1 00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,960 Genesis Chapter 11 is where we will again be this morning, 2 00:00:05,920 --> 00:00:10,040 picking up that verse 10 and finishing out the chapter. 3 00:00:16,520 --> 00:00:20,280 When I was a sophomore or perhaps a junior in high school, 4 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:23,320 I, I went to our school's library and I, I picked out this 5 00:00:23,320 --> 00:00:25,920 book that was sitting there on the shelf, arranged for 6 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:28,360 everybody to see it so you can see the cover. 7 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:34,840 The Hobbit. I'll tell you, I knew literally 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:40,080 nothing about The Hobbit and, and it's author, JRR Tolkien. 9 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:43,600 I did take note of the fact that apparently the guy had two 10 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,640 middle names and I thought that was pretty cool. 11 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:50,960 I enjoyed reading classics and the whole lot of those books we 12 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:53,880 had to read in high school. So I thought I would try out 13 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:57,800 this fantasy thing and see what that was like. 14 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:04,280 As I opened the pages I was intrigued to find maps and when 15 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:06,680 I began to read I started to get lost. 16 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:10,880 There was this Bilbo guy, and eventually Frodo comes along and 17 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,200 Gandalf, a bunch of dwarves dwelling glowing Thor, Bjorn, 18 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,160 Bard, King Thrandle, Thorin, Elrond the elf was thrown in 19 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,040 there, and some other elves. And then there were the bad guys 20 00:01:24,040 --> 00:01:32,400 like Smog, Gollum, and Sauron. Also, I didn't realize that 21 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,440 there was this whole world that Tolkien had created. 22 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:38,440 I didn't know about the Shire and about Middle Earth. 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:42,160 And actually I was really new to this whole fantasy thing 24 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:45,400 anyways, so I didn't even know how to engage with it. 25 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:48,480 I got lost and all these people, and I tried to keep everything 26 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:52,400 straight and I did something that I'd never done before. 27 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:59,160 I bailed on the book. I just couldn't do it. 28 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:02,800 Due date came and so I turned it in. 29 00:02:05,840 --> 00:02:11,680 It wasn't until some 2 decades later that I was able to pick 30 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,440 the book back up again and finish. 31 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:17,920 This time I paid careful attention to each of the 32 00:02:17,920 --> 00:02:21,840 characters and where we were, even sometimes consulting the 33 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:25,280 map. I know that sounds geeky or 34 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,560 weird, but it's what I had to do in order to process everything 35 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:34,040 that was coming my way. Anybody else resonate with that 36 00:02:34,040 --> 00:02:37,640 with with that book? Like it was a little hard to 37 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:40,320 track. OK, good, good. 38 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,040 Now, as we finish up this morning, this section of this 39 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:51,120 section of Genesis, we come to another genealogy. 40 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,280 Lots of names. We see a number of these names 41 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:00,560 back in chapter 10, but but how do those names figure into God's 42 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:05,080 story? Verse 10 begins. 43 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:10,560 These are the generations. These are the generations of 44 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,800 Shem. This is a a new Tolidoth 45 00:03:14,000 --> 00:03:17,400 section. This opening is a signal to the 46 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:21,520 reader, hey, pay attention, something new's about to happen. 47 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,080 And the words for generations toledoth I've mentioned this 48 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:28,160 before, is used 11 times total in this book. 49 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,560 And whenever we see these words, these are the generations we 50 00:03:33,560 --> 00:03:36,440 should pay attention because Moses is trying to tell us 51 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,400 something important is going on in the text. 52 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:46,360 Now this new genealogy is another flashback. 