Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP220018S
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00:01 Hello Friends and welcome to our 3ABN Sabbath School.
00:03 We are on Lesson Number 5: All Nations and Babel 00:07 and we are so glad that you joined us. 00:09 If you'd like to get a copy of the Sabbath School Lesson, 00:13 you can do that by going to: 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 00:16 that's: 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 00:19 So, we are ready to study this Lesson. 00:21 We know that God is going to bless us 00:23 and we are just so excited that you've joined us. 00:25 Don't go away, we'll be right back. 00:28 Music... 00:58 James: Hello Friends and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 01:02 We are so thankful that you've joined us. 01:04 We are in Lesson Number 5: All Nations and Babel 01:09 and we are joined by a great crew today. 01:12 We're going to be studying through these lessons 01:14 and praying for God's Holy Spirit to lead us. 01:15 Beginning to my left here is Pastor Kenny Shelton. 01:20 Kenny: Always good to be a part of the family of God... 01:22 studying the Word of God together 01:24 and looking forward to it. 01:25 James: Amen and to his left is Ryan Day. 01:28 Ryan: Yes, it's a blessing to always be a part of this Panel. 01:30 Today, I'm going to be talking about the one language. 01:34 James: Amen... and to Ryan's left is Ms. Shelley Quinn. 01:37 Shelley: And I'm blessed to be here as well, 01:39 I get to speak to let us go to Him. 01:42 James: Amen... and finally we have Pastor John Lomacang. 01:45 Lomacang: That's right, the redemption of the exiled 01:47 and we're looking forward to this lesson, James. 01:50 James: Amen... amen... 01:51 so we are going to dive right into our lesson 01:54 as soon as we start with a word of prayer. 01:56 Pastor Ryan Day, would you like to pray for us? 01:58 Ryan: Absolutely, let's pray together. 02:00 "Father in heaven, Lord, we praise You on this day, God, 02:03 we thank you for life... the life that You give 02:06 and we want to dedicate this time to You Lord, 02:08 we recognize that we do not have power, wisdom, knowledge 02:11 in and of ourself, but all of that comes from You 02:13 and we are certainly depending on You now 02:15 to please send Your Holy Spirit 02:17 to fill us and to give us the words, the thoughts and ideas 02:20 that we may express the righteousness 02:22 and the righteous gospel... 02:24 the good news of Christ here this morning, 02:26 through this study here on the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel. 02:29 So, thank You so much Lord for all that You've given us. 02:31 We ask this in Jesus' holy name, amen. " 02:34 Panel: Amen. 02:35 James: Well, I get to start this out: All Nations and Babel, 02:37 Sabbath afternoon's lesson is all about the memory text 02:43 in Genesis chapter 11 and verse 9, 02:45 so, let's just read that memory text, 02:47 Genesis chapter 11 and verse 9, 02:49 it says, "Therefore its name is called Babel, 02:53 because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; 02:57 and from there the Lord scattered them abroad 03:00 over the face of all the earth. " 03:03 Now, the lesson starts out with this paragraph of introduction, 03:06 if you will, it says, 03:07 "After the flood, the Biblical account shifts 03:10 from focus on the single individual, Noah, 03:13 to his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. 03:16 The particular attention on Ham, the father of Canaan 03:19 introduces the idea of "Canaan," the Promised Land, 03:23 Genesis 12 verse 5 03:24 and Genesis 10:6 and 15, 03:26 in anticipation of Abraham, 03:29 whose blessings will go to all nations. " 03:32 So, what we have here is a culmination, if you will. 03:35 We've gone through the... the plan of salvation 03:37 in the context of the creation and the fall. 03:40 So, God starts out with Adam and Eve. 03:43 They fall and God moves to Cain and Abel and then Seth. 03:48 Seth's descendants mingle with the children of men... 03:53 the sons of God compromising their high calling in God 03:58 and so, then God brings us to Noah and his family 04:01 and Noah and his family preach for a 120 years 04:04 so, God is basically going from Adam and Eve... 04:06 that's the first try 04:08 and then He goes to Abel and then Seth... that's the 2nd 04:10 and then we go to Noah and his family... that's the 3rd... 04:13 and basically, Noah is faithful to God 04:16 but after the flood... well there's some compromise 04:18 that takes place... 04:19 you can imagine the devil and his angels 04:21 just have those eight people to focus on... 04:23 how challenging that can be and so, we see Noah... 04:26 we'll talk about this... drunk in his tent, right? 04:28 Ryan: Hmmm... 04:29 James: And some things going on there 04:31 and then finally, we hear about Abraham 04:33 and Abraham is going to be the fourth and final attempt 04:35 that God is going to make to bring forth the Seed... 04:38 Jesus Christ... and that's really what it's all about. 04:40 It's all about Jesus... we're focusing on Christ... 04:43 and Abraham is the one through whose seed 04:47 Jesus Christ eventually comes to this earth to rescue us 04:51 from our mistakes and from our sins. 04:53 So... "However the line is broken... " 04:55 the Sabbath School says, "by the Tower of Babel 04:58 and then, once again, God's plan for humankind is disrupted. " 05:02 So, what are we supposed to be looking for in all of this? 05:05 It says, "What was supposed to be a blessing, 05:08 the birth of all nations, 05:09 becomes another occasion for another curse. 05:11 The nations unite in order to try to take God's place; 05:14 God responds in judgments on them; 05:16 and, through the resulting confusion, 05:18 the people get scattered throughout the world... 05:20 thus fulfilling God's original plan to 'fill the earth. '" 05:23 So, out of that confusion finally comes Abraham. 05:28 So, we've gone through these four stages, 05:29 Adam and Eve... 05:31 Abel and Seth... 05:32 then Noah and his sons... 05:33 and finally, Abraham is going to come out of all of this 05:35 and in the end, in spite of human wickedness, 05:38 God turns evil into good; 05:39 He has, as always, the last word. 05:41 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... amen... 05:43 James: The curse of Ham in the father's tent 05:45 and the curse of the confused nations at the Tower of Babel 05:48 will, eventually, be turned into a blessing 05:50 for all the nations. 05:52 I think there's a Bible verse in Romans chapter 8 05:54 that talks about that 05:56 that all things work together for good 05:57 right, to them who love God 06:00 who are called according to His purpose. 06:02 So, we can trust God that He is going to bring out good 06:05 even out of our mistakes and out of our failures. 06:07 Not that He wants us to make mistakes and failures 06:10 because, when we fall... when we make mistakes... 06:12 when we fall short of His glory, 06:13 when we sin, we reap the consequence to that 06:16 and the consequence that brings sadness to the heart of God 06:19 and so, God wants to deliver us not only from our failures 06:21 but also from the consequences... 06:23 from continuing to live in those failures. 06:26 So, the curse of Ham is Sunday's lesson 06:28 and it starts here in Genesis chapter 9 verses 18 to 27. 06:33 Genesis 9:18 to 27, 06:35 It's a strange story, 06:37 at least that's what the Sabbath School Lesson says 06:39 and it asks the question, 06:41 "What is the message of this strange story?" 06:43 So, Genesis chapter 9 verses 18 to 27, 06:47 I don't know if I want to read all of these verses 06:50 but let me just paraphrase what takes place here. 06:53 The sons of Noah go forth from the ark, 06:55 Shem, Japheth and Ham 06:57 and as they go forth and begin to spread over the world... 07:01 Noah begins to be an husbandman, he plants a vineyard 07:03 and he drinks of the vineyard 07:06 and ends up being drunk in his tent 07:09 and it says here in verses 21 and 22, 07:12 that when he was drunken in his tent, he was uncovered 07:15 and it says in verse 22 that Ham the father of Canaan 07:18 saw the nakedness of his father 07:20 and told his two brethren without 07:22 and so, then the two brethren, Shem and Japheth... 