And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east,
that they found a plain in the land of Shinar;
and they dwelt there.
Genesis 11:2
"As Noah's descendants increased in number, apostasy soon led to division. Those who desired to forget their Creator, and to cast off the restraint of His law, decided to separate from the worshipers of God. Accordingly they journeyed to the plain of Shinar, on the banks of the river Euphrates. Here they decided to build a city, and in it a tower reaching unto heaven,--so high that no flood could rise to the top, so massive that nothing could sweep it away. Thus they hoped to make themselves independent of God. 
This confederacy was born of rebellion against God. The dwellers on the plain of Shinar established their kingdom for self-exaltation, and not for the glory of God.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower [the great idol-building], which the children of men builded (Genesis 11). He defeated the purpose of the tower builders, and overthrew the memorial of their rebellion. God bears long with the perversity of men, giving them ample opportunity for repentance; but He marks all their devices to resist the authority of His just and holy law. As an evidence of His displeasure over the building of this tower, He confounded the language of the builders, so that none could understand the words of his fellow-worker."
Lessons From the Past, August 27, 1903 E.G.W.