53 00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,520 It's widely believed that the incident at Babel occurred about 54 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:55,280 halfway through this genealogy. And we're not reading through 55 00:03:55,280 --> 00:03:58,040 this genealogy, but it's believed that occurred about 56 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:03,480 halfway through this genealogy and Peleg's generation in the 57 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:08,320 last chapter, verse 25, it read to a bear were born two sons. 58 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,720 The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was 59 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:17,240 divided. This refers to the consequences 60 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:20,720 received from the Tower of Babel experiments. 61 00:04:21,399 --> 00:04:25,400 The verb palag is used in the Old Testament to describe 62 00:04:25,400 --> 00:04:29,920 division of languages. So the word play between palag 63 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:34,760 and Peleg helps us see that division as referring to the 64 00:04:34,760 --> 00:04:39,280 Babel events that occurred 5 generations after the flood. 65 00:04:41,520 --> 00:04:45,360 Noah's oldest son, Shem appears in verse 10 and then the 66 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:50,040 genealogy walks us up to the precipice of the patriarchs. 67 00:04:50,880 --> 00:04:55,360 In chapter 5 there were 10 generations listed from Adam to 68 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:59,200 Noah. Now here in Chapter 11 there are 69 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:04,760 another 10 generations listed. There's Shem Arpakshad, Sheila 70 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:10,560 Ebert, Peleg, Rau Serug, Nahor, Tara, and Abram. 71 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:16,920 Here Moses has masterfully conveyed God's intentionality in 72 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,680 filling the earth. The number 10 is similar a 73 00:05:20,680 --> 00:05:26,560 little bit to the number of #7 in that 10 often portrays 74 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:32,840 fullness or completeness. This second set of 10 conveys to 75 00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:37,520 us that there's fullness in God's design for humanity. 76 00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,200 There's a fullness in God's design for humanity here. 77 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:43,680 You might ask yourself, what does that mean? 78 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:45,760 How was their fullness in humanity? 79 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,720 At that point, the earth's population certainly wasn't 80 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:52,880 anywhere near 8.2 billion people that we now have. 81 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:58,960 Genesis changes significantly at this point. 82 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,520 The 1st 11 chapters are a sort of interplay with the various 83 00:06:04,520 --> 00:06:08,800 Sumerian and Babylonian records of how things came to be. 84 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:13,360 The other ancient Near Eastern texts tried to explain the 85 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:17,320 origins of the world and humanity, and Genesis steps into 86 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:21,640 that fray and it says no. Here's how things came to be and 87 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,640 here's the God who created it all. 88 00:06:26,800 --> 00:06:30,600 Though he's an intimate, personal God, he's also the God 89 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:35,520 who brings justice and saved one specific family through the 90 00:06:35,520 --> 00:06:39,440 flood. The 1st 11 chapters of Genesis 91 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,080 are a polemic against the other religions of Moses day and they 92 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:48,520 serve to tell the Israelites where they came from. 93 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:56,600 Also the 1st 11 chapters of Genesis serve as an introduction 94 00:06:56,600 --> 00:07:01,240 to the rest of the book. These first 11 chapters covered 95 00:07:01,240 --> 00:07:06,000 thousands of years and at least 20 generations. 96 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,640 So thousands of years and 20 generations now. 97 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,000 The next 39 chapters will cover only four generations and 98 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,760 roughly a couple 100 years as the narrative dives deeper into 99 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,680 God's selection of this one family to point to the Messiah 100 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,000 who is the one that would come to make things right. 101 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,360 So with that, we now begin a slow excursion into the 102 00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:39,080 narrative of the patriarchs. So if you're able, would you 103 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:45,080 stand as we read from Genesis Chapter 11, picking up at verse 104 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:47,920 27 through the end of the chapter? 105 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:52,360 Now these are the generations of Terra. 106 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,800 Terra fathered Abram, Nahor in Haran in Haran fathered Lot. 107 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:02,120 Haran died in the presence of his father Terra in the land of 108 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:04,680 his kindred in Ur of the Chaldeans. 