WEBVTT 00:00:00.260 --> 00:00:07.600 My name is Lincoln Huseby and I'm the youth pastor here, and it is my privilege and honor today that I get to continue 00:00:07.600 --> 00:00:14.680 our series in Genesis in chapter ten and 11, as Nathaniel left us in 00:00:14.680 --> 00:00:18.140 Genesis chapter nine last week. 00:00:18.160 --> 00:00:25.300 But before we get into the text, I want to just share a little bit about myself and 00:00:25.300 --> 00:00:27.740 maybe this is something that you don't know. 00:00:27.880 --> 00:00:35.640 Some of you may know that I am a completely fascinated and 00:00:35.640 --> 00:00:38.350 I love history. 00:00:38.440 --> 00:00:39.800 Fascinated. 00:00:39.840 --> 00:00:44.150 I spend way too much time reading about history. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:51.360 My wife can attest to the fact that I often read history books that are ridiculously 00:00:51.360 --> 00:00:56.800 long and detailed into the night while she is asleep, and I'm reading right next to her. 00:00:56.940 --> 00:00:58.360 It's really weird, but I do that. 00:00:58.580 --> 00:01:06.120 I've also listened to history podcasts, an insane number of them, as well as watch history documentaries, of 00:01:06.120 --> 00:01:08.460 which I cannot count how many I've watched. 00:01:09.480 --> 00:01:16.760 I actually got marked down when I was in first grade because I was reading history books 00:01:16.760 --> 00:01:22.120 instead of The Boxcar Children or the Magic Tree House books. 00:01:22.140 --> 00:01:29.500 I don't remember because I didn't read them right and joke that Nathaniel Pastor Nathaniel usually or 00:01:29.560 --> 00:01:36.560 used to tell about me is this if you're in a conversation with Lincoln long enough, the Roman Empire is going to 00:01:36.560 --> 00:01:37.220 come up. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:40.880 Which is just funny because I was there before it was cool. 00:01:40.880 --> 00:01:42.180 Okay. 00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:48.420 Anyways, anyways, for the longest time I didn't know why I was so fascinated by history. 00:01:48.460 --> 00:01:55.580 I don't didn't know why I was drawn to it as a subject because like some of you and many people think that 00:01:55.580 --> 00:02:02.620 history is boring, it is a collection of dates and names that you have to memorize in 00:02:02.620 --> 00:02:07.060 school, and it bears no weight or consequence on your life. 00:02:08.280 --> 00:02:09.580 Or in the present. 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:13.950 But that is never the way that I saw history, even as a kid. 00:02:14.600 --> 00:02:21.680 I've always viewed history as the context of today, which brings 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:28.760 meaning and understanding to what is happening around me and for each one of us as individuals as well 00:02:28.760 --> 00:02:36.440 as the things that we are part of, the collectives we are a part of, whether that be families, nations, nations or churches. 00:02:37.300 --> 00:02:38.350 We are products. 00:02:38.380 --> 00:02:41.600 They are products of what have gone before us. 00:02:43.100 --> 00:02:50.660 George Washington, Martin Luther and your great grandmother has had a significant impact 00:02:50.660 --> 00:02:51.740 on your life. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.960 And I know that because you are sitting right here. 00:02:56.760 --> 00:03:01.610 And my love of history has an eagerness to understand why things are the way that they are. 00:03:01.980 --> 00:03:06.660 How did we get here and what we as human beings are capable of? 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:08.150 What are our strengths? 00:03:08.200 --> 00:03:08.850 What are our faults? 00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:18.340 And that's what his history so often teaches us is not only the achievements of humankind, 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:23.580 but also the deep depravity of humankind. 00:03:24.260 --> 00:03:31.540 And it gives us a picture that is sometimes unsettling of how we got here and why things 00:03:31.540 --> 00:03:33.660 are the way they are. 00:03:34.200 --> 00:03:41.820 In Genesis ten and 11 are exactly that, a picture sometimes unsettling 00:03:41.820 --> 00:03:46.080 as to how the world got to where it was now. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:54.980 And the now that I'm talking about the context in which this passage is written to is 13th 00:03:54.980 --> 00:04:02.320 century Israelites who are who have just left Egypt and are wandering in the wilderness, going towards 00:04:02.320 --> 00:04:04.460 the Promise land. 00:04:04.820 --> 00:04:10.240 And the author Moses, who through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is writing this book. 00:04:11.000 --> 00:04:18.500 In this book of beginnings, the genesis of what is to give the Israelites a foundation of 00:04:18.500 --> 00:04:25.800 where they fit in the world, but much more importantly, who their God is this 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:30.620 God that they are following in the wilderness. 