Thank you for the question regarding the Tower of Babel and the Day of Pentecost, “If all languages are virtual, is there something to God confusing them at the tower of Babel and what happened at Pentecost (Genesis 11:9, Acts 2:6)?”
Here are some thoughts for one’s consideration:
A. The Tower of Babel is a time when the humans decided to centralize themselves in one location.
God gave the command to Adam and Eve to fill the earth. Thus the descendants of Adam and Eve were to spread outward to care for the Earth. They were living in disobedience to God.
Genesis 1 says this, “26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground” (NIV).
Genesis 11 says this, “They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other” (NIV).
The people didn’t wanted to be scattered and to care for the earth. They wanted to make a name for themselves and become centralized in one location.
The scrambling of the languages caused the people to gather in language groups and separated from each other. They were not able to become a united people due to language. Each people group had the idea of building a central organization and place for themselves. The building of cities or structures were the result of it. Thus the gathering together was not for good but for evil.
B. The Day of Pentecost was a time when the Jewish people and the proselytes gathered together to worship God.
The gathering of the Jewish people to celebrate the Day of Pentecost was to thank God for his blessings on his people for the harvest. It was a time of rejoicing and worshiping God, not of themselves or their own achievements.
God used the gathering of the Jews from different parts of the world to spread the Good News of the resurrected Jesus and the salvation that he offers to everyone.
Acts 1 says this in part of Peter’s message, “7 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call” (NIV).
It is important to note that God didn’t have all the people gathered in that day to speak the same language. They heard the message of God in their own language so that they can return to their own countries to declare what they heard on the Day of Pentecost.
SUMMARY: The gatherings of the people between the two events were with different purposes and different results. One was self-centered while the other was God-centered.
-Kingston