07:25 they took a garment and they laid it on their shoulders 07:27 and they went in backwards. 07:29 So, they didn't see the nakedness of their father, 07:31 they went in backwards 07:32 and they covered the nakedness of their father, 07:35 and when Noah woke in verse 24, 07:37 he knew what the younger son had done to him 07:40 and he said, "Cursed be Canaan; 07:41 a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 07:43 And blessed be the God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant 07:49 and God shall enlarge Japheth 07:51 and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem 07:54 and Canaan shall be his servant. " 07:56 So, it's a strange story in a sense 07:58 and I know there's been a lot of ideas 08:01 about what was it that happened, 08:03 what was this terrible thing that happened in this tent 08:07 with Ham because basically, Noah cursed him 08:10 and people will come up with all kinds of ideas 08:13 and primarily because you know the curse was so bad 08:17 and the other brothers, you know, 08:18 refused to do whatever it was that he did 08:20 and... and you get this idea 08:23 that there was some kind of immorality that took place there 08:26 I think the Sabbath School Quarterly 08:28 really nails it for us, 08:30 it's so simple that we might miss it. 08:33 The Sabbath School Quarterly takes us to Exodus chapter 20... 08:37 Exodus chapter 20, let's just open our Bibles there 08:40 to Exodus chapter 20 and we're going to find ourselves... 08:42 in Exodus chapter 20, we're going to find ourselves 08:46 right in the middle of the Ten Commandments of God. 08:49 Panel: Ah ha... 08:50 James: God's Ten Commandments, Exodus chapter 20 08:52 and as we move through the Commandments of God 08:54 and by the way, just so that we know this, 08:56 the Ten Commandments are really the standard 08:58 that identify what sin is... 09:00 what immorality is... 09:02 what righteousness is. 09:03 We're told in 1st John 5:17, "All unrighteousness is sin... " 09:06 we're told in 1st John 3:4, sin is transgression of the law. 09:10 We're told in Romans chapter 3 09:12 that all have sinned and have come short of the glory of God, 09:14 the glory of God is a revelation of His character of love 09:17 and the commandments, we're told in... in Matthew 22 09:20 are a revelation of loving God with all our heart, 09:22 mind and soul and loving our neighbor as ourself. 09:24 The fulfillment of the commandment is to love 09:26 and so, when we put all of this together, 09:28 we realize that Exodus chapter 20 is the standard 09:32 against which every human being is measured even Ham. 09:36 Now, when we look in here in Exodus chapter 20, 09:39 we just want to pick up with verse 12. 09:41 Exodus 20 and verse 12, 09:43 "Honor thy father and thy mother, 09:47 that thy days may be long upon the land 09:50 which the Lord thy God giveth thee. " 09:52 And I have to ask the question right now 09:55 to all of you and our audience, 09:57 could it be this simple? 09:59 Panel: Yes. James: Could it be this simple? 10:02 We are trying to figure out what terrible act of immorality 10:06 Ham committed against his father... 10:08 could be just as simple as the fact 10:10 that he did not honor his father? 10:12 That rather than cover his father, 10:15 he went out and started whispering about his father. 10:19 He started gossiping about his father, 10:21 he started telling the others, 10:22 "Guess what? Dad's drunk in the tent and he's naked... 10:26 isn't that terrible?" 10:28 And we think, "Oh, you know, 10:30 that's not so big of a deal, is it?" 10:33 Panel: Right. 10:34 James: To talk about people... to whisper about people... 10:36 to talk about their failures... 10:38 to talk about how they've uncovered themselves... 10:41 how they've fallen short... that's not a big deal is it? 10:45 Well, it's interesting because 10:47 we know it's a violation of the commandments of God 10:49 and we know again that breaking God's commandments is a sin... 10:53 it's immorality... sinful enough. 10:56 Now, sometimes we say, 10:57 "Well, you know, stealing and killing and coveting and 11:01 those are the big commandments, 11:02 now, those are the real bad commandments 11:04 but I'm wondering if today in our age, 11:06 we've forgotten this fifth commandment. 11:08 Panel: That's right... ah ha... 11:09 James: We've forgotten the importance of protecting 11:12 the elderly... 11:13 of... of taking care of our parents... 11:16 of... of... of being an advocate for those who are older 11:20 and maybe not able to take care of themselves. 11:23 I wonder if we're living in a society 11:24 where the elderly are 11:26 well... they're just second-class citizens. 11:28 I mean, they're almost gone anyway, right? 11:30 And God is bringing out a very important point here 11:34 in Exodus chapter 20 and verse 5, 11:37 excuse me... verse 12 11:40 and also, in relationship to Ham. 11:42 He's bringing out a very important point and that is... 11:46 honoring our parents is a vital part of morality today. 11:50 Ryan: That's right. 11:51 James: And Ham dishonored his... his father. 11:53 He dishonored Noah who had preached for a 120 years... 11:56 who really was the very way that God saved Ham 11:59 and his brothers and their wives 12:01 and... and continue to keep this whole earth or... 12:05 or whole survival alive. 12:07 Noah was faithful... 12:09 can you imagine if there was no Noah... 12:10 Panel: Hmmm... that's right. 12:12 James: No man preaching for a 120 years... 12:13 yeah, I've been preaching for almost four decades 12:15 and it seems like a long time, what do you say? 12:18 I mean, some of us can relate to that. 12:21 A 120 years... that's the re-generation... 12:25 it's 40... 80... a 120... Noah was faithful. 12:28 You know, in Romans chapter 1, 12:29 it talks about all the different sins 12:31 and wickedness and immorality 12:32 that are alive in the world today 12:34 and a lot of times, we go there to talk about homosexuality 12:37 because it's outlined there but we sometimes stop with that 12:40 and we don't go on to let God describe to us 12:44 those who are disobedient to parents... 12:46 that are the same category as all this other immorality 12:50 and those who are whisperers in the same category 12:52 as all of these other immorality 12:54 and how much whispering and backbiting and... and gossiping 12:58 has damaged families and churches 13:01 and communities and societies? 13:03 And a lot of times, of course, 13:05 today we call it: misinformation, right? 13:07 Panel: Laughter. 13:08 James: But the truth of the matter is 13:10 God wants us to have the right information... 13:13 He wants us to have good information... 13:14 He wants us to have truthful information 13:15 and He wants us to cover up a multitude of sins 13:19 through this experience of grace and mercy 13:23 and that's what Ham didn't have 13:25 and that's what we need to have, Brothers and Sisters. 13:27 God is calling us to a higher experience. 13:30 He's calling us to cover up others... 13:32 to go backward not to look... not to stare... 13:34 and not to whisper... and not to criticize... 13:37 not to gossip about others 13:39 but He's calling us to cover up as much as we can 13:41 while we stand for the truth... 13:43 we want to stand for truth... 13:44 we want to stand for righteousness 13:46 but at the same time, we want to be careful 13:48 how we talk about other people 13:50 and the failings and faults that they may fall into. 13:52 So, I think it's a great lesson, it's a great start for us. 13:55 It's really brought a lot of understanding to my mind 13:58 to see the connection between Ham... the curse 14:01 and the Ten Commandments of God. 14:03 Ryan: Nice. James: Kenny, what you got? 14:04 Kenny: Thank you for those points... that's right... 14:06 I'm glad you brought those out... awesome. 14:08 Monday's lesson... I have Monday's lesson, 14:09 it's called: The Genesis Genealogy. 14:11 Now, I'm going to be honest with you... 14:14 when I was... when I was appointed this lesson, 14:18 I said, "Why me?" 14:19 Panel: Laughter. 14:20 Kenny: I know no one else does that but me. 14:22 I'm just not capable, you know, 14:24 I said, "This is really heavy duty... " 14:26 but you know what? It's... it's exciting... 14:28 it's part of our lesson... 14:30 this is a way to trace history... 