If we consider how Genesis 11 begins, the whole earth was of one lip (H8193) and one speech or business (verse-1; H1697), meaning they had one manner of worship (cp. H8193) and one tradition about God (cp. H1697), we need to also keep in mind that this was the context of Abram’s call (cp. Joshua 24:2). Men began to exchange the truth of God for the traditions of men. What had been once one, became corrupt, and, when men sought to make a name for themselves, vis-à-vis centralize their corrupt worship traditions in order to unite themselves as a city of god, the Lord judged them and confused their efforts, so that they couldn’t agree together about how this city of god should be built. This kind of thing, uniting cities under the sons of the gods or the sons of the patriarchs, led to engulfing the whole world in violence (Genesis 6:1-2, 4-5, 11).
Spirituality can be a good thing, if it points to one’s devotion to the Lord. Devotion to the Lord, could embrace one thing for one person, and another for other folks. What unites them is their devotion to the Lord (stones), not necessarily their traditions (bricks; cp. Genesis 11:3). Often, men will seek to dwell together, having traditions in common. This isn’t necessarily an evil thing to do. However, when the traditions become the point of the worship, rather than one’s devotion to God being the point, it becomes an evil matter. This kind of thing is made even more evil when men rise up as despots to enforce a commonality of worship (cp. Genesis 6:1-2), because in order to enforce a commonality of worship violence of some sort becomes the tool of choice to bring that about (Genesis 6:4-5),[1] until the whole earth is filled, not with devotion to God, but with violence (Genesis 6:11).
It was into this world that Abram was born. Rebellion had been in the air for quite some time. From the generation of Cush men desired to make a name for themselves in rivalry with the Name (YHWH) of God. Abram was born into a community that was not only in rebellion against God, but they sought to enlarge their community’s influence to embrace other cities, combining them spiritually under the authority of one city of god (cp. Genesis 10:8-12 and 11:1-4). From the understanding we have from Genesis 6:4-5, this kind of thing led to tyranny, whereby men were forced into a mold (brick; Genesis 11:3) reflecting the heart of the builder, the sons of the gods (Genesis 6:2) or the sons of the patriarchs, vis-à-vis after the Flood, this would be Cush (Genesis 10:8-12).
Out of this context, the Lord called Abram (Acts 7:2-4; cp. Genesis 11:31), who knew nothing of the true God, and nothing about how he should approach the true God. God called Abram out of ignorance and into truth. He called him out of the traditions of men to follow the word of the true God. As we follow Abram/Abraham in the next few chapters, we discover the Lord told him nothing about a law that must be obeyed. The fact is that the text, itself, shows Abram followed the Code of Hammurabi.[2] The Lord had no specific instructions for Abram, as far as living by a code is concerned. Thus, this implies that the Lord has no problem with his people submitting to the laws of the land, wherever they live. It’s the sort of thing that governs human behavior and keeps folks from becoming too violent, which was a directive from the Lord from the very beginning (cp. Genesis 9:5-6).
The Lord called Abram out of the land of his nativity, where he had roots, out of his kindred that gave him an identity, and out of his father’s house, or out of a home, wherein he had a place to lay his head. Abram left everything that gave him comfort in order to answer the call of the Lord, God of heaven. This is not unlike what happens to us, when the Lord calls us to come away from a life, wherein we’ve been given comfort. We come away from the traditions of men, cast off the bricks or mold into which men of renown have shaped us, and we leave all behind in order to become the city of God (Revelation 3:12; 21:2) or living stones (2Peter 2:5; cp. Ephesians 2:20-22) built up as a Temple of God in a land unfamiliar to us, wherein we walk with our God as pilgrims.
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[1] Consider our own modern approach to a so-called “right to life”. Christians have sought to “save the babe in the womb” by using the power of the government, which can only result in violence. The modus operandi of the spread of Christianity is preaching the Gospel, not using the power of the state to enforce its objectives.
[2] See Genesis 15:2-3 [see code #191]; Genesis 16:1-4 [see code #146]; Genesis 23:1-16 [see code #7]
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