“Grandfather, grandfather—what is happening?” the boy rushed towards his grandfather as the older man shut the gate of the sheepfold. “In the city—“ he panted, “it’s, it’s total confusion!”
“Calm down, my son,” the grandfather answered. But he, too, felt a quiver of fear ripple through his aged body as he began to discern a faint uproar in the distance. Indeed, something very strange was happening.
“I was walking past the brick yard when the men who were working there started shouting at each other, but all they shouted were strange noises. They made no sense at all. No one could understand what the other one said or meant, and they became angrier and angrier with each other.”
The old man listened intently to his grandson’s story.
“As I continued on my way, I heard more and more shouting from all directions. Then, as I reached the edge of the city where I was to barter the last of my wool, the woman I spoke to just looked at me. I tried harder and harder to tell her about the quality of my wool, but she only stared at me the more. Finally she spoke, but she made such strange sounds! It scared me so much, I-I ran all the way home.” The boy was still shaking.
His grandfather considered the matter. “It is the Lord’s doing, my son. The wickedness of this city—and the tower—is great. They try to reach up to heaven and put themselves on the throne of God. They try to make a name for themselves. They try to dwell together in one place instead of replenishing the earth as God told us to do. This confusion is a very fearful thing—” he stopped as they could hear the noise in the city grow louder, “but their iniquity is worse. Yes, it is fearful, but I am also relieved. Like the flood not so long ago, this is a great judgment; and, like the flood, this will save us. This city will not tolerate us much longer, for we will not go along with their plans. Now God is destroying their plans.”
The boy stopped shaking. He could understand the danger they had been in. It was a great comfort to know that God was in control of this chaos, and even bringing it about.
His grandfather continued, “The old serpent is being dealt a deadly blow in this. He’s being crushed. The question is—will he ever recover?”
- 2247 B.C.