Be Fertile And Multiply

The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words. While the people were migrating in the east, they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, "Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire." They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered all over the earth."

The LORD came down to see the city and the tower that they had built. Then the LORD said: "If now, while they are one people, all speaking the same language, they have started to do this, nothing will later stop them from doing whatever they presume to do. Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says." Thus the LORD scattered them from there all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the speech of all the world. It was from that place that he scattered them all over the earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)

“Let us then go down and there confuse their language, so that one will not understand what another says.”  Thanks a lot LORD!  Communication between ourselves and between nations is paramount to prevent misunderstandings and conflict.  Confused language scatters people and stops them from being constructive and cooperative.  Babbling is for brooks, not people.

Then again, the people said: “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky, and so make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we shall be scattered all over the earth.” The LORD wanted the scattering, according to the author of Genesis. One can assume that so many people concentrated in one spot – in Babel, the city with its skyward tower – could only lead to bickering and competition for limited goods/resources.  That’s a recipe for isolation-caused stress promoted by overcrowding.  

Besides, a non-scattered people cannot fulfill what God commanded: “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth.”  Dominion cannot be possible without a scattering.

Indeed, humanity has dominated at the expense of fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all the living things that crawl on the earth, etc.  We have been quite fertile, and we have multiplied.  For those of us who are fans of the 1999 movie Matrix, here’s a statement made by villain Agent Smith to Morpheus that seems prescient and horrifying: “I´d like to share a revelation that I´ve had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species, and I realized that you’re not actually mammals. Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment, but you humans do not. You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed. The only way can survive is to spread to another area. There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus. Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You’re a plague and we… are the cure.” Whoa!!

Scary!  However, it serves as a warning we denizens of planet Earth don’t seem to heed.  The Matrix is a thoughtful movie that makes me wonder about the long-term and potentially very adverse effects of AI (artificial intelligence), never mind our ever-growing numbers causing massive deforestation and other environmental destruction.

LORD help us!  Save us from ourselves!

Deacon David Pierce