The Table of Nations

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Preacher: Ross Macdonald Scripture: Genesis 10:1-32

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that was no easy task I think our brother excelled for you guys that would have made a rabbi faint to hear some of the pronunciations but better than I could have done well here we are in Genesis 10 here we are in the so -called table of nations and we begin as we end in Genesis 10 with this genealogy of the sons of Noah could be translated the generations of the sons of Noah Shem Ham and Japheth sons were born to them after the flood so we have a repetition of Noah all common descent through him and his three sons and then again that little demarcation of the flood which is a reminder that God has brought about new creation after this this global judgment he wipes humanity off the face of the earth all save eight souls perished in the flood and yet by God's grace he's brought forth salvation and that salvation is off as a new creation with a new commission a commission to be fruitful and to multiply some of the things that stand out we'll look at in the moments but we have to keep in mind the bigger picture this table of nations is really the generations of Noah and his sons and we've already seen these kinds of records throughout
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Genesis and there'll be more to come we call them the Toledo and we said there's this whole adult structure to Genesis where you have these sequences of generations and these sort of front -load the events that happen between the significant movements in the book of Genesis and all of this is carrying us forward to where we'll begin in chapter 12 with the call of Abram out of her and so everything's been this sort of preface to the patriarchal narratives beginning with Abram and then
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Isaac and Jacob now already seen examples of this record and yet here perhaps is the most dense the most thorough and I know this time of year many of us have been slogging in our daily
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Bible reading charts I know many of us as we turn that corner in January we have high hopes we're gonna do better than we did the year before we're gonna make it to at least
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March in our daily readings we thoroughly read every sentence of every paragraph of every chapter of every book that is our heart when chapter 5 comes and there's some strange names we soldier through and then inevitably here comes chapter 10 and and what happens
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I won't ask for raised hands but what happens your eyes wander you skip a line you skim before you know it you turn the page there goes
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Genesis chapter 10 we tend to lose heart when we have all these names that we've never heard of places that mean nothing to us we shrug our shoulders turn the page and we think
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I'm sure that meant something to the ancients in their time but really doesn't mean much to me now maybe you don't go that far but I doubt anyone in this room including myself would go as far as James Boyce in his
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Genesis commentary said this in reference to chapter 10 this is surely one of the most interesting and important chapters in the entire
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Word of God can I hear an amen we usually turn the page on this how could this be the most important the most interesting chapter in the
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Word of God perhaps interesting just because it's so bizarre and so cumbersome it's hard for us to get our hands around it imagine gaining some ground with an unbeliever you finally convince them they ought to be readers of the
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Bible that they've heard it all before from Christians and here you are on the sidewalk in Worcester and they they finally admit yes okay you're right
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I should sit down I guess I should read the Bible you said it's God word now you Christians are always saying a good place to begin is the
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Gospel of John is that right would you ever say to them well John is wonderful but you really ought to just open up Genesis chapter 10 it's one of the most beautiful chapters in God's Word oh of course not we don't even know what to do with Genesis chapter 10 this is not a preacher's favorite passage
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I was telling some fellow classmates of mine they asked you know what are you preaching on Sunday said the table of nations and there was an audible groan among them what do you do with this chapter part of the difficulty lies in how unfamiliar we are with these names in these places we can spot a few places that become significant in the later history of the
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Bible we can see some figures that we know we're going to be set up to see again but really for the most part most of these names could could we really name one fact about any of these people one solitary fact look at the nations and the cultures that are prefigured that these figures become can we name one fact about these cultures one event in the history of these nations hardly all we have are these bizarre names and that's it for the most part we glide over this long list of names this long historical record of human dispersion over the face of the earth and this brings up a very bad tendency we have whenever we read scripture when we come to scripture we have a very bad tendency to look at past history as though it were incredibly simple and undefined so the less we know about a historical epic the more we assume and this is our bad tendency well things must have been very simple very straightforward very monotonous even so for centuries and centuries on end there was just days blurring into century almost every year was simply more of the same farming farming farming farming maybe a famine farming farming farming maybe a raid farming farming and that's how we tend to approach ancient history but what we know by experience what we know about human life is nothing's ever quite so simple or undefined is it at every level at every scale there's always complexity in motion in every human life in every sphere of human relationships there's pressures and forces at work and then there's a corresponding to the smallest details day by day that we tend to just glide right over we paint with a broad brush over millennia because we don't know any details and so we don't use our our minds our thoughts our experiences our imaginations to understand just what's being communicated to us and so when
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I approach Genesis 10 what I'd like to do and we'll circle back to this after we go through some details from the chapter is really to use our imaginations and help that bring up this larger doctrine of God's providence
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I think that's what ultimately helps us find our way through Genesis 10 in light of the book of Genesis in light of all of Scripture all of human history we see
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God's providential work plotting humanity day by day century by century millennium by millennium forward before we get to that we do want to point out some features that are going to be important as we move forward we remember the there is this theological significance to the generations right
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God has brought salvation through judgment the judgment being the flood and this becomes larger larger symbolism in redemptive history creation encounters the judgment of decreation and through that D creative judgment we have recreation or new creation this is the pattern issuing forth beginning with Noah so all humanity descends from Adam and yet through Noah you could think of it as a funnel that expands and then it's completely cut off and again you begin with Noah and here we are in the year of our
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Lord 2021 AD common descent from Noah all of these names all of these men women children cities kingdoms nations every human being that ever has does or will exist has a common descent through Adam through Noah and that's very significant and understanding chapter 10 we see that humanity has common blood we all descend from one man and through his sons we see
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God's sustaining promise that has come about through a covenant by way of a sacrifice he had commanded
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Noah like Adam to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and here we're looking at the fulfillment of that command mankind is being fruitful they are multiplying they are dispersing over the face of the earth this is a fulfillment as much as it is history individual tribes cities nations all answering that commission that was given to Noah another thing that we see very significantly is the way
