Genesis 10 is often called the Table of Nations. It traces the families of Noah's three sons — Shem, Ham and Japheth — “according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.” It may look like a list of hard names, but it teaches a powerful truth: every nation on earth comes from one family, and every people group matters to God. Acts 17:26 says God “has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth.”
In the list we meet Nimrod, “a mighty hunter before the LORD,” whose kingdom began with Babel in the land of Shinar. Then chapter 11 goes back to explain how the nations were divided. At that time “the whole earth had one language and one speech.” The people found a plain in Shinar and said, “Come, let us make bricks.”
Their plan reveals their hearts: “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” God had told Noah to fill the earth; they wanted to stay together and make a name for themselves. Babel is the spirit of human pride — building without God, reaching for heaven on our own terms.
There is holy humor in verse 5: “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower.” Their tower that would reach the heavens was so small that God had to come down to see it. The LORD confused their language so that they could not understand one another, and He scattered them over the face of all the earth. The very thing they feared came upon them, because they would not trust God's plan.
Then Genesis 11 slows down to follow one family line: from Shem to Terah, and from Terah to Abram. Terah takes Abram, his wife Sarai and his grandson Lot out of Ur of the Chaldeans, and they settle in Haran. One sad note prepares us for what is coming: “But Sarai was barren; she had no child.” Out of a scattered world and a barren womb, God is about to build a nation by His promise.