Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20080525.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Genesis: Explaining The Foundations Of History
Part VII: Explaining God's Plan To Bless Men Regardless Of Apostasy
(Genesis 12:1-5 et al.)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

At times, the staggering difficulties we or others around us face creates the need to be reassured that that there is still hope in the world:

(1) The May 19, 2008 issue of USA TODAY, p. 6A ran a photo of a survivor of the massive earthquake that rocked Wenchuan County in China on Mother's Day, May 11th. Over 50,000 people have died as a result of the quake, 220,000 were injured, and the Associated Press reports that five million Chinese have been left homeless. That amounts to 1 2/3 of the population of our own State of Connecticut!

The photo of the survivor in Whechuan County on page 6A tells the effects of this event on many: he wore an expressionless face, one that belonged to a soul that had seen far more tragedy than he could possibly mentally or emotionally handle. If we consider the millions who knew someone affected by this event, one wonders how many Chinese are grappling with a sense of hopelessness right now!

(2) Closer to home, Vivian Fenster Ehrlich, Executive Director of a social service agency "that helps seniors and their caregivers" wrote in a letter to the editor in the same paper to say: "Many older workers fear that the nest eggs they've created, even with Social Security, are no longer substantial enough to sustain them in their later years." (Ibid., p. 9A) A sense of hopelessness regarding their financial futures afflicts many Americans who are nearing retirement!

(3) Connecticut's Governor Jodi Rell was a guest on Thursday's "Talk of Connecticut" radio talk show with host, Brad Davis, and I heard her say that some are suggesting that crude oil could rise to $200 a barrel ! At that price, the Governor claimed our country would not be able to function economically, so something has to be done!

(4) Locally, a high concentration of staggering trials have afflicted people in our own body in recent weeks! Some have known overwhelming physical health trials, others face staggering workplace issues and still others have known stunning trials in the realm of legal and academic administrative issues!