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God ordains family according to his purposes notice that God does not use kingdoms to advance his kingdom so much as he uses family it's very interesting isn't it the significance of family in the book of Genesis we see that family is close to the purposes of God and that corresponds in the best way to the
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New Testament fulfillment of the family of God over which Christ is head Christ our elder brother we all being brothers and sisters in this new family this new people of God again we see
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God working against the wisdom of the world men build kingdoms they dominate as tyrants they they flex and boast and strut upon the face of the earth
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God uses humble even broken families to bring forth his promises made in Genesis 3 we see that already we've seen the significance of Shem from the last chapter
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Shem is not the firstborn we can tell that just from the structure of the
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Toledot here and yet when we've been looking at Shem he's always the first mentioned up to this point so Shem is the one that receives the election of grace through his line as it narrows will come the promised seed and we see this again and again and again the overturning of primogeniture or the firstborn being the blessed one
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Ishmael is set aside for Isaac Esau set aside for Jacob Reuben set aside for Judah and Joseph we've also seen some other significant highlights we see
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Japheth being the progenitor of the Gentiles in verse 5 we're told that Japheth becomes the coastland peoples of the
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Gentiles we have a fulfillment that will get into next week and and we heard it this morning from Isaiah 66 this is the gospel going forth to the nations to the
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Gentiles here we have a glimpse we have a behind -the -curtains understanding of what God is up to over the millennia that his salvation has always comprehended humanity as a whole though the fulfillment must come very narrowly through a very specific line so there is this
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Shem centric outlook and yet it's surrounded by hints that God will pour out his salvation upon all flesh we see this greater salvation yet to come and it's a fulfillment of what we saw in chapter 9
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Japheth will dwell in the tents of Shem Ham we see the sons of Ham descending in two very significant figures there
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Nimrod and Canaan Nimrod and Canaan and verses 8 through 12 we read of Nimrod Cush begot
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Nimrod he began to be a mighty one on the earth he was a mighty hunter before the Lord therefore it is said like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the
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Lord and the beginning of his kingdom was Babel Erech and Kalna in the land of Shinar from that land he went to Assyria and built
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Nineveh Rehoboth Ur Kala and Resen Nimrod is described as a mighty one on the earth now that might not be immediately familiar but we've already seen mighty ones back in Genesis chapter 6 maybe this is a throwback maybe in some sense
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Nimrod is a giant or a Nephilim maybe there's some continuity or maybe this just helps us understand what that phrase meant in Genesis 6 that these were mighty men in the sense that they were domineering tyrannical even powerful men either way we see this mighty one this giant on the face of the earth really an empire maker we should not think that mighty hunter here means he had a mossy oak towel set and had a log cabin with deer and moose heads and you know it was just a mighty hunter in that sense the phrase is idiomatic it it means he was he was predatory he was sort of a hunter of men he was ruthless a gloss on it would be a tyrant who was a tyrant he was a hunter of men a mighty hunter not
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Nimrod itself as a name could be translated as rebel or even pointed it as a verb we will rebel and so this is very significant in terms of connecting
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Nimrod and this beginning of Babel to chapter 11 we're getting again a larger glimpse of the flow of history in chapter 10 and then we're going to zoom in on the
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Babel episode which we'll begin to consider next week so here we see some continuity don't we remember the
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Cainites before the flood remember Lamech we remember this this sense of dominance over the face of the earth becoming mighty over other men creating kingdoms as it were and we see that evil empire now reemerging sin continues to spread rebellion continues to spread even through the ark and there's a mutiny and a rebellion against God and it really begins or at least comes to its height with Nimrod he establishes this quadratic kingdom we have it as the four almost city -states
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Babel Eric Akkad and Kelna and from these he moves to Assyria and he built Nineveh which of course becomes very significant in the unfolding history of Israel David Fetis wrote
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Nimrod was bold able to conquer any foe organize any project his courage power and ambition made him feared and admired
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Nimrod in this sense was utilizing his imagedness remember even
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Nimrod even in this rebellion is an image of God and as an image of God boldness ambition determination all of these are our virtues are our gifts our abilities that come from God boldness ambition determination ability skill prowess that doesn't come irrespective of the
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Lord it comes from the Lord and yet notice that these things are being twisted to be used against the
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Lord boldness ambition courage determination skill ability these things are wonderful gifts from God and their virtues in humanity when they're done unto the
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Lord when they're done with the fear of the Lord when they're ordained and oriented by God but when these qualities are godless and selfish and self -willed they have horrific consequences and they lead to human misery and they lead to devastation on the face of the earth
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Nimrod back then would be perhaps equivalent of a Stalin today or or a
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Mao Zedong determination skill ability courage boldness and yet because it's oriented away from God and away from God's purposes it leads to horrific suffering horrific misery in our own day we're surrounded by Nimrod's that is an insult sounds like an insult we're surrounded by Nimrod's in politics and technology and media men and women of ambition men and women of skill of prowess of determination of ambition that's often blind they aim for great things scientists no longer cold by morality aim for just the thrill of new discovery if we can do it we will do it we ought to do it if we can cross that brink of transhumanism and create a human you know cybernetic being we should perhaps do that we can genetically modify choose an altar just like a video game menu choose what features and aspects we want in our children design children in other words there's this there's this domineering aspect this
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Nimrod like desire to become like God leave the mark on the world now in God's common grace these advancements this desire despite its sinful origin so often despite its selfishness it's its moral ignorance despite its implementation
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God will still allow it to be used for the common good if an atheist invents a good cough syrup praise the
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Lord for that okay praise the Lord for that the world would be a poorer place if everyone was timid and careful and afraid to be determined or ambitious or develop or invent even when all those things are against God and for self or for a person to become like God God will still perhaps allow that and allow humanity to flourish my it but at the same time apart from the
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Lord these desires they bring great suffering to humanity and where there's against God humanity suffers the most they suffer from these things and then they suffer from the judgment of God that these things warrant when men and women try to play
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God judgment will surely come we've seen that already in Genesis and will continue to see that we'll see that in the very next chapter we'll see that again and again in a way
