Pentecost: A reversal of Babel
I would like to show a connection between speaking in tongues at Pentecost and the Tower of Babel?
The first Great Commission was a physical great commission Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth. In Matt 29:19-20 Jesus gave us a spiritual great commission. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
After the Flood, God once again gave the physical great commission when He commanded man to "increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1).
The people did the opposite, Instead “they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth’” (Genesis 11:4).
In response God said, Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." (Genesis 11:7). So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. (Genesis 11:8). God confused the languages at the Tower of Babel to enforce His command for man to spread throughout the entire world.
Now skip forward many years to Pentecost. Jews from many countries had returned to Jerusalem to worship. They spoke many different languages. Acts 2:5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
The different languages would have hindered the spreading of the gospel. Jesus’ disciples were mostly uneducated men who only spoke their native language. God gave them the gift of speaking in different languages so that they might spread the good news to as many people as possible. Each man visiting Jerusalem was able to hear Peter’s sermon in his own native language. Pretty cool! The language barrier was broken.
• The tower of Babel brought about disunity and a scattering of people
• Pentecost brought about unity and a scattering of Believers
Act 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. 6 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
By God's grace 3000 people accepted the gospel.
So in my opinion yes, there is a connection.
The Great Commission says- Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Rather than building a tower of Babel to our own glory,
Let us be living stones in the temple of God who take the message to all people.