00:04:31.460 --> 00:04:38.580 So if you flip open your Bibles to Genesis chapter ten, you can do that now if you want. 00:04:38.900 --> 00:04:41.990 You will find a list of names. 00:04:43.380 --> 00:04:43.740 Right. 00:04:44.300 --> 00:04:51.300 And those names are the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and all of 00:04:51.300 --> 00:04:58.760 their descendants, which to us may seem like a random collection of names that don't really make sense, 00:05:00.020 --> 00:05:07.540 but to them it did mean something, because to them, the Israelites knew these names because they were the people groups, 00:05:07.660 --> 00:05:14.900 the cities, the places that they would have went to pass through, heard about and 00:05:14.900 --> 00:05:22.700 have seen some of the names we might recognize, such as in Genesis 1015, Canaan 00:05:22.700 --> 00:05:28.770 became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth and the Jebusite in the Amorite in the Girgashite. 00:05:29.420 --> 00:05:34.200 And if you're familiar with your Bible, specifically Exodus, you will know that. 00:05:34.520 --> 00:05:41.760 Or I mean, they come up more than Exodus, but you will know that the Canaanites, the sons of Canaan, are those who live 00:05:41.760 --> 00:05:48.970 in this land that God has promised to Abraham and his descendants, as promised to the Israelites. 00:05:49.160 --> 00:05:56.780 And they are heading there at this moment, right now to take the land, and they will through the conquest, eventually 00:05:56.780 --> 00:06:03.320 the conquest of Joshua and God's divine providence in giving that land to them. 00:06:04.540 --> 00:06:11.000 And there are other names in Genesis ten that you might recognize, such as Tarshish or Nineveh. 00:06:11.260 --> 00:06:18.440 If you're familiar with the story of Jonah, God tells Jonah to go to Nineveh and tell them to repent. 00:06:19.020 --> 00:06:26.220 And Jonah goes, I don't want to do that, and runs away to Tarshish to get as far away from God and as far away 00:06:26.220 --> 00:06:29.950 as the calling that God has given to him as possible. 00:06:30.340 --> 00:06:32.800 But God eventually leads him to Nineveh. 00:06:34.260 --> 00:06:34.600 All right. 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.320 Genesis ten is a passage on who's who. 00:06:40.540 --> 00:06:41.560 And who's where. 00:06:42.580 --> 00:06:46.960 Well, Genesis 11 details for us how they got there. 00:06:48.280 --> 00:06:53.180 Sticking in chapter ten, an important thing to remember when reading a genealogy. 00:06:53.260 --> 00:07:00.260 Genealogy in scripture, like Genesis ten and 11 as well, is that genealogies and Scripture 00:07:00.260 --> 00:07:05.420 are just as much about looking behind and what has gone before, and who has gone before. 00:07:05.820 --> 00:07:11.600 As much as who it is looking towards, what it's looking towards in the future. 00:07:13.020 --> 00:07:20.770 It's looking forward to the promise given to Adam in Genesis 315 that we talked about earlier, 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:28.560 that Jesus went over the one who would, the one who would be the seed of the woman who would crush the 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:30.300 head of the serpent. 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:38.940 That a promise was given to Adam and therefore all mankind, that the Messiah would come and destroy the 00:07:38.940 --> 00:07:42.600 head of the serpent, in other words, the power of Satan. 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:50.760 And in Genesis chapter 12, as Nathaniel will talk about next week, we see that this promise given to Adam will 00:07:50.760 --> 00:07:58.100 be passed down and narrowed down to the descendants of Abraham, with the blessing and covenant that God makes 00:07:58.100 --> 00:08:05.260 with him, which will in turn mean that the rest of the genealogies of Scripture will focus on the descendants 00:08:05.260 --> 00:08:06.340 of Abraham. 00:08:07.580 --> 00:08:11.200 And we will see that will get further narrowed down to David. 00:08:11.300 --> 00:08:14.650 If you keep reading your Bible, that's not in Genesis, but that happens. 00:08:15.220 --> 00:08:22.220 And now we as Christians ultimately know that promise, the one who would 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:29.700 be the seed of the woman that crushes the head of the serpent is fulfilled in the person of Jesus Christ, of which Matthew 00:08:29.700 --> 00:08:36.860 in his gospel, in his genealogy, references and talks about Jesus being the son of both David 00:08:36.860 --> 00:08:38.260 and Abraham. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.720 While Luke in his genealogy stresses that Jesus is the descendant of Adam and Adam being the Son 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:53.000 of God as well as John's gospel begins with telling us that Jesus, Jesus's divine nature, 00:08:53.120 --> 00:09:00.580 his eternality that he is the Word of God made flesh and 00:09:00.580 --> 00:09:07.700 genealogies can be really boring, really hard to get through when you read scripture, but knowing what they're pointing 00:09:07.700 --> 00:09:14.940 to and understanding that they're just as much as about recording who've gone before, as well as looking to 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:16.480 what is ahead. 00:09:18.820 --> 00:09:25.860 We know that promise, that promise of a messiah is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:28.800 And that's why when we read Genesis ten and 11. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:31.380 We see. 00:09:32.700 --> 00:09:33.890 That the power of Satan. 00:09:35.760 --> 00:09:43.140 Meaning the head of the serpent is still alive and well, and that God's crowning creation, 00:09:43.720 --> 00:09:50.930 that being mankind, of which he created as his image bearers in the world that he created for us to steward, 00:09:52.340 --> 00:09:59.760 are still just as sinful and just as broken as they were in the fall in 00:09:59.760 --> 00:10:04.120 Cain and Abel and the generations that preceded the flood. 00:10:05.500 --> 00:10:10.160 And we know this because we read it in Genesis chapter ten eight through ten. 00:10:10.420 --> 00:10:13.690 Sorry for the misprint up there which says this. 00:10:14.220 --> 00:10:16.860 Now Kush became the father of Nimrod. 00:10:17.940 --> 00:10:20.540 He became a mighty one on the earth. 00:10:20.660 --> 00:10:23.360 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.220 Therefore it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. 00:10:27.780 --> 00:10:35.200 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Eric, and Akad and Cana in the land of Shinar. 00:10:36.860 --> 00:10:44.380 Now, it may not be apparent at first glance as to why this passage signifies 00:10:44.380 --> 00:10:46.740 the depravity of humankind. 00:10:46.800 --> 00:10:49.500 But as we go on, I think we will begin to see. 00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:58.080 First of all, Nimrod's name, translated from Hebrew, means rebel, rebel. 00:10:59.900 --> 00:11:07.220 And there is some debate amongst scholars of whether this word before the Lord should be translated 00:11:07.220 --> 00:11:09.080 as against the Lord. 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:10.340 That name. 00:11:10.380 --> 00:11:18.020 The word is pernem and is translated in our Bibles as either before or against in different places, 00:11:18.760 --> 00:11:21.900 and whether or not it should be before or against. 00:11:23.340 --> 00:11:30.760 What is clear is that Nimrod is this mighty one, the founder of the world's first 00:11:30.760 --> 00:11:37.790 kingdom or empire, and he is leading a rebellion of the sons of Noah against 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:45.020 the Lord by building the city of Babel in direct disobedience to God's command found in 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:52.740 Genesis nine one, where God told Noah and his family to be fruitful and multiply and 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:53.500 fill the earth. 00:11:55.620 --> 00:11:57.330 And they aren't just building a city. 00:11:58.640 --> 00:12:00.340 We usually don't talk about the city of Babel. 00:12:00.340 --> 00:12:07.900 We usually talk about the tower, and they are constructing this tower to challenge God in his authority and 00:12:07.900 --> 00:12:15.100 to make their name great by reaching towards the heavens, as Genesis 11 one 00:12:15.100 --> 00:12:17.520 through four tells us. 00:12:18.800 --> 00:12:23.310 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. 00:12:23.400 --> 00:12:28.220 It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:12:28.360 --> 00:12:31.940 They said to one another, come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. 00:12:32.340 --> 00:12:35.630 And they use brick for stone, and they use tar for mortar. 00:12:35.820 --> 00:12:43.000 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 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:43.700 a name. 00:12:44.040 --> 00:12:49.240 Otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. 00:12:51.460 --> 00:12:58.660 Now I think to understand when reading Genesis ten and 11, which can be confusing if you're just reading through fast, is 00:12:58.660 --> 00:13:05.780 that Genesis ten and Genesis 11 are not in chronological order. 