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Nimrod stands behind all this kind of rebellion bald determination bold selfish ambition he also stands behind all the pain and behind him stands
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Lamech and behind him stands Cain and behind Cain we find the serpent this is really the seat of the serpent in continuity this is the primeval kingdom of man the city of man remember we talked about that how it's it's not the pillars of the earth it's not the
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Abelites it's rather the Cainites that begin to implement technology and build cities not that there's anything inherently evil with that but in the way they use it they do it in rebellion against God and in cosmic mutiny against God they try to manage the curse and implement their own image on the face of the earth rather than as the image of God they wanted to be in the image of man and so God's judgment comes and there's this warfare that continues between the serpent seed and the seed of promise and everything that is everything that surrounds us everything that occupies is taken up in this warfare continually there's never anything docile or neutral we might look at new technology or new steps forward or new advancements and see them as relatively neutral or docile but that is simply not the case everything has something to do with this warfare between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man between the purposes of God in his world and the purposes of man and mutiny and trying to take hold of the world against God everything lies down between the conflict between the serpent seed and the promise seed age after age this warfare persists and yet the kingdom of God grows not just in spite of it but because of it the kingdom of God advances all because God is the omnipotent king and only his purpose will prevail we see that all in seed form here in Genesis 10 with Nimrod will see that even more clearly next week when we see the judgment on Babel reversed when we get to the
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New Testament in the wonder at Pentecost God at work God overturning the wisdom of the world to bring about his salvation another thing we see in the
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Hamite line is the importance of Canaan we saw that last week when Noah cursed him he actually cursed
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Canaan his grandson and here in chapter 10 we see some differences in the
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Canaanite line compared to the other names that are mentioned in the table of nations notice that in the
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Canaanite line they're not nearly names but they're actually names of peoples names of nations
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Canaan begot Sidon is first born in Heth the Jebusite the Amorite the
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Girgashite the Hivite the Arkite the Sinite the Arvidite the Zemurite the Hamathite these are all the ites these are the nations these are the peoples that dwelt in the land of Canaan who recognize cities moving forward they settle from Gerar that'll be significant with Abram as far as Gaza Sodom Gomorrah Admah Zeboim as far as Lasha so the significance of this curse we know that the descendants of Ham through Canaan are going to be very familiar to the history of Israel it foreshadows the conquest and this is all again part of this cosmic warfare between the people of God and the people of the serpent between the promised seed and the evil seed but where sin abounds grace abounds much more
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God is at work in this sinful post flood world despite the
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Nimrod's and the mighty men despite the brokenness and the misery and the tragedy of this rebellion
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God is patiently carefully bringing forward his promised fulfillment moment by moment step by step generation by generation and we see that with Shem Shem in two very important names
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Peleg and Eber children were born to Shem we read the father of all the children of Eber verse 25 to Eber were born two sons the name of one was
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Peleg for in his days the earth was divided so Peleg means division or divided
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Peleg is an important name in this genealogy because of that and that's why it's mentioned here in his days the earth was divided it's safe to assume that the reference here is to babble from chapter 11 the earth is divided how by God dividing the tongues of the people
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God dividing the languages and thus creating different people groups with different languages that's been formulaic so far in the table of nations the division of tongues causes the people to scatter over the face of the earth this is all of course showing us the significance of babble in terms of scattering and creating unique identifiable nations tribes and tongues through which
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God is able to single out a very specific language a very specific people a very specific culture
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Rushduni I think really insightful on this point this is Rushduni he said the tempter's plan in Genesis 3 5 every man as his own
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God as his own determiner of good and evil is never relinquished it is as intensely in evidence at babble as today and it's the same plan
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God is to be replaced by man the dispersion and the confounding of this one world dream was the work of God not of man you see
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God brings judgment to that you see the evil working passionately and intensely to realize their dream sound familiar today this this globalistic dream does that sound familiar and the godly ones apparently are indifferent to the threat
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God divided up the peoples and by his providence ordained that a man in the line of Shem be named in terms of this event so that's
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Peleg division most likely because it happened in his days during his time he receives the name of that but even this division the separation is a massive step forward in God's plan of salvation the whole earth is being populated so that God's redemptive purpose for humanity can be brought to fruition he's scattering the so that in that fullness of time he can gather them back in as the mother hen that gathers her brood under her wings he's singling out the promise line so that as a result of the promise he might gather people from every tribe and every tongue we see that again in seed form here in chapter 10 the nations are many but God's promised line is single narrow down to a living room down to a tent and he narrowly brings forward the promise seed while the mighty nations rage and plot around him that's psalm 2 the most beautiful psalm in scripture why do the nation's rage and the people's plot a vain thing in verse 4 he sits in the heavens and laughs he holds them in derision verse 6 is one of the best yet since scripture yet I set my king on my holy hill see yet yet despite this yet against this all their raging and plotting all the power that a nimrod would have over the face of a little tent dweller out in the desert regions yet I've set my king on my holy hill you see
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God confounds the wisdom and the power and the might of the world this is the logic of the cross that narrow single messianic line is going to flower into this incredible fulfillment of which today we are in the fulfillment of it in fact it's interesting we get in Jesus ministry in Luke 10 remember how he sends out the 70 most likely that's reflecting the 70 names here in the table of nations as you get this picture that that the gospel is going to go out to the nations indeed to the very ends of the earth that's very significant for Luke who also wrote acts acts as a companion volume to say that the gospel indeed has gone to the ends of the earth and so we have it in Jesus on ministry in Luke 10 this was always the design of the gospel promise of Genesis 315 that what was promised to Adam would be sustained through Abel and through the
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Abelite line and down through Noah through the Noahic line down through Shem and through the Semite line down through the
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Davidic line down onto the fullness of time in the person and work of Jesus Christ but it doesn't end in that narrow line it touches the very ends of the earth here in Genesis 10 humanity is one despite all the diversity despite all the cultural differences the difference in appearance the difference in custom the difference in language and manner and value there's a common humanity that is governed by and proceeds under the blessing of God and God takes from all of the people's a new people he makes himself his own special people his own possession and so as as an old
