God’s promises require a response of trusting obedience...

This week, we have been looking at a section of the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis, where we have seen God engage a man named Abram in a conversation. Wednesday, we looked on as the Lord appeared to Abram and promised Abram that “while you are an outsider here now, there will be a day in the future when your descendants will be here as insiders. There will be a day when this will be the place from which through your descendants, all humanity would have the opportunity to find blessing as you found a blessing.”

Abram responded by building an altar to demonstrate that he believed and trusted in God’s promise that he would receive the land. In building the altar, the altar would serve as a symbol that he trusted and believed that one day his descendants would dwell in the land. Today, we will see that Abram was not done traveling, as we see in Genesis 12:8:

 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the LORD.  Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

After building the altar at Shechem, Abram followed God to a mountainous area that was between the Canaanite cities of Bethel and Ai. Moses tells us that it is here that Abram pitched his tent. In other words, Abram and those with Abram set up camp and stayed here for a significant period of time. Instead of staying in the cities of Shechem, Bethel, or Ai, Abram camped on the outskirts as an outsider.

And as Abram remained in this area, we see Abram respond to the Lord’s activity in his life by building a second altar. This altar, however, was not simply to serve as a symbol. Instead, this altar was built and used by Abram to call upon the name of the Lord. Now this phrase literally means that Abram proclaimed and worshipped the Lord. Abram offered sacrifices of worship to God and made much of God.

Now the Bible does not tell us exactly how long Abram remained in this area. What we do see, however, in verse 9, is that after a significant period of time, Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev. Now a natural question that arises here is “why is Abram continuing to travel. I mean, God had already promised him this land, so why is Abram moving on?”  To understand why Abram is still traveling, we first need to understand where the Negev is located. The Negev refers to the southern desert area between Jerusalem and Egypt.

You see, the reason that Abram is still traveling is because God is still showing him all the land that was promised to his descendants. Starting from the north and traveling south, the Lord led Abram on a journey to take a tour of the Promised Land. And each leg of that journey required Abram to trust and obey the Lord as he was led into the unknown.

And it is here, in this story, that we see God reveal to us a timeless truth when it comes to God’s promises. And that timeless truth is that God’s promises require a response of trusting obedience. Just as it was for Abram; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; experiencing God and the promises of God require a response. And that response involves is a response of trust and of obedience.

Just as it was for Abram, God has provided us clear direction when it comes to how we experience and live in relationship with Him. And God’s direction has been the same throughout history: follow Me to the place where I will show you. You see, the Lord never reveals our life story by telling us how the story of our lives is going to end. Instead, the Lord, day by day, says “follow Me today. Follow Me and My word today and trust Me that I am leading you the right way to the right place”. God call to us, just as it was to Abram, is to obey Him and trust Him with the results of that obedience.

So whether you are a follower of Jesus or you are not sure that you buy the whole Jesus, Bible, church thing, here is the question for us to consider. How are you responding to God’s call to follow Him to the place He will show you? And who are you going to trust?

Are you going to trust God? Are you going to obey God and trust God with the results of that obedience? Are you going to leave your past and what you have known in the past behind to follow God? Or are you going to stay far from God, focused on the familiar, the comfortable?

Because God’s promises require a response of trusting obedience.

A Decision Toward The Unknown...

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw God engage a man named Abram in a conversation. Actually it was not much of a conversation. Instead it was the Lord giving Abram a command: The Lord commanded Abram to leave his country, his culture, and the religious system of his family behind. Abram was to leave all that he had previously known behind in order to go to the land which I will show you. The Lord did not provide Abram a destination; instead Abram was simply pointed in the right direction and told to get going.

You see, Abram has a decision to make. And the decision that Abram had to make is the very same decision that we have to make, isn’t it? The decision that Abraham faced, and that we face, is this: Am I going to trust God? Am I going to obey God?  Am I going to leave what I have known in the past to follow God? Or am I going to stay far from God, focused on the familiar, the comfortable. We see Moses record for us Abram’s response in Genesis 12:4:

So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

Moses records for us that Abram responded to God’s command to leave his country, his culture, and the religious system of his family behind to follow Him by trusting and obeying God. Abram started to follow the Lord, one day at a time, one step at a time. Moses tells us that Abram was seventy five years old when he departed from Haran.

But why would Moses mention his age. I mean, is his age really that significant? As we will see throughout this series, Abram’s age is mentioned here because this is a pivotal point in Abram’s life. You see, God had brought Abram to a fork in the road, so to speak. This decision would serve to be a turning point in Abram’s life that would have a profound impact on his life.

Maybe you find yourself at the same place that Abram was. Maybe you find yourself at a fork in the road, faced with a decision: Which way should I go? Should I stay far from God? Or should a trust and follow God? Should I keep on the road that is resulting in me making decisions that disobey God? Or should I pivot away from that road and turn towards a life that trusts and obeys God with the decisions that I make?

