Genesis 10, 11
Peace be with you, listening
friends. We greet you in the name of God, the Lord of peace, who wants everyone
to understand and submit to the way of righteousness that He has established,
and have true peace with Him forever. We are happy to be able to return today
to present your program The Way of Righteousness.
In our last program we concluded our study of God's
prophet, Noah. We saw how God purposed to wipe out the children of Adam with a
flood because of their wickedness. For a hundred years God
gave sinners time to repent while Noah constructed the ark which would
be a refuge for those who believed the word of God. Still, no one turned from
his or her sin or believed the message of the Lord God, except Noah and his
family. Thus, in the end, God, who is righteous and
faithful, did just as He had promised. He wiped out everyone who did not pass
through the door of the ark, and saved those few who did.
Today we will continue in the book of Genesis and
learn what happened in the period following the time of
Noah.
In our talks about Noah, we learned that he had three sons, Shem,
Ham and Japheth.
The Scriptures show us that it is from these three men that all
the peoples of the world come. Shem was the father of the Jews and
the Arabs. Most of the people of Africa and China are probably descendants of
Ham. Europeans are descendants of Japheth.
If you would like to broaden your knowledge of the
origin of the nations, you can study chapters ten and eleven of the first book
of the Torah. However, in our lesson today, we have time to explain just one
thing about the history of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. It is
this: Shem was the one whom God chose to be in the
ancestry of the Redeemer who would come into the world. That is why
the Holy Scriptures follow more closely the story of the descendants of Shem.
It is from his line that both the prophets of God and the Savior of the world
came.
Thus, all the peoples of the earth come from the three
sons of Noah. You and I, all the people of Senegal, the people of Gambia,
Mauritania and all of Africa, as well as all the other peoples of the
world-everyone living today is a descendant of Noah. Therefore we can say that
we are here today because Noah believed God and made an ark to save his family;
for when he saved his family from the flood, he also saved you and me along
with them (from extinction).
God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them: "Be
fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." (Gen. 9:1) Thus,
hundreds of years after the flood, once again, there were multitudes of people
dwelling upon the earth. And again, the world began
to be corrupted by sin. We have already seen that Noah and his sons were
born sinners because they were descendants of Adam. When they entered the ark,
their sinful nature, which they received
from Adam, went along with them. And when they went out of the ark, they went
out with the root of sin still in their hearts.
The flood did not change man's sinful condition. As the (Wolof) proverb puts
it: "A rat only begets that which digs." Therefore, all the people of
the world continued to be born sinners, because they were all descendants of
Noah who was a descendant of Adam.
It is sad, but true, that hundreds of years after the
great flood, most of Noah's descendants were no longer concerned about God and
His will. They did not believe the word of
God as
did their ancestors Seth, Enoch and Noah. They forgot God and did not thank Him
for giving them life and breath and sunshine and rain and food. As for the
rainbow that God had placed in the clouds to remind them of His faithfulness,
most no longer even knew what it meant. Listen to what the Word of God declares
concerning them:
"For although they
knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their
thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they
claimed to be wise, they became fools. They exchanged the truth of God for a
lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is
forever praised. Amen." (Rom. 1:21,22,25)
Like Cain and his descendants, most of Noah's
descendants chose to bury the truth, and follow unrighteousness. They had
religion, but it was a false religion because it did not line up with the way
of righteousness established by God. They did not listen to the true word of
God. They were listening to Satan.
There was a man by the name of Nimrod, who descended from
Ham, Noah's second son. Nimrod was a great hunter who lived about five hundred
years after the flood. His name means rebel. Nimrod was highly
intelligent, but he did not know God. He ignored the word of God and followed
the way of Satan, the way of Cain, and the way of the people of Noah's
generation. Nimrod built several large cities, and planned to build a
great city in
which all the people of the world could live together and be as one.
Let us now read in chapter eleven of the book of
Genesis to see what the Scriptures say concerning the great city which Nimrod
and those with him planned to build. The Scripture says:
(Gen.11) 1Now
the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As
men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3They
said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them
thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then
they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that
reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not
be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
Thus, we see how the sons of Adam planned to build a
great city and a high tower that would reach to the
heavens. Why did they want to build that high tower? Nimrod and those who went
along with him were seeking to make a name for themselves in the world. They
planned to gather the people of the world into one place, so that they would
become powerful and not be scattered over the earth. However, what they planned
to do did not please God. God had told the children of Noah to spread out over
the surface of the earth. God, who created man, knew what was best for the
people of the world. However, most of Noah's descendants didn't care about the
thoughts of God. They thought that they were more intelligent than God. Like
Satan himself, their hearts were full of pride and
rebellion against God.
