P a g e 1 Genesis 11-12 It is good to be with you this evening So before we begin we have to remember God s plan for man, His command was Gen 9:7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it." You see God wanted man to subdue the earth, to fill it, to govern it. His desire was for man to separate into different nations, to govern each other, and to multiply. To be people of the land. To spread out. And most importantly obey Him. There is blessing in obedience. Let s see how well man does, after all, they are not too far from the days of the Flood, it should be fresh in their memory. All they have to do is be obedient, and to live in a way that blesses society around them. He wants man to administrate themselves and He gives guidelines to do so. Noah falls from the notoriety, maybe just too traumatized from the Cataclysmic Flood, falls off into
obscurity, Shem taking on the traditions of One God, and passing them down the family line. P a g e 2 Abraham would have been alive to meet Noah and Shem; to know the heritage of faith he was born into. But before we move on with Shem s family tree, let s look and see if man has learned from their prior mistakes. So let s see how man does in this new world? The Tower of Babel 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. So man began to move about the earth, but they do not get far in their endeavors to fill the earth. They come to Shinar, or also known as Babylon, and it is a good land, so they stick around. Still not too far from the ark. Just down the Euphrates river from Mt. Ararat. Maybe 500 miles. So roughly from here to Redding, Ca. And all the families speaking one language. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for
P a g e 3 stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." So we see what God was talking about when He said Gen 8:21 Then the Lord said in His heart, "I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. So God promising man HE will not destroy every living creature again. But noting the heart of man is evil, which is every man. And in this evil, man s response to God s mercy and love, man says let us, independently of God, show our might, and let us rebel against this Almighty. They use brick, because stone is not readily available in this plain. And they use a mortar, or slime to water proof this massive undertaking. Possibly the same pitch Noah used to water seal the Ark. Why would man want a water proof Tower, reaching into the heavens?
P a g e 4 Well they have exalted themselves in rebellion against God, they are saying, send a flood again, and we will be ready. You want us to subdue the earth, we will stay right here! Satan inspiring these events, as he will again in the tribulation, and the end of the millennial Kingdom. Trying to overthrow the Lord of Heaven s Armies. Look at verse 4 again let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." In their pride they want to make a name for themselves. They shake their fist at the Yahweh and say I want to be mighty; I want my name to be great. And we know from the previous chapter Nimrod was the dictator leading this rebellion. Josephus says this of Nimrod. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, and the son of Noah, - a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God as if it was through his means they were happy, but to believe it was their own courage which procured that happiness.
P a g e 5 He also gradually changed the government to tyranny, -seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into constant dependence upon his power (Our first democratic socialist). He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the whole world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! So a pretty convincing fellow. With one language it was easy for him to organize and plan this endeavor. For nothing could stop this Great Mighty Warrior of men. He was probably under direct influence of the prince of the air, Satan himself. And he is able to persuade man that he is indeed greater than God, the Creator, and he in turn creates a great defense against any retaliation from God. But Nimrod forgot God s Word, He promised His creation that the first flood was too devastating and heartbreaking for Him, that He would never do this again.
P a g e 6 But Nimrod would build this symbol to void out what God s Word truly said. And when people would look at this mighty Tower of Babel, they would say in their hearts God destroyed man before. And Nimrod would preach the false narrative of a homicidal God, and how they would have to protect themselves from anything He would want to do. This is the beginning of manmade religions. All false religions take root in Babel. Man s efforts to reach heaven. A religion of works, by my hands. Humanism at its beginning. And the Lord aware of this comes down, and it says this 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased
P a g e 7 building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. Now this is the thing with God, HE has a plan, and no amount of rebellion and disobedience will thwart His plan. He wanted man to fill the earth, He never intended for man to bunch up in a city, but for them to be spread out. We see this Babylonian system still here today, as man creates these marvelous towers, and skyscrapers, and humanity flocks to the cities full of sin, greed, corruption, and slavery. As people chase the allure of riches, the promises of a fine life. Man had plans to be greater than the Almighty, and in their pride the residents of Shinar found great humility. As we see a great reference to the Trinity, and God says let Us come down and confuse their language. Just like man gathered a council and consulted one another on building this great tower, God holds a council between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
P a g e 8 And we see God did not decide to bring another flood, as Nimrod may have been preaching. But what He did bring was a great humbling. As Nimrod would shout his orders and complete confusion would take place, I imagine the great hunter of man s souls would be mad in frustration. Language is something that still causes great division in this world. Communication in other countries without a translator can be perilous. And as man in Nimrod s day found they no longer could communicate, I imagine, God separated language between families, they began to separate, probably out of frustration and madness. Their servants who once understood every command of their master, now heard foreign noise and babel. And maybe the tireless efforts of hand motions and drawing in the ground, got so overwhelming, it created complete chaos, and we see no longer did they stay with each other, but they spread out over every region. The stronger families probably went to the better areas, and the weaker families were driven to the furthest parts of the world.