For Abram, his decision was to obey God and trust God with the results of that obedience. And as Abram left, he did not leave alone. Along with Abram and Sarai, his wife, Moses tells us that Lot also made the journey away from Haran and to the unknown. As we discovered in Genesis 11:28, Lot’s father had previously passed away. So Abram had responsibility to care for Lot. In addition, Abram’s wife Sarai had no children, so Lot was a potential heir to all that Abram and Sarai owned.

So Abram, Sarai, and Lot packed up and headed south from Haran as they followed the Lord’s direction. Now this was not a short trip. Most scholars believe that this journey was approximately 400 miles long and would have taken them around a month to complete. Moses tells us that the Lord led Abram to the land of Canaan. Moses tells us what happens next in verse 6:

Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. The LORD appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

Abraham entered into the northern end of the land of Canaan and traveled to Shechem, which was located in the center of the Land of Canaan. However, Abram could not take possession of the land because it was already possessed by the Canaanites. So Abram found himself as an alien in a foreign land with foreign culture, traditions, and religions, which made what happened next all the more amazing.

Moses tells us that Abram had another encounter with the Lord. This time, however, Abram did not simply hear from the Lord. Instead, the Lord appeared to Abram. And as the Lord appeared to Abram, the Lord proclaimed to Abram an amazing promise: "To your descendants I will give this land."

In other words, God says to Abram “while you are an outsider here now, there will be a day in the future when your descendants will be here as insiders. There will be a day when this will be the place from which your descendants would become a great nation. There will be a day when this will be the place from which your name would be made much of. There will be a day when this will be the place from which through your descendants, all humanity would have the opportunity to find blessing as you found a blessing.”

Moses records for us that Abram responded to the Lord’s appearance and promise by building an altar. However, nowhere does Moses tell us that Abram worshipped from the altar. Now this raises a question, which is “then why even build the altar?”  Abram built an altar to demonstrate that he believed and trusted in God’s promise that he would receive the land. You see, in building the altar, the altar would serve as a symbol that he trusted and believed that one day his descendants would dwell in the land.

However, Abram was not done traveling. Friday, we will see where Abram would be heading next…

A Command And A Promise That Calls For A Decision...

For the past several months, we have been looking at the very first letter that is recorded for us in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. This week, we are going to see God engage a descendant of Shem named Abram, who we met last week. And as God chooses to engage Abram and lead Abram on a journey that will powerfully impact all of humanity, we will see revealed for us several timeless promises that God makes as God.

And for the next several weeks we will see that it is in God’s promises, and how we respond to God and His promises, that powerfully impact our lives as well. So let’s launch into this series by looking together at Genesis 12:1:

Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you;

Moses brings us into this story by giving us a glimpse into a conversation involving the main character in the story. To fully understand what is happening here, however, we first need to understand the context for this conversation.  As we discovered last week, Abram was a descendant of Shem, who was one of the three sons of Noah. In Genesis 11:27-31, we discovered that Abram’s father, who was named Terah, along with Abram’s nephew Lot decided to leave the region of Ur of the Chaldeans.

Now the region of Ur of the Chaldeans was where the tower of Babel was built, and is located in the southern region of what is now modern day Iraq. This region was marked by a large, wealthy population of people who worshipped false gods. However, for reasons that we are not told, the family left the region of Ur of the Chaldeans and traveled northwest to settle in a town called Haran. The families established themselves in Haran and, as we will see in a few minutes, were prospering there. However, Terah and the majority of the family still were enmeshed in the worship of false gods.

And it is in this context that the Lord decides to engage Abram in a conversation. Actually it was not much of a conversation. Instead it was the Lord giving Abram a command: "Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father's house, To the land which I will show you”. In other words, the Lord commands Abram to leave his country, his culture, and the religious system of his family behind. Abram was to leave all that he had previously known behind in order to go to the land which I will show you.

So, the Lord did not provide Abram a destination; instead Abram was simply pointed in the right direction and told to get going. “So God, you want me to leave everything behind to follow you? Yup. O.K., where am I going? Oh, you’re going that way. O.K. I understand that I am going that way, but where am I going to? How will I know when I have arrived? I’ll let you know, just start walking that way.” Abram was to leave all that he held dear for the unknown.

Now, I don’t know about you, but a natural question that I would have had at this point is this: why? Why am I supposed to leave everything that I hold dear for the unknown? What is waiting for me out there? The Lord, anticipating that question, provides the answer to that question in the form of an amazing promise in Genesis 12:2. Let’s look at it together:

 And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."