00:13:05.780 --> 00:13:09.020 Genesis ten, as we said before, is who's who and who's where. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.140 Genesis 11 is how they got there. 00:13:13.740 --> 00:13:14.160 They're. 00:13:14.340 --> 00:13:16.430 Genesis 11 is not a contradiction. 00:13:17.040 --> 00:13:24.340 It is an explanation of what happened after the flood narrative in Genesis six through 00:13:24.340 --> 00:13:31.720 nine, where in this flood narrative that Noah and his family are delivered from the wrath of God, 00:13:32.040 --> 00:13:38.400 which descended upon the earth in the form of a flood because of man's wickedness before God. 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:46.080 And it's through the favor of God which finds Noah, and in his obedience builds an ark, and 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:53.080 his family are saved through this apocalyptic event where God gives humanity another 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:54.400 chance. 00:13:55.760 --> 00:13:58.150 And after this construction, this destruction. 00:13:58.440 --> 00:14:05.680 The Lord makes a covenant with Noah and every living creature for all generations, that he will never again 00:14:05.680 --> 00:14:11.270 destroy the earth by a flood, and that the sign of that covenant is a rainbow. 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:18.640 But it doesn't take long for man to once again go back to his wicked ways and rebel against the Lord. 00:14:18.640 --> 00:14:25.780 For Nimrod is Noah's grandson, not some distant relation that he never met. 00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:33.040 They would have known each other, and Nimrod's father Ham, would have survived the flood in 00:14:33.040 --> 00:14:33.880 the ark. 00:14:36.040 --> 00:14:37.440 Right now. 00:14:39.160 --> 00:14:47.320 There is some speculation as well in verse three of chapter 11 when 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:54.580 it mentions tar and mortar, because this tower was 00:14:54.580 --> 00:15:01.780 made to reach the heavens, but also it could be said, or it could be interpreted, that they are also building this 00:15:01.780 --> 00:15:09.140 tower impervious to weather, that same word tar 00:15:09.140 --> 00:15:16.240 and mortar means pitch or asphalt, which is what Noah covered his ark in to make it weatherproof, 00:15:16.540 --> 00:15:17.930 to make it so that it would float. 00:15:19.060 --> 00:15:26.060 And there are some people that think that by doing this, by making it with tar and mortar, what they're trying to do 00:15:26.060 --> 00:15:33.120 is to make it weatherproof, suggesting that the sons of Noah do not trust 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.380 God to keep his promise. 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:43.700 To not destroy the Earth by the flood, and they use this tower not as only a way of making their name great, and to reach the 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:50.840 heavens and gain the praise of men, but also as a way to withstand the wrath of God for their direct disobedience 00:15:50.840 --> 00:15:51.820 to him. 00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:59.150 They very well could be building a tower for their protection, their salvation. 00:16:01.380 --> 00:16:06.800 Whether that is what they're doing or not, they are clearly in rebellion to God's command. 00:16:07.020 --> 00:16:14.080 And instead of worshiping God, trusting in following in His Word to fill the face of the whole earth, they are 00:16:14.080 --> 00:16:17.500 seeking to build something so great. 00:16:18.460 --> 00:16:21.640 So they can be like him. 00:16:23.020 --> 00:16:25.300 That people will come and worship them. 00:16:25.300 --> 00:16:28.640 That people will follow after them and trust them. 00:16:29.200 --> 00:16:33.100 And they are quite clearly putting themselves in the place of God. 00:16:35.220 --> 00:16:42.220 You see, if you remember what happened in Genesis three, that this serpent's power is working the same 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:49.040 way as it did back then, where he convinces Adam and Eve that God is holding out on him them. 00:16:50.180 --> 00:16:57.200 That God does not have their best interests at heart, that his commands are restrictive and 00:16:57.200 --> 00:16:58.900 oppressive. 00:16:59.680 --> 00:17:06.880 So they choose to rebel against the Lord because Satan convinces them that if they 00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:12.400 eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they shall be like God. 00:17:14.339 --> 00:17:15.859 And it's so easy to read. 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:16.520 Genesis. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:24.200 And go, what is are these people's problems like what is wrong with them? 00:17:24.200 --> 00:17:27.800 They can't get it together for five minutes. 00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:32.430 God keeps having to pick up the pieces of their rebellion. 00:17:34.960 --> 00:17:42.080 But if we were going to be honest with ourselves, the same sins that are in Genesis three, ten and 11 00:17:42.080 --> 00:17:45.260 are the ones that we still struggle with today. 00:17:47.280 --> 00:17:54.560 When I was 18 years old, I left my home in Michigan and I departed for Wyoming. 00:17:55.800 --> 00:18:00.600 I went to a small Bible school called Frontiers School of the Bible in La Grange, Wyoming. 00:18:01.160 --> 00:18:07.390 It is about an hour away from Cheyenne, 30 minutes from Torrington and 45 minutes from Scottsbluff. 00:18:07.700 --> 00:18:11.200 And I really hope you only know one of those cities names. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.500 Well, while I was there, I obviously studied the Bible. 00:18:16.500 --> 00:18:23.660 I was out of Bible school, but I also started reading a book called Mere Christianity by C.S Lewis, 00:18:24.600 --> 00:18:31.640 and it was a book that my small group leader from youth group back in Michigan, Michigan, gave me for my graduation, and I finally 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:33.660 decided to open it and read it. 00:18:35.800 --> 00:18:40.880 And what I figured out when I started reading chapter eight of Mere Christianity. 00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:44.100 Which the chapter is titled The Great Sin. 00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:52.880 Is that I was not good and the condition of my 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:55.710 heart became known to me instantly. 00:18:57.220 --> 00:19:00.040 See, I grew up around Christians my whole life. 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:07.580 Being from West Michigan there Zondervan, which prints a ton of Bibles, a ton of Christian books, there's cornerstone, 00:19:07.600 --> 00:19:14.240 there's Kuyper, there's Calvin, which are all Christian colleges, probably ten minutes away from my house there. 00:19:14.560 --> 00:19:16.690 I grew up, I grew up around Christians. 00:19:16.800 --> 00:19:20.420 My family were devout, devout Christians. 00:19:20.420 --> 00:19:22.420 My mom worked for the church. 00:19:22.420 --> 00:19:29.740 My dad served as a deacon, and I believe as an elder at different points in growing up. 00:19:30.180 --> 00:19:36.740 And I was involved in everything youth groups, summer camp and Sunday school ministries. 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:39.140 And I thought that I was good. 00:19:39.280 --> 00:19:46.540 But when I started reading chapter eight, I realized. 00:19:48.060 --> 00:19:49.240 How broken. 00:19:50.860 --> 00:19:53.480 And realized how. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:57.460 Rebellious I was. 00:19:58.540 --> 00:20:02.140 See, I didn't do the things that my other friends did. 00:20:02.840 --> 00:20:04.680 I wasn't going and partying. 00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:09.430 I wasn't doing drugs, I wasn't I wasn't doing what I was not supposed to do. 00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:15.540 But on the inside, my heart was full of pride. 00:20:17.080 --> 00:20:19.720 And in an instant, my eyes were open to my sin. 00:20:19.760 --> 00:20:24.940 For I realized that almost everything that I had ever done up to that point. 00:20:26.980 --> 00:20:30.310 Whether good or bad, was for myself. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:32.080 It was for my benefit. 00:20:32.560 --> 00:20:36.700 It was for my kingdom, my glory and my will to be done. 00:20:37.760 --> 00:20:38.020 No. 00:20:38.360 --> 00:20:45.520 No matter how pathetic my empire was when I was 18 years old, it meant the world 00:20:45.520 --> 00:20:46.140 to me. 00:20:47.460 --> 00:20:54.230 And I wanted people to know how good I was, not how good Christ was. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:58.590 I wanted people to listen to what I had to say, not what God's Word had to say. 00:20:59.000 --> 00:21:04.360 I wanted people to pay attention to me, to center around me and to praise me. 00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:06.790 And in short. 00:21:08.880 --> 00:21:16.220 I was a Nimrod, as funny as that is to say, I was a Nimrod and my kingdom came 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:18.600 crashing down that night. 00:21:19.200 --> 00:21:19.820 Praise God! 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.360 C.s Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, says this about pride. 00:21:24.440 --> 00:21:27.580 I don't have it on screen, but if you guys want to listen, pay attention. 