Where’s the Gospel in the Story of the Tower of Babel?

Genesis 11 tells us that after the flood, the whole earth shared one language and a common vocabulary. The people said, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks”—using brick instead of stone, and asphalt for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered across the earth.”

But God came down, saw what they were building, and confused their language so they could no longer understand one another. As a result, He scattered them across the earth—just as they had feared.

God saw the danger of humanity united in pride, building toward the wrong goal. Everything about Babel was rooted in self-reliance, arrogance, and the desire for self-glory.

The Tower of Babel reveals what happens when people try to reach heaven without God—depending on their own strength, wisdom, and ambition. It’s a clear picture of sin: prideful self-dependence and the desire to make our own name great.

But the gospel tells a better story! In Christ, God doesn’t leave us scattered and confused. He comes down, not to separate, but to gather us back to Himself through grace. At Pentecost—when the Holy Spirit descended like tongues of fire—He reversed the curse of Babel, allowing people from every nation to hear the gospel in their own language.

Where pride once divided, Jesus now unites. We don’t build our way up to God—He came down to rescue us. And in Him, we are given a new name, a new identity, and a restored unity.