Genesis 11:8: So the LORD scattered them (the people at Babel) abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.
This verse describes an event so ancient it's outside recorded history in the records of most civilizations, but it's a modern verse, because recent discoveries in human genetics have found evidence of an "exploratory gene." In other words, the desire to explore is born in us, and exists in a fairly large percentage of the population.
It's well known that humans explore and migrate. The United States (where I live) was explored, colonized, and inhabited numerous times before the present occupants came from Europe; some folks came from Europe before the settlers; others came from Asia--but what makes people interested in exploring new lands, finding new places to live? Apparently it's a God-created desire--one that started in ancient days, before recorded history, and which is part of our genome:
Exploration Gene(s)
Considering this from a Christian perspective, it's awe-inspiring to know that the desire to find new places, to enjoy new territories, to go where others have not--is from God. Of course, it's an open question whether this gene (or genes) arose as a result of God activating something in our genetic makeup, or if God actually created a new part of our genome to force us out and beyond the "land of Shinar..."