14:33 trace things that took place in the Word of God, so, 14:36 probably more often than not... more often than not 14:39 and in times past... 14:40 now, I'm going to get better at this by the grace of God. 14:42 I'm going to improve my way. 14:44 This is a tanning for me and it's all right 14:47 but more often than not, when I spend time in the Word of God, 14:50 and I... I come upon genealogy... 14:53 I just skip over a lot of times. 14:55 Now, I realize there's important things that we want to do, 14:57 you know, some two or three things 14:59 that we want to trace down David and... and Jesus 15:01 and da... da... da... 15:02 but lot of other... "Ooooh, they're just such big words, 15:04 I can't pronounce them anyway, so what difference does it make? 15:06 I'm not trying to be, you know, sacrilegious about it, 15:09 I'll just say... lot of people now a days are very interested 15:13 in genealogies... you know, 15:15 in fact, it's big business... 15:17 it's... it's... it's millions and billions of dollars 15:19 of business... people are interested where they came from 15:22 and who they're associated with 15:24 and I'm just going to say, when we were digging my past, 15:26 I just... I just want to leave it there, 15:28 I'm not digging... Panel: Laughter. 15:29 Kenny: I'm just not going to dig... I don't want to find... 15:30 it's just that simple, 15:32 that's just me but, you know, that... 15:33 discoveries are just awesome from the DNA. 15:36 You can look... DNA since it's been discovered, you can look 15:39 and you can really trace things down to the very fine line 15:42 if you want to discover your past, 15:44 you want to discover your distant relatives 15:46 and there's a lot of people who do that. 15:48 I'm not making light of that, 15:49 I think... praise God if you like to do that 15:51 and you want to do it, I'm just not going to myself 15:54 but you can do it, it's okay. 15:55 We want to know why sometimes we... 15:57 we have the physical features that we have. 16:00 Hmmm... okay, and then sometimes we're interested in 16:03 why we were born in a certain place in this world. 16:06 Have you ever thought about it? 16:07 "Why was I born in such and such a time? 16:09 Could it have been some other place... da... da... da... da" 16:11 so, we... they want to know 16:12 and the idea of even why we, I've went through this, 16:17 why we believe what we believe and why... 16:20 why I'm a Seventh-day Adventist today. 16:22 You know, it has to do with, you know, 16:25 parents and genealogy and different things 16:27 so, we asked a question, so, you know, 16:29 genealogists use... this is according to Wikipedia. org. 16:34 Genealogists use oral reviews, 16:36 historical records, that' good... 16:39 genetic analysis, and other records 16:41 to obtain information about a family. 16:44 Now, why? To demonstrate their kinship 16:47 where... again... where they came from. 16:50 The article said... pedigrees, you know, 16:54 that's our family tree... 16:55 there's a lot of people out there very interested 16:57 and they've got a large family tree 16:59 and they're tracing every part of that... and that's okay. 17:02 And so, you know, we can do that. 17:05 Now, knowing our past relatives... 17:07 how important is that to you? 17:09 Well, maybe not today but, you know, in the Word of God 17:12 I think it's very, very important 17:14 but a lot of people do this because they have... 17:16 it makes them feel like they belong. 17:19 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 17:20 Kenny: If you can trace back and a lot of people don't feel loved 17:22 they don't feel like they have part of a family, 17:24 maybe they have no one that they know of 17:25 and they want to go back... "I belong... I want to know" 17:28 and so, you know, they trace this genealogy. 17:31 Some can trace it to a royal line. 17:33 You're not going to find that in my line. 17:34 Panel: Laughter. 17:36 Kenny: No royalty... no role to blood 17:37 other than by the grace of God, isn't that right? 17:38 We'll all be royal one of these days, right? 17:40 By the grace of God. 17:42 But sometimes, you trace genealogies to a royal line 17:45 through Scripture. 17:47 Sometimes, we discover there is blessings 17:49 and there's curses. 17:51 Panel: Hmmm... Kenny: Think about it, right, 17:52 any of you heard about... "He's got... what? Blueblood. " 17:55 Panel: Hmmm... 17:56 Kenny: That's... that's the royal line isn't it? 17:58 You don't have that... so, I don't have any of that myself, 18:00 I know... and I'm not going to go into 18:02 and try to find out if I do... 18:03 but, you know, blessings and curses... 18:05 many bluebloods have lost their lives... think about this... 18:08 simply because of their genealogy. 18:10 They... they've lost it... kind of interesting. 18:13 So, why study Genesis' genealogy? 18:16 Well, to begin with, it gives us a link 18:18 between science and Biblical faith. 18:21 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 18:22 Kenny: There is a connection there, even though I think 18:24 some of us are pretty careful about Science and... 18:26 and the Bible but we can still do faith 18:28 that's knowing that God has seen fit to inspire writers 18:32 to list... notice this... a record of the generations 18:35 of real people... hmmm... 18:37 who have lived on this planet clear back what we're doing... 18:40 back to the book of Genesis in the very, very beginning. 18:43 We can find... do it right... 18:46 faith and Science can come together 18:48 in study of genealogy in a big way 18:51 when it comes to studying things like the age of the earth. 18:54 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 18:55 Kenny: Lot of misunderstanding, lot of things that go on there 18:57 different beliefs 18:59 but it's taken Scientists a long time to catch up... right, 19:04 they've been behind as far as I'm concerned. 19:05 Now, if you're a Scientist, 19:07 you know, you're going to scratch your head a little bit, 19:08 you might get a little aggravated 19:10 but it's true, you know, 19:11 it's taken Scientists a long time 19:13 to catch up with the Word of God in this area. 19:14 It finally happened... Scientists... some... now... 19:18 believe that there was sufficient evidence 19:21 to support the Biblical age of this world. 19:23 They've... they've made some changes... 19:25 that's... that's good... praise God 19:27 and, of course, they look at the age of the accumulated layers 19:31 of the sedimentation that developed quickly 19:34 as a result... what? 19:36 From the flood... things that we've been studying 19:38 rather than their once-held views 19:40 that it evolved over millions and whatever, 19:42 billions and so on of years. 19:44 Now, notice this... only... notice this... 19:47 accepted by faith 19:48 only before this was developed 19:50 those... those who had read the Word of God... 19:52 you accept it by faith. 19:54 Now, God is so good to us that He's... 19:57 He's given more evidence, right, 19:58 and others can read and they can say, 20:00 "Okay, now, this is based on something... " 20:02 Scientists' studies now are proving... notice this, 20:05 "the Bible to be correct. " 20:07 That's a beautiful statement. 20:09 Reminded in our study are the Genesis geology 20:12 that Noah was linked between the antediluvian world 20:16 and the area of what are post-flood... 20:18 he was... wasn't he? 20:19 Because he was what... what 950? 20:21 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 20:23 Kenny: 950 years old when he died 20:24 and then he lived after the flood... 350 years... 20:28 after the flood... Genesis 9. 20:30 There are stories that Noah and his family could tell 20:32 before and after... this is kind of exciting. 20:34 Maybe one of these days if by the grace of God 20:36 that we are faithful... we'll be able to sit down, right, 20:39 and do a little discussion 20:41 and they want to discuss with you too... 20:42 those who were living in the last days. 20:44 You know, there is... 20:46 because life-changing altering things took place... 20:49 there's no doubt about it registered in the Word of God. 20:52 In fact, Noah's father... who was he? Lamech? 20:54 Lamech... anyway, he was 56, wasn't he? 20:58 56 years old when... when Adam died. 21:01 So, you see the overlay here in Genesis... 