109 00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:09,800 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abraham's wife was 110 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:13,800 Sarai, in the name of Nahor's wife Milka, the daughter of 111 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:16,120 Haran, the father of Milka and Iska. 112 00:08:16,800 --> 00:08:19,400 Now Sarai was barren. She had no child. 113 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,480 Tara took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his grandson, 114 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:28,840 and Sarah his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they 115 00:08:28,840 --> 00:08:31,920 went forth together from earth, the Chaldeans, to go into the 116 00:08:31,920 --> 00:08:35,679 land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran they 117 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:39,640 settled there. The days of Tara were 205 years, 118 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:43,080 and Tara died in Haran. You may be seated. 119 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:48,200 I have to say that may well have been one of the hardest sections 120 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:50,360 that we've come across so far to read. 121 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:55,120 There's so many different names. Now you may have noticed how 122 00:08:55,120 --> 00:08:59,840 verse 27 started is said. Now these are the generations of 123 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:03,160 Tara. If you notice that, then great 124 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:08,760 jobs being in tune to the text. The last Tolido section, that 125 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:13,040 was the shortest of them all, brought us from Shem up to 126 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:15,960 Abram. Now this section drills down on 127 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:20,720 those last two names in the Shem section, Tara and Abram. 128 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,760 To close out the chapter, Moses is giving us a a few details. 129 00:09:25,760 --> 00:09:29,160 He's kind of throwing us a bone. He's saying, hey, pay attention 130 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:33,840 to these things. Genealogies seldom give you 131 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,560 details. They usually just stick to a 132 00:09:36,560 --> 00:09:40,520 certain formula, and then they keep repeating that formula a 133 00:09:40,520 --> 00:09:43,680 number of times. The first section of this 134 00:09:43,680 --> 00:09:47,680 genealogy does that, but then this specific section deviates 135 00:09:47,680 --> 00:09:50,600 from the so and so lived a number of years and then 136 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:54,000 fathered this person, and after he lived another number of 137 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,920 years, he had other sons and daughters. 138 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:58,480 This section deviates from that formula. 139 00:09:59,280 --> 00:10:03,120 This part doesn't resemble a normal genealogy, and it also 140 00:10:03,120 --> 00:10:07,840 gives us some pertinent details. Now one of those pertinent 141 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:13,760 details is the death of Abraham's brother Haran, who is 142 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:20,240 Tara's son. Verse 28 said Haran died in the 143 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:25,120 presence of his father Tara, in the land of his kindred in ur of 144 00:10:25,120 --> 00:10:29,360 the Chaldeans. We get the impression here that 145 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,720 Haran was younger when he died. Parents aren't supposed to see 146 00:10:34,720 --> 00:10:37,560 their children die, but that's what's happened. 147 00:10:37,560 --> 00:10:41,000 Haran actually died in Tara's presence. 148 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:44,840 It's a devastating and unexpected sorrow for a father 149 00:10:44,840 --> 00:10:50,320 to outlive his son. What's more is it potentially 150 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:54,840 puts the prospect of of Terra's house in jeopardy. 1/3 of his 151 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:59,080 sons were now gone, potentially making it much more difficult 152 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,200 for this particular family line to continue. 153 00:11:04,840 --> 00:11:10,120 Well, this is also significant because Lot was now left 154 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:14,520 fatherless. Lot may have been in his 20s 155 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,080 when his father died. He would have had some resources 156 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:23,720 at that point, but he didn't have a family of his own yet. 157 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:29,320 Lot's fatherlessness would would lead him to tag along with Uncle 158 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:34,000 Abraham and Grandfather Tara, thereby becoming a significant 159 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:36,920 character in future parts of the Genesis story. 160 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:44,080 As we will see, that same verse also gave us a giant context 161 00:11:44,080 --> 00:11:50,120 clue as to who these people are. It's said that they're from ER 162 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:53,480 of the Chaldeans and they were headed towards Canaan. 163 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,760 They're from ER of the Chaldeans and headed to Canaan. 