I.e., Babylon.

God’s building is of stones (1 Kings 6:7; Matt. 16:18; John 1:42; 1 Cor. 3:12a; 1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 21:18-20), which are produced by God’s divine work through creation and transformation, whereas the building of the city and tower of Babel was of bricks (cf. Exo. 1:11, 14a), which are the result of human labor through the burning of the God-created earth.

The earth is for growing life (Gen. 1:11). To make bricks is to kill, to burn, the element of the earth that grows life. In figure, the earth signifies humanity (Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Matt. 13:3-8 and notes; 1 Cor. 15:47a). Thus, the rebellion instigated by Satan kills the element within man that grows the divine life, by burning it out, and it misuses man to build up a man-made and godless life.

The city built by man’s labor signifies that man had forsaken God and replaced Him with a man-made and godless culture (see note Gen. 4:17^2a).

The tower was built for the purpose of making a name for the people and for declaring their rebellion and opposition against God. Abraham’s building an altar and calling on the name of Jehovah in Gen. 12:7-8 are in contrast to what was done here.

According to historical records and archeological evidence, the city and tower of Babel were full of the names of idols. Thus, at Babel man followed Satan, exalted himself to oppose God, rejected God’s name, denied God’s right and authority over man, and fell into idolatry. This was man’s fourth fall, a fall from human government under God’s authority to a collective rebellion of the whole human race against God under Satan’s instigation (see note Gen. 6:3^2b).

The pronoun Us here indicates that at Babel the Triune God came down personally and judged that rebellion directly. See note Gen. 1:1³.

So that mankind might not be able to form an alliance against Him, God judged rebellious mankind with division and confusion: mankind was scattered, divided, in living, no longer able to live together in one place (vv. 8-9), and confounded, confused, in language, no longer able to have the same speaking, i.e., the same understanding, opinion, and concept (vv. 7, 9). In contrast, in the proper church life there is oneness and harmony: all the believers have one mind with one opinion, and one mouth with one speaking (1 Cor. 1:10; Rom. 15:5-6; Phil. 2:2; 4:2). Cf. Acts 2:5-11.

In the rebellion of mankind at Babel, man fell to the uttermost, causing God to eventually forsake the created race of Adam and to call one man, Abraham, out of that race that He might still have a way to fulfill His original purpose in creating man (Gen. 1:26-28).

Meaning confusion.

Meaning light. According to Acts 7:2, the God of glory appeared to Abraham first in Ur of the Chaldeans, while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran (cf. v. 31). Before God’s initial appearing to Abraham, he and his family served other gods (Josh. 24:2). It was out of such a dark background of idol worship, the background of Babel (vv. 3-4), that God called Abraham, the father of faith (Rom. 4:16; Gal. 3:7). God’s coming to Abraham and appearing to him brought light to Abraham (cf. Matt. 4:16; Acts 9:1-3; 2 Cor. 4:6) and motivated him to come out of the country of satanic idolatry. See note Acts 7:2^2b and note Heb. 12:2².

God came in to call Abraham that He might have a new beginning with fallen man. God’s calling of Abraham was a transfer of race, a transfer from the created Adamic race to the called Abrahamic race (see note Rom. 4:16¹). The transfer of race in God’s calling is actually the transfer of life, from the life of Adam to the life of Christ (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21a), from the fallen life of the old creation to the stronger and better life of the new creation — the uncreated life of God. The process of this transfer of life is portrayed in the succeeding chapters of Genesis and is seen in the collective experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Chaldea was a demonic place, a land of idolatry, in Mesopotamia, a region bounded by two great rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. Thus, in order to leave Chaldea, the land of idolatry, and travel to the good land, the land of Canaan, Abraham, the first Hebrew (Gen. 14:13 and note Gen. 14:13^1a), had to cross the Euphrates. See note Heb. 1:1², par. 2 and note Heb. 11:13².

Meaning my princess.

According to Acts 7:2-3, God appeared to Abraham in Ur of the Chaldeans and called him to “come out from your land and from your relatives, and come into the land which I will show you.” This was God’s first appearing and calling to him. However, Abraham did not accept God’s calling immediately but remained in Ur for some time. After the death of Haran, Abraham’s brother (v. 28), God sovereignly caused his father, Terah, to bring the family from Ur to Haran. Thus, it was not Abraham but his father who took the initiative to leave Ur. See Acts 7:4 and note Acts 7:4¹.

Abraham came out of Chaldea, but instead of going into Canaan as God had called him (Acts 7:3), he settled in Haran. This shows Abraham’s unwillingness to respond to God’s calling absolutely.