21:04 stories and things that continued on 21:06 and so... that related. 21:07 The God of heaven uses genealogies in prophecy as well, 21:11 let's not forget it, shall we. 21:12 We can talk about that... the prophet Isaiah 21:14 that David would come from the lineage of Jesse... 21:17 we can read that in Isaiah chapter 11... 21:19 we're not going to read all that because our time is going away, 21:21 Jesus was also called the Son of... what? 21:24 The Son of David and of Abraham... 21:27 things that we have been talking about here, 21:28 Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, 21:30 we can trace His lineage in both Matthew and Luke 21:34 to King David and Abraham. 21:36 Three things... I just want to say before we close on this, 21:40 three additional points on Bible genealogy. 21:42 Again, sometimes when I think about it, 21:45 I just think a list of long names 21:46 and whose kin to whom and to what... 21:48 and I've made it very clear that... 21:49 can I say... I don't really care who I'm...? 21:51 Panel: Laughter. 21:53 Kenny: As long as I'm part of the family of God. 21:55 Some of you will get it... the rest of you... 21:56 don't be offended about it, I'm not trying to do that. 21:58 Three points... I want us to try to remember from this... 22:01 the Bible genealogy, 22:02 Number 1: It outlines the historical nature 22:05 of Biblical events. 22:07 Praise God for that... 22:08 my... we've got... that means real people, right, 22:12 living and died and their days are precisely 22:17 numbered... 22:19 that helps us doesn't it when we go back 22:21 to prove what God has said in His Word 22:23 so, I'm very thankful and grateful for that. 22:26 Number 2: It demonstrates the continuity 22:29 from antiquity or ancient past 22:31 to the contemporary time when... 22:34 we're talking about the writers here 22:35 while establishing a link between the two. 22:38 So, it established together, praise God for that. 22:40 Number 3... and I like this, it brings into clear view 22:44 that humans... I understand this one... 22:47 are frail beings. 22:49 Right, we're frail beings. Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 22:51 and we're easily broken down 22:53 and we're easily damaged some time 22:55 by the weight of sin... we know that 22:58 and when we yield to its enticement 23:01 so, a lot of things are brought out, certainly, 23:02 and we talk about a conclusion. 23:04 There's always got to be a conclusion, right, 23:06 as we look at a conclusion. 23:07 Regardless of our possible, you know, quickly skimming over 23:13 like some people do, 23:15 over the records and the genealogies in the Bible, 23:19 they truly hold the key to invaluable information 23:23 that has given... right, God has given His people 23:27 to have a firm footing... 23:29 a firm foundation. 23:31 in which, right, to build their faith. 23:33 Panel: That's right. 23:34 Kenny: Right, isn't that wonderful to know 23:36 that we have a firm foundation. 23:38 We can go back in the Word of God and you can build... 23:40 we said, line upon line... precept upon precept... 23:43 here a little and there a little. 23:45 We can go back to the genealogies 23:46 and we can find time when they lived 23:48 and precise days and we put the things together. 23:50 You say, "Man, the Bible is true. " 23:52 So, some of you might be doubting today... 23:53 go back... do a little... 23:56 don't do like some and pass over these genealogies, 23:59 get into it and study it and then certainly, 24:01 if you have those questions, I know they will be answered 24:03 and you will be stronger in Jesus Christ. 24:06 Panel: Amen... amen... 24:08 James: Thank you so much Kenny, 24:09 I really like the reasons you set out there 24:12 for... for studying genealogy, 24:14 I... I too am one of those people 24:15 that like to skip over the... all the names 24:17 but I think you're right, that's a good point. 24:19 Don't go away, 24:21 we've got more to study, we'll be right back. 24:22 Music... 24:28 Ever wish you could watch the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel again 24:32 or share it on Facebook... 24:33 Instagram... or Twitter? 24:35 Well, you can by visiting: 3abnsabbathschoolpanel. com 24:39 A clean design makes it easy 24:42 to find the Program you are looking for. 24:44 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guide 24:48 so you can follow along. 24:49 Sharing is easy... just click "Share" 24:52 and choose your favorite Social Media. 24:54 Share a Link... Save a life... for eternity. 24:57 Pause... 24:59 James: All right, welcome back to Lesson Number 5: 25:02 All Nations and Babel 25:05 and we're going to hand it right over to Ryan Day. 25:07 Ryan: Amen... thank you so much, 25:08 I'm Ryan Day and I have Tuesday's Lesson 25:11 which is entitled: One Language. 25:13 Of course, now we're getting into the whole Tower-of-Babel 25:16 incident and... you know, I just want to mention there 25:19 as I was listening to the two of you, 25:21 Pastor Kenny, especially, talking about the lineages 25:23 and the... the genealogies, 25:25 you know, all of this goes back to what we have studied 25:26 previous to this, 25:28 which I have said many times and I'll continue to preach 25:30 because I see it so clearly all the way through 25:32 as the great theme of Scripture, 25:34 especially from the Old Testament 25:35 into the New Testament when Christ arrives, 25:37 and that's Genesis 3:15. 25:39 All of the Scripture is basically hanging on the fact 25:42 that there's this coming Seed, right, 25:43 the Seed is Jesus Christ. 25:45 "I will put enmity between the woman and her Seed 25:47 and, of course, the seed of the serpent there in Genesis 3:15 25:51 and so we have the Seed of the Woman 25:52 and the Seed of the Serpent 25:53 and then, of course, right after that, right, 25:55 into Genesis chapter 4, you have the seed of the woman 25:57 and the seed of the serpent in Cain and Abel, 25:59 of course, Cain being the seed of the serpent... 26:01 spiritually speaking 26:02 and, of course, the righteous seed in that of Abel 26:05 and, of course, it goes on to Seth. 26:07 and then, of course, you get into Genesis chapter 6, 26:09 Now, you get into the sons of God 26:11 and the daughters of men... the righteous and the wicked 26:13 and then, even further than that, 26:15 now, Noah... you get into Noah's sons and Noah's lineage 26:18 and now you get into, again, that cursed son, Ham. 26:21 Out of Ham comes these, you know, these nations 26:23 that went on to become, basically, heathen nations 26:26 which is now bringing us to the time of 26:28 the builders of the Tower of Babel versus 26:30 and we're going to get a little deeper into 26:32 Abraham and his descendants 26:34 so, we see this spiritual great controversy theme 26:38 all the way through the Scripture 26:39 which now brings us to the beginning Scriptures... 26:42 the beginning verses of Genesis chapter 11, so let's go there, 26:45 Genesis chapter 11 and we're going to start reading 26:47 verses 1... and I love this lesson 26:49 because it really, really amplifies and... and brings out 26:53 an important spiritual lesson that we all need to grasp 26:56 especially in these last days. 26:57 So, Genesis chapter 11 beginning in verse 1, 27:00 it says, "Now the whole earth 27:02 had one language and one speech. 27:04 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, 27:08 that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, 27:10 and they dwelt there. 27:12 Then they said to one another, 27:14 'Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly. '" 27:18 And it goes on to say... "bake them thoroughly. 27:21 They had brick for stone, 27:23 and that they had asphalt for mortar. 27:25 And they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, 27:29 and a tower whose top is in the heavens; 27:31 let us make a name for ourselves, 27:33 lest we be scattered abroad, 27:35 over the face of the whole earth. '" 27:37 So, you see kind of this collective almost... can I say, 27:41 One-World-Government-type System 27:43 trying to come together and saying, "You know what?" 27:45 and a lot of what has previously happened 27:47 which we just came out of last week... 27:49 talking about the flood... 