Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:4

There are three interesting contrasts between this account and the life of Abraham that are worth noting.

First,  the post-deluvian people sought to build a city of their own, a great work of man that would inspire awe and unite them as a people.  They crafted their own building materials and set to work on a monument to themselves.  Abraham, on the other hand,

…went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.  For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:9,10

Second, the post-deluvian people desired to make a name for themselves.  They wanted to be in control; they wanted to dictate how they would be known and remembered; they wanted to be masters of their own destiny.  Conversely, Abraham heeded the call of the Lord and was given a great name by God, a constant reminder, not of what Abraham could accomplish, but what God promised to do for Abraham:

No longer shall your name be called Abram (exalted father), but your name shall be Abraham (father of a multitude), for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.

Genesis 17:5

Third, the post-deluvian people wanted to be just that – a people unto themselves.  As one people, they had enormous potential (11:6); nothing was impossible for them.  But separated, they would be common, average, and of little or no renown.  But Abraham obeyed the Lord, taking his family, leaving his country, and sojourning in a foreign land.  And the Lord blessed him by making him the father of a multitude of nations:

Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations… I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you.

Genesis 17:4,6

God confounded the proud, rebellious plans of the post-deluvian people, confusing their language and scattering them across the face of the earth.  Ironically, God promised and gave the very thing to Abraham that the people of Babel had so desired to gain for themselves:
Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
Genesis 12:1-3
A great picture of a simple yet profound truth, found in a proverb cited by both James and Peter, and as pertinent today as ever:
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
1 Peter 5:5
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