As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. – Genesis 11:2

Today's Scripture Reading (September 22, 2024): Genesis 11

The settling of the American and Canadian West has always intrigued me. It might seem obvious to most, but the story of the American and Canadian West is basically the same tale. The two governments may have had different policies when dealing with the First Nations, but many similar actions existed between the national neighbors. The First Nations didn't recognize the artificial border that divided the North American countries. The story of settling the West is fundamentally the story of pushing the First Nations tribes, which is not a good word, but the "nations" of the First Nations sounds weird, further to the West. It is as if the white colonialists couldn't imagine beyond where they set their feet. Who could dream that Montana and Iowa would one day be home to a bunch of white settlers?

What we sometimes miss about the setting of the West was that it wasn't just the settlers who were taking over new territory. First Nations people were also learning about a new land. People who had once inhabited the forests of the eastern portion of North America had to learn to survive on the Great Plains. People of the Great Plains had to learn to survive in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Everyone had some kind of a learning curve, and it was that curve that caused most of the wars that happened between the traditional inhabitants and the white invaders. It is the original sin of the colonialists for which we are still struggling to atone.

As the nations begin to move in Genesis, we are told that they move east toward the plains of what is today Iraq. It would be one of the first places where the human race would begin to settle and build cities. Like the settling of western North America, it would involve the people trying to find new ways to live in a new place. Unlike the settling of the West, there doesn't seem to be any prior inhabitants, other than the animals that had to be pushed to the side or to land that these colonialists didn't have any momentary interest. It might have been the last time that would happen in human history.

These first colonialists settled in the Plain of Shinar. The word's etymology is still being fought over, but we know that Shinar would become known as Babylonia. It wasn't a world power, not yet, but it was a gathering spot of an emerging population and the first place where humans gathered to try to do things beyond their current abilities. It was a place to grow and settle. It became the cradle of the nations. From here, we would spread out to take over all of the world.   

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Genesis 12