27:51 now, in light of, you know, God destroying the earth, 27:53 you have these unrighteous men and women 27:55 who are coming together and saying, 27:57 "You know what? we're going to shake the fist to God 27:58 and say, 'Well, we have a plan for You. '" 28:00 They didn't trust in God's Word, 28:02 they didn't trust in the promise that God said, 28:04 "I'm not going to destroy the world again with a flood... " 28:06 now, they're going to basically spit in God's face and say, 28:08 "We're going to make a name for ourselves. " 28:10 The lesson brings this out and you can see kind of a... 28:13 a contrasting from again the plan and the Word of God 28:16 that we find in Genesis 1 and 2, versus what's happening here, 28:20 it says, the lesson brings out... it says, 28:21 "In fact, their real intention 28:23 is to take the place of God Himself, the Creator. 28:25 Significantly, the description of the people's intentions 28:28 and actions echo God's intentions and actions 28:31 in the Creation account... " 28:33 and we see that very clearly, 28:34 for instance, in Genesis 11, which I just read, 28:36 verses 3 and 4, it says, "They said... they said... " 28:39 but we echo that or pair that with Genesis chapter 1 verse 6 28:43 where it says, "And God said, 'Let there be... '" right? 28:45 God is speaking... 28:47 they're saying, "And we are going to speak... " 28:49 also, right there in Genesis 11 verses 3 and 4 it says, 28:52 "Let us make... 28:54 let us make... " right? 28:56 "Let us make a city... let us make for ourselves... " 28:57 and so, also, Genesis 1:26, it says, 29:00 "Then God said, 'Let Us make in Our image... '" 29:03 so, you can see... you can see the plan of the enemy here, 29:07 this contrasting... contradicting plan 29:09 that is taking place here 29:11 and, of course, again, another one here, 29:14 "Let us make a name for ourselves... " 29:16 of course, the lesson brings out that this is an expression 29:19 that is exclusively used for God. 29:22 We see it there in Isaiah chapter 63 verses 12 through 14, 29:25 listen to what Isaiah 63 verses 12 through 14 says, 29:28 and this is... again... Isaiah speaking 29:30 on the glory of the Lord... he's shouting God's glories 29:33 and he says here, "Who... " speaking of God, 29:35 "led them by the right hand of Moses, 29:37 with His glorious arm, dividing the water before them 29:40 to make for Himself an everlasting name... " 29:44 Panel: Hmmm... 29:45 Ryan: Verse 13, "Who led them through the deep, 29:47 as a horse in the wilderness, 29:48 that they might not stumble?" and then verse 14, 29:51 "As a beast goes down into the valley, 29:52 and the Spirit of the LORD causes him to rest, 29:55 so You lead Your people, to... " again, notice... 29:58 "to make Yourself a glorious name. " 30:01 So, notice what the people at the Tower of Babel are doing. 30:03 They are spitting in the face of God... 30:04 they're shaking their fist at God. 30:05 They're saying, "You know what? We don't trust You... 30:07 we don't believe in Your word... 30:09 we're going to do our own thing... 30:11 we're going to be our own God. " 30:13 That's basically what is happening here 30:15 and so, the builders basically wanted to replace God 30:19 and where did... where did they get this idea from? 30:21 Where do you think they got this idea from 30:22 that they could be little gods unto themselves 30:25 or they can raise themselves as high into the heavens 30:28 with this tower that they are going to build 30:29 to kind of be their own masters... their own leaders? 30:32 Of course, this is echoing straight from the heart 30:35 of the devil himself from Isaiah chapter 14 verses 13 and 14, 30:38 we've read it so many times and I'm going to read it because 30:41 we're studying the Bible, right. 30:43 Here is what it says, it says... this is Satan again, 30:45 Satan it says, "For you have said in your heart: 30:47 'I will ascend into the heaven... '" 30:49 isn't this what the Tower of Babel is happening? 30:51 They were ascending... they were building into heaven, 30:53 "I will ascend into the heaven, 30:54 I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; 30:57 I will also sit on the mount of the congregation 30:59 on the farthest sides of the north; 31:01 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds... " 31:03 that's what they wanted this... this Tower of Babel to be 31:06 or this Tower of Babel... and then it goes on to say, 31:07 "And I will be like the Most High. " 31:10 Let us... they said, "Let us make for ourselves" 31:14 again... "Let us make a name for ourselves. " 31:17 So, we see this even now during this time 31:20 that Society has degraded so much 31:23 that now God has to step in again. 31:25 Now, God's got to show up and say, 31:27 "Oh my goodness, here we go... 31:28 here we go with this again... " right, 31:29 and so... actually I'm going to read a couple of paragraphs here 31:32 that the lesson brings out, they word it so well, 31:33 I couldn't possibly word it any better. 31:35 So, they bring it out over here, it says, 31:37 "In short, the builders of Babel entertained the misplaced 31:41 ambition to replace God, the Creator. 31:43 The memory of the flood surely must have played a role 31:47 in their project. 31:48 They built a high tower in order to survive another flood, 31:51 or another to come, despite God's promise. 31:54 The memory of the flood has been preserved 31:56 in Babylonian tradition, 31:58 albeit distorted... " it goes on to say, 32:00 "in connection with the construction of the city 32:03 of Babel. " Or, of course, would be come to known 32:06 known to be: Babylon. 32:07 "This upward effort to reach heaven and usurp God 32:11 will, indeed, characterize the spirit of Babylon. 32:15 This is why the story of the Tower of Babel 32:17 is such an important motif and even in the book of Daniel" 32:22 now we remember... if you remember, 32:23 even in the very first chapter of Daniel 32:25 as Nebuchadnezzar has just besieged and taken control 32:27 of... of... of... of the captives there in Jerusalem, 32:30 he takes the utensils... the holy utensils of God 32:33 and if you read there in Daniel chapter 1 verse 2, 32:35 what does he bring them back to? 32:37 He brings them back to the Plain of Shinar... 32:39 same place that you see where this tower would have been built 32:42 and he goes on... the lesson goes on to bring about, it says, 32:46 even in Genesis 3 where it says that he built this... this 32:49 erected the statue in the Plain of Dura, 32:51 they're saying, "This is probably the same geographical 32:54 region of Shinar where they erected this 90-foot image 32:58 and now what does the King of Babylon say? 32:59 "Worship him... " instead of God, right? 33:02 "This is your god... worship him. " 33:04 And so, again, this is just... 33:05 again, this... this whole rebellion... 33:07 rebellious recalcitrant spirit on behalf of the people 33:11 towards God and what's interesting 33:13 is this has prophetic implications. 33:15 We've seen this all the way down through history, 33:17 what we know as history 33:18 but even recent history 33:19 when you get into Daniel chapter 2 33:21 where obviously you see the... the metal man, 33:23 you know, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, 33:25 divided Rome... of course we know it became Western Europe, 33:28 it's interesting that in the history there Daniel chapter 2 33:31 verses 41 through 43, 33:33 it goes on to talk about the feet and the toes that are 33:36 partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, 33:38 when you get to verse 43 33:39 speaking of the kings of the earth during that time 33:42 in divided Rome State... 33:44 Western Europe State, it says, 33:45 "As you saw iron mixed with ceramic clay, 33:47 they will mingle with the seed of men 33:49 but they will not adhere to one another 33:51 just as iron does not mix with clay. " 33:53 The Bible predicted that there would be powerful men 33:56 that would come about in these latter days that would say, 33:58 "You know what? We're going to take what God says... 34:00 is going to remain divided 34:01 and we're going to bring it all together. 34:03 God confounded the languages... 34:05 He confused the languages... He scattered them abroad... 34:07 we're going to bring it together. 