WHAT DID YOU SAY?
The Story of the Tower of Babel Text Version
by Barbara Wilmerton Haas
Jason wanted to become famous. He wanted to be the most popular kid in his school. The bad thing is, he didn't care what it took to become popular, EVEN if it meant telling lies or hurting other people's feelings. All Jason wanted was to make a name for himself at Hawthorn Elementary School. Nothing else mattered more to him.
The problem was, the more Jason lied, the more he had to make up stories to cover up his other lies. Each day he was getting himself into deeper and deeper trouble. The more he hurt other people's feelings, the less other people liked him.
This road to popularity was quickly becoming a very confusing way to live. He was making a name for himself all right, but NOT the kind of name that would win friends and give him a good name.
After the great flood that covered the whole earth, Noah and his wife and Noah's three sons - Shem, Ham, and Japheth - and their wives left the ark.
Before long, the children and grandchildren from Noah's three sons began to cover the whole earth.
After the flood, Noah lived another 350 years. As a matter of fact, he lived to be 950 years old, [PAUSE] and then he died.
Noah's son Ham had four sons. Ham named one of his sons "Cush." Then Cush had a son he named "Nimrod."
Nimrod became a mighty hunter. Anywhere people said the name Nimrod, everybody knew they were talking about the world famous hunter Nimrod. His hunting skills had made Nimrod famous throughout the earth. He was certainly blessed of God.
One of the first cities Nimrod built was called "Babel." At this time, everyone in the whole world spoke one language. There was no such thing as French, Spanish, Russian, Italian, Chinese, and all the other languages we hear today.
As families began to grow larger, the people had to move on to make room for each other. They kept moving toward the direction the sun came up each morning. On and on they moved toward the east.
One day, the people finally reached a beautiful, large, flat spot where there were no mountains. They thought to themselves, "This would make a beautiful place to live."
Soon more and more people discovered this wonderful place to live and decided to build a home, settle down, and live here in the land of Shinar. The more word spread about this new place to live, the more people began moving in.
Before long, the place was BUZZING with people. You could hear people yelling back and forth in the marketplace. Children were singing and dancing in the streets.
Sheep were bleating,
cows were mooing,
and horses were neighing.
The people who lived there got together and began to make great plans for themselves. They decided to turn the place into a BIG city and figured out how they could use bricks to build a tower that would reach way up toward the sky.
They wanted to build a tower SO TALL that it would make their city FAMOUS. This tower would be SO HIGH that people could see it from miles away. This tall building would make them FAMOUS and spread their name throughout the WHOLE WORLD.
What they wanted was something SO FAMOUS that it would draw people from around the world. They believed that the more people moved into their city, the more they could do together.
With more PEOPLE, they could build an even GREATER city and make an even GREATER name for themselves. They were afraid that if they didn't go ahead with these plans, people would soon be scattered far away from each other throughout the whole earth.
This high tower, reaching up toward the sky, would be JUST the thing they needed to bring everyone together. Being together in one place, there was NO LIMIT to what they could do.
Well, someone ELSE was watching this great city. Do you know who it was?
IT WAS GOD!
The Bible says God came down to see the tower and the city these people were building. He saw a people who were so taken up in their OWN power and their OWN name that they had lost sight of spreading stories of GOD'S power or spreading HIS Name throughout the earth.
They had become ONLY INTERESTED IN THEMSELVES. They were so busy building a name for themselves, they no longer had any time for God.
God saw EXACTLY what was happening, and He said, "Why look! The people have gotten together in one place, and they all speak one language. Look what they are beginning to do!
"When they know they are able to finish building this high tower together, they will think there is NO END to what they could do together."
So God decided to go down and CONFUSE THEIR LANGUAGE, and that's EXACTLY WHAT HE DID!
One minute they were standing together talking and could each understand one another perfectly, and, the next minute, they couldn't understand ONE WORD of what the person standing beside them was saying. Everybody was COMPLETELY CONFUSED! They could no longer understand one word the other person was saying. Nothing they said made any sense. It all sounded like a bunch of BABBLING.
Because they could no longer understand each other, they could no longer work together or live together.
The work on the tower STOPPED altogether. The people packed up their things and began moving out of the city. They wanted to get as far away as they could from all that confusion. They began to scatter all across the face of the earth.
Soon the city became known as "Babel," because everyone heard this was the city where God brought confusion to their language.
THINK!
1. Have you ever wanted to become famous?
2. Name some famous people in the Bible.
3. What makes a person famous?
4. What one thing about God makes you feel blessed and happy?
REMEMBER
God wants us to give ALL the glory to HIS Name.
A VERSE TO LEARN
"...let us exalt his name together" (Psalm 34:3b).
LET'S PRAY
****************************************************
Dear God, help me to remember that Your Name
is the most IMPORTANT name for me to know.
I praise You and give You all the glory.
In Jesus' Name. Amen.
****************************************************
CAN YOU FIND THIS STORY IN THE BIBLE?
Genesis 9:18-20, 28-29; 10:6-10; 11:1-9
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Copyright © 2008 by Barbara Wilmerton Haas.
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JUST FOR FUN
Coloring Page With Bible Verse
Tower of Babel Coloring Page
Babel Game
Children's Coloring Books
What Did You Say? Word Search
Genesis 1 - Online Activity
Children's Activity Books
Puzzles
Bible Puzzles: Word Search
A Delicious Lesson In Thankfulness (An Edible Brick Tower)
Tower of Babel Craft
Bible Crafts & More For Ages 6-8
Bible Crafts On A Shoestring Budget-Grades 1 & 2
Big Book of Bible Crafts
Children's Craft Books
The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder Giclee Print
Buy at AllPosters.com
Action Bible Songs (Cedarmont Kids)
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Christian Songs for Children
Babel (Bible story)
Babel (Listen and Read)
Build A Tower: God Scatters The People (Stick-With-Me Bible Stories)
Jibber-Jabber: Genesis 11:1-9 : The Tower of Babel (Hear Me Read)
Story of Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel (Illustrated with Legos)
The Tower of Babel (listen, read or watch)
Tower of Babel: The Real History of Earth, Past, Present, and Future (Pop-Up & Read)
Whitney Climbs the Tower of Babel and Learns What Happens to Snobs (Emerald Bible Collection)
Children's Bestselling Books
Bible Comes Alive Series CD Album 1 (Your Story Hour)
The Old Testament Bible Stories For Children : In the Beginning DVD (Your Story Hour)
Read And See DVD Bible
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TEACHER RESOURCESIs there any reference to the confusion of languages
at Babel in early Mesopotamian literature?
Is there archaeological evidence of the Tower of Babel?
The Tower of Babel (Adobe Acrobat Reader Required)
The Tower of Babel lesson plan
Tower of Babel take home sheet
Tower of Babel and the Confusion of Languages
Sunday School Attendance Boosters: 165 Fresh Ideas
Talking to God (Instant Bible Lessons)
Teaching Children Memory Verses Ages 4-5
Teaching Children To Pray Ages 4-5
What Every Sunday School Teacher Should Know (by Elmer Towns)
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