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I am Pastor Nathan and today we are going to be concluding the primeval era of biblical history,

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the really old ancient times, and we're going to be moving into what's called the patriarchal

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history of Genesis. You see, we've been going through this very long story of how everything

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came to be, how the earth came to be, how the universe came to be, how humanity came to be,

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and we've seen many significant moments, right? We've looked at the creation of all things.

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We looked at the creation of man and woman. We've seen the fall of mankind where sin and

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death were introduced. We looked at the flood where God, in a sense, started over but saved

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one man and his family to repopulate the entire earth. And then we saw how mankind never changes.

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We got to the Tower of Babel, again rejecting God and trying to pursue their own way. Now you

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can imagine after the Tower of Babel where God confused the languages of all the people,

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that just groups of people ended up scattering. That's what the Bible tells us. Those groups of

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fighters or shepherds or craftsmen or whatever it may be just all set out for the boundaries of the

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world going north, going south, going west, going east, and in all of that civilization developed,

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commerce developed, conquest developed, and sadly sinful appetites also developed.

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And really what they did is they all took their Babylonian hearts with them, those hearts that

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were focused on self, self-pleasure, self-goals, self-desires, and the scattering really was mostly

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a scattering of proud, arrogant, sinful pagans. Now although there were certainly exceptions

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within that, God always has a remnant of believers in the situations. This group that likely still

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worshiped the one true God, despite the fact that those people were there, the picture we get from

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Babel was a universal apostasy. And the human race was again distanced from God, much like they were

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before the flood. Well today we're going to look at the last and final primeval genealogy from Shem

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to Abram, showing again the steps that God will take to save a people. We're going to see how he

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preserves the line of Shem ultimately through one man, just like he preserved the line of Seth

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ending up in Noah, one man. And again we're going to see how he preserves all of this and sets up

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the ultimate salvation of mankind all through one man's faith, a man that is going to be known as

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Abraham, just like he did through Noah, one man in his faith. We have to understand it's faith.

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It's always faith that receives righteousness from God. It's not our works, it's not our effort,

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it's simply believing that he is who he says he is, that he did what he said he did, that he does

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what he says he's going to do, and that his ways are always right, always true, always the best,

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always perfect. It's faith that leads us to do what God tells us to do and to go where God tells

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us to go. And it's through faith that God works in his people to save and to change the world.

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That's what we're going to see today as we close out chapter 11, but first we're going to worship

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God. And I encourage all of us to set aside whatever may be heavy on your heart, heavy on

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your mind. God knows, and God wants to speak to you today about his will for you, about how to

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come to peace and joy in the midst of difficulties and those things that trouble us, to really

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encourage us to give to him everything that burdens us because he can handle it. And we

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want to praise him for that. So let's pray. Father God, we love you so much. We thank you for our

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salvation. We thank you God that you saved a sinful people. That's us. We are the sinful people.

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And God, we thank you that it was through your love you did that, not because we deserve it,

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not because we earned it, but simply because you love us. And God, thank you for then working

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through us in your spirit. That God, you would do works through our lives that other people might

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come to know you as well. God, we're so grateful that you change our hearts and give us a new heart,

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that we would be able to live as people who worship you, to live as people who say,

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God is my God and Jesus is his name. Father, I pray Lord today you would just encourage us and

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challenge us. Lord, that you would cause us to draw closer to you. Just as these men we've been

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reading about Noah and Abraham and others, as they've drawn close to you through their faith God.

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And because of that you did great works in their life. Lord, we want you to speak through us to

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this world as well. Encourage us today. But first Lord, we praise you. You are the God of glory.

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You are God Almighty. You are our Savior. And it's in your name, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

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We are in Genesis chapter 11, chapter 11 this morning. And we're going to be looking at verses

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10 through 32. Now as I said in the intro, you know, we're at this place where humanity has

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descended again into depravity, right? And although humanity has done that again and really

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came to the place of being a God rejecting people as we saw in the Tower of Babel,

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God's promised blessing on the descendant of Shem is still in force, is still in force. So we have

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the last genealogical record here of the primeval period of history. It's the last genealogy we get.