34:08 We are going to have one world, one government, one language. " 34:10 In fact, it's interesting just to mention a few of these 34:12 names here, Charles the Fifth, 34:14 Charlemagne... go look these up in history, 34:16 Charlemagne... Napoleon Bonaparte... 34:18 all of these men are examples of what they tried to do. 34:21 Even in Napoleon's journal, get this, 34:22 this is what he said in his journal. 34:24 He says, "There will be one Europe. 34:25 There will be one currency. 34:27 There will be one language. 34:29 There will be one government over all of Europe... " 34:31 and, of course, by the time of his defeat at Waterloo, 34:34 you know what he had to admit, 34:36 this is what... these are his words... 34:37 and he said... he actually said this, 34:38 "God Almighty, it's too much for me. " 34:40 Kenny: Yes, that's a fact. 34:41 Ryan: "God Almighty... " he had to admit it. 34:42 "God Almighty, it's too much for me. " 34:44 Even Hitler... Adolf Hitler... 34:45 he said, "There will be a one people... 34:47 one empire... one leader... " 34:49 and even on March 1941, 34:51 he recorded these words to his people, 34:53 he said, "To my people, we do not need anything from God, 34:56 we do not ask Him for anything 34:57 except that He may let us alone. " 34:59 Panel: Oooooh... Ryan: What arrogance! 35:00 "We want to fight our own war with our own guns without God... 35:03 we want to gain our victory without the help of God. " 35:06 This is... this is Tower of Babel... 35:07 this is Tower of Babel language. 35:08 My Friends, I've run out of time 35:10 but I want to leave you with these last final words, 35:11 "Do... " in these last days, may we not have this rebellious, 35:15 recalcitrant spirit... 35:16 may we open up our hearts to the Lord and say, 35:18 "Lord, come in to me... " 35:19 and follow the word of the Lord today 35:21 and not of the will of Babylon. 35:23 Panel: Thank you... ooooh... amen. 35:24 Shelley: That was good for the rest of my time. 35:28 My name is Shelley Quinn and the lesson I have 35:31 for Wednesday is: Let Us Go Down. 35:33 We'll begin with Genesis 11 and verse 5, 35:37 I'm going to read through it 35:38 and then we're going to take it apart. 35:40 Genesis 11 verse 5, 35:42 "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower 35:45 in which the sons of men had built. 35:48 And the Lord said, 'Indeed the people are one 35:52 and they all have one language, 35:55 and this... if this is what they begin to do; 35:59 now nothing they propose to do 36:01 will be withheld from them. 36:03 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, 36:09 that they may not understand one another's speech. " 36:15 So, let's take this apart. 36:17 What about this event required God to come down 36:23 and motivated this divine reaction? 36:26 Let's look at verse 5 again. 36:27 "The Lord came down to see the city and the tower 36:33 which the sons of men had built. " 36:35 You know, the irony is, God sees everything... 36:40 God knew everything that was... 36:42 He was already aware of this 36:44 but He came down, quote unquote "to see" 36:47 in Psalm 139 verse 7 through 12, 36:52 David writes this, 36:54 "Where can I go from Your Spirit? 36:57 Where can I flee from Your presence? 36:59 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; 37:01 if I make my bed in hell... " which is the grave... 37:03 "behold, You are there. 37:05 if I take the wings of the morning, 37:08 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 37:10 even there Your hand shall lead me, 37:13 and Your right hand shall hold me. 37:15 If I say, 'Surely the darkness shall fall on me,' 37:18 even the night shall be light about me; 37:21 indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, 37:26 but the night shines as the day; 37:31 the darkness and the light are both alike to You. " 37:37 So, when it says... God came down to see... 37:42 first of all, I'll remind you, this is the 11th chapter... 37:45 there's 2,000 years of history 37:48 condensed into these first 11 chapters of Genesis. 37:52 But God coming down to "see" 37:56 is just explaining God's involvement with humanity. 38:04 It's emphasizing this. 38:06 The city of Babylon... Babilu was the "Gate of God" 38:12 is what that meant. 38:13 It was a city of pagan worship... 38:16 a city of sin and superstition 38:20 and carnal pleasures of material riches 38:23 and persecution. 38:24 Now, the Tower of Babel or the Tower of Babel... 38:30 I've heard it pronounced both ways 38:32 is linked with the Hebrew word: Balayu... 38:37 and you know what that word means? 38:39 "To confuse. " 38:40 So, you know, I'm trying to picture... 38:43 we don't know how long... because this is... 38:45 this is 2,000 years of history, 38:48 I don't know how long they were building on this, 38:51 but we do know during that time 38:53 as they're building this tower, 38:56 one of their building constructions was a ziggurat... 38:59 that they built these different levels 39:02 and they went up in a pyramid 39:04 and they did this as a temple for their pagan gods 39:10 and they would have rising terraces 39:14 and... and the whole idea is that these ziggurat temples 39:19 were considered to be an entrance to heaven. 39:25 So, the construction of this tower 39:29 as you so rightfully said... 39:30 what they were doing was dethroning God. 39:34 Panel: That's right. 39:35 Shelley: What they were doing was establishing paganism 39:39 as a system of worship. 39:40 So, in verse 6 the Lord says, 39:43 "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, 39:49 and this is what they begin to do; 39:53 now nothing that they propose to do 39:57 will be withheld from them. " 39:59 Let me tell you something, God isn't looking down 40:02 and being concerned about competition for authority. 40:06 Panel: That's right... yeah... sure... 40:07 Shelley: Right? Panel: That's right. 40:08 I mean, He had full authority 40:10 but He knew that if He left this people unchecked... 40:14 if He didn't do something to stop them, 40:18 the deeds of their evil... the deeds of their defiance 40:23 would do nothing but multiply and bring multiple miseries 40:28 on the earth. 40:29 So, the people were rebelling against their Creator 40:34 and He's about to reverse their evil human plot. 40:38 Verse 7, Genesis 11:7, 40:41 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, 40:45 that they may not understand one another's speech. " 40:50 You know what's interesting to me? 40:52 Even in God's destruction of their evil plan, 40:57 He creates... He creates all these new languages... 41:02 it's a creative destruction, 41:03 you know, God can't do anything that's not creative, can He? 41:07 but it's interesting that He said, 41:09 "Let us go down... " 41:11 it's reminiscent of the very beginning 41:14 of the account of creation, Genesis 1:26... 41:18 God said, "Let us make man in Our image, 41:22 according to Our likeness... " 41:24 verse 27 says, "God created man in His own image; 41:28 in the image of God He created him; 41:30 male and female He created them. " 41:33 When you think about the... 41:37 the two accounts of creation in Genesis, 41:41 why does God say, "Let Us make man in Our image" 41:47 and then it goes and it takes the "Us" and says, 41:51 "God made man in His image. " Panel: That's right. 41:54 Shelley: In Job 33:4... we won't turn there, 41:57 Job 33:4... for you note takers, 42:01 Psalm 104 verse 30 42:03 and we see it also in Genesis 1. 42:06 The Holy Spirit is present at creation. 42:11 We know that John chapter 1... 42:14 Colossians chapter 3... 42:16 and Hebrews chapter 1 42:19 shows us the God who came down 42:23 to become the person of Jesus Christ 42:25 was very active in Creation. 42:30 So, let us go down... 42:32 the... the Godhead came down to create... 42:35 now, the Godhead is coming down 42:37 and the descent of God is an affirmation of His supremacy. 42:43 Panel: That's right. 42:45 Shelley: See, the only way that God could save us 42:48 is for God to come down. 42:50 There's no way we could ever find our way up... never. 42:53 In Luke 1:26 through 33, 42:58 God sends His angel Gabriel to a young virgin named Mary. 43:01 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 43:03 Shelley: He announces to her, 43:04 "Genesis 3:15 is about to happen, 43:07 you're going to have the Promised Seed... 43:11 the... the Seed of the woman who would be a son of David... 