00:21:27.640 --> 00:21:30.410 It says he says this the essential vice. 00:21:31.100 --> 00:21:33.260 The utmost evil is pride. 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:40.770 Unchastity, anger, greed, drunkenness and all that are mere fleabites in comparison. 00:21:41.380 --> 00:21:44.250 It was through pride that the devil became the devil. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:46.660 Pride leads to every other vice. 00:21:46.800 --> 00:21:51.340 It is the complete anti-God state of mind. 00:21:52.820 --> 00:21:57.020 It is the complete anti-God state of mind. 00:21:57.380 --> 00:21:58.600 And of course it is. 00:21:59.440 --> 00:22:04.320 And because it is, it is the devil's most effective weapon. 00:22:07.560 --> 00:22:08.520 Romans eight. 00:22:08.700 --> 00:22:12.940 Romans 118 through 25 will go through it together. 00:22:13.220 --> 00:22:20.420 Says this for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress 00:22:20.420 --> 00:22:26.160 the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them. 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:27.900 For God made it evident to them. 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:35.020 For since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes, his eternal power, and his divine nature have been clearly seen, 00:22:35.160 --> 00:22:41.080 being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 00:22:43.740 --> 00:22:50.940 For even though they knew God and they did not honor him as God, or gave or give thanks, but they became 00:22:50.940 --> 00:22:54.380 futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 00:22:54.760 --> 00:23:01.840 Professing to be wise, they became fools and exchange the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form 00:23:01.840 --> 00:23:07.250 of corruptible man, and of birds and four footed animals and crawling creatures. 00:23:08.160 --> 00:23:15.690 Therefore God gave them over in their lust of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 00:23:15.860 --> 00:23:22.860 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than 00:23:22.860 --> 00:23:25.330 the creator, who is blessed forever. 00:23:26.220 --> 00:23:26.620 Amen. 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:29.920 You know what Paul is saying in this passage? 00:23:31.820 --> 00:23:37.060 He is saying it is not out of ignorance that man denies God. 00:23:38.640 --> 00:23:44.100 It is not out of what he doesn't know that makes him disobey him. 00:23:45.660 --> 00:23:50.240 Almost every person alive knows what the right thing to do is. 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:56.080 Yet we still choose the wrong all too often. 00:23:56.740 --> 00:23:58.360 And it is out of arrogance. 00:24:00.920 --> 00:24:08.260 That we think that we are above what right and wrong is, and that the ends justify the means because 00:24:08.260 --> 00:24:10.600 I deserve it. 00:24:12.200 --> 00:24:14.380 That is the pride that lives within us. 00:24:15.400 --> 00:24:19.740 Professing to be wise, they became fools, suppressing the truth and unrighteousness. 00:24:20.820 --> 00:24:28.540 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather 00:24:28.540 --> 00:24:30.140 than the creator. 00:24:31.400 --> 00:24:35.260 We don't reject God because we are ignorant of him. 00:24:36.820 --> 00:24:43.120 It's because we would rather have our kingdom and not to submit to his. 00:24:44.860 --> 00:24:52.100 We see this probably most evident in scriptures, in the people, in the people or person group of 00:24:52.100 --> 00:24:53.000 the Pharisees. 00:24:53.700 --> 00:24:54.620 You guys know what I'm saying? 00:24:55.880 --> 00:25:03.300 We see that most evident in the Pharisees, who knew more scripture than I could ever dream of knowing, right? 00:25:03.320 --> 00:25:10.560 Knowing the Old Testament by heart, they would have known every single prophecy of the Messiah, and they would have seen 00:25:10.560 --> 00:25:11.590 it with their own eyes. 00:25:11.760 --> 00:25:14.980 Jesus fulfilling those prophecies. 00:25:17.240 --> 00:25:20.320 But what do they do when Jesus is in front of them? 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:28.590 When he confronts them with his wisdom and with fulfilling of these prophecies, 00:25:28.780 --> 00:25:33.380 they reject him, and they don't do so out of ignorance. 00:25:33.620 --> 00:25:41.220 They do so because of their arrogance and their pride, and because they were angry that Jesus dared 00:25:41.220 --> 00:25:48.240 steal their show, their kingdom of Israel, that they thought belonged 00:25:48.240 --> 00:25:51.200 to him and not the Messiah's. 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:53.660 That is crazy. 