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German commentator Franz Delitzsch says the idea of the people of God the people of God implies that they have to regard all nations as future partakers with them of the same salvation and that brings us to the last feature in Genesis 10 that I want to highlight in verse 21 we read about Eber Shem the father of all the children of Eber why is that name important well from Eber we get this word
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Hebrew it's literally the same exact word in Hebrew Eber is Hebrew so we get this Hebrew line descending through Shem and so the
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Israelites come to be known by Eber by Hebrew and Eber comes of course to bear
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Abraham generations later Abraham comes to the line of Eber and that's getting to the very heart of Genesis Genesis 14 13
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Abram is called Abraham the Hebrew remember what Paul says of Abraham in Romans 4 he is the father of all who believe
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Abraham is the father of all those who have faith which means here we are in Genesis 10 brothers and sisters we are children of Abraham children of Eber we are the children of promise not according to the flesh but according to the
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Word of God Paul in fact at the Arapagus in Acts 17 he makes this point very clear
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God made every nation of men that they should inhabit the whole earth and he determined the time set for them in the exact places where they should live
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Paul understands that God has been at work not just through the Israelite nation that's likely how
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Paul would have thought as a Pharisee God has a chosen people and we wake up every morning and we say thank you
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Yahweh that I'm not a Gentile that I'm not like these lost people these barbarians these dogs
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Gentile dogs but then something happens on the road to Damascus and Paul becomes a follower of the
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Lord Jesus and his mind is brought to understand the larger picture of God's salvation and now he becomes an apostle to the
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Gentiles the very people he hated and he hated Jews that made any any reaches toward them or any accommodations for them they're unclean they're impure they're sinners their wrath is well -deserved and now
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Paul becomes a missionary unto them and here he is in Athens on the Arapagus and he's saying
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God has appointed all the nations in all their times in all their places and he goes on to preach the gospel to them do you see get back to Romans 1 and God has passed over these former times of ignorance but now he commands that every man repent and believe in the
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Lord Jesus Christ and be saved his conclusion is that God made every nation so in Genesis 10 we're not just taking a step toward God singling out a chosen people that will bring about the
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Messiah we also see the very heart of God and establishing nations that will establish nations that will establish nations and salvation will go to the ends of the earth every nation is made my
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God every nation preserved my God God shows his grace and his blessing and his compassion upon every nation every nation is different has a unique history unique customs they use their imagedness in diverse ways to express and reflect to diverse things some of it very tragically and sadly against the
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Lord and against what it means to be in the image of God there's a darkness and a savagery that comes apart from Revelation but Paul of course understands that when
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God singled out Abram through the line of Eber the nations were always in view
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Abraham is not God's narrowing of salvation unto the
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Israelites Abraham and Paul comes to understand this as a Christian Abraham is
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God's way of opening up salvation to all when God singled out
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Abraham and made promises to him it was that he would be a father of many nations are in your loins he said nations are in your loins go look at the stars count them if you can this is what your descendants will be like look at the sand on the seashore if you ever were at Thomas just just at the end of last year picking up a little grain on the tiniest little back cove of the tiniest little section of the tiniest part of the
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Atlantic Ocean a single little grain of sand and he says look at the sand on a seashore that's what your descendants will be like God gives a vast salvation in the
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Church of Jesus Christ is no longer June or Greek or Scythian or slave nor free nor male or female there's no setting apart there's no division all all are welcome to come to him in repentance and faith all are invited all are made one in Christ all made all are made one by being united to Christ by faith all have common ancestry through Abraham the father of all who believe
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God has a plan in the fullness of time that Christ will unite all things reconcile all things whether in heaven or on the earth and that includes even the scattering of the nations in Genesis 10
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I was speaking with one of the men in my section should kind of a funny story how
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I've become friends with this man he's an older gentleman from South Korea and he's a missionary and he's recently left
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Nicaragua and is doing some training and is looking to go to Colombia and do some missionary work there was a heart for South America and Central America and one of the things
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I do in the class and this is why I've grown close to him is I usually do a little vocab quiz for Greek and I have a bag of lent truffles and if you get the vocab
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I kind of throw chocolate at you which people my age or younger that's kind of a hit something to laugh at but for a very dignified
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Asian culture and an elderly man within that culture it's rather shameful shall we say to throw being candy so I remember the first morning you know
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I said his name is Jinmo I said you know Jinmo do you know this word and he bowed very politely and gave the soft answer and then
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I very awkwardly threw chocolate just sort of hit his shoulder and fell off and he didn't know what to do and I was like I'm never doing this again well of course
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I went out to profusely apologize and preserve his honor and preserve mine as well and since then
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I've got to understand more about his own story and just this past Friday he was telling me about how he came to have a heart to learn
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Spanish and leave South Korea and move to Central America and help plant churches and his reasoning was this he says the
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South Korea that my parents grew up in which at the time was just Korea it was a dark place it was a savage place he said we had next to nothing he said
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South Korea today is is booming economically there's infrastructure and business and commerce at every level there's churches that are pouring out and sending missionaries all over Asia Eastern Europe South America and he says all of that took place between my parents generation and mine because God allowed missionaries to come to South Korea with tears in his eyes we were a dark nation and now now we are a very advanced culture in an advanced country and very blessed and that was all because missionaries came and they sowed the
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Word of God so I want to go do that in Nicaragua or Colombia or a place that's that's like South Korea used to be where there's injustice and prostitution and poverty this is all part of God's plan for the nation's and we're all called to to participate in this and Paul you have to understand
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Paul has completely turned around 180 from what he formerly thought about the