43:15 that God would come down and take on the flesh 43:22 and listen to what Luke 1:31 says, 43:25 "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, 43:30 His name shall be called Jesus. 43:31 He will be great, 43:33 and He will be called the Son of the Highest; 43:36 and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. 43:39 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, 43:42 and of His kingdom there will be no end. " 43:45 He came down and became God... 43:49 took on our flesh... He became one of us. 43:52 He became the covenant Son of God. 43:55 Isaiah 9:6 says, "To us a Son is born, 43:59 unto us a Son is given; 44:01 the government shall be on His shoulders, 44:04 and His name shall be Wonderful... 44:06 Counselor... 44:07 Mighty God... 44:08 Everlasting Father... 44:10 and Prince of Peace. " 44:11 So, this person of the Godhead 44:14 whose title is: Everlasting Father... 44:17 when He came down and became the Covenant Son of God, 44:21 He did this to give us righteousness by faith. 44:25 It is salvation by grace alone 44:28 and then, the remaining Party in heaven... 44:31 another Person of the Godhead became the Father. 44:35 In Hebrews 1:5... this is what God in heaven says to 44:39 God who's become Incarnate 44:41 "You are my Son, 44:43 today I have begotten You. " 44:45 That's a Covenant term. 44:47 "And again: I will be to Him a Father, 44:49 and He shall be to Me a Son. " 44:51 So, the whole idea is that there is nothing that we can do 44:56 to save ourselves. 44:58 God has to come down... 44:59 He has to move toward us to save us 45:02 because He loves us... He cares for us 45:05 and, you know, what? 45:06 That's the same reason He came down to confuse the languages 45:10 is because He loved the people, He cared for them. 45:13 He was trying to stop the evil... to postpone this 45:17 so that the Seed would have time to come forward. 45:20 Panel: That's right... amen. Thank you so much. 45:23 Lomacang: Wow! that leads us now to the last day of the week... 45:26 actually, the last day of our study: 45:28 The Redemption of the Exile. 45:30 Well, let's continue in Genesis chapter 11, 45:33 I'm going to read verses 8 and 9 45:36 and then, we're going to try and find out 45:39 how can you get redemption out of exile. 45:41 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 45:43 Lomacang: "So the Lord scattered them abroad 45:46 from there over the face of all the earth, 45:48 and they ceased building the city. 45:51 Therefore its name is called Babel, 45:54 because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; 45:59 and from there the Lord scattered them abroad 46:02 over the face of all the earth. " 46:04 How could you get redemption out of that? 46:08 Now, you got to go back a couple of chapters 46:11 to find out how this act of God can become redemptive 46:15 and, I think Ryan made this analysis how there's a... 46:19 there's a Babylon development there 46:21 in the Plain of Shinar. 46:23 There's an actual Babylon 46:24 in the experience of the Hebrews in Daniel 46:26 and there's a spiritual Babylon 46:28 and the Bible says... their sins have... 46:31 her sins have reached unto heaven. 46:32 So, we still have the developing scenario 46:35 of spiritual Babylon today... symbolic Babylon. 46:37 But how could this act of being scattered throughout the earth 46:41 be a fulfillment... a redemptive act? 46:43 Let's go to Genesis 9 46:45 and look at how dispersion and redemption 46:48 are closely associated in the act of God 46:51 and with those beautiful... Shelley, 46:53 how God had to come down because we couldn't go up, 46:55 I got to build a sermon on that one... 46:57 He came down to my level while I couldn't get up to His. 46:59 Have to write that song... 47:01 Ryan: Yes. 47:02 Lomacang: Here it is... Genesis 9 verse 1, 47:04 "So God blessed Noah and his sons, 47:07 and said to them: 47:09 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. '" 47:13 Now, whatever the Lord gives as a... as a directive, 47:17 Satan seeks to reverse it. 47:18 God's plan was to fill the earth. 47:21 Satan's plan was to... "No... stay right there... 47:24 and establish your own city right there. 47:27 Don't go around the... 47:29 don't go throughout the earth. " 47:30 So, in order to fulfill the directive He gave 47:33 to Noah and his sons on the other side of the ark... 47:37 on the other side of the flood... 47:38 He came and decided to do the dispersion Himself. 47:42 "Since you won't go willingly, you'll go eventually. " 47:45 Panel: Hmmm... yes... 47:47 Lomacang: So, the Lord scattered them 47:48 because that's what He told them to do... fill the earth. 47:51 So, He scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth 47:55 at the end of Genesis 11 verse 9, that's what He did 47:59 which was a fulfillment of Genesis 9 verse 1 48:02 "Fill the earth. " 48:04 Panel: Hmmm... that's right. 48:05 Lomacang: He said, "That's what I wanted you to do 48:06 but you've got... 48:08 you've gotten stuck on trying to establish your own salvation" 48:11 and the Tower of Babel was a symbol of salvation by works. 48:14 Panel: Yes... hmmm... hmmm... 48:15 Lomacang: "I don't know about this God 48:16 that just destroyed the earth by water 48:18 so, just in the event that He doesn't fulfill His promise, 48:22 we're going to make a way of our own escape. " 48:25 Salvation by works has always been the staple 48:28 of false religions. 48:29 Panel: Agreeing. 48:31 Lomacang: I want to say that because a lot of times... 48:32 let me get a little deep here today, 48:34 there's some people 48:37 that walk away even from the Seventh-day Adventist Church 48:42 and get caught up in what I call "Cult Movements" 48:46 real cult-movements 48:47 and the first indication of a Movement that is not 48:50 Christian-led is all of a sudden... 48:52 it becomes work oriented. 48:54 Panel: Amen. 48:55 Lomacang: Wear a turban... cover your head... 48:58 wear garments all the way down to the ground... 49:00 start dressing like those in the 1700s... 49:03 and all this nonsense today 49:05 is beginning to proliferate this ideology 49:08 that was born at the Tower of Babel. 49:10 It's confusing. 49:11 How can I believe in Jesus 49:13 and still believe that salvation is by some act... 49:15 some redemptive act on my part. 49:18 Shelley: Grace plus... 49:19 Lomacang: Say it again. Shelley: Grace plus... 49:21 Lomacang: And there is no such thing as grace plus. 49:23 Shelley: There is no such thing. 49:24 Lomacang: We will not walk into heaven by anything we've done. 49:26 It is on the merits and the grace of Christ alone 49:29 that we're saved. 49:30 All the other things that are 49:32 included in our salvific relationship 49:34 never put that before salvation itself. 49:37 So, the staple of false religions is... 49:40 they start getting you locked up in all these different works 49:43 making you feel as though "Now I found some higher level" 49:46 even feast days... 49:48 "Well, I've... I've got to be more saved 49:50 than those who don't keep the feasts. " 49:51 So, I get locked into all... 49:53 even the Evangelical world... 49:55 looking for the re-establishment of the sacrificial system, 49:58 and they got the nerve to say that we honor the Sabbath 50:01 and we are saved by works... 50:03 is the only commandment that says, 50:04 "Thou shalt not do any works. " 50:06 So, watch out for religion... 50:08 right, watch out for religions 50:10 that base your salvation on a work. 50:12 Sabbath is not a work... it's a rest from work. 50:16 Panel: Amen... that's right. 50:17 Lomacang: So, let's go look at Genesis 1 verse 28, 50:19 "God blessed them, and God said to them... " 50:22 to Adam and Eve... 50:23 "Be fruitful and multiply; 50:25 fill the earth and subdue it; 50:26 have dominion over the fish of... 50:28 over the fish of the sea, 50:30 over the birds of the air, 50:32 and over every living thing that moves on the earth. " 50:34 He said that to Adam and Eve... 50:36 He said that to Noah... 50:38 He kept saying, "Guys, come on, 50:39 you've got to fill the earth... " 50:41 and along comes the Tower of Babel 50:43 confuses humanity and God says, "Okay, 50:45 since they don't want to do it, 50:46 I'll scatter man throughout the earth. " 50:48 So, the design of God was to be fruitful and multiply 50:51 and fill the earth. 