The nature of man is to uphold his creation and to make the most of it. We see this happening vividly in Gen 11 when a group of men convened and baked mud to make it into bricks. They made bitumen for mortar to bind the bricks together. They aimed at building a city with a tower so tall that it would reach the heavens. Yet their ultimate aim was to make a name for themselves and abide together on the face of the earth.
When the men had decided to do these things, God came down to see the city and the tower the men were building. Note His statement, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible to them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” – Gen 11:6-7
This was how the Lord caused the people to stop building the city because when the people could no longer speak the same language, they were scattered and prevented from going about their goal. The only way to cause our enemies to back down is to confuse their language so that they will be scattered and lose their strength. They must not be allowed to speak one language and be united in their cause because if they are left to themselves, they can do anything and nothing will be impossible to them.
God did the same thing with Sennacherib when he threatened to attack Jerusalem. Hezekiah raised a cry to heaven stating how his enemies were too powerful for him, for they had had much success defeating Gozan, Harran, Rezeph, the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar, Hamath, Arpad, Lair, Sepharvaim, Hena and Ivvah. God sent Isaiah the prophet to tell King Hezekiah how Sennacherib would return the same way he came. – 2 Kings 19:28d. He then added that a remnant would take root below and bear fruit above. (verse 30). The zeal of the Lord Almighty would achieve this. (31b)
That night the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. (verses 35-36) The king was so confused by God’s dealings that he was fervently praying to Nisrok when his own two sons, Adrammelek and Sharezer, killed him with the sword (most probably his own sword).
We can extend the same logic towards building unity. If we as the people of God (one people), speak the same language of the Holy Spirit, we will no longer be confused but will understand each other. The early apostles always relied on godly counsel and spoke the same language of faith in God to have great success. Whenever our language is confused by enmity, fear, strife, pain, insecurity or despair, there is misunderstanding and tension. Instead we should seek to have a common understanding so that we can attain the goals we need to achieve.