But the Scriptures say: "Whoever exalts himself will
be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matt. 23:12) And "what
is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." (Luke 16:15)
To exalt man or to seek a great name for yourself is sin before God, because
there is only one Name worthy of praise
and glory.
That is the Name of the Lord God who made heaven and
earth! As the Scripture says: "Let him who boasts boast
in the Lord! For it is not the one who [praises] himself who is approved,
but the one whom the Lord [praises]." (2 Cor. 10:17,18)
However, in the time of Nimrod, most of the children
of Adam had no respect for the Lord. They thought they didn't need God and His
word; they did not need anyone to tell them anything. They were characterized
by a spirit of independence and rebellion. To this day, that same
attitude is found in the hearts of the children of Adam. We even see it in
little children when they flip their arm and say, "No, I won't!" {a
Wolof expression of stubborn refusal}. And how much more is this same spirit of
rebellion found in adults! What is the cause of the strife found in the homes
and nations of the world? Is it not this spirit of independence which thinks:
"I can take care of myself. My traditions are the best. My religion is
good enough for me. My sect is right. My people are superior. My tribe is the
smartest. My name is the most important. My things! My will! My works! My
money! My! My!! My!!!" How self-centered is man! Everyone pulls for his
own interests. That (self-seeking) spirit of independence is why the world is
full of quarrels, fights and wars. However, God hates such
a spirit,
for His Name alone is worthy of glory. That is why He says in His Word: "I
am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another!" (Isa. 42:8)
However, those who began to build the tower to reach
to the heavens didn't care about God's glory. They only sought their own glory.
They had no use for the Name of their Creator. Certainly, many people of that
time were religious, but they ignored the word of God. They thought they
could reach heaven in their own way. Think of it! Just five hundred years after
the flood, people were, once again, going their own way and ignoring the Lord
who gave them life and breath. They were like a horse that, after it has been
washed, goes and rolls in the mud! (See 2 Pet. 2:22) How foolish and wicked of
man to want to live his life apart from God and His Word!
So what did God do? Did He ignore the people's plan to
live independently of their Creator? Did He accept those who rebelled against
Him? No, He did not! Listen to what God did. The Scripture says:
(Gen.11) 5But
the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The
Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to
do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come,
let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each
other." 8So the Lord scattered them from there over all
the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it
was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the
whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole
earth."
Thus, we see how God upset the plans of Nimrod and the
others who had begun to build a great city for their own glory. Until this
time, everyone in the world spoke the same language. But on this day, God
mixed up their language so that they could no longer understand
each other. You will remember that God had commanded Noah's descendants "to
fill the earth";
to spread out all over the world. But Nimrod and his followers wanted to do
things their own way and gather all the people of the world into one place. God
defeated their intentions by giving them new languages. That is how God
scattered them over the face of the whole earth. This is the reason we
have hundreds of nations and thousands of languages in the world today.
God certainly did a thorough job of mixing up the
languages of the world. Think how many languages are spoken in Senegal alone.
Oh how great is our God! No one can go against God Almighty and prosper.
"An egg should not wrestle with a rock!" {Wolof Proverb} Man tried to
"wrestle" with God and lost. Do you know the name of this city which
man tried to build in rebellion against God? Yes, the name of the city is Babel. Babel means confusion. Life apart from God and
His Word is only confusion!
That is the story of the city of Babel and the people
who tried to exalt their own name. Are we ever like the people of Babel? Do we
ever exalt ourselves? God tells us that it is sin to do so. Listening
friend, whose name are you seeking to
exalt?Your
own name? …the name of a man, perhaps some marabout {religious leader}? Or are
you seeking to exalt the Name of the Lord God and Him alone? Whose
praise {thanks} are you seeking? The praise of man? Or
are you seeking the praise ofGod? One thing is
absolutely certain. The praise that comes from men will pass away, but the
praise that comes from God will endure forever. God's Word says: "All
men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the
grasswithers and the flowers fall, but the word of the
Lord stands forever!" (1 Pet. 1:24)
Listen to this word from the Lord Himself:
"'Let not the wise man
boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man
boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that
he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord,
who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth, for in these I
delight,' declares the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23,24)
God willing, in our next program, we will review
everything that we have studied from the beginning until now….God bless you as
you remember:
"It is not the one
who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends." (2 Cor. 10:18)
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