In these two verses, we see the Lord make seven specific promises to Abram. However, it is important to understand that these promises were based on Abram’s obedience. Notice what God says here: Go forth from your country and your relatives to a land which I will show you and I will do… So the promises are based on Abram leaving all that he knew behind to follow the Lord into the unknown.

First, God promises Abram “I will make you a great nation”.  The Lord promises Abram that his obedience would result in his descendants becoming a great nation. From one individual, God was going to form a nation that would be the vehicle that He would use to reveal Himself to the world. Second, God promises Abram that “I will bless you”. Now this phrase “I will bless you” literally means to declare a person to be endowed or gifted with power for success, prosperity, and fertility. So the Lord is promising Abram that his obedience would result in a life of blessing for himself and his family.

Third, God promises Abram that “I will make your name great”. In other words, the Lord is promising to work in such a way in Abram’s life that his name would be extolled and praised. Abram’s obedience would result in him being made much of by others. Fourth, God promises Abram that “so you shall be a blessing. The Lord is promising Abram that his obedience would result in him being a blessing to others. Abram’s obedience would result in others experiencing success, prosperity, and fertility, as well.

Fifth and sixth, God promises Abram that “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse”. Here we see the Lord promise Abram that his obedience would result in protection. For those who bless Abram, they will experience God’s blessing as well. However, for those who choose to oppose Abram, there would be a much different response from God.  The phrase “And the one who curses you I will curse” in the language that this letter was originally written in, literally means that the one who reviles or disdains you I will bind under a curse. The Lord here is promising protection to Abram against those who would insult, disrespect, or oppose him.

And seventh, God promises Abram that “And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed”. Now when the Lord says all the families of the earth, He is not referring to every single family. Instead, this phrase refers to people from every different people group. The Lord here is promising Abram that his obedience would result in individuals from every people group and culture, being blessed. In Abram, in other words what God was going to do through Abram and Abram’s descendants, all humanity would have the opportunity to find blessing as Abram found blessing.

Now I want us to take a minute and imagine ourselves as Abram. Place yourself in his shoes. Out of the blue, God speaks to you. And God’s message is simple and to the point: “I want you to leave all that you have ever known behind and follow Me to the place that I will show you. You just start walking in that direction until I tell you to stop”. God asks you to leave your country, your culture, and the religious system that you have known all your life to go to who knows where. You are Abram. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? How would you respond?

You see, Abram has a decision to make. And the decision that Abram had to make is the very same decision that we have to make, isn’t it? The decision that Abraham faced, and that we face, is this: Am I going to trust God? Am I going to obey God?  Am I going to leave what I have known in the past to follow God? Or am I going to stay far from God, focused on the familiar, the comfortable?

Tomorrow, we will see Abram’s response…

The curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God...

This week, we are looking at a story in the book of Genesis, where humanity united as a result of a common language and common vocabulary and united in their prideful and arrogant selfishness and rebellion, began to build a fortress city that would stand in opposition to God and would enable them to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth. This fortress city would enable humanity to be self sufficient and secure from being scattered by God throughout the earth.

Yesterday, we saw God mix up their languages and then drive them from where they wanted to live into every different direction, so as to scatter them across the earth. God forces humanity to do what humanity refused to do, which was to fulfill God’s commandment in Genesis 9:1 to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Instead of finding sufficiency and security in their prideful selfishness and rebellion, humanity was humbled and scattered by God across the planet.

Today, we will see Moses record for us how God gave humanity a timeless reminder of His response to what humanity had attempted in verse 9: 

 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

Moses records for us that the city that was started out of the prideful selfishness and rebellion of humanity who were united in opposition to God and was stopped by God in a way that humbled, divided and confused humanity was given the name Babel. The word Babel, in the language that this letter was written in, is a play on words with a word that means to confuse. The city was named Babel to serve as a timeless reminder of the prideful and selfish rebellion of humanity and God’s response to that rebellion.

The fortress city that was built by humanity to rebel against God and make much of themselves was now named to remind humanity of God as being the One who is to be made much of as the all powerful Creator and King of the universe. And it is in this story that we see God reveal for us another timeless consequence that the curse of selfishness and rebellion brings to humanity. And that timeless consequence is this: The curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God. Just as it was with the descendants of Noah and his three sons, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us.

As it has been throughout human history, there is something within us that desires to overstep our place in creation to make much of ourselves so as to worship ourselves. There is something within us that desires to pridefully and selfishly rebel against God by making much of ourselves instead of making much of God. There is something within us that desire to be the star in our own story instead of playing the relatively small role that God gives us in His story.

In the story of the Tower of Babel we see that reality that the human heart had not changed. In spite of the flood, in spite of God extending grace over and over again, the human heart was still the same. Just as it was with our first parents in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3, humanity continued to selfishly rebel and reject the relationship with God that they were created for. Now at natural question that arises here is this: “so what happens next? What about God’s promises of Genesis chapter 9? What about Noah’s prediction about the descendants of Shem in Genesis 9:27?” 