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And Moses has really given us here the family line, the bridge if you will, to the one God would use

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to save humanity. And so we're going to see that we're coming to the place of being introduced to

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the person through whom which a people comes that will ultimately be the people that Jesus Christ is

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born into the world through. Now this list is a counterpart to the line of Seth in chapter 5.

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If you remember our study there, we looked at the list of Seth's generations, right? Seth was the son

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that was born to replace Abel. And so we had his line in his generations there. And if you go back

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to chapter 5 and count the generations, you'll notice that there's exactly 10 generations.

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Well, as he went through Adam to Noah, that 10 generations is reflected here because in this

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list as we go from Noah to Shem and then down to Abram, it's another 10 generations exactly.

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And so what we have here is we're coming to the story of this man, Abram, who we will come to know

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as Abraham is exactly 20 generations from Adam, the first man created on earth. And so read with me

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here in verse 10 of chapter 11. These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and

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fathered Archbishop two years after the flood. After he fathered that guy, Shem lived 500 years

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and fathered other sons and daughters. That guy lived 35 years and fathered Sheila. After he

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fathered Sheila, that guy lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. Sheila lived

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30 years and fathered Eber. After he fathered Eber, Sheila lived 403 years and fathered other

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sons and daughters. Eber lived 34 years and fathered Pelek. After he fathered Pelek, Eber

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lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. Pelek lived 30 years and fathered

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119 years and fathered other sons and daughters.

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Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

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Now as we've talked with the other genealogies,

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sometimes people look at these and they go,

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okay, we're just gonna skip over that,

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it's just a list of names, right?

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And if you dig, there's meaning.

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There's meaning that God wants us to learn from

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because every single letter that's in the Bible

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is God's word.

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And God included it there for us to learn

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something about him, something about his plan

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and his character.

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And so that's why we go through these types of scriptures.

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Also, we go from Genesis to Revelation

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and we cover every single verse in the Bible

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because it's all God's counsel of wisdom, right?

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So, when we look at this, you might notice

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some similarities and differences

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between Seth's genealogy and chapter five.

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The most notable difference here is as we read

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through this list of names and this record,

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we did not have the refrain, and he died after each one.

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If you remember back in chapter five,

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when he had Seth's lineage, it would say,

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this guy, fathered this guy,

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and then he lived this many years, and then he died.

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And it said that over and over and over

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through that genealogy, but here, that is left out.

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I believe it is that way because pre-flood,

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the emphasis was that death prevailed in the human race

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after the fall.

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That was the story pre-flood, that God created perfection,

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God created heaven, paradise,

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man had a perfect sin-free life of fellowship with God,

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then man sinned.

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Sin entered into the heart of man,

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man was now gonna be a sinful person,

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death entered the world because of that.

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Man would die, creation would die,

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entropy came into the universe, right?

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And so, as we saw humanity pre-flood degenerate

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into this violent, wicked, evil race,

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the genealogies were telling us that death reigned,

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that the result of sin is death.

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But here, the emphasis, as we're moving towards Abraham,

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is a move towards the promise,

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towards the hope, towards the salvation

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that we're gonna ultimately find in the New Testament.

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And so, here in this genealogy, they leave off and he died

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because the emphasis isn't death, the emphasis is life.

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The emphasis is hope that is coming through God's work.

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The other difference here is that the life spans of humans

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are shrinking rapidly.

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You remember before the flood,

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we'd have these life spans of people

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and they would be like 700 to 900 years, right?

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Long lives, and those were actually years.

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It wasn't metaphorical.

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The lifespan of humans was really huge pre-flood.

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But post-flood, what we see here is Shem lived 600 years,

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and then Arxifad, whatever his name is, lived 438 years.

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That's a shrinkage of a third.

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And then we have three more generations of people

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living to 400 or so years,

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and then we get to Peleg and it drops to half.

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And then we have three more generations of that

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and then we get to Nahor and it drops again.

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And so we're seeing this reduction,

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this dramatic reduction in the lifespan of man.

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Part of that, I believe, is also the result of sin and death

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and also something that God had happen to mankind

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because we're sinful people.

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We pursue sinful things.

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And so we're gonna pursue more sinful things

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in 500 years of life

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than we probably would in 100 years of life.

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And so it's a grace that the lifespan of mankind

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shortened down.

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But as the lifespans of mankind were shrinking and shrinking,

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we have to understand that we're moving towards

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the hope of eternal life and complete salvation

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in the word of God.

