Interesting

At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.” But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.” In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world. [Genesis 11.1-9]

This story intrigues me. It seems that God had no intention of people becoming so reliant upon one another. Not that God hates technology - but that God knows that when humans 'over-assemble' they tend to leave God out.

This gives pause to the 'benefits' of large cities. Generally speaking, it seems to me that urban folks tend to be somewhat less reliant upon God than rural folks. Is that a fact? I don't know, but it is worth paying attention to!

When did this Tower of Babel division occur? From what I can tell from the context of today's reading, the world was 'divided' about 101 years after the flood in the time of Peleg.

Interestingly enough, concurrent with the life of Peleg and the 'dividing' of the earth into separate languages, the average lifespan took about a 50% reduction. Men had been living some 400 years after the flood and then after Peleg, that number reduced to the 200's and below.

Now it would also be prudent to consider whether 'divided' just meant languages or had other significance (as in the earth itself having a significant shift of surface correlating with what plate tectonics indicates could have started out as one landmass and ended up with several continents). I suppose I should pry a little deeper into this to see if plate tectonics reveals a 'ground zero' form whence the divisions of the various continents shifted away from. I know plate tectonics works off an old earth basis, but young earth theories need to be able to see application as well.

It would be roughly another 200 years before Abram (Abraham) was born. I don't know if it is resultant to the 'division' scattering or not, but Terah (Abram's father) moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans in the direction of Canaan (which would later be the promised land).

Interesting - all very interesting.

Father, thank You for revealing information about the early earth. Help me to grasp pertinent facts and retain them as I learn more.