164 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,960 And when we talk about ER of the Chaldeans, I should start off by 165 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,480 saying that identifying ER with the Chaldeans was a later 166 00:12:08,480 --> 00:12:14,760 interpolation because actually during Abrams time the Chaldeans 167 00:12:14,760 --> 00:12:19,160 didn't yet exist or the Khaldu people had not come to be yet. 168 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:22,120 That wouldn't happen for another couple 100 years. 169 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:27,520 Now ER is in southern Mesopotamia. 170 00:12:28,120 --> 00:12:32,240 You can see it there on the map there at the bottom right side 171 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:38,240 under Chaldea, it says ER. This is in what's today eastern 172 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:42,720 Iraq on the on the Euphrates River about 140 miles South of 173 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:46,240 Babylon. You can see Babylon is up there 174 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:51,200 on the Euphrates River as well. This was Terra's homeland. 175 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:58,760 The remains of ER are located at Tel El Muka yard in modern Iraq. 176 00:12:59,400 --> 00:13:05,600 From 1922 to 1934, a famous archaeologist Leonard Wooley, 177 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:09,560 uncovered evidence of a highly developed urban culture there. 178 00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:16,160 During the time of Abram, the streets of Ur were unpaved and 179 00:13:16,240 --> 00:13:20,600 undrained and and narrow. The houses usually were two 180 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:26,200 stories tall and they were made of fight fired bricks part way 181 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:29,240 around around the bottom and then part way up the walls. 182 00:13:29,920 --> 00:13:34,080 Then from there the walls were simply mud with an outer coating 183 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:38,480 of plaster. It's good to remind ourselves of 184 00:13:38,480 --> 00:13:44,320 who these people are. These are a people who worship 185 00:13:44,320 --> 00:13:48,400 the moon God Nana. I'm going to guess at that 186 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:50,400 pronunciation. I don't know if it's Nana. 187 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:55,240 I don't know if it's Nana. Maybe we won't call it Nana 188 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:59,800 because the moon God isn't good and your Nana is presumably 189 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:04,200 good, right? So if if Tehran and his family 190 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,880 had any inkling to worship Yahweh instead, it no doubt 191 00:14:08,880 --> 00:14:12,400 would have been difficult for them to do that in a place like 192 00:14:12,640 --> 00:14:15,000 UR. So at a minimum, they're 193 00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,440 comfortable being around idol worship and they may have 194 00:14:18,440 --> 00:14:21,600 actually been idol worshippers themselves. 195 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:27,320 Now there was a great ziggurats in ER dedicated to the worship 196 00:14:27,320 --> 00:14:32,080 of Nana since or was the hub for worship of Nana. 197 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:36,880 It was quite grand and it sat on the banks of the Euphrates. 198 00:14:36,880 --> 00:14:40,880 And there are remains of that ziggurats even still today. 199 00:14:41,760 --> 00:14:43,560 You can see them there on the right. 200 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:48,400 So that's the remains, though they are no longer open to the 201 00:14:48,400 --> 00:14:52,920 public because of vandalism of the sites as often happens with 202 00:14:53,360 --> 00:15:00,480 ancient sites. Now, looking back at the map, if 203 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:05,760 I were to ask you how to get to Canaan from ER, ER is right 204 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,240 here, Canaan is over there. How do we get there? 205 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:14,840 You go straight West, right? That's how you get there. 206 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:17,480 Indeed, that is the most direct route. 207 00:15:17,880 --> 00:15:22,720 But that is not what happened. Instead of heading West, they 208 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:27,960 actually headed northwest, going way out of the way. 209 00:15:29,040 --> 00:15:33,240 Now, there could be a reason for that, possibly because that 210 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:36,000 might not have been an enjoyable way to go. 211 00:15:36,680 --> 00:15:38,960 It says the words Arabian desert. 212 00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:42,600 That could have been something to keep them from going that 213 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,880 way. But regardless, they traveled 214 00:15:45,880 --> 00:15:51,520 northwest up to Haran. And as as they came to Haran, 215 00:15:52,760 --> 00:15:56,560 they stopped. And I should say that this 216 00:15:56,560 --> 00:16:01,720 place, this Haran is different from the person Haran. 217 00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,280 Though they look the same in English, they are actually 218 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:08,000 spelled different. They are of no relation. 1 219 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,560 wasn't named Haran after the person. 220 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:18,560 These are unrelated in Hebrew. So Tiraz entourage put down 221 00:16:18,840 --> 00:16:23,560 roots and they settled in Haran. They settled in Haran. 222 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,000 This is modern day Turkey. Haran was an important place. 