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Now in the midpoint of this genealogy,

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we have reference to this man Peleg again.

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He is actually the exact middle of the genealogy.

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He's the fifth of 10 generations from Shem.

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And then the first five generations,

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as it says this guy gave birth to this guy

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and so on and so forth,

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it's simply a summarized restatement

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of what we already looked at in chapter 10,

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which is called the Table of Nations, right?

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We saw this long list of how the initial 70 nations,

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70 clans, tribes, whatever word you wanna use,

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of mankind spread out from Noah after the flood.

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And so here again we have the first five mentioned,

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but it's strictly focusing on the line

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that the Messiah's gonna come from.

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And so the notable difference between these two

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in chapter 10 when it got to this man Peleg,

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it just says his dad gave birth to Peleg,

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in his days the earth was divided.

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And that was all it said.

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And then it switched to his brother Joktan,

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who had like 12 kids, right?

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He was very busy.

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And here, Joktan's not even mentioned,

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it just gets to Peleg,

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and then it mentions Peleg's offspring and moves forward.

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And you go, well, why?

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What's the point of the difference?

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Well, Peleg, when he was mentioned in the other genealogy,

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the point of that genealogy led us

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to the story of the Tower of Babel, right?

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And the story of Tower of Babel was simply

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a true retelling of look where mankind got to again, right?

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We did this before the flood,

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God had to wipe it out,

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started over with one man,

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and here's where we ended up, Tower of Babel.

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And so when it lists Joktan there and all of his offspring,

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the whole idea is that Joktan's line,

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although he was a Semitic people,

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which became the Jews and the Arabs,

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his line led to the fiasco at Babel,

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whereas Peleg line here led to Abram,

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which is gonna lead to the Messianic line.

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And so the idea here is one line led to disgrace,

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one line led to grace.

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One line of Eber led to these people

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who wanted to build a tower and build a city

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and say, we can do it all, we don't need God.

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And then his other line, Peleg, led to a people

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who ultimately messed up themselves,

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but were still the people God chose

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to have the Messiah born through.

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So now as I go through this study

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and probably for the next handful of months,

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I'm gonna use Abram and Abraham interchangeably.

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It's the same dude, okay?

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It's the same guy, Abram eventually becomes Abraham,

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but I'm probably gonna go back and forth, okay,

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and not hear it, so just understand

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that if I say Abram or Abraham, it's the same guy, okay?

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Now, throughout Genesis, we've talked about this

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a couple times, that we see these number seven,

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seven things and multiples of sevens throughout.

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There was seven days of creation,

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there was seven days in a week, and so on and so forth.

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And that's one of the literary tools

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that demonstrates to us completion, right?

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Every time we see the seven,

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it has to do with something that is completed,

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something that is divinely perfected, that idea.

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And again, in this genealogy, we see God's hand

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being very intentional and very specific

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in what he is doing through mankind.

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Peleg's father was Eber, right?

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It tells us here in the genealogy,

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00:15:35,000 --> 00:15:37,980
Eber is where the Hebrew people came from,

235
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but Eber, who the Hebrew people came from,

236
00:15:42,080 --> 00:15:44,700
is exactly 14th from Adam.

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That's a multiple of seven, right, two times seven.

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And then when we get to Abram, it's exactly 21 from Adam.

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That's another multiple of seven.

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And so these little tiny details,

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although they're not necessarily theologically relevant,

242
00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,680
they do apply to the theology that God is very precise

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00:16:01,680 --> 00:16:05,160
and specific in what he does and how he does it.

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From the very beginning of creation,

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God knew what was gonna happen,

246
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and he had a plan from the very beginning.

247
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God wasn't reacting to mankind.

248
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God was letting mankind exercise its free will,

249
00:16:17,540 --> 00:16:20,440
and he had a plan back before anything

250
00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:21,760
to do something about it.

251
00:16:21,760 --> 00:16:24,360
And what we've seen is God is very intentionally

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00:16:24,360 --> 00:16:28,280
moving through people despite the fact that they're sinners.

253
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He is working through people to affect his promise

254
00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:33,480
for the entire world.

255
00:16:33,480 --> 00:16:37,980
Now, by verse 26, we finally get to this man named Abram.