50:52 The design of Satan was, "You stay right there... 50:54 ignore God... " 50:56 in every avenue where God gives a directive, 50:58 Satan follows it up with another directive 51:00 that is completely opposite to the directive of God. 51:03 That's why, Genesis 11 verse 4, 51:06 let's look at the other aspect of why this exile 51:09 needed to be a redemptive act. 51:12 Look at Genesis 11 verse 4, 51:14 "And they said, 51:16 'Come, let us build ourselves a city. '" 51:18 Abraham said, 51:19 "I'm looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. " 51:22 Panel: Amen... 51:23 Lomacang: They said, "We need to build our own city 51:25 I don't want to wait for God's city. " 51:26 Anyway, I've got so many more thoughts in my mind 51:29 that just came, I've got to stop. 51:30 "And a tower whose top is in the heavens; 51:33 and let us make a name for ourselves, 51:36 lest we be... " what? 51:37 Panel: Scattered. 51:39 Lomacang: The very thing that God wanted. 51:40 Panel: Yeah. 51:42 Lomacang: The very thing He wanted... " 51:43 "We don't want to do that lest we be scattered abroad 51:45 over the face of the whole earth. " 51:47 Panel: Hmmm... 51:48 Lomacang: Novel idea... God said that to Adam and Eve, 51:50 God said that to Noah and his sons... novel idea 51:52 but now, the next thing is, establishing your own name. 51:55 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... 51:57 Lomacang: Isaiah 4 verse 1, 51:58 another staple of religion is, you ignore the name of Christ 52:03 and seek to establish your own name. 52:04 Panel: Hmmm... 52:05 Lomacang: Isaiah 4 verse 1, "And in that day 52:10 seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, 52:14 'We will eat our own food... '" 52:16 or bread in the King James Version 52:17 "wear our own apparel; 52:19 only let us be called by your name, 52:22 to take away our reproach. " 52:24 Panel: Hmmm... 52:26 Lomacang: Now, you have the opposite... you have... 52:27 Satan said, "Well, that didn't work... " 52:29 and so, he flips the script and said, 52:31 "Now, wait... it didn't work at the Tower of Babel, 52:34 so, let's use His name... 52:35 don't go any further than the name. " 52:37 The danger today is to think that there's salvation 52:39 only in the name and not the life. 52:43 Panel: That's right. 52:45 Lomacang: Now, we're not talking about salvation by works now, 52:48 but we're saying the name and the work are never separate. 52:52 Panel: Hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... hmmm... 52:54 Lomacang: How was Abraham justified? 52:57 His faith was made perfect through his work. 53:02 Panel: Yes. 53:03 Lomacang: Not his work made him perfect, 53:06 but his faith was endorsed by his work. 53:09 His work didn't save him... 53:11 it was the work of Jesus that saved him. 53:13 Panel: Amen... yes. 53:14 Lomacang: So, we find and that now, Jesus continually looking 53:17 at Satan... 53:19 and I love the fact that the Son of man is always ahead 53:21 of the fallen angel. 53:23 Panel: Amen... ah ha... 53:24 Lomacang: That's why one of the things 53:25 that the Lord warned us of in the last days... 53:27 He says, Matthew 24 verse 5, 53:29 "Many will come in My name, 53:31 saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. " 53:34 Be careful because now... now people... 53:37 the opposite of Babel... 53:38 they were establishing their own name... that didn't work, 53:40 the devil says, "Now, how could we flip this script?" 53:43 Ah... "You can have the name, but don't go any further. " 53:46 And that's what we have now, Revelation 3, 53:48 look at the Church of Sardis, 53:50 Revelation 3 verse 1, 53:52 "And the angel of the church in Sardis write, 53:55 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God 53:59 and the seven stars: 54:00 "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, 54:05 but you are dead. "'" 54:06 See... so today the word "Christian" 54:10 is no longer synonymous to Christ. 54:14 Panel: Right... that's true. 54:15 Lomacang: The life has to be the connection... 54:19 not just the title. 54:20 Panel: Amen. Lomacang: Why? 54:22 Look at Matthew 7 verse 21 to 23, 54:24 "Not everyone who says to Me, 54:26 'Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, 54:29 but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 54:31 Many will say to Me in that day, 54:34 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, 54:37 cast out demons in Your name, 54:40 and done many wonders in Your name?' 54:43 then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; 54:46 depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'" 54:49 Notice, how today the satisfaction of Christianity 54:52 is... people think that just because it has a Christian label 54:55 it's really a Christian life. Panel: Hmmm... 54:58 Lomacang: Measure it... the Lord said, 54:59 "Why call me 'Lord, Lord' 55:01 and do not do the things which I say?" 55:04 Luke 6 and verse 46, 55:05 so, if you're connected to a Denomination 55:08 make sure that the Denomination is connected to Christ... 55:11 not just by a title but by a life. 55:14 Don't call Him, "Lord, Lord" and ignore what He says, 55:17 that's why when we... 55:19 when He says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" 55:21 we don't say, "Yes Lord, we like Your name 55:22 but we're not going to do that. " 55:24 The "name" and the "life" must be associated together. 55:26 Panel: Amen... amen... praise the Lord... yes. 55:29 James: Good, good stuff, 55:31 so, we've got about two-and-half minutes left 55:34 for some closing thoughts, like to start with you, Kenny. 55:36 Kenny: Oh, good, I had jotted something down here 55:38 that had to do with genealogies, said... God knew our needs 55:41 to have these genealogies recorded along... 55:45 notice this... several... record several life stories 55:48 of the nations and individuals. 55:50 He knew that we could study and learn from their... 55:54 notice this, "successes and failures 55:57 in hopes that we would not repeat the mistakes. " 56:00 Ryan: Amen, thank you. 56:02 Yes, you know, my lesson is talking about this... 56:05 this arrogance of this... 56:07 evil, rebellious spirit that they had, 56:08 but you know at the end of the day 56:09 what came to my mind was Matthew 21 verse 44, 56:12 Jesus says, "And whoever falls on this stone... " 56:14 speaking of Himself... 56:15 "will be broken; but on whomever it falls, 56:18 it will grind him to powder. " 56:20 Reminds me of that song, "Lean on Me... " 56:23 Shelley: I love that. 56:25 Ryan: Lean on Jesus... don't lean on yourself... 56:27 not on your own understanding but on the understanding of God. 56:30 James: Okay. 56:31 Shelley: You know, I didn't really have a closing thought 56:33 but what's going through my mind right now is, 56:35 God is not the author of confusion... 56:37 yet He came down... and the Bible says, 56:39 He confused their languages. 56:41 He created different languages to stop the devil's confusion. 56:46 My question for you is: 56:49 What towers are we building in our life and... 56:54 and if you are experiencing confusion in your life, 56:59 it means you're not walking in the will of God. 57:03 Panel: Hmmm... wow... all right. 57:05 Lomacang: That's deep... what tower are you building? 57:07 I got to hold on to that one. 57:09 Titus 1:16... "They profess to know God, 57:13 but in works they deny Him... " 57:15 don't allow your name to be the satisfaction 57:17 of your connection with Christ, 57:19 make sure your works identify with the life of Christ. 57:22 Panel: Amen... amen. amen... amen. 57:24 James: So, we have looked at some incredible insights here 57:29 in basically Genesis chapter 11 57:31 and one of the thoughts that... that really clear up in my mind 57:34 along with all these magnificent insights 57:37 was the fact that not just our earthly Father 57:40 but our heavenly Father wants to be honored. 57:43 God is calling us to honor Him and to trust Him and His plan 57:46 and all through this story of the Tower of Babel, 57:51 we find distrust of God 57:53 which starts right from the very inception 57:55 but we pray that our hearts... 57:57 our minds... will find through the Word of God, 58:00 a renewed trust in His love and His care for us. 58:02 Be sure to join us for our next lesson: Lesson Number 6... 58:05 God bless. Panel: Amen. |
Revised 2022-04-19