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Gentiles to what he thinks about the Gentiles now through Christ as a result of Christ he says in Galatians 3 that Christ died so that let's just say blank now if I ask you to fill in that blank you could you could put in a lot of answers couldn't you we're in a reformed evangelical tradition that as a result of modernism tends to be very individualistic so your answer would probably be something like Christ died to wash my sins to forgive my sins
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Christ died to save me if you're thinking a little more maturely Christ died to save a people and elect a holy bride
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Christ died to save his church to cleanse her and purify her of course all these are correct answers and we say amen to them but how many of us would say what
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Paul would say in Galatians 3 Christ died so that the blessing of Abraham would come to the
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Gentiles we often don't just don't connect those dots do we Christ died
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Paul says so that God's promise to Abraham wouldn't be through this narrow little ethnic bloodline but it would come upon the nations the
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Gentiles this is why Christ died and so someone like Jin Mo -Jun can be in South Korea and feel called and say yes
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Christ died that the blessings would come upon my people and the people of Nicaragua and the people of Columbia Christ died so that this blessing would come upon all flesh but all flesh would worship him let's circle back in light of that to God's providence
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I think that's about as much as I can say on chapter 10 now let me remind you of what we said already we have a tendency to look at past history as though it were simple and undefined days that blur into days a day is might as well be a century for all we care and all it is is simply farming farming and more farming maybe a famine maybe a drought maybe a raid but then back to farming farming farming and more farming let me tell you let me rebuke you that is a poor thoughtless waste of imagination when you approach something like Genesis chapter 10 what you ought to assume is true to all human experience at all levels of history history has always been complex human experience has always been complex we might not have the mechanisms that come through us through technology or the
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Industrial Revolution and yet all history is complex all human experience is complex that complexity comes through the use of power and politics and intrigue and relational treachery all these things swirl around our lives all these things swirl around humanity and yet your whole life though year by year it might it might be moved and struck and opened up to any of these complexities your whole life could be comprehended in just a passing mention if you give enough time in fact the life the history as complex as it would be for a whole people group a whole nation could be eventually reduced to just a passing mention so if we go forward the same amount of time that we're trying to go back imagine thousands of years from now people are reading
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I don't know if they're reading books of thousands of years from now but let's just say for the argument they're channeling into their brain interface a history of Western civilization maybe there's no such concept as the
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West anymore and they read as bizarrely as we read Genesis 10 and there were the
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English from whom the Americans settled across an ocean called the Atlantic and they were a mighty people and that's it now we would say what that's all you're gonna say about America that's all you're gonna say what about the beginning what about all the wars just take ten years there's so much in ten years natural disasters and in wars and things that rise up and aren't you gonna talk about any of these things the
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Revolutionary War about the Civil War 600 ,000 people were killed what about 9 -11 what about some of these amazing events and tragedies these things that shaped and defined what the
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American people warrior just gonna pass by and say and there were the Americans and they dwelt here that's it well that's essentially what we do in Genesis chapter 10 isn't it you pass by all of the important figures all of the expansion development articulation all of the events take any single year of your life and you could fill a library with the significant movements events figures headlines statements turmoil all that composes a given year we selectively edited out as years go on in our own lives we can only pluck out a few things from those past years how would you summarize the year 2020 figures events circumstances things that shaped us that we're aware of things that are shaping us that we don't know how they'll turn out take a single day a single day has countless details that are compelling you moving you working against you are compelling you forward they correspond to how your life is being guided they compel the everyday affairs of your life so for instance we saw that just last week right here's the summary statement
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Noah lived 350 years after the flood let's just say that's all we knew about Noah's life you assume like I often assume farming farming farming maybe a famine maybe a drought farming farming farming for 350 years and then he dies and then
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Moses says oh but there is one detail I have to tell you about one day it's kind of important for what
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I'm gonna talk about with Canaan let me just give you one day out of those 127 ,000 plus days of Noah's life after the flood and on one day he ends up drunk in a tent and then he curses his grandson's lineage that's in one day out of 127 ,000 plus days so singling out that one day really sucks up to us the waywardness of the
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Hamite line the pending judgment God's promise redemption and that's the only reason it's mentioned if it weren't for that it wouldn't have been mentioned makes you wonder what the other days were like doesn't it what about the day before the day after what about the day next week significant things happen and yet they're completely passed over and so I'm asking you to consider this point consider the astounding complexity of your life and everything that unfolds in a given day and then in a given week and then in a given month and then in a given season and then in a given year and all of those complex events details circumstances to your great -great grandchildren will be entirely unknown at most your great -great grandchildren those beyond living memory of you will only know your name maybe that's it maybe if you invented something or fought in a war that's about it what can you name about your great -great grandparents now of course we probably have some genealogical sleuth that could say oh
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I know an awful lot about my great -aunt Sally or something like that but generally speaking we just even just two generations back we know almost nothing and yet we should not take that to mean that there's not this immense amount of complexity in detail that goes into every day of a lived life and so our name eventually will pass on just like the name of Shem or Ham or Japheth or just like the nation of the
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Girgashites enough time has passed that we can't pluck out any of the complexity or any of the detail and yet we know from experience just how much can be packed into that life that time that season and this brings us to this doctrine of Providence doesn't it
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God is at work over all that's what Providence means isn't it
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God is at work overall how do we define Providence I like what our confession does and summarizing several passages and it says
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God the good creator of all things in his infinite power and wisdom upholds directs disposes governs all creatures and things from the greatest even to the least by his most wise and holy
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Providence and he said this is going on to paragraph 2 in the confession although in relation to the foreknowledge
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God's foreknowledge of things that will come in decree the first cause all things come to pass immutably meaning unchangeably and infallibly so that there is not anything that befalls any by chance or without his