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He is only five generations from Babel.

257
00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,680
Now I say that because in chapter 10,

258
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when it said in Peleg's days, the earth was divided,

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I believe that's referring to the scattering of the people

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at Babel, and so assuming that is exactly what it is,

261
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:58,120
Abram is five generations from Babel.

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Think about that.

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That's not a whole lot of time.

264
00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:05,240
Now, of course, in the days of their age and lifespans,

265
00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,880
it's a lot of time, but many of us could go back

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00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:10,600
five generations in our families,

267
00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,840
and we know who great, great, great,

268
00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,540
and great, great, great grandma or grandpa was.

269
00:17:15,540 --> 00:17:17,080
We may not have known them personally,

270
00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:19,920
but it's not that hard to go five generations back

271
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:23,760
in your family, and so here in Abram's day,

272
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,880
it's very likely that the story of Babel

273
00:17:26,880 --> 00:17:28,680
was still being told.

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Maybe it was becoming folklore,

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maybe it was becoming legend,

276
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but the story was still there, the reality was still there.

277
00:17:35,760 --> 00:17:40,120
Now, the listing here, 10 generations from Noah,

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00:17:41,000 --> 00:17:44,080
ends with Terah fathering three sons.

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00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:47,880
Well, what happened at the end of Seth's line?

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Seth ended up with Noah fathering three sons.

281
00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:54,920
So again, we're seeing this very specific intention by God

282
00:17:54,920 --> 00:17:56,960
in the development of the line

283
00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:58,640
that the Messiah's gonna come through,

284
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but the point of all that is from the very beginning,

285
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even before the fall, God, knowing mankind was gonna fall,

286
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,540
God is working to bring hope for mankind.

287
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That's the point of these lines,

288
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is despite what has happened with the flood,

289
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despite what happened at Babel,

290
00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:16,480
despite what happened before the flood,

291
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God still had a people that he was working through,

292
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:21,080
generation to generation to generation,

293
00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,800
to ultimately bring Jesus Christ into this world,

294
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to have God, who Jesus Christ is,

295
00:18:25,960 --> 00:18:30,160
be born into the flesh to be the savior of all mankind.

296
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So as Moses is writing here,

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00:18:31,840 --> 00:18:34,560
he wants the people reading this to understand

298
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:37,160
that promise that God made to Eve in Genesis,

299
00:18:37,160 --> 00:18:41,440
that your offspring will crush the head of the serpent,

300
00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:44,160
that that promise is still in effect,

301
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,160
that that promise could not be stopped

302
00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:48,800
because mankind is dumb.

303
00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,300
Mankind could not prevent that from happening.

304
00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:56,200
Even the confusion and the scattering of the people

305
00:18:56,200 --> 00:19:00,580
could not stop God's plan to save mankind.

306
00:19:00,580 --> 00:19:02,700
No matter what the nations did,

307
00:19:02,700 --> 00:19:06,080
God would be merciful, God would be gracious

308
00:19:06,080 --> 00:19:09,400
through Jesus Christ simply because he promised to.

309
00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:12,040
And that's a big thing we have to remember.

310
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,240
God's promises are true.

311
00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,000
If God said it, it's going to happen.

312
00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,600
Sometimes we struggle with that.

313
00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,520
Did God really say it, did he really mean it?

314
00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:25,920
But we can't sway from the understanding

315
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:27,880
that God's word is true.

316
00:19:27,880 --> 00:19:30,000
We're gonna see later that that has to do

317
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,560
with the obedience, it ties into faith,

318
00:19:32,560 --> 00:19:36,420
and it ties into the life that God works through.

319
00:19:36,420 --> 00:19:39,580
When God makes a promise, it's going to happen.

320
00:19:39,580 --> 00:19:42,200
You can't thwart it, you can't stop it.

321
00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:44,480
Satan has been trying from the very beginning

322
00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,180
and he fails over and over again.

323
00:19:48,280 --> 00:19:53,040
And so, verse 27, now we come in and focus on Terah.

324
00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,760
Says these are the family records of Terah.

325
00:19:55,760 --> 00:19:58,320
Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran,

326
00:19:58,320 --> 00:20:00,480
and Haran fathered Lot.