223 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,320 It was a commercial center of the ancient Near East and it may 224 00:16:32,320 --> 00:16:36,160 have been at an important crossroads and and trade route. 225 00:16:36,160 --> 00:16:43,640 It seems the words settled there have appeared before. 226 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:48,760 Last week we read Genesis 11/2. It read and as people migrated 227 00:16:48,760 --> 00:16:52,480 from the east, they found a plane in the land of Shinar and 228 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:57,080 settled there. The same words are used to 229 00:16:57,080 --> 00:17:00,520 describe both the people who had settled in Shinar and built the 230 00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:03,680 ziggurats as well as Terra's family. 231 00:17:04,319 --> 00:17:07,520 The residents of Shinar refused to fill the earth in accordance 232 00:17:07,520 --> 00:17:11,440 with the divine mandate that had been given to all humanity. 233 00:17:12,240 --> 00:17:19,720 So when the text says that they settled there, a shadow is cast 234 00:17:19,720 --> 00:17:23,920 over this decision. Was this a good idea? 235 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:26,680 The text and genealogy are pointing us to Abram. 236 00:17:26,680 --> 00:17:31,000 But is he just going to be like the rest of the lot, pun 237 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:36,160 intended, and continue in disobedience? 238 00:17:38,960 --> 00:17:42,200 Another detail we get. Thank you for laughing at that, 239 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:46,240 by the way. I'm not usually a punny person, 240 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:51,720 but yeah, it was just, I was just typing the words came out 241 00:17:51,720 --> 00:17:53,760 like the whole rest of the lot. And I was like, oh, that's 242 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:55,920 funny. So I had to keep it. 243 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,960 Another detail we get in this section was mentioned in verse 244 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:04,280 30. Now Sarah was barren. 245 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:09,840 She had no child. This is Sarah's barrenness. 246 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:15,160 Things don't look good for Tara's family. 247 00:18:15,760 --> 00:18:21,360 He'd already lost one son, and Abraham's wife was barren. 248 00:18:22,200 --> 00:18:25,600 Having children was extremely important in the ancient Near 249 00:18:25,600 --> 00:18:29,080 East. Family was a way to prepare for 250 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:31,320 the future. Having a lot of children meant 251 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,640 there were more people to help out with everything that needed 252 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:37,760 to be done, whether it was hunting for food, tending to 253 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:44,440 animals, farming or or cooking. Many hands do, as they say, make 254 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:48,320 light work and Abraham and Sarah, I hadn't been able to 255 00:18:48,320 --> 00:18:51,280 produce any offspring to help out. 256 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:56,440 Besides the practicalities of having children, It's 257 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:01,360 interesting if you consider today, today children aren't 258 00:19:01,360 --> 00:19:05,480 considered an asset, right? A lot of people in our culture 259 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:10,520 just look at children as as a problem or just something to be 260 00:19:10,520 --> 00:19:16,120 navigated a a frustration that is an unfortunate quality in our 261 00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:21,720 current social climates. But no, children actually are a 262 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,600 blessing as scripture says. Now, besides the practicalities 263 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:29,920 of having children, barrenness was also a disgrace in their day 264 00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:34,160 and it was considered a profound crisis. 265 00:19:35,200 --> 00:19:38,480 It brought significant shame to the woman and her family, and 266 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:43,160 her inability to reproduce was often blamed on some sort of 267 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:48,800 hidden sin in her life. Abraham and Sarah would be 268 00:19:48,800 --> 00:19:52,720 dishonored wherever they went because they didn't have 269 00:19:53,080 --> 00:19:58,560 children. Now, what's more is Genesis 315 270 00:19:58,560 --> 00:20:01,600 told us there would be an offspring that come that would 271 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:05,800 come from the first woman, Eve. And this offspring would strike 272 00:20:05,800 --> 00:20:09,880 and defeat the serpent. The narrative has honed in on 273 00:20:09,880 --> 00:20:14,360 Abraham, but his wife is barren, so how could she help produce an 274 00:20:14,360 --> 00:20:21,800 offspring to save them? Sarah's barren state dominates 275 00:20:21,800 --> 00:20:26,200 much of the story, and it even becomes a motif in Genesis since 276 00:20:26,480 --> 00:20:31,120 the divine promises to come involved numerous progeny for 277 00:20:31,120 --> 00:20:39,680 Abram, Sarai, Rebecca, and and Rachel all experience seasons of 278 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:44,520 barrenness, a huge problem if God is going to eventually make 279 00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:48,800 a great nation out of Abraham's descendants. 