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Providence so there's no place for luck or fortune or the odds there's only a place for Providence from God's perspective all that comes to pass comes to pass by way of his decree which is the first cause though he's not responsible in a direct way for evil or sins or rebellion there's a mystery to his
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Providence that makes room for that that permits it in the way that he's never the author of sin and that he can use sin providentially to bring about his holy ends his good purposes to glorify himself we have a doctrine of Providence preserved throughout scripture this is one of the key points through which we worship the
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Lord the Lord has established his throne in heaven his kingdom rules over all that's an indiscriminate all
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Psalm 103 19 we're Christians who worship the Lord in light of his providential ruling over all that is
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Jesus is Lord he's not Lord of Christians Oh become a
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Christian so that he can be your Lord we speak in that way which I'm okay with but no he is
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Lord it doesn't matter what you do in response to that claim this is the truth he is
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Lord he's governing your life he's governing all that is nothing comes to pass apart from his own will his own decree the
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Lord is righteous Psalm 145 17 in all of his ways gracious in all of his work Psalm 104 24
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Oh Lord how manifold are your works in wisdom you've made them all so according to his wisdom and his goodness and his holiness he brings to pass all that comes have you not seen that same providence in your own life woven so intricately we can do it in an individual scale or sometimes as a household we can take some time to reflect and say yes here are some of the big steps look at how
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God has guided us so faithfully boy I can almost remember how confused we were about what to do and and look how
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God has brought us about I remember when we really were in a pretty bad place back then and who would have known that God would have used this to to bring us back to him to bring us to repentance we can look back and we can see that God carefully makes our lives ornate with Christ likeness over time providentially through blessings through trials through through goodness through hardship you know what we often don't connect is how that same control that same providence in that same purpose is that work everywhere else not just in the life of a believer but in the life of an unbeliever in the life of a city in the history of a nation in the movement of the world
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God's purpose remains the same to save his people for himself to exalt his son who suffered and died for their sins and was given life and is now ruling over all on behalf of the father who makes his enemies a footstool for him that that is the history of the world unfolding before our very eyes and all the complexities and details that one day will just become a passing mention this is the mystery of providence isn't it that there's no level so complex that it somehow becomes something uncontrolled or robed from God's will so all the complexity of February 7th 2021
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God has perfect control and is orchestrating all that comes to pass according to his perfect will in the same way that he did the table of nations in Genesis 10 generation by generation there is not one nation that found themselves outside of God's purpose
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God was singling out a line they were oblivious to that let's talk a little bit about micro providence if I could make a distinction here
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I want to talk about micro providence so we can talk about macro providence micro think microscope we're going in very small macro big big wide zoom out to see the bigger picture so micro meaning
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God's providence over the details when I read this list in the table of nations I can't help but think of just taking one individual from one of these nations and imagining what their life would have been like what it what it composed what it encompassed it encompassed the nostalgia of having a favorite recipe or favorite spot to go and look at the sunset it encompassed birthday parties where there was joyous laughter and funerals where there was weeping and embracing there were fires with funny stories and those funny stories that get passed down from generation to generation inside jokes friendships that built stronger and then maybe fell apart all of these things contained within the life of one person in the unfolding culture of one people group lived entirely in ignorance to what
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God was doing over time in entire ignorance to what God was doing in the history of the
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Amorites let's say what does micro providence assert what does micro providence say it says this if God is not the
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God of infinitesimal details he's not God if God is not
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God over the microns over the molecules he's not God if God is ever reacting or adjusting or repairing or clumsily pushing things in a general direction he hopes they'll go he is not
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God and because he is God because he is
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God there is no rogue molecule there is no micron of this cosmos over which he is not God God is
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God still over those who reject God Walter Elwell put it this way if something could get outside the will of God it would become a
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God unto itself it would become a rival to God this could never be the case
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God alone is God there is no other no one not even the unredeemed are ultimately outside the will of God they're not forced to be lost they freely and this is well within the reform tradition freely choose to reject
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God's offer of mercy and yet somehow they're not free from the control of God even their rejection has been included within the eternal plan of God and this is perhaps the worst part of it for them in their attempt to be free from God by rejecting him even at the cost of their own souls they find there is no such thing the net of God's providence includes even the vain attempts to be outside of that net the
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Lord is God over all he's got over Nimrod he's got over Babel he's got over than the nations that rage and plot in vain he is
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God he is king yet I said my king on my holy hill I laugh I hold them in derision
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I see Christians that are discouraged and that's not a put -down
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I think it's good for Christians to be vexed like righteous lot was in his day it's good to be vexed when we see corruption and hypocrisy and injustice at almost every level we ought to be perhaps more vexed but let that vexation not turn into a discouragement as though God has not established his king as though God is not advancing his kingdom as though we do not have the opportunity indeed the calling to be as it were a prophetic church in the land and declare the
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Word of God and declare the fact that he is judged and all flesh will stand before him and must give account to him he sits on the throne and laughs he holds him in derision we sit in our living room sofas and we we mourn and we don't know what to do we twiddle our thumbs to see what a what a massively different picture we get of God's providence the
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Lord is God over all I had this old CD boy if if I could ever find it
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I would frame it I can still I can still picture what it looked like and when I had my old car
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Alicia and I were first married whenever we went on a longer trip we would listen to it there was an old copy of Steve Lawson Stevie Wonder he was preaching from Psalm 96 and the sermon was the
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Lord reigns I can still burned in my memory is the sound of his voice because every few paragraphs he would repeat that line the
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Lord reigns the Lord reigns and if you weren't taking off the runway of devotion at the beginning by the end of it you're in the car going the