327
00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,880
Haran died in his native land in Ur of the Chaldeans

328
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,560
during his father Terah's lifetime.

329
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:09,860
Abram and Nahor took wives.

330
00:20:09,860 --> 00:20:11,720
Abram's wife was named Sarai,

331
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,180
and Nahor's wife was named Milka.

332
00:20:14,180 --> 00:20:15,580
She was the daughter of Haran,

333
00:20:15,580 --> 00:20:18,800
the father of both Milka and Iska.

334
00:20:18,800 --> 00:20:23,040
Sarai was unable to conceive, she did not have a child.

335
00:20:23,040 --> 00:20:27,180
Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, Haran's son,

336
00:20:27,180 --> 00:20:30,720
and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abraham's wife,

337
00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:33,320
and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans

338
00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:35,320
to go to the land of Canaan.

339
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:38,300
But when they came to Haran, they settled there,

340
00:20:38,300 --> 00:20:42,240
and then Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.

341
00:20:42,240 --> 00:20:44,560
And that is the end of the primeval history

342
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:46,320
that Genesis gives us.

343
00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:49,280
As we get to chapter 12, it's gonna be a massive shift now

344
00:20:49,280 --> 00:20:51,640
of focusing on this one man.

345
00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:53,520
But verse 27, when it starts there,

346
00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:56,080
that is like the dividing line as we're shifting

347
00:20:56,080 --> 00:20:58,740
from what came before and what came after.

348
00:20:58,740 --> 00:21:01,280
Now the rest of the world that had scattered

349
00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,600
in all the directions, it was still going on.

350
00:21:04,600 --> 00:21:06,640
They were still developing, they were still being fruitful,

351
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,680
they were still multiplying and filling the earth.

352
00:21:08,680 --> 00:21:11,200
Their history was continuing,

353
00:21:11,200 --> 00:21:14,560
but God's word is now zooming in

354
00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:17,080
from the grandeur of the universe, right?

355
00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:18,940
We started with in the beginning God.

356
00:21:20,500 --> 00:21:24,920
Infinite, to zh, universe and the earth, zh, to man,

357
00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:26,840
to zh, zh, and we're coming all the way down

358
00:21:26,840 --> 00:21:29,440
and zooming in to God's plan.

359
00:21:29,440 --> 00:21:31,240
And this zooming in is gonna continue

360
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:33,080
through the Old Testament eventually to zoom

361
00:21:33,080 --> 00:21:36,180
all the way in to a manger in Bethlehem,

362
00:21:36,180 --> 00:21:38,400
where God is born into the world.

363
00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:42,540
So, similar again to Noah's genealogy,

364
00:21:42,540 --> 00:21:44,540
the antagonist to the story is,

365
00:21:44,540 --> 00:21:47,160
or the antagonist to our protagonist

366
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,140
is presented right away.

367
00:21:49,140 --> 00:21:50,480
If you remember back when I was like,

368
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:52,880
hey, Noah gave birth to Ham, Shem, and Japheth,

369
00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,140
and then it goes, oh, Ham was the father of Canaan.

370
00:21:56,140 --> 00:21:58,320
And then he goes on, start to talk about their lines,

371
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,760
and it's kind of a weird detail.

372
00:22:00,760 --> 00:22:03,400
But the reason was is because Canaan

373
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:05,360
was the ultimate enemy of Israel.

374
00:22:05,360 --> 00:22:07,160
And so as Moses was writing this down

375
00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,040
so that they would understand where Canaan came from,

376
00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:11,960
because Canaan was in the promised land

377
00:22:11,960 --> 00:22:13,840
and they were gonna be dealing with these people.

378
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:15,200
Well, here we have the same thing.

379
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:17,560
Look, Terah fathered Abraham, Nahor, and Haran.

380
00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,440
Oh, by the way, and Haran fathered Lot.

381
00:22:21,740 --> 00:22:22,580
Why?

382
00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:27,420
Because people might remember the story of Lot

383
00:22:27,420 --> 00:22:29,720
and all the trouble he brought Abraham.

384
00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,360
Lot is going to be the antagonist to Abraham's story.

385
00:22:33,360 --> 00:22:36,100
He's gonna be the one that's gonna cause so much trouble

386
00:22:36,100 --> 00:22:38,080
in Abraham's life moving forward.

