“The nations spread abroad on the earth.”
In Genesis 10:5 we find the first mention of nations. Here humanity divides into different tribes, living in different places and speaking different languages. Three times in this chapter the idea of people divided by their clans, languages, places and nations is repeated. Suddenly, humanity has language and ethnic barriers to overcome.
Fast forward to the end of the Book of Revelation. More than 20 times people of every tongue, tribe and nation are highlighted. In the final chapter, a beautiful picture is presented with the leaves of the tree of life, kept from fallen humanity in Genesis 3, healing all the nations.
In between Genesis 10 and the coming fulfillment of Revelation, humanity’s history is one of conflict and separation based on tongue, tribe and nation. But after humankind’s unsuccessful attempt to preserve their unity in Genesis 11, we find striking similarity to how God addresses our differences in Acts 2.
“Let us make a name for ourselves.”
The ancient peoples in Shinar (later called Babylon) embark upon the most infamous building project in history. Using cutting edge technology for their day— bricks—they set out to build the first wonder of the world: an incomparable city and tower to be a jewel of humanity.
Their goal? To avoid being “dispersed over the face of the whole earth” (Gen. 11:4). They want to leave a legacy and make a name for themselves with a city and temple that will be the envy of the world. They want to ensure their national unity, identity and strength.
Genesis 11:6-8 says, “‘Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.’ So, the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.”
In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the word “confuse” (sugkeo) means, “to mix together,” to stir up, to trouble, to confuse or confound. With the languages mixed up and the people confused, they have no choice but to give up their building project.
The dispersion of Babel serves a purpose beyond confounding their pride; it creates nations around the earth.
Their only legacy is an abandoned city now mockingly called “Babel,” meaning “confusion.” The people are scattered across the face of the earth. The Babelites, in their quest to avoid being dispersed, allow their pride to condemn them to the very thing they are hell-bent on avoiding.
In their stubbornness, they do not obey the “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” of Genesis 1:28. The dispersion of Babel serves a purpose beyond confounding their pride; it creates nations around the earth.
This dispersion is not unique. Throughout history, dispersion is a fate faced by many peoples. The Israelites themselves, because of the conquest and exile by Assyria and Babylon, also are dispersed among the surrounding nations.
But unlike the Babelites, the Israelites do not lose their name. Rather than flounder in exile, they prosper, assimilating into the local cultures and languages and yet, remarkably, retaining their unique Israelite faith and devotion. The epistles of James and 1 Peter are explicitly addressed to the “dispersion” of the Jews.
The term “disperse” (diaspeiro) comes from the verb “to sow.” The imagery is of a farmer scattering seeds. The conquering armies, through their malicious conquest, inadvertently “seeded” the surrounding lands with God’s people.
Then, one Pentecost around 33 A.D., the seeds come home to roost.
“And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
There in Jerusalem, the historian Luke tells us, “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9–11) were gathered to celebrate the annual feast.
You can hardly find a more diverse, multicultural scene in the entire Bible than at this Pentecost. One cannot help but imagine that the dispersion is reversed.
Then, one of the most remarkable things in human history takes place. The prophecy of Joel 2:28 is fulfilled: “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” A thunder of rushing wind is heard as tongues of fire come to rest on the small band of Jesus-followers, and they are each granted the divine ability to speak to the crowds in their respective languages.
How do the people respond? “They were confused” (Acts 2:6). Luke knowingly uses the same verb, sugkeo, as in Genesis 11 in the Septuagint (the Bible Luke would have read). At Babel, God confuses mankind’s languages; at Pentecost, the people are confused when God reverses the deed. No matter what God does, we humans seem to get confused about it.
Just two months after the curtain of the temple is torn in two, … God reverses the curse of the confusion of Babel, symbolizing the reconciliation of mankind with one another that is possible only through Jesus.
But God’s deed is unmistakable. Just two months after the curtain of the temple is torn in two, symbolizing the reconciliation between God and humanity, God reverses the curse of the confusion of Babel, symbolizing the reconciliation of mankind with one another that is possible only through Jesus.
The apostle Paul says of this miracle, “And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:17–19).
Differing languages and cultural ideas persist and still stand as barriers to understanding one another. But the mandate from God is clear. In the Spirit, there is nothing that divides us from another. God’s spirit within us can transcend our differences.
“Dispersed as agents of reconciliation”
One more dispersion awaits God’s faithful. In Acts 8, the early church faces a great persecution. And so, the believers are dispersed (diaspeiro), and along the way, “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). God ensured that his word would be preached.
This directive remains on the worldwide church. “Go and make disciples of all nations,” Jesus says (Matt. 28:19). God intends for his church to reflect the diversity of the world.
God has long purposed to restore all branches of mankind together under one banner—Christ. … In Christ the diverse peoples of the world will at last be united.
Humankind cannot overcome our racial, national and cultural divisions by our own wisdom or power. Many of our efforts to do so have held no better fate than that tower in the desert. God desires for humanity to be reconciled with one another through Christ, but like the Babelites, we seem determined to do it on our own.
God has long purposed to restore all branches of mankind together under one banner—Christ. This reunification is no small matter. Paul refers to it as one of the deep mysteries of God’s purpose for the ages (Eph. 1:9–10). This mystery comes to fruition in the gospel message, that in Christ the diverse peoples of the world will at last be united.
Revelation 5:9 says, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’”
Today, Christ’s church stands dispersed among the nations around the world. God has placed us, his people, among the nations for a reason: to bring reconciliation through Christ, removing the division and confusion. Although we are dispersed, there is nothing to divide us—except of our own making.
by Aaron Box and David Reed
Aaron Box is the USMB national director and lives in Eugene, Oregon. David Reed is associate pastor at North Park Community Church in Eugene. Box, who previously was the North Park senior pastor, and Reed served together on the North Park church staff for 10 years.
This article has been posted by Christian Leader staff. The Christian Leader is the magazine of U.S. Mennonite Brethren.
