The Tower of Babel

Jim and Bob learn about...

...the Tower of Babel

(Puppets up)

Bob: How’s it going, Jim?

Jim: It’s going like a penguin on an Iceberg.

Bob: What?

Jim: It’s going…get it? Penguin? On an Iceberg?

Bob: No, I don’t get it.

Jim: (sigh) Neither did my mom. Anyway, have you got another story for me today?

Bob: Indeed I do. I would like to tell you about the Tower of Babel.

Jim: Babel? What, was this the tower where everyone babbled?

Bob: Pretty much.

Jim: Huh?

Bob: Why don’t you just LISTEN TO THE STORY?

Jim: Good idea. I never would’ve thought of that.

Bob: Somehow I don't doubt that. Anyway, Genesis 11 tells us the story. Verses 1-3 say this: “Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to-“

Jim: Whoa whoa WHOA! One language?

Bob: Yup. Everyone spoke the same language.

Jim: So no English? No Spanish? No French? No Unicornese?

Bob: We don’t know what language it was, so it could be any of those. Except Unicornese.

Jim: Oh, ok.

Bob: Anyway, verse 2 continues: “And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another. ‘Come let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.”

Jim: So let me get this straight: These people found a perfectly good piece of land, and the first thing they do is make bricks?

Bob: Uh, yeah. You need bricks to make buildings!

Jim: Oh. Really? I thought you just said “Abracadabra” or “Bibbiti-Bobbitti-Boo” or something like that?

Bob: Um, no. You take the bricks, and stick ‘em together with mortar.

Jim: Wow. No wonder a building didn’t appear out of nowhere when I did my magic show a few weeks ago. I was wondering.

Bob: (clears throat)

Jim: What?

Bob: The story?

Jim: OH! Yes, um, continue. Please. (Coughs) Go ahead.

Bob: Anyway…Genesis 11:4 says: “And they (that’s the people we were talking about) said, ‘Come, let us a build ourselves a city, and a tower, whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the earth.’”

Jim: Wait a second! This sounds kinda familiar, here. Didn’t we talk about two people who wanted to be better than they were…higher than God?

Bob: That’s right! Adam and Eve wanted to better themselves…by breaking God’s rules. Here, these people wanted to make themselves great, to be higher than heaven.

Jim: People must have not had brains at this point in history.

Bob: (Laugh) Sometimes I wonder if people today have brains.

Jim: Hey! Was that an insult?

Bob: No, Jim, it wasn’t.

Jim: Good, because I’m not a scarecrow or anything. So what happened with this tower?

Bob: Well, God didn’t like them getting puffed up. Not one bit. So he said in verse 7: “’Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.’” God was taking their one language and turning into a bunch of languages.

Jim: Awesome!

Bob: (Sigh) Not if you’re the people building the tower. They couldn’t understand each other!

Jim: Oh. NOT awesome!

Bob: Exactly.

Jim: So, what happened to these people?

Bob: Genesis 11:8-9 tell us: “So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” The people scattered, and never finished the tower, or the city, and that’s the story of the Tower of Babel. (Sigh) If they only had some brains…

Jim: That was a good story. You know, Bob, in each of these stories, people think they can be better than God, or they ignore him all together! Think about it: Adam and Eve, the wicked people on earth, and now the people who built the tower. But in each story these people get humbled.

Bob: That’s right, Jim. No one can beat God. NO ONE. And ignoring him won’t do you any good. God doesn’t ignore you, kids. He’s there for you whenever you need him.

Jim: That’s really comforting, Bob.

Bob: Yup, it is. Well, I think it’s time for me to head home.

Jim: Already?

Bob: Yeah. But don’t worry. I’ll have another story for you tomorrow.

Jim: Awesome! I can’t wait!

Bob: See you then!

Both: Bye!

END SKIT