The Tower of Babel

In getting back to reading the scriptures, I have been reading the Bible as my daily scripture study.  I have always liked the stories from the Bible and find the history very interesting.   So last week I was a little disappointed when I read the story about the Tower of Babel. 

I can’t tell you how long it has been since I last read the Old Testament, but it has been a very long time.  So somewhere I got in my mind that this was a really big story, that God came down and rained terror on the people for building the tower.  That he came down and destroyed it.  But when you start reading Genesis 11, I did not get this from the writer at all.

In Verse 2, we learn that this is in the land of Shinar.  The next verse, we learn how they make bricks and use slime as mortar.  It is in verse 4, that the city and the tower are built.

In Verses 5-8, this is where the Lord comes down and sees what the people are doing.  That they were of one language and one in building the tower, and they would not listen to the Lord.  So in verse 7, he confounds the language, and in verse 8, he scattered them abroad all the Earth.  In verse 9, the city is named, Babel, because of the confounding of the language.  Just 8 verse for this story. 
I think for me, I was looking for fire and brimstone, but all we get is the language is confound and people are scattered.

When my sister worked for NASA, she said that she had seen pictures of the tower of Babel.  From doing a little research online, I came across a video that talked about the tower, and one thing that came to me, was that Babel, became Babylon.  The video talked about King Nebuchdnezzar, and how he somewhat rebuild the tower, and built terraces in which was planted gardens.  The famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon were just down the road from it.  It also said the foundation corners were huge.


Even though the story was somewhat a disappointment to me, it is still a place that I would love to visit, if it was ever open to public viewing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feeling left behind

Over the past month I have been to two baptisms, two farewells and a home coming.  It reminds me of what I do not have in my life, children.  I also have had my 44th birthday, which I spent on my own.  My marriage of 22 years is gone, and I really have nothing to show that I am here. But I have been living some what an oddity in the Mormon Church.  Having been married for so long, with no kids, you just don't get the feeling that you are part of the church family.  I have set in many a Priesthood Class, hearing the teacher tell how special it is to be a father, and how closer to God you are.  I really have not made a lot of friends in these wards, because I have no  kids that are in the same Primary Class, Sunday School Class, or Mutual. It even feels like the newly married couple, when they do get pregnant, that they are now one up on me. A few years ago, our Ward did away with the Family Camp Out.  But what stayed were the father/daughter and the father/ sons camp outs.  For
Read more

Trains

Image
Me with Jensen in 2012. As I was writing about my vacation with my grandparents, it made me realize that I had a love of trains.  Not only did my Hatch grandparents work for the railroad, but so did my Grandpa Close.  One thing that I left out from the trips, was that we did stay here in Mesa between our travels from California, Northern Arizona, and Utah.  My grandpa Hatch would always take me down to Pioneer  Park and they had a train engine there, and I climbed all over that train inside and out. I think it that next Christmas that he got me a train set that had and engine that blow smoke.  I had that train until I think the second move out to Arizona.  But I have always enjoyed model trains.  One of the things I really enjoyed about going to the State Fair was going and seeing the model train set below the grandstands.  And then seeing the exhibit in San Diego in 2007. Living in Chattanooga was great as well.  During the Civil War, Chattanooga was the major train hub for th
Read more

Life after High School

This week my oldest niece, Ashley, is graduating from High School.  It is hard to believe that this little girl that I watched from a distance, is now a young woman, and going out into the big wide world.  I remember graduating from the same high school back in 1988.  There was over 800 plus of use getting our diplomas that night. A few days later, I was on a plane to Hawaii, for a week of fun with other classmates.  I had worked all senior year, and back than I think I paid $300 for the total trip.  There was about 15 of us from Mesa High that went on the trip.  About two weeks later, we were all back together to share our pictures of the trip.  The talk turned to what next.  For most, it was off to college.  I was one of three Mormons that went on the trip, and I knew that in two months I would be putting in my papers for a Mormon mission, and with in six months I would be in the mission. field.  I was shocked to find that many envied me,  because I knew what I was going to be doin
Read more