387
00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:40,000
And so as Moses is writing this,

388
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:42,660
tells us right away, hey, this is where this guy, Lot,

389
00:22:42,660 --> 00:22:43,500
came from.

390
00:22:44,340 --> 00:22:45,600
Now there are some details here

391
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,480
that might be concerning for our ears today.

392
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:49,720
Because as we read through this,

393
00:22:49,720 --> 00:22:52,240
the end of the genealogy starts to get very specific

394
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,560
about who's wife, and who's this, and who's married to who.

395
00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,680
And it says Nahor married Haran's daughter, Milka.

396
00:23:00,840 --> 00:23:03,800
Well, Haran was Nahor's brother.

397
00:23:03,800 --> 00:23:07,240
So what that means is Nahor married his niece.

398
00:23:07,240 --> 00:23:10,080
And again, in today's ears, we go ew.

399
00:23:10,080 --> 00:23:12,040
That's, he's a weirdo, he's a creeper.

400
00:23:13,040 --> 00:23:15,320
But the answer to that is the same answer

401
00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:18,360
as we dealt with back in Cain, right?

402
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,040
Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel,

403
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,280
and then Cain killed Abel, and then he went on

404
00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:25,840
and he got cursed and he got sent out,

405
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:27,160
and then Cain had a wife.

406
00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,360
And people always go, where did Cain get his wife?

407
00:23:30,360 --> 00:23:33,760
And the answer was, it's his sister.

408
00:23:34,820 --> 00:23:37,420
It just has to be, if there's two people that started

409
00:23:37,420 --> 00:23:39,960
and then gave birth and gave birth, gave birth, right?

410
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:41,800
Now in today's world, people go ew.

411
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:43,960
But back then, in the very beginning,

412
00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:46,560
it was a culturally normal thing.

413
00:23:46,560 --> 00:23:49,000
Plus, I believe that close to the creation of man,

414
00:23:49,000 --> 00:23:50,920
it wasn't a health issue.

415
00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:53,520
There wouldn't be a genetic issue in birth defects

416
00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:55,160
and stuff from that line.

417
00:23:55,160 --> 00:23:58,140
Well here, we have a very similar thing that's going on.

418
00:23:58,140 --> 00:24:01,120
That families are still close, clans are still close,

419
00:24:01,120 --> 00:24:03,920
and to keep the clan and the family lines intact,

420
00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:06,300
there was a co-mingling of close family lines

421
00:24:06,300 --> 00:24:08,000
within those clans.

422
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,160
And then it wasn't weird, okay?

423
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,080
It was normal, it was acceptable,

424
00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:14,600
and it was not genetically harmful.

425
00:24:14,600 --> 00:24:17,680
So it tells us this, and we have to understand culturally

426
00:24:17,680 --> 00:24:20,600
that Nahor's not a weirdo, okay?

427
00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:24,760
But what's left out of this particular,

428
00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:29,760
these particular verses, is something that would,

429
00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:31,320
something that we're gonna see again

430
00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,920
in chapter 20 of Genesis, right?

431
00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:37,240
Chapter 20, we're gonna have a story where Abraham,

432
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,320
Abram reveals something about Sarai to a king,

433
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,300
and that king then gets mad at Abraham because of it.

434
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:46,720
What we learn later in scripture

435
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:48,960
that's not revealed here in Genesis 11

436
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:52,520
is that Sarai is the half-sister of Abram.

437
00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:55,720
They're close as well.

438
00:24:55,720 --> 00:25:00,000
Now it refers to her as Terah's daughter-in-law,

439
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,080
but that's because in those days when a daughter

440
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:05,800
got married, she was leaving the family

441
00:25:05,800 --> 00:25:06,940
and starting her own family.

442
00:25:06,940 --> 00:25:09,460
So Terah's daughter, when she married Abram,

443
00:25:09,460 --> 00:25:12,100
became his daughter-in-law.

444
00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:14,600
Same response as above if you think that's weird.

445
00:25:14,600 --> 00:25:19,000
Now we do know that eventually God is gonna say

446
00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:20,560
no more to that, right?

447
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:22,280
He's gonna put a stop to that in his law,

448
00:25:22,280 --> 00:25:25,320
but here it's taking place.

