The story of the Tower of Babel is one of my own favorites from the Old Testament. The story comes from Genesis 11.
Everything was going pretty well in this story until the people decided to build a tower in their city that could reach heaven. Imagine the insolence of man, to assume the ability to reach the height of their Creator, to encroach upon God Himself, to blur the distinction between Creator and creation. The creation must know its place. The creation must pay respect to the Creator. With this balance intact, the world is right. Without it all harmony is disrupted.
God saw the people building the tower and realized immediately that by trying to get closer to God, they were actually moving further away. In order to prevent them from working together to achieve this unholy goal, and to forever punish them for their arrogance, He caused them to begin speaking different languages. In order to further separate the people, he scattered them all over the face of the earth, never to share such plans again.
Together we must take the positive message of this story, that collaboration can achieve great heights, and learn equally from the warning that arrogance when it comes to our relationship with God will only lead to our demise. The creation must adhere to the will and submit to the power of the Creator.