280 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,680 The statements she had no children then underscores the 281 00:20:54,680 --> 00:20:58,240 need for God's help. It underscores the need for 282 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:04,040 divine intervention. The story's only going to move 283 00:21:04,040 --> 00:21:08,840 forward through God's working, which is part of what makes the 284 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:15,160 book of Genesis so great. As we close out Chapter 11, it's 285 00:21:15,160 --> 00:21:20,600 appropriate for us to consider a couple key takeaways from the 286 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:24,520 1st 11 chapters of Genesis. Of course, there was creation, 287 00:21:24,520 --> 00:21:28,240 the fact that that God had created it all. 288 00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:35,720 But beyond that, first of all, God is both merciful and just. 289 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:42,880 God is both merciful and just. He might ask, well, how have we 290 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:47,360 seen God's mercy on display? It seems like all we've seen is 291 00:21:47,360 --> 00:21:50,240 his justice. God kicked the first humans out 292 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:52,880 of the garden. God punished Cain for killing 293 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:54,880 his brother. God sent a flood to destroy the 294 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:56,880 world. God confused the language of 295 00:21:56,880 --> 00:22:01,120 these people who'd previously only had one language. 296 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,920 I realize it's easy for us to see God's justice. 297 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:13,200 I think we've been programmed to see His justice 1st every month. 298 00:22:13,200 --> 00:22:18,280 We take time, and perhaps subconsciously we recognize 299 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:21,840 God's justice when we take communion. 300 00:22:23,360 --> 00:22:26,760 God's justice demands that our sin has to be punished. 301 00:22:26,760 --> 00:22:31,560 And because of God's justice, Jesus came into the world so he 302 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:34,120 could die on the cross for our sin. 303 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:40,600 He paid the price for our sin, satisfying God's justice on the 304 00:22:40,600 --> 00:22:46,480 cross. God is just, but He's also 305 00:22:47,200 --> 00:22:53,600 merciful. God's mercy allowed Adam and Eve 306 00:22:53,600 --> 00:22:58,280 to to live after they took a bite of the forbidden fruits. 307 00:22:59,760 --> 00:23:02,880 God's mercy removed Adam and Eve from the garden so they couldn't 308 00:23:02,880 --> 00:23:08,000 eat of the tree of life and live forever in a state of fallenness 309 00:23:08,000 --> 00:23:13,080 and sin. God's mercy reigned over cane as 310 00:23:13,080 --> 00:23:18,680 he deserved death, but God granted him life and then gave 311 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:22,360 him a mark to prevent others from killing him. 312 00:23:23,760 --> 00:23:27,880 God's mercy preserved a single family for his purposes when all 313 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:32,360 the rest of humanity had failed to follow him. 314 00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:36,640 God's mercy said that he would never again flood the earth the 315 00:23:36,640 --> 00:23:39,160 way he had. And God's mercy was poured out 316 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,880 at Babel when God prevented humanity from diving headlong 317 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:47,640 into their own selfish pursuits and destructive behavior. 318 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:53,120 I love Jonah's words in chapter 4 of the book. 319 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:02,560 Jonah had finally made his way to Nineveh and he preaches an 8 320 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:08,480 word sermon. I'm a little over that, he says. 321 00:24:08,640 --> 00:24:11,880 Yet 40 days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. 322 00:24:13,120 --> 00:24:16,640 The people repented in sackcloth and ashes they were, they were 323 00:24:16,640 --> 00:24:21,560 sorry for how they'd live their lives, and in repentance they 324 00:24:21,560 --> 00:24:28,240 turned to Yahweh. And Jonah 4 tells us this. 325 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:34,880 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was angry, 326 00:24:35,160 --> 00:24:39,240 and he prayed to the Lord and said, O Lord, is not this what I 327 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:41,320 said when I was yet in my country? 328 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:44,600 That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish. 329 00:24:44,880 --> 00:24:48,600 For I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow 330 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:52,640 to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting 331 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:58,560 from disaster. In other words, Jonas saying, I 332 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:01,760 knew this was your character. I knew this was how you'd 333 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:03,640 respond, that you would forgive them. 334 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:05,840 I didn't want you to forgive them. 335 00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,080 So that's why I fled to Tarshish. 336 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:12,040 Those fish slappers don't deserve forgiveness. 337 00:25:16,120 --> 00:25:19,920 Jonah was offended by the Ninevites. 338 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:21,960 I hope everyone caught that reference. 