449
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,800
So we're not told here that Sarai is his half-sister,

450
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,600
but what we are told here is that she was barren.

451
00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:34,000
She was unable to conceive, and thus she had no children.

452
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,860
Now again, we have to understand culturally,

453
00:25:37,860 --> 00:25:42,860
culturally in this time, really the main work,

454
00:25:42,860 --> 00:25:46,600
the main function within the family that a woman had

455
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:50,520
was to bear children so that the family would prosper

456
00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,260
and the family name would go on.

457
00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,800
Today's culture, just women are being encouraged greatly,

458
00:25:57,800 --> 00:25:59,080
oh you don't need to have kids,

459
00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:00,480
doing that is gonna wreck your life,

460
00:26:00,480 --> 00:26:01,520
that's just gonna lock you down,

461
00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:03,000
you're not gonna be able to pursue your career,

462
00:26:03,000 --> 00:26:04,300
you're not gonna be able to travel the world,

463
00:26:04,300 --> 00:26:06,680
don't have kids, don't have kids, right?

464
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:09,860
And I think that push is because God's blessing

465
00:26:09,860 --> 00:26:13,800
upon mankind was to have children,

466
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:17,360
and to raise generations of kids to adults themselves

467
00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:19,560
who would then have kids and all of it would just

468
00:26:19,560 --> 00:26:22,480
worship and glorify God the creator.

469
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,240
Now there are couples in today's world

470
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:27,560
that don't wanna have children,

471
00:26:27,560 --> 00:26:30,280
and that's fine if that's you, that's between you and God

472
00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:32,920
and your family and God, but a lot of times

473
00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:34,000
I'll run into people that are like,

474
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:35,920
oh we don't want kids, we don't want kids,

475
00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,880
and it's because having kids is this bad thing.

476
00:26:39,880 --> 00:26:42,480
And there's even Christian couples that I hear this from.

477
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:47,080
And I just wanna encourage you, if you, your family,

478
00:26:47,080 --> 00:26:48,720
you've decided we don't wanna have kids

479
00:26:48,720 --> 00:26:51,680
and that's between you and God, awesome, follow the Lord.

480
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,800
But don't you dare disdain the having of children,

481
00:26:56,800 --> 00:26:58,680
because that was God's blessing,

482
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,860
the original blessing on mankind.

483
00:27:00,860 --> 00:27:02,480
So if you don't wanna have kids, fine,

484
00:27:02,480 --> 00:27:05,740
but don't let it be because having kids is a bad thing.

485
00:27:05,740 --> 00:27:08,040
Don't believe that lie from the world.

486
00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,760
In this culture, if you couldn't have children

487
00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,160
because that was really the main function

488
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:14,720
within the family for a woman,

489
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:18,600
it would largely mean the woman felt useless.

490
00:27:18,600 --> 00:27:22,960
She had no purpose in life if she couldn't carry on

491
00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,880
the family through the birthing of children.

492
00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:28,340
Now the reason this detail is told us here

493
00:27:28,340 --> 00:27:30,880
as we're being introduced to Abram

494
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:33,880
is because the fact that she was barren

495
00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:37,840
is what leads to so much of the massive difficulties

496
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:39,440
that Abraham experiences.

497
00:27:39,440 --> 00:27:41,620
It's what leads to the challenges he has,

498
00:27:41,620 --> 00:27:44,800
the challenges of faith, the difficulties

499
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:46,320
and the victories that he had.

500
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:49,240
So much of Abraham's life is wrapped around the fact

501
00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,200
that Sarah or Sarai couldn't have children.

502
00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:55,360
And then we're gonna see throughout the Old Testament

503
00:27:55,360 --> 00:27:56,760
that the challenge of barrenness,

504
00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,400
it comes up in the lives of other matriarchs of Israel.

505
00:28:00,400 --> 00:28:02,560
We see it come up in Rebecca's life.

506
00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:04,640
We see it come up in Rachel's life.

507
00:28:04,640 --> 00:28:06,600
Later on we're gonna see this issue of barrenness

508
00:28:06,600 --> 00:28:09,400
come up in Samson's mother's life.

509
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,920
We see it in Samuel, Samuel's mom, Hannah, right?

510
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:15,560
We heard that story this year Mother's Day

511
00:28:15,560 --> 00:28:18,040
where Hannah, his mom, she couldn't have children.

