The Tower of Babel is one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible that gives us at least a rough idea of why we have complex phonological and morphological structures and rules in languages, extremely different writing systems, and why humans are so divided that there has never been a century without a stain of war.
The Tower of Babel incident also gives us a piece of an idea of how language plays a role in differing ideologies ahow nd differing ideologies are a source of disunity. Because the Biblical reporting is cursory, the incident may have had a wilder perspective. While the Bible tells us of such an incident, it did not tell us how the whole thing happened.
Asking about the whereabouts of the Tower of Babel today is like asking about the Garden of Eden. However, unlike the Garden of Eden, the Tower of Babel could still be linked to certain structures that can not be verified, if one of them is at least a remnant or surviving part of the ancient giant structure.
The interesting thing is that thousands of years after this incident took place, the story is still being read, yet the evidence that it happened seems to have disappeared. Today, there is no archaeological or historical proof that the Tower of Babel incident really happened.
But a piece of Jewish folklore I read a couple of years ago postulates that a remnant of the tower still exists today, and it would take roughly three days to walk around it. The story could, however, be believed if it wasn’t that it was reported by historians to have been written during the medieval period.
A year or two ago, I had a conversation with some people who objected to the fact that the Tower of Babel was actually constructed but was stopped midway, and they said it was abstract stuff. But the Scripture tells us that the men in those days faced some limitations and had to use advanced technology as an alternative.
Whether the tower of Babel exists or not depends on everyone’s perspective or belief. However, the fact that the Lord Jesus validated Genesis chapters one and two in Matthew 19:4-8 gives us no option but to believe it was true. But some believers who believe in the Lord’s teachings interpreted the whole story of the Tower of Babel as being abstract rather than physical.
But the Bible says:
“THOSE ANCIENT GUYS HAD BRICK FOR STONE AND SLIME FOR MORTAR.”
Genesis 11:2-3 (KJV) “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.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.”
Because the plain of Shinar was a stoneless area and they could not have those things for a massive structure, they had to use an advanced technology where they converted bricks to stone and slime for mortar.
The construction was already underway when God came down to see the city and tower which the children of men built.
Genesis 11:5 (KJV) “And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.”
Notice that when God came down, he saw a city and a tower which the children of men builded. This wasn’t abstract or something that happened in the mind of those people. God saw a city and a tower. They were being successful until God disrupted their speech. They could not understand one another, and they had to go their separate ways.
It is 100% likely that this giant structure may have been cleared up by ancient regimes, yet there is another possibility that it is what is now known as the Ziggurat of Babylon, the site which is still in Iraq.
Because the International Space Station is located in the troposphere, which that ancient tower could not have reached, it has to be understood that God had no problem with humans wanting to go into heaven (what is now known as space) uninvited, but that humans were forming another round of rebellion.
God had clearly instructed after the flood that humans should be scattered abroad.
Genesis 9:1 (KJV) “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
But the humans practically said “no” and intended to defile God’s clear injunction. Understanding that the source of their unity is in the language they speak, he didn’t stop them from communicating; rather, he altered their medium of communication.
We know that archaeology and history could not confirm whether the Tower of Babel actually existed, yet linguistics confirms that all human languages descended from a mother language known as a proto-language.
