A skyscraper is building that juts above other buildings and changes the surrounding skyline. There is no set height that a building must reach in order to be called a skyscraper. Most modern day heavily populated cities have skyscrapers. Over the years many different buildings have been called the world’s largest. The current largest skyscraper is the Burj Khalifa Tower. This tower is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and it stands two thousand seven hundred and seventeen feet tall (2717 ft). They estimate that it cost 1.5 billion dollars to build the tower. Can you imagine that 1.5 billion dollars? This however is not the tallest tower in the history of the world. The tallest tower was the tower of Babel built on the plain of Shinar. It was the original Burj Khalifa tower.
Soon after the great flood a group of people came together and decided to make a name for themselves by building a city and a tower to try and reach the heavens. They were trying to keep themselves from being scattered all over the world. While they were working on this tower, the Lord came down to see what they were doing. When the Lord saw that they were accomplishing their goal, he said that because they all spoke one language and were able to do this together that there was nothing that would be impossible for them. The Lord then confused their languages so that they couldn’t understand each other and spread them out across the world.
It’s amazing how even during the early days of existence, people wanted to see how high they can build a tower. Although there is so much land and space available in the world, people populate a certain area. When they ran out of land the only place to go is up. That is when skyscrapers are built. They are built for offices, hotels, stores, and apartments. The Burj Khalifa tower has over 900 apartments in it. The tower of Babel wasn’t built for apartments, or stores, or offices. It was built so that the people of the world could make a name for themselves so that they wouldn’t be scattered across the world.
Isn’t it interesting that they wanted to make a name for themselves? I think in modern times, that is why architects and countries shoot to build the world’s biggest skyscraper. They want to make a name for themselves for having the world’s largest skyscraper. There isn’t a need for the largest skyscraper, we aren’t without space which would require us to build upward. I don’t think spending 1.5 billion dollars just so you can have the world’s largest skyscraper is very practical either.
The fact is that this want, this need to go toward the heavens is not a new concept. It was started thousands of years ago before the world was even vastly populated like it is now. Wouldn’t it be interesting to know if any the people who build skyscrapers in the world today are direct decedents of those that engineered the tower of Babel? Maybe it’s just in their blood to build tall buildings.
I plan to reach heaven one day, but trust me it will not be in a tower. The world needs to focus on their individual personal towers instead of building skyscrapers. Each of us has it with us to reach higher than any tower that could possibly be built. When we focus on our personal beliefs, talents, and abilities and we keep Christ first in our lives, we are growing a foundation that will lead to a tower that will reach high above all other towers and we will reach heaven. The height of neither the Burj Khalifa tower nor the tower of Babel will ever come close to the heights that we will reach.
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