00:25:55.540 --> 00:26:03.340 Their pride gave birth to jealousy, which in turn bore the fruit of murder and blinded them to the evil that 00:26:03.340 --> 00:26:03.980 they did. 00:26:05.680 --> 00:26:08.120 And the thing is, we aren't that different. 00:26:09.400 --> 00:26:11.740 We all can be nimrods. 00:26:12.780 --> 00:26:14.240 I'm sorry. 00:26:14.460 --> 00:26:15.830 I called myself a Nimrod. 00:26:16.160 --> 00:26:17.180 Calling you guys Nimrods? 00:26:17.440 --> 00:26:21.800 We're all nimrods because we get. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:29.270 We get caught up in the same thing as Nimrod, building our own little kingdoms so that we can be safe. 00:26:31.020 --> 00:26:31.660 Which is an illusion. 00:26:32.260 --> 00:26:39.280 We build our kingdoms so that people will admire us, gather around us, give us attention, whether that is through 00:26:39.280 --> 00:26:41.670 business or through social media. 00:26:42.260 --> 00:26:42.920 Et cetera. 00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:53.420 We do it so we can get what we want in the Bible so clearly demonstrates to us in the story of Adam and Eve and 00:26:53.420 --> 00:26:56.160 the Tower of Babel, and on and on throughout its pages. 00:26:57.620 --> 00:27:04.860 Is that we all have a sin problem rooted in selfishness, whose foundation is our pride. 00:27:07.340 --> 00:27:14.340 And what does the Lord do to the people of Babel, to Nimrod in their rebellious 00:27:14.340 --> 00:27:15.590 pride? 00:27:16.020 --> 00:27:23.140 Genesis 11 five through nine records and tells us, the Lord came down to see the city and 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:25.060 the tower which the sons of men had built. 00:27:26.020 --> 00:27:28.220 The Lord said, behold, they are one people. 00:27:28.560 --> 00:27:32.020 They all have the same language, and this is what they began to do. 00:27:32.360 --> 00:27:36.090 And now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. 00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:43.140 Come, let us go down and there and confuse their language, so they will not understand one another's speech. 00:27:43.580 --> 00:27:50.360 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 00:27:51.080 --> 00:27:58.480 Therefore its name was called Babel, because the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:03.180 them abroad over the face of the whole earth. 00:28:05.100 --> 00:28:05.200 Listen. 00:28:07.820 --> 00:28:13.800 No matter how tall they built that tower, they were never going to reach God. 00:28:16.020 --> 00:28:23.200 God still has to come down and let that be a reminder to us that no matter how great a kingdom we 00:28:23.200 --> 00:28:30.720 build here on earth, God is still going to be looking down at it and it's not going to last. 00:28:31.320 --> 00:28:35.120 And it stands no chance against the Lord of Lords. 00:28:36.420 --> 00:28:38.200 Verses six through seven. 00:28:40.140 --> 00:28:42.360 Of Genesis 11 confuse me a lot. 00:28:42.380 --> 00:28:49.480 When I was little, I thought, why would God limit our abilities by spreading us out in 00:28:49.480 --> 00:28:50.400 dividing us? 00:28:52.340 --> 00:28:54.260 But the older I got, the more I realized. 00:28:55.400 --> 00:28:58.800 Thank you, God, for your severe mercy in doing that. 00:29:00.100 --> 00:29:07.420 For as you may have realized, we as people have almost no capacity or 00:29:07.420 --> 00:29:13.100 capability to say no to things that we have the ability to do. 00:29:14.120 --> 00:29:21.160 And modern technology just makes it clear to us that passive knowledge and technology that could destroy 00:29:21.160 --> 00:29:21.700 us. 00:29:22.240 --> 00:29:25.980 We jump into because we feel like we have to. 00:29:27.880 --> 00:29:35.100 And I don't want to go into the detail of all that, but it's safe to say, I think the Lord, in verses six and seven of Genesis 00:29:35.100 --> 00:29:42.360 11, is being merciful and gracious to the people of Babel, even in their rebellion, even 00:29:42.360 --> 00:29:46.600 though they tried to disobey God and fortify themselves from him. 00:29:49.160 --> 00:29:50.900 And they thought they could get away with it. 00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:53.240 And we should not be so foolish. 00:29:54.020 --> 00:30:01.080 Proverbs 16 nine tells us the mind of man plans his ways, but the 00:30:01.080 --> 00:30:08.700 Lord directs his steps, and we are never going to outmaneuver or outthink an all powerful, 00:30:09.100 --> 00:30:11.200 all knowing, and all loving God. 00:30:13.180 --> 00:30:18.200 After verse nine, the chapter elaborates even further. 