Genesis 11:6–7
Memory Verse
And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one, and they are of one language, and this defilement they do; and now nothing will be cut off from them, all which they consider to do. Come, let us ascend, and there mix up their language that a man may not hear the language of a friend”, Genesis 11:6–7.
Approximately 100 years after the flood, all of mankind still possessed one language. During this time, rather than respecting God and following His word, they chose to set up for themselves a city with a tower to worship the stars (Genesis 11:4). Having one language made it very easy for the sin nature to spread its malignantly evil desires, and thus any defilement they considered would not be withheld from them.
In an act of mercy upon mankind, God mixed up the languages of men to thwart the sin nature’s ability to spread malignantly evil desires among them. Language not only sounds different, but it also produces a distinct manner of thinking, thereby constructing separate cultures. This mindset makes it very difficult for the sin nature to spread from culture to culture and nation to nation.
Along with the confusion of the single language of men, God also scattered them abroad over the face of the earth, even dividing the continents to ensure this separation held over time (Genesis 11:6). In Genesis 10:25, in the genealogy of Shem, we come across Peleg, who received his name because the earth was divided in his days. Peleg was born 101 years after the Noahic flood. This division does not reference the languages of men, for the languages were confused, not divided.
Even today, with all of our technology, this confusion of the languages still exists and inhibits the sin nature of man.
The sin nature describes the corrupt human nature passed down from Adam. It is a nature that is separated from God in its reasoning and rational, along with being subject to physical death (Romans 5:12–17). Scripture uses the term “the sin” to describe this sin principle or nature within a man; thus, the term “sin nature” conveys this concept well (Romans 7:8).