Man no longer had unity, but now I imagine war and revolt. So God s will, will be done no matter how great an effort we give. Prov. 16:9 A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. P a g e 9 And I imagine some might be thinking, because this Babylonian mindset has so permeated our modern culture, and even our modern church, I imagine some are thinking what is wrong with man trying to endeavor to be great? What is wrong with trying to make your name known? What is wrong with popularity, and trying to be successful, to make my name known, I want to be famous. And this is the dialogue of complete rebellion against God. How do you know that pastor? Well I live everyday with the heartbreak of my rebellion against God. I dared to stand against the Almighty, and my dream was to be the architect of my own life, I wanted my name to be known.
P a g e 10 I installed fear into my enemies with the veracity of Nimrod, I set out to be rich, I used people, I lied, I cheated, and I ruined people s lives for my own gain. I grabbed a hold of this worlds philosophes and I set out to get my own. And I found out after too many years of destruction, and wasted time, that I was no match for Yahweh. I soon found I was a nothing, a no body, this world s mantra of self-esteem was a lie, and there was nothing good in this heart, from my youth. And God began to put me through a great humbling period, and He confused my language, no longer were the things I was so familiar with making sense to me, The high the drugs used to give me, well it was fading, the laughter of drunken parties, were turned to nights of violence and rage, the pleasure and excitement of sex, now came with the burden of guilt and fear. I was confused, I was broken, and at this point in my life I began to see God so clearly. You see this Tower in Shinar was blinding men of who God was. They saw their accomplishments, and began to forget about the mercy of God. The tower stood in their way.
Now that their efforts were humiliated, they could again begin to see God clearly. P a g e 11 And from the point of humility, God s wonderful Love and Grace began to be visible. And like I said, I was a monster of rebellion and iniquity when God began to reveal Himself to me. And from the wreckage of my choices, God offered me a new life, and I accepted the invitation. So now when I sing songs of grace, I sing with great joy and thankfulness. It says in James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up. If you take away anything from this ministry, take this. If you go out into this world and believe you can make a life for yourself, that you will be great, that you will be a rock star. I can tell you this, a better way, is to approach this life humbly, to the young person in here tonight, learn now to pray where the Lord would have you go, do and be. Because you see He will direct us where He wants us anyway.
P a g e 12 Some of us will choose the hard road, some will choose the allure of the world, and find the hopelessness of it all. And when we finally come humbled, we will be bruised up, beat up, and messed up. Choose today whom you will serve, I pray it be God. So let s read on We will now begin to narrow down the genealogies to one; we will focus on the family of Abram. Shem's Descendants(1 Chron 1:17-27; Luke 3:34-36) 10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
P a g e 13 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. 20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Terah's Descendants 27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans (Babylon). 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
P a g e 14 31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. So it seems Terah was the first to be asked to leave Ur. He took his one son Abram and his grandson Lot. Now Babylon was full of idolatry. And we can trace back every pagan religion to this first false religion of Babylon. All throughout scripture we see Babylon referred to as an enemy of the one True God. Even Terah and Abram and Lot were immersed in this idolatry. Josh 24:2 And Joshua said to all the people, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'Your fathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods. So God calls these men out of their rebellion, and wants to establish a new covenant of faith, and it could
P a g e 15 be said that Terah was who He wanted to work through. But Terah in Hebrew means Delay. And on their way to the Land of Canaan Delay Delayed in Haran and died there. Possibly a city established by his son Haran. He still would have been in Chaldean land at this point. It seems leaving the lifestyle of luxury proved to be too much for Terah. And it seems God had to move on to Terah s son Abram. Now Jewish tradition places Abram as a voice of righteousness against Nimrod s power and supremacy. Jewish tradition puts Abram Semite at direct enmity with Nimrod the Hamite. So if you want to get some kind of idea of what caused them to leave, there is extra-biblical accounts, however it is not inspired text. Jewish tradition and history have some interesting stories about Abram. He saw past the deception of Nimrod, and preached to others about the One True God. Let s read on
P a g e 16 Promises to Abram(Acts 7:2-5) 12:1 Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. We see a contrast to the men of Nimrod s rebellion, they said Gen 11:4 let us make a name for ourselves And Abram is asked to do something very difficult, very humbling, and to put his complete faith and trust in God to make his name great. You see Abram was a wealthy man, he lived in comfort, he more than likely had a bathtub in Ur, and he was accustomed to the good life in Haran as we will see, he lived the American dream, or better to be known as the Babylonian Dream. And God says you need to leave all of that, depart from the system of this world and trust Me. He promises to bless Abram and to make his name great. Now understand this, there are two approaches to this life, your way, or God s way.