In Genesis 11:10-26, we see Moses provide for us the family tree of Shem, who was one of the three sons of Noah. And beginning in Genesis 11:27, we see Moses record the following:

Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. Sarai was barren; she had no child. Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

In these verses, we see Moses set the stage for the next chapter of God’s story by providing for us the cast of characters that will play a major role in the story. You see, while humanity continued to rebel against God, God was not done with humanity. And through a descendant of Shem named Terah, a son named Abram would be born. And as we will see next week, God would begin to choose to engage Abram and lead him on a journey that will powerfully impact all of humanity.

In the meantime, here is a question to consider: what story are you a part of? Are you attempting to be the star of your story? Or are you embracing the role that you have been offered in God’s story? Are you focused on making much of yourself? Or are you focused on making much of God? Because, as we have seen, the curse of our selfishness and rebellion produces a desire to make much of us instead of making much of God.

 However, the problem with making much of us by making ourselves the star of our own story is that there is only one story that does not end with the words “the end”. And that story is God’s story. And to be a part of God’s story requires that we recognize and worship God as the star of His story and embrace the relatively small role that we have been given to play in His huge story. And we embrace that role in God’s story when we respond to what God has done through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, by believing, trusting, and following Jesus as Lord and Leader.

A Response That Results In Confusion...

This week, we are looking at a section of the very first letter in the Bible, called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw humanity, united as a result of a common language and common vocabulary and united in their prideful and arrogant selfishness and rebellion, begin to build a fortress city that would stand in opposition to God and would enable them to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth. This fortress city would enable humanity to be self sufficient and secure from being scattered by God throughout the earth.

Today, we will see God’s response as humanity built this fortress city to rebel against God and make much of themselves, beginning in Genesis 11:5:

 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

The triune God responded to the rebellion by coming to earth to inspect and investigate the rebellion. Here we see Moses reveal for us the irony of the situation. While humanity in its rebellion was attempting to build a tower to reach into Heaven, the tower was in fact so far from Heaven that God had to come do to get a look at the city and its tower.

And here we see the reality that humanities greatest achievements and attempts at glory and splendor are miniscule and microscopic when compared to God’s greatness and splendor. We see the prophet Isaiah paint a word picture that reveals this reality for us in Isaiah 40:22:

It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

You see, the triune God did not come down to inspect and investigate the rebellion because He did not know what was going on. God is not seeking information here. Instead, as is the case throughout the Bible, we see God come down to earth as a prelude to Him exercising His right and just response to selfishness and rebellion. And as God inspects, investigates, and prepares for His response to the rebellion of humanity, we see Him make an amazing statement about the nature of humanity in Genesis 6:6:

 The LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another's speech."

Here we see God make an amazing statement about human potential: "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them”. You see humanity was divinely designed with amazing capacity and capabilities. And humanity was united. Humanity was on the same page and was moving in the same direction. All of humanity was united under one language and a common vocabulary.

Unfortunately, the heart and motivations that united humanity were corrupt to the core. Humanity was divinely designed with amazing capabilities and capacities and God’s image bearers, but now those capacities and capabilities were corrupted by their prideful selfishness and rebellion that opposed God and wanted to be like God.

This phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: Because of the unity and capacity that humanity has, their prideful and selfish rebellion will continue to grow and fester into even greater evil and will remove any desire to see their need for rescue unless this building project is stopped.

Here we see that just like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, humanity is once again attempting to overstep their place in creation to instead make much of themselves so as to be worshipped. And just like Genesis 3, God enters into the selfishness and rebellion in order to provide an opportunity for rescue as an act of judgment and grace. God did not come down simply to inspect and investigate what was happening. Instead God came down to actively put a stop to the selfish rebellion that was happening.

Moses records for us the Triune God responded to the prideful and selfish rebellion of humanity with a plan, and that plan was to come down to earth confuse the language of humanity, so that they would not understand one another. When God states that He would confuse their language, this phrase literally means to mix, mingle or confuse something. You see, by mixing their languages, God would divide their prideful rebellion by humbling and confusing them. We see God put His plan into action in verse 8:

 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

Can you imagine what that must have been like? Let’s take a minute and place yourself in the story. One minute you are able to connect and communicate with everyone. The next minute people are speaking a totally different language. The neighbor that you used to talk to; your boss; even your best friend are speaking in a language that you do not understand. There no longer is a common language or a common vocabulary. Instead of understanding you have confusion. Instead of unity you have division.

