The Tower of Babel

After Noah and his family left the ark, God planned for them to spread out over the whole earth and repopulate it. Instead, in their pride, they gathered in one place and began to build a tower. To intervene, the Lord confused and stopped their plans, causing everyone to speak different languages. Once again, people began to move away and spread all over the earth.

When teaching, emphasise the nature of unhealthy pride.

Bible verses used in this episode:

Genesis 11:1-9

Proverbs 11:2

Psalm 127:1

James 4:10

Outline:

1. The people congregate in one place (Genesis 11:1-2)
2. They built a tower for themselves (Genesis 11:3-4)
3. God intervenes (Genesis 11:5-9a)
4. The people scatter (Genesis 11:9b)

Tips for teaching children:

• Play Jenga or stack blocks to make a tower
• Contrast different kinds of pride
  • positive pride (self-respect or self-esteem) 
  • negative pride (feeling superior or having an overly high opinion of oneself)
• Invite a guest to class and ask them to explain something to the children in another language.  Talk about why mixing up languages would have caused confusion.

Tips for teaching adults:

• Icebreaker before you begin teaching. Ask the participants to respond to the following, “What is the most important, magnificent or tallest thing you have built?”  Or if you are not a builder: “What is the most important, magnificent or tallest building you have ever seen?  Why?
• Use this material as a background to this story.  Photo montage of a ziggurat and other related artifacts: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Etemenanki#/media/File:Etemenanki_Berlin.jpg
• When is it not good to “settle?”  Are we building monuments, programmes or ministries to ourselves?  Are we trying to make a name for ourselves or to draw attention to God’s name? 
• How can we build for God instead of ourselves as individuals or a church?  

Full teaching instructions free from Mission Bible Class:

Bible Lesson:  The Tower of Babel

Scriptures quoted from the International Children’s Bible®, copyright ©1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Tommy Nelson. Used by permission.

Excerpts from Mission Bible Class used by permission.

For questions or comments email: mary@missionbibleclass.org