P a g e 17 Again I say choose now who you will serve the god s and idols of this Babylonian rebellion, or Yahweh, the One True God? Now look at the next promise to Abram. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." This is an important promise and has been proven throughout history to be true. If you want evidence the God of the Bible is real, this promise right here offers great evidence. What Nation would be considered heirs of Abram and this promise? Israel This remains true today and is a root reason for the decline and death of many empires. "When the Greeks overran Palestine and desecrated the altar in the Jewish temple, they were soon conquered by Rome. When Rome killed Paul and many others, and destroyed Jerusalem under Titus, Rome soon fell. Spain was reduced to a fifth-rate nation after the Inquisition against the Jews; Poland fell after the pogroms; Hitler s Germany went down after its orgies of anti-semitism; Britain lost her empire when she broke her faith with Israel." (Barnhouse)
P a g e 18 This is also one reason why the United States has been so blessed. We were one of the first modern nations to grant full citizenship and protection to Jewish people. This promise has also affected the church. The times when the church has taken upon itself the persecution of the Jewish people have been dark times for the church, not only for the Jews. Guzik So can you imagine how incredibly foolish it is to be anything but a supporter of these people and this nation of Israel. Anti-Semitism is on the rise; it is at historic proportions. Do we understand that there are few things more satanic than hatred for the Jewish people? Even our country every time we have asked Israel to give up land our land has been hit with some kind of devastation. I have a book documenting this from the time Israel became a nation until now I would like to recommend. Eye to Eye by William Koenig Please be keen to this satanic hatred for the Jews, the philosophy is all throughout our culture, colleges, and it is once again making it into the church. More and more Evangelical Churches are turning their backs on Israel.
P a g e 19 Protesting Israel. So this is something to watch But I will make it clear that this ministry as long as God has me as the Senior Pastor at Calvary Chapel Victorville, we will support this people group, we will stand with Israel in this last days, we will pray for the Peace of Jerusalem. Because God s promises are true, and have been proven throughout history. We will not be swept away in this satanic tidal wave of hatred toward the Jews. All nations will be blessed through Abraham s blessing. And God was true to His promise to Abram, all three of the major religions of the world hold Abraham in the highest esteem. And for us as Christian s he is father Abraham, the father of faith. As we just discussed in Romans on Sunday morning. Look at the next verse 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the
P a g e 20 people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. So again we can start to see why the delay in Haran. Abram and his father Terah acquired much wealth there. Sometimes we can justify God s blessing in our life by material possessions and comfort and ease. But we see an opposite principle in scripture. Often our obedience to God requires great uncomfort, and requires great faith. Abram and his father were disobedient to God, because of their great success. It cost Terah his life though. I will tell you this just because you are successful where you are does not mean you are in God s will. We also see here Abram s half obedience to the Lord. God asked him to leave his family, and he brings his nephew Lot, who will be nothing but trouble for Abram all throughout his life.
P a g e 21 It seems Abram adopted Lot, having no children of his own, his brother dying, it seems the natural thing to do. But God told Abram this for a reason, it may have not made sense to Abram at the time. But later on we will see Lot is still drawn to this Babylonian lifestyle, and is drawn to the allure of the city. Abram s disobedience will bring great distress on him many times, because Lot will continually get mixed up with the wrong people. So this great man of faith, Abram, we will see Truly it was only by his great God, was he considered great. In fact, God s Word here declaring that this man Abram would be great is in fact the power and only reason he is considered this. The same God who spoke the stars into existence, by that same Word declares a covenant with Abram. And this covenant will not be for Abram s benefit, but to prove that God is true and every man a liar. And when God declares a promise, nothing in this world has the power to stop that Word from happening.