But God did not simply stop at confusing their languages. God mixed up their languages and then drove them from where they wanted to live into every different direction, so as to scatter them across the earth. God forces humanity to do what humanity refused to do, which was to fulfill God’s commandment in Genesis 9:1 to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Instead of finding sufficiency and security in their prideful selfishness and rebellion, humanity was humbled and scattered by God across the planet.

Tomorrow, we will see God give humanity a timeless reminder of His response to what humanity had attempted…

A Common Language And A Common Rebellion...

For the past few weeks we have been looking at a section of the very first letter in our Bible, called the book of Genesis, where we have discovered several consequences that Adam and Eve’s act of selfishness and rebellion cursed the creation with. This week I would like for us to pick up where we left off last week. And as we enter back into the book of Genesis, we will discover another timeless consequence that the curse of selfishness and rebellion brings to humanity. So let’s do that together, beginning in Genesis 11:1:

Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

As we enter back into the book of Genesis, we see Moses provide for us the context for the story that we are going to look at this morning. Moses explains that at this point in human history, the whole earth used the same language and the same words. Now this phrase, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means that the entire human race not only spoke the same language. In addition, the entire human race had the same vocabulary. Words were defined the same way by every human being.

You see, up to this point in God’s story, all of humanity was united under one language and a common vocabulary. Part of being created in the image of God; part of bearing God’s thumbprint in our lives, is that we were divinely designed for relationships and deep and meaningful communication. One of the things that separate humanity from the rest of creation is this unbridgeable gap between humanity and the rest of creation when it comes to communication. The reality that humanity originally had a common language is further evidence of the reality that we are the result of God’s creative activity, not evolution.

Moses then explains that after the flood, the descendants of Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Jepheth, journeyed east from the place which the ark had originally settled.  Now this journey occurred over the span of several hundred years. And during that time, we see humanity begin the process of repopulating the earth after the flood.

As a matter of fact, Genesis chapter 10 records for us the genealogies, or the family trees, of the three sons of Noah. Thus, Genesis chapter 10 and Genesis chapter 11 are complimentary in nature. Genesis 11 unpacks for us how the people listed in Genesis chapter 10 arrived at the places where they eventually settled.

Moses records for us that after several hundred years the descendants of the three sons of Noah arrived in the land of Shinar and settled there. The land of Shinar is located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now modern day Iraq, which is marked in red on this map. Now, with this context in mind, Moses then brings us into the story, beginning in Genesis 11:3. Let’s look at it together:

They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

Now to understand the significance of what is happening here, we first need to understand the command that God had given Noah and his sons after He had rescued them from the flood. In Genesis 9:1, God commanded Noah and his sons to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. After extending grace to humanity through Noah and his family, God commanded humanity to produce life.

However, Instead of following God’s command in Genesis 9:1 to fill the earth, humanity decided to rebel against God’s command and settle together in one place by building a large city. Moses then reveals for us the motivation that drove their rebellion: "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name,”. You see, this city was to serve a symbol. This city was to serve as a sign of humanities self sufficiency. This city was to be built by humanity, for humanity, in order to represent the greatness of humanity. Let us build for ourselves a city.

And as part of this huge city, there would be a tower whose top would reach into heaven. Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “But Dave, why would humanity want to build a tower that would reach into heaven if they were rebelling against God?” The reason why humanity was motivated to build a tower that reached into Heaven was because this tower would be humanities attempt to confront God and challenge God’s greatness.

Just like Eve, humanity had a desire to become like God instead of walking with God. Humanity wanted to look God in the eye and challenge God as an equal instead of living in the relationship with God that they were created for. As Moses records for us in the second half of verse 4, humanity wanted to make for ourselves a name. In other words, instead of making much of God, humanity wanted to make much of themselves.

Humanity, united as a result of a common language and common vocabulary and united in their prideful and arrogant selfishness and rebellion, began to build a fortress city that would stand in opposition to God and would enable them to rebel against God’s command to fill the earth. This fortress city would enable humanity to be self sufficient and secure from being scattered by God throughout the earth.

Tomorrow, we will see how God responded to humanity as they built this fortress city to rebel against God and make much of themselves…

The curse of our selfishness and rebellion results in us being driven by a desire to dishonor instead of honor...

This week, we are continuing to look at the story of Noah and the Ark. Wednesday, we saw that God’s sign for all humanity throughout history to be reminded of God’s promise to never flood the earth is the rainbow. In the rainbow in the midst of the rainstorm, we see a word picture that is Divinely designed to remind us of God’s right and just response to selfishness and sin and God’s grace and mercy towards selfishness and sin. We see God as a promise maker and a promise keeper. We see humanity given a new and fresh start with a new and fresh hope. Today, as we jump back into this story, we see humanities response to the new and fresh hope in Genesis 9:18:

 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

So, Noah responds to the new and fresh hope that he had received as a result of God’s grace by getting drunk and passing out naked? Really? Noah gets drunk and naked in his tent? When people tell me that they do not read the Bible because the Bible is boring, I often wonder how much of the Bible that they have read, because the Bible is filled with stories that are far from boring. But why did Noah get naked? Was the effect of the wine resulting in him having hot flashes? Was he hot? Was he naked because he was trying to set the stage for a night of romance with his wife? Or was he just being drunk and stupid?

