Genesis 10-11

We read about the descendants of Japheth, Ham and Shem.  This is typically the part that most people gloss over (myself included), but there are some interesting things in here.  We read about Japheth's descendants and how they became seafaring peoples.  A descendant of Ham was the first heroic warrior on earth.  I'm sure someone much smarter than me could tell you way more about this and it's importance.

Moving on, we read about the line from Shem to Abram.  This gets more interesting because Abram (or as we may know him, Abraham) is a very important character in the book of Genesis.  We also read about how people continue living for long periods of time.  Living 500 years or 403 years or 430 years happens to some of these people well past the flood.

Abram lives in Ur of the Chaldeans where he was born.  Him and his family all live there.  His father is Terah and Abram marries Sarai (who we may know as Sarah).  There's also Lot who is Abram's nephew.  Terah, Abram's father, takes Abram and Lot (and Sarai) toward Canaan but they settle in Haran.  As we move from chapter 11 to chapter 12, we have a brief picture of where the story of Abram begins.

Oh, and I guess there's also the story of the Tower of Babel.  Everyone speaks the same language and they begin an epic project, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world”.  However, God steps in to put an end to their work.

But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
Genesis 11:5-7

The Lord confused their languages and scattered them.  Why is it such a big deal if they all unite?  Is it really such a big deal if "nothing will be impossible for them" as the Lord says?  I don't think that God was really worried or sweating in any way.  However, God was moreso putting an end to their pursuit to display their own greatness.  They built the tower for themselves to make them famous.  In contrast to this clear opposition to God, God put an end to their work.