P a g e 22 I can t illustrate enough, the Bible is not full of Great Men, but it shows us a great God who uses obedient imperfect men to make His name known. Now God has another promise for Abram 7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, "To your descendants I will give this land." And there he built an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South. So we see the promise of an allotment of land to Abram s decedents, and this promise will be passed to Isaac, then to Jacob, so there is no dispute today who should be in that land. There is in fact as we will see another son given to Abram, Ishmael, and his decedents are the one s fighting with the Jews for the Land even to today. You see Abraham is probably the most influential man in history, Besides Jesus of Nazareth. As I said earlier you see the 3 major religions of the world Christianity, Judaism, and Islam all honor father Abraham.
But the Divine bond is for the Jews, in regards to the borders. It is the Jewish peoples land, divinely given to them. P a g e 23 What greater accord is there then a contract with the Creator? So now we move on and we see another dilemma and test of faith for Abram. Abram in Egypt 10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. So again we see disobedience, Abram looked at his possessions and great wealth, and saw that he might lose some, and he leaves the land he was instructed to dwell in. He comes up with his own plan, and disregards the promises of God. Again this worlds comforts dictate his choices. And he chooses luxury once again. And we will see his compromise leads to more sin 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, "Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12
P a g e 24 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, 'This is his wife'; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you." Because Abram has made plans void of God, he has to scheme his way through things. There are ancient writings in detail of Sarah s beauty and she was so very beautiful that is would be a huge problem in this godless pagan culture of Egypt. So we see Abram asks her to say a half truth. She was indeed Abrams sister, as well as his wife. But a half truth is still a lie. And it turns out Abram was right and her beauty would be noticed. 14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh's house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels. So Sarah s beauty was indeed great, the princes send her to Pharaoh s house.
P a g e 25 She was about to be taken as Pharaoh s wife. But again in Abram s failure, God intervenes. 17 But the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, "What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister'? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way." 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had. Now again Abram is humbled, and returned to the Lord s will. I imagine on the way to Egypt Abram and Sarai were planning and plotting, commanding their servants, much commotion, as they planned out their strategy. Now they are probably dead quit, humbled, embarrassed. God said He was going to make Abram s name great, but Abram disobeyed God. And I imagine in his pride and foolishness he disregarded the promises God told him, and justified disobedience for the sake of comfort.
P a g e 26 Prov. 21:2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts. So now coming back to the land of Canaan, humiliated in front of his many servants, he is walking in shame. You know who else is seeing this? Lot, his nephew. This might be some of the reasons Lot turned away later in life to the allure of the world. Abram preached about this God, but failed to obey Him. Anyway just a thought. So we will see in Abram, that God s promises are not void because of Abram s disobedience, Abram s name will be great, and as we can see it was not because Abram was a great man, but because the God who called him was great. Abram will become the father of faith. He was righteous because of his faith, not because of his works. And God was true to His promises. And the same for us today, many of us are catastrophes, we seem to mess up everything we touch, we might be in the middle of this walk of shame.
P a g e 27 I will tell you from experience, that when you go to God s Word in these times, His promises are as loud as a blow horn. We seem to see Him more clearly when we are depleted of self. I challenge you hear tonight what the Spirit is saying to the church. Your way, your plans, no matter how confident you are in yourself are meaningless apart from God s plan for your life. I will end with this passage, and think about this especially those of you about to step into adulthood James 4:13-17 Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit"; 14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 15 Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that." 16 But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. Our culture promotes the Babylonian way to God, by these hands we think we can be great!
P a g e 28 It is not until you humble yourself before God and His ways, do you find a successful life. Abram is an example of the Lord s Love for us. He was chastened and humiliated for trying to figure his own way. Surely God would have provided for him through the famine. It might have caused him to lose some of his great comfort, maybe cut down on his Babylonian lifestyle. But Abram chose comfort first and went to Egypt to try to maintain his worldly possessions. God lovingly corrected him, God has a plan for this man Abram. And God has a plan for each one of us here tonight. Do you believe that? If so, listen and obey His voice. Don t try to manipulate according to this worlds standards, to try to maintain your comfort. This Christian life calls for sacrifice, our own God demonstrated that on the cross. So hear His voice above all the other voices, go the way He laid out, on the Narrow path, through the narrow gate. Few be there that find it.
P a g e 29 His Word illuminates it for us. This is the compass the guides us down the road of faith. Read it, cling to it, obey it, and you will find life, and life more abundant. Amen?