Moses does not say. All that Moses tells us is that Noah allowed himself to become controlled an influenced by the wine to the point that he passed out in his tent. What Moses does tell us is that Ham, who was the youngest son of Noah, saw him naked and went out and told his brothers. Now to fully understand the significance of what Ham did here, we first need to understand something about the ancient cultural norms of the day.

You see, in ancient societies, the honoring of one’s parents was seen as a sacred duty. And as part of honoring your parents, you would have never let your parents be seen in a dishonorable situation. Part of honoring your parents would be to tactfully cover up any dishonorable behavior by your parents.

Ham, however, does the exact opposite. Ham gazes and gawks at his drunk and passed our father and then calls his brothers to join in the fun. Ham’s brothers, on the other hand, do what Ham refused to do. Instead of joining in on dishonoring their father, Ham’s brothers honored their father by gracefully and tactfully covering up their father’s dishonor. The brothers walked backwards, in honor of their father, and then covered his naked body with a cloak. We see Noah’s response to each of his son’s actions in verse 24:

When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. "May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant." Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

Noah, upon awakening from his drunken stupor, becomes aware of the responses of each of his three sons to his dishonorable behavior. Upon discovering Ham’s dishonorable actions towards him, Noah responds by cursing Canaan, who was the son of Ham. But this morning why would Noah curse the son of Ham instead of Ham himself? I mean it was not Canaan who was dishonorable?

As Noah looked at the responses of his three sons, he saw a reflection of the heart attitudes toward him and God’s activity in their lives. Noah saw in the actions of his sons the nature and character that drove those actions. And Noah’s response to what he saw was to proclaim what the future would hold for their descendants. You see, what one generation does in moderation, another generation will do in excess. What is caught and taught by one generation will be passed down and amplified by the next generation.

And that is exactly what happened in this story. The descendants of Ham, which later became known as the Canaanites, developed into perhaps one of the most wicked cultures that ever existed. The Canaanites as a culture was marked by a desire to dishonor God and to dishonor others. And it is in this story that we see God reveal for us a timeless consequence that the curse of selfishness and rebellion brings to humanity. And that timeless consequence is that the curse of our selfishness and rebellion results in us being driven by a desire to dishonor instead of honor.

Just as it was with Ham, just as it has been for humanity throughout history, our selfishness and rebellion produces within us a desire to dishonor others. I mean, if we were brutally honest this morning, how often can we find ourselves in the same place as Ham? How often do we want to have the honor that others have received and do not want others to have the honor that they received? How often can we be tempted to dishonor others so that we can be in a position to receive honor? How often can we be tempted to absorb honor and glory for our accomplishments instead of deflecting that honor and glory to God? You see, these are not 2013 issues; these are human nature issues.

So here are some questions to consider. What do your attitudes and actions reveal about what drives the desires of your life? Are your attitudes and actions driven by a desire to dishonor? To dishonor God? To dishonor family? To dishonor coworkers? To dishonor classmates? Or are your attitudes and actions driven by a desire to honor God and others?

Are you driven by a desire to absorb honor and glory? Are you a glory hog? Or are you driven by a desire to deflect honor and glory to God and others?

A Sign that Serves as a Reminder....

This week, we are continuing to look at the story of Noah and the Ark, which is recorded for us in the very first letter of the Bible, called the book of Genesis. Yesterday, we saw God stop the rain and recede the waters of the flood. After 300 days, the earth was now dry. However, Noah was still on the ark, waiting for the o.k. to reenter the world. Today, we see what happens next in verse 13:

 Now it came about in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, on the first of the month, the water was dried up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the surface of the ground was dried up. In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry. Then God spoke to Noah, saying, "Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and your sons' wives with you. "Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you, birds and animals and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, that they may breed abundantly on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth." So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him. Every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, everything that moves on the earth, went out by their families from the ark.

70 days after the dove had failed to return back to the ark, Noah removes the covering that served as the roof for the ark to discover that as he looked across the earth, he saw earth. The earth was dry. However Noah, while having evidence from his observations that the earth was dry, wanted to hear from the Lord as to when he was to leave the ark.