339 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:26,160 By the way, the fish slappers was a reference to Veggie Tales, 340 00:25:27,200 --> 00:25:32,200 which actually did a really good job of of telling the Jonah 341 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,960 story in that that's final summation is that Jonah never 342 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,560 really got it. Yes, correct. 343 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,920 He didn't get it. He was offended by the 344 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:42,600 Ninevites. They were horrible people. 345 00:25:42,760 --> 00:25:46,400 They were undeserving of God's mercy. 346 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,000 This was a time for God's justice, not mercy. 347 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,560 Jonah's sentiment was that they needed to pay for all their 348 00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:57,680 sins. He believed this so much that 349 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:03,640 that he exits the town and he goes, sits up on a hill, pulls 350 00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:09,160 up his lawn chair and and just sits there waiting to see what's 351 00:26:09,160 --> 00:26:12,600 going to happen to Nineveh. He's waiting for lightning to 352 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:14,680 strike. He's waiting for fire to fall 353 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:20,080 down from heaven, something. He's waiting for God to judge 354 00:26:20,360 --> 00:26:27,640 Nineveh. The reality is that God holds 355 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:33,520 justice and mercy and proper balance, extending each at the 356 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:38,600 right time and withdrawing them at the right time. 357 00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,800 The Ninevites realized they needed God's mercy, so they 358 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:48,240 repented. They turned from their ways. 359 00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:51,480 They didn't try to pay a debt that they couldn't pay, and 360 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:55,760 instead threw themselves on God's mercy. 361 00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:02,240 If you attempt to pay your sin debt on your own, you'll find 362 00:27:02,240 --> 00:27:10,240 that you're unable to pay it. We're filled with sin even on 363 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:15,640 our best days, and we're not unable to pay the payment for 364 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:21,920 sin. In such an instance, God's 365 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:27,040 justice is bad. It's bad news if you're trying 366 00:27:27,040 --> 00:27:32,800 to do it all on your own. God's justice demands a blood 367 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:37,720 sacrifice for sin, not a work sacrifice, not a nice person 368 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:42,400 sacrifice. Those things won't get you 369 00:27:42,400 --> 00:27:45,120 there. They won't make you innocent. 370 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:51,480 In such a case, God's justice would be cast over you and you 371 00:27:51,480 --> 00:27:58,720 would be found wanting. God's justice is perfect and 372 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:06,200 can't overlook sin. In Christ's sacrifice, our sin 373 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:10,520 has been addressed and covered with God's mercy. 374 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:18,440 This is the core of God's character, not only justice but 375 00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:23,720 also mercy, which ties in excellently to the next point. 376 00:28:25,560 --> 00:28:30,840 God is always at work to bring His grace to humanity. 377 00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,400 God is always working to bring His grace to humanity. 378 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:43,160 Grace is when we receive something that we don't deserve. 379 00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:49,120 It's a good and wonderful and, dare I say, even scandalous 380 00:28:49,440 --> 00:28:54,480 gift. Genesis 1 through 11 records 381 00:28:54,480 --> 00:28:59,040 numerous instances in which mankind had had done something 382 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:02,320 so bad that the human race was subject to God's wrath. 383 00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:10,480 Yet in each of these instances, the Fall King's murder of Abel, 384 00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:15,600 the Flood, the Tower of Babel, God extends his grace. 385 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:21,160 God's eager to show his grace, and he's slow to unleash his 386 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,240 wrath. Now, we also need to remember 387 00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:32,880 that sometimes God's plan takes a long time, at least from a 388 00:29:32,920 --> 00:29:39,080 humanly perspective, right? God isn't slow in performing 389 00:29:39,080 --> 00:29:43,720 what he says He will do. Second, Peter 39 tells us the 390 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:48,320 Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, 391 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:52,760 but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, 392 00:29:53,040 --> 00:29:56,120 but that all should reach repentance. 