So, we may ask, "How can we HOPE the trials of life that mount up for us are MANAGEABLE, let alone SOLVABLE?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "How can we even HOPE that the immense TRIALS we face are MANAGEABLE or even SOLVABLE, and what are we to DO?!"
  1. After the Genesis flood, man fell into humanly hopeless apostasy:
    1. Noah's son, Ham, failed to trust God for blessing, and breached his father's role for it. Noah thus spoke God's curse upon Ham's son, Canaan, and did not bless Ham's line while promising to bless the lines of Shem and Japheth as they yielded to Noah in faith in God, a move designed to drive man to trust God for blessing, Gen. 9:22-27.
    2. However, Nimrod, the son of Cush and grandson of Ham, tried to counter God's program in every way, leading to a world tyrannical, faithless apostasy at Babel, Genesis 10:6, 8-10; 11:1-4.
    3. God divided man's speech to restrain this apostasy, Genesis 11:5-9.
    4. Yet, as the whole world, including even Shem's and Japheth's blessed lines, was snared in this apostasy (Gen. 11:1-4), and Ham's line was unblessed, mankind was left wallowing in hopeless, futile idolatry!
  2. In GRACE, God INTERCEPTED ALL the HOPELESS FAILURE of the Babel APOSTASY in giving the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT:
    1. Right after the Babel event, Genesis 11:10-26 records a genealogy that uniquely moves in a "vertical", concise way from a key ancestor on down to a key descendant, a style typically used in the Ancient Near East to prove the ancestry of a king, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 45.
    2. Thus, this genealogy in this context shows GOD GRACIOUSLY COUNTERED the HOPELESS DARKNESS of "king" Nimrod's apostasy by founding HIS OWN "king" ABRAM in SHEM'S blessed line by way of the ABRAHAMIC COVENANT (as follows):
      1. God graciously used trials to take Abram, Shem's offspring, out of his hopeless idolatry left by the Babel apostasy, Gen. 11:27-32:
        1. Unlike godly Shem, his descendant, Terah and son, Abram were idolaters (Josh. 24:2, Ibid., p. 46) who lived in Ur near ancient Babel (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV (1978), ftn. to Genesis 11:28)!
        2. God graciously arranged for Abram to see the futility of fertility idols, letting him face the non-fertile trials of (1) his brother's untimely death and (2) his wife's barrenness, Genesis 11:27-30.
        3. In his state of need, God called Abram to trust Him for life and posterity blessings (Gen. 12:1-3), and to move to another land.
        4. Yet, his father moved Abram to Haran, Gen. 11:31; Ibid., p. 47.
        5. As God had called Abram to leave his kin, when his idolatrous father died, Abram moved on down to Canaan, Gen. 12:1, 4-5.
      2. Also, God's Genesis 12:1-3 Covenant with Abram CONTRASTS "king" NIMROD with GOD'S OWN "king" ABRAM in a WAY that COUNTERS ALL the HOPELESSNESS of BABEL:
        1. In unbelief in God, Nimrod had corralled the world's peoples to control them for his own fulfillment (Gen. 10:8-10; 11:1-4), but God called Abram to leave his own kin and live by faith in Him, Gen. 12:1. God would thus bless Abram (1) by making of him a great nation versus Nimrod's evil reign (12:2a) (2) by blessing Abram versus Nimrod's effort to rob God's blessings of Shem's and Japheth's lines (12:2b) and (3) by giving Abram great fame versus Nimrod's infamy as a murderer, Genesis 12:2c; 10:8-9.
        2. In unbelief in God, Nimrod had oppressed people to rule the world (Gen. 10:8-10), but, in contrast, God called Abram to be a blessing, Gen. 12:2d (impv. "be a blessing," H. C. Leupold, Ex. of Gen., 1974, vol. I, p. 412). For being a blessing, God would reward Abram (1) by blessing those who blessed him, a deed Nimrod did not do (Gen. 12:3a), (2) by God's cursing those who cursed him (Gen. 12:3b) opposite how Nimrod slew others to control peoples, and (3) by blessing all the earth's families by Abram versus how Nimrod had oppressed them, Genesis 12:3c!
    3. Scripture reveals the blessed FULFILLMENT of GOD'S kingdom plan, one that completely REVERSES Nimrod's tragedy at Babel:
      1. The Abramic Covenant is finally complete in Christ, Gal. 3:13-14.
      2. Thus, Zephaniah 3:9 NIV foretells of true united world worship of God in Christ's millennial kingdom opposite the Babel apostasy and its destruction (Gen. 11:1-4, 5-9): all saved peoples will serve God "shoulder to shoulder" in blessed unity; Ibid., B. K. C., O. T.!
      3. Even Nimrod's people, the Cushites in Ham's initial unblessed line will GOD claim are "my worshippers, my scattered people" who "will bring me offerings" (Zeph. 3:10 NIV; Gen. 10:8 NIV)!!
Application: If we feel hopeless before big trials, may we like pagan Abram of Ur (1) heed God's call, that today involves trusting Christ for salvation from sin, Acts 17:30; John 3:16. (2) Then, if tempted to feel HOPELESS before overwhelming trials, God is allowing them to occur to wean us (1 John 5:21) from "idols" that we might trust and obey Him ALONE versus anything ELSE for fulfillment!

Lesson: Hopelessness in trials results from (Nimrodian) unbelief in God that leads to futile idolatry, i.e., man's turning to anything but God; the solution is found in abandoning idols for (Abram's) God! (1 John 5:21)

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

After Jason Rindflesh suffered his serious arm break this past Monday, his mother, Jennifer, returned a call I had left on their home answering machine, reporting Jason had been slated for surgical repair of the arm sometime on Wednesday.

However, the sense of spiritual triumph was evident in her report when she continued to tell how God had opened up a wonderful witnessing opportunity she had with a physician's assistant in the ER.

This physician's assistant had been unable to get a doctor to come quickly to examine Jason, so she had vented her frustration over this problem with Jennifer! That in turn led to a perfect opportunity for Jennifer to witness to her about the fulfillment and blessing she has found in Jesus Christ. The physician's assistant had to listen, for it was the Rindfleshes who were facing added suffering in the doctor's delay!

That is how God demonstrates He is in control, how He gives us hope in the midst of a world that has little if any hope. Amid all the trials that surface, we can afford to keep focused on the promises we have in Christ much like God directed Abram to focus on Himself and His promises to him that directly countered the failure of Nimrod's apostasy at Babel, and its resulting futile pagan idolatry. In doing so, we can retain our sense of bearing, our hope of God's involvement, and see Him bless us throughout our lives no matter what we face!



May we (1) TRUST in CHRIST for salvation from sin and the world's apostasy. Then, (2) AS BELIEVERS, OPPOSITE the HOPELESSNESS of trusting false "idol" replacements for God for fulfillment, may we LIVE in the HOPE of GOD'S CONTROL in our lives and history to know HIS BLESSING in all we face!