her sake.
Gen. 12:17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.
Gen. 12:18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?
Gen. 12:19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.
Gen. 12:20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
This section is very interesting because after Pharaoh’s house is afflicted with diseases, he realizes it is because of Sarai. By the time he talks to Abram, he knows that Sarai is his wife. So he sends Abram away with Sarai and all his other possessions. We are never told how Pharaoh learns all this. He could have been a lot more violent and angry—but it was like he feared something if he harmed Abram. So, he just told him to leave.