Genesis 10 and 11 are a record of Noah’s descendants.  It is a discouraging account.  Although Noah and his family had recovered God’s purpose to express and represent Him on the earth, this attainment was lost through division. And, according to the story of Babel in the beginning of chapter 11, the people were also in utter rebellion against God.  Noah’s descendants fell into division and rebellion. 

The divisions Noah’s descendants experienced were according to their families, tongues, lands, and nations (Genesis 10:5, 20, 31).  In type, these divisions can also plague us today:

• Families—to be divided into families signifies being divided according to natural, fleshly relationships. We all naturally like some people more than others. However, we need to take the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5), and love one another with the same love.
• Tongues—when we have different tongues, that is different ways of thinking and expressing ourselves, it becomes very difficult to be one. Rather than having different tongues, Romans 15:6 says that “with one accord [we] may with one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
• Lands—If we become territorial about our spiritual work, wanting to keep other’s out, we become divided according to lands.
• Nations—eventually, if we have a territorial attitude about our work, it will become a ‘nation,’ a built-up division among God’s people.

Lord Jesus, save us from all divisions!  Ephesians 4:3-6 shows us the way to be kept in oneness—we need to take the oneness of the Triune God Himself as our oneness.

In the midst of all this division, there was also rebellion. The tower of Babel was built so that man could make a name for himself, exalt himself to oppose God, and worship idols.

In this situation God needed another new beginning!  Therefore, God called Abraham.

 Abraham lived where there was a lot of idolatry and other sin.  But God called him out, and Abraham obeyed.  Similarly, we are called out by God from a world of sin: we may be under the influence of negative friends, or even negatively influenced by our family, like Abraham was. The thing is to obey, knowing that He wants the best for us.  God wants to shine through us in our darkness so that we can express Him.  And it doesn’t stop there; in God’s great love and mercy He blesses us (even when we don’t deserve it) just like he blessed Abraham.