393 00:29:59,680 --> 00:30:05,480 Often His timing doesn't align with our timing, so we might 394 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:08,600 think that God is slow, but He's not. 395 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:15,560 God promised Adam and Eve that he would send a Redeemer to lift 396 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:21,160 the curse of death, yet that moments was still some 4000 397 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:27,600 years future from Adam and Eve. Even from our standpoint now 398 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:31,560 2000 years from cry from when Christ came into the world. 399 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,960 The final fulfillment of that promise, When Christ will come 400 00:30:34,960 --> 00:30:38,360 into the world, he'll set up his eternal Kingdom and abolish the 401 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,920 curse of death forever. That is still future. 402 00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:51,680 God is still working. God is still exercising his 403 00:30:51,680 --> 00:30:54,840 patience. God's, In fact, God's patience 404 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:58,040 with sinful man is the reason why he hasn't already 405 00:30:58,040 --> 00:31:00,800 established Christ's earthly Kingdom. 406 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:07,400 There are still more people that he desires to graciously save. 407 00:31:08,160 --> 00:31:15,800 Think about that going forward. We will see that God is 408 00:31:16,200 --> 00:31:20,320 constantly using broken people in his plan. 409 00:31:20,840 --> 00:31:23,960 All the main characters in Genesis will have significant 410 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:29,200 character flaws. There are no perfect people in 411 00:31:29,200 --> 00:31:33,400 this story. We just finished The Know a 412 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:37,040 narrative. He was described as having 413 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:41,760 walked with God, but the fact that he got drunk tells us he's 414 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:47,360 clearly not perfect. So God will take the imperfect, 415 00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,920 broken people of Genesis and use them to propel his story 416 00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:53,440 forward. Along the way, it'll become 417 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,520 clear that this family hasn't earned this special place of 418 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,400 privilege. They have been sovereignly 419 00:32:01,400 --> 00:32:05,040 selected by Yahweh to be the conduit through which the Savior 420 00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:08,960 of the world will come to make things right and restore what 421 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:16,400 sin took in the Garden. All the names listed in this 422 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:20,360 genealogy aren't aren't given because of their personal 423 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:27,360 significance or or notoriety. The only thing of notes is that 424 00:32:27,360 --> 00:32:31,800 their names would go down in history as being part of the 425 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:39,120 Messiah's predecessors. So many names, but they each 426 00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:42,760 contribute to the story and they point towards God's mercy and 427 00:32:42,760 --> 00:32:51,760 grace when Luke in his gospel list them as Jesus ancestors. 428 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:01,840 Today's genealogy serves a purpose, and though we might get 429 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:08,880 lost in some of the names, we can take joy in knowing that the 430 00:33:08,880 --> 00:33:14,720 names are all part of God's design and plan His His plan to 431 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:21,520 bring salvation into the world. God is working in each of these 432 00:33:21,520 --> 00:33:25,760 lists and has not stopped working since then. 433 00:33:27,800 --> 00:33:29,320 Let's bow our heads and close our eyes. 434 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:48,280 God, we thank you that you have not stopped working. 435 00:33:49,520 --> 00:33:56,280 We've seen these details this morning that the notion that 436 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:04,840 Sarah's bareness could potentially stop your plan for 437 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:12,000 moving forward. When we consider that, it's just 438 00:34:12,280 --> 00:34:16,159 all the more amazing to think about the fact that you worked a 439 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:24,480 miracle in her and Abraham's life and and in their following 440 00:34:24,480 --> 00:34:35,040 generations to continue that line that would eventually bring 441 00:34:35,040 --> 00:34:41,679 about the Messiah, the one who who came into this world, the 442 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:46,880 one who will someday set up an earthly Kingdom and will reign 443 00:34:47,639 --> 00:34:54,440 from his throne, making all things right. 444 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:03,400 We thank you that you are at work. 445 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:08,000 You are patient. You're, you are so patient with 446 00:35:08,000 --> 00:35:12,040 us, God, and you want more people to come into the fold, 447 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:18,920 into the Kingdom. So we thank you that you're 448 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:21,800 continuing to work. You're not done yet. 449 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:27,880 And we worship you. We worship that wonderful name 450 00:35:28,960 --> 00:35:33,280 of Jesus Christ. And it's in his powerful name 451 00:35:33,280 --> 00:35:35,040 that we pray. Amen.