And after 377 days in the ark, God does in fact speak to Noah, commanding him to lead his family, along with all of the animals out of the ark and into the world. And as God’s creation entered back into the world God commanded the creation to repopulate the earth. Moses records for us that Noah responded by faithfully following God’s command and left the ark to reenter the world. We then see Moses reveal for us another way that Noah responded to God’s grace in verse 20:

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. The LORD smelled the soothing aroma; and the LORD said to Himself, "I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, And cold and heat, And summer and winter, And day and night Shall not cease."

Noah responded to God’s gracious in his life by worshipping God. And as Noah built an altar and expressed his thanksgiving and joy in worship to God’s gracious activity in his life, we see Moses paint for us a word picture to describe God’s response to Noah’s worship. The phrase smelled that soothing aroma conveys a word picture of acceptance and the extending of peace. Noah’s act of worship was received by God and appeased that His right and just response to selfishness and rebellion.

God then makes an amazing statement that reveals an amazing promise: I will never again curse the ground on account of man, for the intent of man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will never again destroy every living thing, as I have done. But this morning, what does that mean? What is God promising here?

When God states that He will never again curse the ground on account of man, He is not removing the curse of Genesis 3. Instead, God is promising that He will never again add additional judgment to humanity that was over and above the curse. You see, the flood was God’s judgment over and above the curse that he had pronounced at the selfishness and rebellion of Adam and Eve. God is revealing for us the reality that the human heart had not changed as a result of the flood. The human heart was still and is still bent and intent on selfishness and rebellion from birth.

However, God’s response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity would be to extend even greater grace to the human race. God would respond to the rebellion of humanity by continually pursuing humanity and extending opportunities for grace, forgiveness, and restoration to the relationship with God and one another that they were created for. God would graciously pursue humanity as He restored the rhythm of life that the earth experienced before the flood but after the sin of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3.

The earth would still experience the consequences of Adam and Eve’s rebellion, but would not experience another earth-wide act of God’s justice and judgment. God then turns the focus of His response from His promise to humanity and toward a conversation with humanity, beginning in Genesis 9:1:

And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. "The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. "Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant. "Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. "Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man. "As for you, be fruitful and multiply; Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

Here we see God reveal to Noah two significant changes that would occur in human relationships as a result of the flood. First, we see that the relationship between humanity and the animal kingdom was changed as a result of the flood. As a result of the flood, humanity was now allowed to use the animal kingdom for food. The flood did not bring the creation back to Genesis 1; instead there are still consequences for the curse of selfishness and rebellion, which includes a changed relationship between humanity the animals. Humans were now allowed to take the life of an animal for food.

However, while humanity was given the right to willingly take the life of a member of the animal kingdom, God makes perfectly clear that no such right extended to human beings themselves. So second, we see a change when it came to the consequences for willingly taking the life of another human being. God’s consequence for willingly and thoughtfully taking another’s life was death. Murder was to receive a punishment that matched the crime.

Today, we call this capital punishment. And as you might imagine, the subject of capital punishment provokes strong and heated debate from those on both side of the issue. And while a discussion on capital punishment would be a sermon in itself, I want to take a minute to address the most common objection that I hear from those who oppose capital punishment, which is that capital punishment is inhumane and devalues life.

If you would identify with that statement, I would like to challenge that objection. And my challenge to that objection comes from this verse. God established capital punishment to demonstrate how much He values life. God cares and values life so much that He demands the life of those who would take another’s life. Because mankind is created in the image of God; because mankind was designed to represent and reflect the nature and character of God on earth; and because God values all human life; He demands the life of those who would take another’s life by the act of murder. Instead of taking life, God commands humanity to produce life. God then provides an amazing sign that would serve to remind humanity of God’s promise in verse 8:

Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, "Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. "I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. "It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. "When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth."

God’s sign for all humanity throughout history to be reminded of God’s promise to never flood the earth is the rainbow. As we saw earlier, when God states that I will remember My covenant, God is not saying that He had forgotten His promise. The word remembered is one of action that conveys that sense of remembering in a way that extends grace and mercy to someone so as to rescue them from death. You see, just as the clouds and the storms would serve as a reminder of God’s power and His right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of humanity, the rainbow would serve as a reminder of God’s grace and mercy to rebellious humanity.

Now does that change how you view a thunderstorm? How does that change how you view a rainbow? In the rainbow in the midst of the rainstorm, we see a word picture that is Divinely designed to remind us of God’s right and just response to selfishness and sin and God’s grace and mercy towards selfishness and sin. We see God as a promise maker and a promise keeper. We see humanity given a new and fresh start with a new and fresh hope.

Friday, we will see humanities response to the new and fresh hope they were given…

Wondering and Waiting...

Last week we began to look at section of the book of Genesis that records for us one of the most familiar stories in the entire Bible. In the story of Noah and the ark, we discovered that the curse of our selfishness and rebellion results in us being rebellious to the core and God being outraged to the core. We discovered that the story of Noah and the ark serves as a reminder of God’s judgment to those who reject Him and a sign of grace to those who trust in Him. Just as Noah placed his confident trust in God and His promises, we must place our confident trust in Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promises.