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Lord reigns the Lord reigns we don't have a high enough view of God's providence look carefully at Genesis chapter 10 think of all of the swirling complexity of life talk about corruption and evil injustice children sacrifice abominable paganism power struggles
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Nimrod flexing over the face of the earth empires that were crushing God's people and yet what is
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God doing in the light of that he's perfectly walking forward according to his purpose singling out a line of people for himself a
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Messiah he's advancing his kingdom do you think to Caesar 2 ,000 years ago hearing
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Paul preached on a topic like this that he would ever think somehow God's kingdom was being advanced against the
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Roman Empire Nimrod would have laughed Nimrod thought he was in the position to laugh and hold
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God's people's in derision no you don't understand you don't have the power do you see what I've built do you see my kingdoms look at my empire who are you and so it is with us today
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Paul has this utter confidence where is Caesar today
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I asked Joshua to help me find a reference
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I want to read real quick just in light of this I think it's such a great picture it's a famous poem from Shelley and you probably heard heard it before at least heard it referenced try to understand the picture here
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I met a traveler from an antique land who said to vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert near them on the sand half sunk a shattered visage lies whose frown and wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command tell that it's sculptor well those those well those passions read which yet survive stop stamped on these lifeless things the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed and on the pedestal these words appear my name is
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Ozymandias king of Kings look on my works you mighty and despair nothing beside remains round the decay of that colossal wreck boundless and bear the lone and level sand stretch far away do you get the point of that they're traveling to this ancient city and here's this this ruler a statue of a ruler named
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Ozymandias let's say Nimrod and he has this frowned cold command he's so powerful and he said he's embodied in a stone and the inscription of this king you can imagine him saying this is the statue
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I want I want this on all the corners of my kingdom look on my works and despair who is mighty like King Ozymandias but the whole point of the poem is it's this broken statue in the midst of a desert and there's nothing around it it's all that's left of poor old
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Ozymandias do you see that's what every Caesar is like they're a blip on the screen they're a blip on the screen they're a statue that's about to fall and crack and their kingdom comes to nothing they waste away the
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Lord reigns his kingdom is forever his rule knows no end and yet every
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Nimrod that's ever encountered the gospel every kingdom of man always lasts always thinks they're the ones in control and that has never been the case and that never will be the case brothers and sisters let that be the picture of God's larger
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Providence let that micro control bring you to the macro a right understanding of how these things feed into each other when we talk about God's Providence we shouldn't talk about it in this individualistic way as though God's Providence is that only at work to make my life more sanctified and bring me to a place of blessing oh he's gonna bring trial he's gonna bring seasons of growth and that's how
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I talk about God's Providence in this narrow way well amen to that but see the bigger picture here
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God's Providence in your individual life as a Christian it's not about your individual life as a
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Christian it's about your life and how it fits to his larger work in his kingdom over the face of the earth so in other words a right understanding of Providence from the smallest to the greatest prevents there being endless
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Providence I mean Providence without an end without a goal without a purpose aimless
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Providence the aim cannot be me must be him he must increase so I must decrease the
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Providence in my life must correspond to that great end his Providence is not endless it's not about self -fulfillment self -actualization it's not so I can retire comfortably and grow cold and distance in my affections to him it's so that I'll grow ever nearer more cognizant more aware of how
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I might be used how I might steward resources for his kingdom things that he puts in my path people he puts in front of me waitresses that are putting a bill on the diner table do you see life has meaning of course it has meaning for every image bearer it has meaning for every girl is right and am
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I right but this meaning is not purposeless it's not endless it's not vague or mysterious it's clearly and fully about Jesus Christ his exaltation his glory spread over the face of the earth life has meaning in the midst of this complexity and vibrancy but that meaning that guidance is not about us it's about him my life doesn't work out to my satisfaction my life doesn't have cosmic purpose that I stumble into I don't meditate and become one with the universe the meaning of all of life the grand guidance behind all that is there ever will be
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God's Providence at his widest scale is about glorifying his
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Son Jesus Christ so let's bring that down into our lives now three things as we come to a close how can understanding
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Providence in this way affect us how can it affect the world in which we live how can it affect the way we read headlines
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I hope that whenever your blood pressure is hitting the ceiling because you read something about what the
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Biden Harris administration let's say Biden Kamala administration for our brother's sake let us not besmirch the good name of Harris look the
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Biden Kamala administration when your blood pressure hits the roof see behind that see behind that and say here lies another wreck of an
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Ozymandias the Lord reigns Lord reigns that doesn't mean we circle the wagons it doesn't mean we don't strategize and we don't repent because of our inaction and our indifference no no no no it just means this all boasts all power claims all flexes all mechanics of domineering are completely put under the dominion of God's Providence remember what
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Gamaliel said Gamaliel was quite wise when he had to ascertain what do we do with these followers of Jesus now they seem to be rather emboldened we thought we got rid of the problem we crucified their
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Lord their leader what do we do with them now come on he was very wise and says you know we've seen people rise up and claim to be the
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Messiah and they've gathered a following around them if this is of man if this is just another one it'll fizzle out like all the rest we won't have to do anything but just kind of wait it out but if this really is from God we can't resist it can't resist it it's a very wise man very wise understanding of God's Providence of God's power if this is of God cannot be resisted and so God's Providence relativizes all claims of power all boasts all human fleshly strategies that issue from the city of man it puts them under the threshold of God's control it puts them under the footstool of our
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Lord our King secondly it keeps us from being indifferent and that's very important we believe in God's Providence not in the way that we believe things happen in a deterministic way we don't throw our hands up and say whatever will be will be so it's not indifferent it's not deterministic that's that's misunderstanding misapplying the providential control of God yes whatever happens happens because God wills it to happen he wills it in the way that it happens he wills it toward the purpose that it happens he never loses control or overshoots or undershoots or needs to adjust what he decrees occurs perfectly we through the word interpret what
