Page 66 - Heavenly Signs III by Mel Gable

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Genesis 11:8-9 “So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth;
and they stopped building the city.

9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole
earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
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Therefore, God scattered them “over the face of the whole earth.” This explains why there are such diverse languages
in the world. God’s “will,” is always fulfilled. It may require Him to bring judgment to the nation so that it will
ultimately perish, if it doesn’t turn from its evil ways.

Modern men and women are not above the ancient sin of Babel. It is about thinking ourselves wiser than God.
Surely, given the modern situation, we think to ourselves that God doesn’t really expect us to keep His
commandments literally. Since the very beginning of creation, God has been a God of order and rules. This
included rules for mankind to live by. How could God bless a nation whose Supreme Court rules against God’s
Laws? It is impossible for God to ignore, because He is holy and righteous.

Tower of Babel

The account in Genesis makes no mention of any destruction of the tower. The people whose languages are
confounded simply stop building their city, and are scattered from there over the face of the earth. In other
sources such as the Book of Jubilees (chapter 10 v.19-27), and Josephus (Antiquities 1.4.3) there is a description of
the destruction of the tower and the scattering of the people. God overturns the tower with a great wind.

Jubilees 10:25-27 “For this reason the whole land of Shinar is called Babel, because the Lord did
there confound all the language of the children of men, and from thence they were dispersed into
their

26 cities, each according to his language and his nation. And the Lord sent a mighty wind against
tower and overthrew it upon the earth, and behold it was between Asshur and Babylon in the
27 land of Shinar, and they called its name "Overthrow'. In the fourth week in the first year in the
beginning thereof in the four and thirtieth jubilee, were they dispersed from the land of Shinar.” 101

The Book of Jubilees contains one of the most detailed accounts found anywhere of the Tower of Babel. The Book
of Jubilees mentions the tower's height as being 5,433 cubits and 2 palms, which is 8,149 feet or roughly 1.6 miles
high. This can be compared to the height of the World Trade Center Twin Towers of 1,450 feet at the rooftop.

Jubilees 10:19-23 “For they departed from the land of Ararat eastward to Shinar; for in his days
they built the city and the tower, saying, 'Go to, let us ascend thereby into

20 heaven.' And they began to build, and in the fourth week they made brick with fire, and the bricks
served them for stone, and the clay with which they cemented them together was asphalt which\
21 comes out of the sea, and out of the fountains of water in the land of Shinar. And they built it: forty
and three years were they building it; its breadth was 203 bricks, and the height (of a brick) was
the third of one; its height amounted to 5433 cubits and 2 palms,
22 thirteen stades (and of the other thirty stades). And the Lord our God said unto us: Behold, they
are one people, and (this) they begin to do, and now nothing will be withholden from them. Go to,
let us go down and confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech,
and they may be dispersed into cities and nations, and one purpose will no longer abide with
23 them till the day of judgment.” 102

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New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. 1995 (Ge 11:8–9). LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
101 Book of Jubilees, Wesley Center for Applied Theology, Northwest Nazarene University.