This week, I would like for us to jump back into the story of Noah and the ark. Before we jump back into the story, however, let’s take a minute to set the context for where we are jumping into. 120 years after God had commanded Noah to build the ark. After spending approximately 75 years building the ark in the midst of ridicule from others; God commands Noah, his family, and the animals to enter into the ark. Once in the ark, God closed the door of the ark, at which point God proceeded to flood the earth.  For 150 days straight, God flooded the earth with rain above and from water below to cover even the highest mountaintop with water. 

Now I would like for you to place yourself in this story. Imagine yourself on the ark as part of Noah’s family. What would you be thinking? What would be running through your mind as you listened to the screams of those who were drowning as they tried to get on the ark?  How would you be feeling? What would you feel as day after day you heard nothing but the sound of rain and felt the rolling of the ark on the stormy water?

\How would you respond? Remember, God never said how long it would take to flood the earth; God only said that He was going to flood the earth. So how would you respond after a week? A month? Two months? Three months of steady rain? Four months? How would you respond after five months of stormy seas and silence from God? Because, it is in this context that we are going to enter back into this story, beginning in Genesis 8:1. Let’s look at it together:

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in the ark;

Now when Moses says that God remembered Noah, he is not saying that God had forgotten about Noah. God was not preoccupied and then said “Oh Yeah, I almost forgot about Noah”. The word remembered here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, conveys that sense of remembering in a way that extends grace and mercy to someone so as to rescue them from death. The word remember here is one of action, not intellect. After flooding the earth for 150 days, God acted by extending grace to Noah and all who were on the ark. We see Moses record for us exactly how God acted in the rest of verse 1:

and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided. Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained; and the water receded steadily from the earth, and at the end of one hundred and fifty days the water decreased. In the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested upon the mountains of Ararat. The water decreased steadily until the tenth month; in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains became visible.

Moses records for us that after 150 days of steady rain, God acted by stopping the rain and steadily receded the flood waters, which took a period of 150 days. At the end of 150 days, the ark came to rest upon the mountains of Ararat. Now while the precise location of the mountains is unknown, most scholars and historians believe that these mountains are located in eastern Turkey.

Now a natural question that arises here is “well what exactly was Noah and his family doing during the time that the water was receding?” Fortunately for us, Moses provides us some details that help answer that question beginning in verse 6:

Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made; and he sent out a raven, and it flew here and there until the water was dried up from the earth. Then he sent out a dove from him, to see if the water was abated from the face of the land; but the dove found no resting place for the sole of her foot, so she returned to him into the ark, for the water was on the surface of all the earth. Then he put out his hand and took her, and brought her into the ark to himself. So he waited yet another seven days; and again he sent out the dove from the ark. The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth. Then he waited yet another seven days, and sent out the dove; but she did not return to him again.

Forty days after the rain had stopped, Moses attempted to discover how far the waters receded by sending out a Raven. However, the Raven never returned. So Moses responded by sending out a dove, who found no resting place for her feet and returned back to Noah and the ark. Now a question that arises here is “why did the Raven not return? And why send out a dove after the Raven did not return?” If those questions are running through your mind, I just want to let you know that those are great questions to be asking.

The reason for the two different birds and their responses is due to the differences between the two birds. You see, Ravens are scavengers, so they will eat anything, whether it is alive or dead. Ravens have no problems eating the corpses of animals or humans for that matter, and I imagine there may have been a few of those around. So a raven would have had no trouble finding food. In addition, ravens have no problems with perching on slimy surfaces. So the raven did not need to go back to the ark.

By contrast, doves are not scavengers. They need specific food to eat and specific environments to live in that would only be found in the event that the flood waters had sufficiently subsided. So the dove returned back to the ark, which told Noah that the waters had not receded enough and it was not safe. Noah then waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. This time, however, the dove returned with an olive branch, which signified that the water had resided enough for it to find a landing place, but not enough to find food. So Noah waited seven more days and sent the dove out again. The dove however, never returned, signifying that it had found food and shelter.

Now another question that arises here is “why send the birds anyways?” Remember, Noah had not heard from God since the day that God had closed the door on the ark. That was 300 days ago. 300 days without a word from God. So Noah here is trying to gather information to help him understand what was happening and what God was up to as he waited to hear from God. 

Just because the ark is resting on the top of a mountain does not mean that it is safe to exit the ark. Just because the ark is resting on the top of a mountain does not mean it is safe to let the animals out. So Noah is trying to get a grip on what is happening.

Tomorrow, we will see what happens as Noah attempts to get a grip…