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God is doing providentially Octavius Winslow the great Puritan said beware of that practical atheism that's a strong word beware of that practical atheism which excludes
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God from his own world which excludes him from your own individual life he's not only present in his created universe but he is as much present in the personal events of your life shaping guiding overruling each and all don't live like a practical atheist in light of God's control he is present he is all -seeing all -knowing all powerful live your life in light of that don't become indifferent third and last how does
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God's Providence affect us maybe as a counterbalance to that last point we don't become indifferent right we don't become inactive rather in light of the fact that God says if you sow if your water
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I will be the God who gives birth it ought to spur us on to action on to boldness on to ambition not away from it read the history of the modern missions movement but as a counterbalance to that and this is
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I think very important and last last application this understanding of God's Providence prevents us from idolizing our activity idolizing our action in light of God's overarching purpose it is a it is a sad thing to see parachurch ministries and certain leaders who honestly think they are the power brokers of God's kingdom that the fate of God's purposes in the world are hanging on their skills and abilities what they can organize in the confidence and power they can exude and the best the best place to address these issues in light of what we're talking about is given to us in the book of Ecclesiastes talk about a relativizing book
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God's purpose my life in the midst of that of course throughout the book of Ecclesiastes you have this programmatic word this too is vanity right the
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Hebrew pebble which is debated about how best to translate it vanity vain it could be breath this too is just a breath like like kind of James just a mist and so Ecclesiastes comes to the inner
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Ozymandias within all of us and says what are you going to do knowing that you're you're dying you're gonna die you have a lot of plans and you're gonna die
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I was thinking about that this week right what if blood lab came back and I got this unexpected call in the midst of a year that I'm trying to map out and the call was
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I'm terribly sorry but you have advanced stage four cancer and we're only giving you a month to live ask myself what would
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I do with all of my little plans how different would my day look look pretty different right when we're actually aware of the fact that death is staring at us there's this sobriety that comes over us and with that we're almost tempted to see anything and everything in our life as vain right what ultimate gain is there if I'm going to die what can
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I work for that will actually be mine the labor I put into things will just become the labor to someone else this too is a vanity this is what the preacher of Ecclesiastes is saying what does it matter if I become the richest most successful person in the world and end up just like the fool our lot is the same in the end what does that matter to my life to God's purposes in my life here and now how different between Ozymandias and King Charlemagne when
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Charlemagne was encrypted he instructed that he was to have his skeleton seated on his throne and his finger pointed on a gilded
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Bible open to the verse what does it gain a man to gain the world and lose his own soul that's what his finger was on it's a wise king very different from Ozymandias our duties our ambitions our hopes of success our plans we end up having to live life in this way that I do what
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I'm called to do I do what God has given for me to do and I just entrust that to him
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I don't look for certain results I I don't hope beyond what I can see I just know that it's enough for me
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Lord to do what you've commanded me to do isn't that the sum of the whole thing for Ecclesiastes fear
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God keep his commandments just do what you've been called to do reverence him in your life do what he's given you to do this is the sum of it isn't it this is the end of it how do you prevent
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Providence from being boastful prideful how do you prevent your inner
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Nimrod from bursting out read Ecclesiastes read Ecclesiastes I came across this thought as I was reading a book on productivity by Brandon Crowe and and he was just talking about the significance of Proverbs on the one hand talking about the diligence of work not being like like a slugger looking to the ant instead then on the other hand
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Ecclesiastes and realizing that whatever you accomplish whatever you do is ultimately going to waste away so we have the sober discussion and relativizes everything everything under the
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Sun is vanity everything under the Sun is vanity but when our purposes and our goals align with God's purposes we know that God uses our life our little time our little season upon the stage to bring about this awesome salvation unto the ends of the earth and here we have their little moment with all of its vibrancy and complexity in a few generations it will all be forgotten it will all be passed over in a name and yet we're walking with and trusting with and laboring for the one who governs all things and so the event of a day can cause a tragedy that affects the whole nation but brothers and sisters you might be raising that that missionary in your living room that goes to South Korea and though they'll never be named or known they turned in turn the country upside down and made it fruitful to send other missionaries to other parts of the world and so that's the power of God's providence your life is more valuable than you could ever imagine in light of God's perfect control and your labor as Paul says is not in vain because of it it's not in vain so we don't labor as Nimrod's we don't we don't idolize our actions or our activity but neither do we despair as though well doesn't really matter what
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I do I might as well not do anything because we serve a God who rules over all the
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Lord reigns let's pray father we're so thankful for this doctrine we're so thankful for the encouragement it can bring to us were reminded
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Lord as as I read that our efforts are not ultimate
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Lord only yours are ultimate you are all -seeing you are all -knowing you are all powerful you ordain the beginning and the end and the means we're too simple too short -sighted too naive too selfish
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Lord we're creatures we're limited we do not know how our days weeks seasons works fit into your larger plan so help us to have the wisdom of the preacher you know that whenever we feel like Nimrod everything under our son is vain but help us also be like Paul and recognize that none of her labor is in vain because of you because of your ultimate purpose let us work diligently then
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Lord run the race as to win let us depend upon your perfect control that our faith be faith in your son whom you brought about by a perfect providence even going back to this table of nations even in the midst of all of the complexity of all of these people groups you were singling out a line to fulfill your purpose we know
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Lord that you have such purposes for us as well help us to be more thoughtful about your providential control
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Lord more worshipful in light of that more reverent Lord let us truly fear you and do all that you've commanded us to do with the joy
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Lord of knowing that you will bring things to fruition that will only be revealed at the end let us then
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Lord build with silver gold precious jewels let us not despair when we see so much rubble hay and straw around us
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Lord and let us remember that your power your claim is over all let you reign