00:30:19.340 --> 00:30:20.920 On the descendants of Shem. 00:30:22.280 --> 00:30:25.760 If you don't know, Shem is where we get the word Semitic from. 00:30:26.140 --> 00:30:33.420 The Semitic languages are those descendants of Shem, and Hebrew is a Semitic language 00:30:33.420 --> 00:30:37.780 as well as a bunch of other languages in the Middle East. 00:30:39.800 --> 00:30:47.040 And what we learn through looking at that genealogy in the rest of 00:30:47.040 --> 00:30:54.220 Genesis 11 is that genealogy is still looking for the one who would destroy 00:30:54.220 --> 00:31:01.580 the power of Satan, which has so far worked mightily in the fall of man, in the killing that precipitated 00:31:01.580 --> 00:31:06.300 the flood, as well as the rise and fall of Babel. 00:31:08.520 --> 00:31:09.480 So what's the answer? 00:31:11.280 --> 00:31:14.740 The one promised by God in Genesis three, verse 12. 00:31:17.080 --> 00:31:17.360 Now. 00:31:18.540 --> 00:31:19.780 Genesis 315. 00:31:19.780 --> 00:31:21.360 Sorry, what's the answer? 00:31:21.860 --> 00:31:29.380 We see what God does to say in Colossians 213 00:31:29.580 --> 00:31:35.140 through 15, where Christ crushes the head of the serpent. 00:31:36.860 --> 00:31:43.540 It says, when you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. 00:31:43.900 --> 00:31:50.900 He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned 00:31:50.900 --> 00:31:51.540 us. 00:31:51.860 --> 00:31:59.160 He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross, and having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle 00:31:59.160 --> 00:32:04.740 of them, triumphing over them by the cross. 00:32:06.140 --> 00:32:06.460 Amen. 00:32:07.300 --> 00:32:08.080 We have all sinned. 00:32:08.700 --> 00:32:11.450 We have all rebelled against the Lord, as the Bible teaches. 00:32:11.840 --> 00:32:18.920 We have all tried, in one way or another, to usurp God's place as King, as Savior, 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:20.700 as judge, as God. 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:26.640 But what the Bible says is, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. 00:32:28.460 --> 00:32:35.800 That the Lord came down and this time he didn't come down to sow confusion and 00:32:35.800 --> 00:32:39.420 to spread the people amongst the face of the earth. 00:32:39.600 --> 00:32:46.860 He didn't come down with a sword in a crown, riding on a white horse, of which revelation tells us he will, this time 00:32:46.860 --> 00:32:51.440 as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John testify, he came. 00:32:52.640 --> 00:32:56.260 In a manger and on a donkey and as a servant. 00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:05.140 And he died on the cross so that we could enter into his kingdom, an 00:33:05.140 --> 00:33:05.980 eternal one. 00:33:07.140 --> 00:33:14.580 Unlike Babbel and unlike our own, he made a way that we could be reconciled to God and be forgiven 00:33:14.580 --> 00:33:17.460 of our rebellion against him. 00:33:18.060 --> 00:33:23.980 And what he calls us to is to humble ourselves and to trust him. 00:33:25.800 --> 00:33:26.560 As Mark. 00:33:27.140 --> 00:33:30.160 The gospel of Mark says, repent and believe. 00:33:32.760 --> 00:33:38.370 James four six tells us, For God is opposed to the proud and gives grace to the humble. 00:33:38.600 --> 00:33:40.840 Submit therefore to God. 00:33:41.660 --> 00:33:43.880 Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:46.280 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. 00:33:46.320 --> 00:33:47.420 I read that again. 00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:48.760 I'm sorry. 00:33:48.760 --> 00:33:52.770 Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double minded. 00:33:54.520 --> 00:33:57.440 God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:33:58.920 --> 00:34:04.860 And as Matthew 18 two through four says, and he, this is Jesus speaking. 00:34:05.740 --> 00:34:12.820 And he called a child to himself, set him before them, and said, truly I say to you, unless 00:34:12.820 --> 00:34:17.960 you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 00:34:19.639 --> 00:34:22.500 Whoever then humbles himself as this child. 00:34:22.659 --> 00:34:25.900 He is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 00:34:28.360 --> 00:34:30.120 Listen. 00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:35.820 Jesus invites us all with open arms into his kingdom. 00:34:35.840 --> 00:34:41.340 Romans 1213 says, all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved. 00:34:43.600 --> 00:34:48.360 And let's be clear we don't get to invite Jesus into our kingdom. 00:34:49.580 --> 00:34:52.020 He invites us into his. 00:34:54.400 --> 00:35:02.460 He is the king, and we are not to be about our business, but his about 00:35:02.460 --> 00:35:06.060 him being glorified, not ourselves. 00:35:06.060 --> 00:35:08.840 His will being done, not our own. 00:35:10.240 --> 00:35:17.260 And as Jesus teaches in the Beatitudes in Matthew five, he says, blessed are those 00:35:17.260 --> 00:35:18.620 who do. 00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:32.590 Amen.