512
00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:22,440
And the other wife, again another culturally

513
00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:25,760
acceptable thing at that time, could have kids.

514
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,480
So she was the favored wife and Hannah was just

515
00:28:28,480 --> 00:28:30,920
heartbroken that she couldn't provide children

516
00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,060
for the family.

517
00:28:33,060 --> 00:28:34,720
And so we read about how she went to the temple

518
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:38,000
and prayed, God please, please let me have a child.

519
00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,200
I'll dedicate him to you and God honored

520
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:41,320
that prayer in her life.

521
00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:44,680
And so we have to understand that this detail

522
00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,040
is again setting the table for what we're gonna see

523
00:28:47,040 --> 00:28:48,980
as we get into the life of Abraham.

524
00:28:48,980 --> 00:28:52,860
Another important detail it gives us here in these verses

525
00:28:52,860 --> 00:28:56,080
is that Abraham and his family, they were from

526
00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,920
this place called Ur of the Chaldeans.

527
00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:03,920
We've discovered Ur today, archeologically.

528
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:07,040
We know where it's at.

529
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,480
They've actually uncovered the ziggurat,

530
00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:13,280
the big temple pyramid that was used to worship there

531
00:29:13,280 --> 00:29:14,800
and they have restored most of it.

532
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,580
You can go visit it today as a tourist.

533
00:29:17,580 --> 00:29:19,000
It's pretty incredible.

534
00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,600
Go look it up on Google, ziggurat of Ur.

535
00:29:21,600 --> 00:29:22,920
It's an impressive structure.

536
00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:24,700
They've been able to kind of restore it

537
00:29:24,700 --> 00:29:26,760
but what's interesting is in their restoration

538
00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,040
they've left the very top unrestored.

539
00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,000
I don't know if that's on purpose or not

540
00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:32,680
but it's interesting that the very top

541
00:29:32,680 --> 00:29:34,520
is where the ritual sacrifice and the worship

542
00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:36,200
of false gods would take place.

543
00:29:36,200 --> 00:29:38,560
God's like cool, discover it, build it,

544
00:29:38,560 --> 00:29:40,800
kind of cool to look at, nothing on the top.

545
00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:46,480
So we know a lot about Ur because of archeology and stuff

546
00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:48,180
and one of the things we know about the people

547
00:29:48,180 --> 00:29:53,180
of this city Ur is that they were worshipers of false gods.

548
00:29:53,920 --> 00:29:56,060
One of their prime gods that they worshiped

549
00:29:56,060 --> 00:29:59,600
was the moon god and so at the top of their ziggurat

550
00:29:59,600 --> 00:30:02,160
they would see the moon and all this stuff

551
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:04,320
but here's what's interesting is the name

552
00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:06,540
of the moon god is Nana.

553
00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:10,380
Nana, right?

554
00:30:10,380 --> 00:30:12,800
That's not a very threatening god.

555
00:30:12,800 --> 00:30:15,600
That's like our moon god Nana and she bakes cookies.

556
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:20,780
If you're called Nana, that's a great name,

557
00:30:20,780 --> 00:30:22,880
don't take offense but for some reason

558
00:30:22,880 --> 00:30:26,000
Nana was the moon god that they worshiped in Ur.

559
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:28,520
They also know through discovery of mass graves and stuff

560
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,060
that there was a lot of human sacrifice

561
00:30:31,060 --> 00:30:34,140
in worship to Nana and the other gods there in Ur.

562
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:39,660
The reason this detail's important is this is the context

563
00:30:39,660 --> 00:30:43,040
of this man Abram we're gonna learn so much about.

564
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:46,260
This is his background, this is where he lives,

565
00:30:46,260 --> 00:30:48,280
this is his upbringing if you will.

566
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,200
His whole background here is that he lived in a place

567
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:53,960
that had pagan worship, that sacrificed people

568
00:30:53,960 --> 00:30:56,480
in worship of false gods.

569
00:30:56,480 --> 00:30:58,480
And what that means according to the Bible,

570
00:30:58,480 --> 00:31:03,020
well Joshua tells us this in Joshua 24 verse two.

571
00:31:04,520 --> 00:31:05,760
Joshua said to all the people,

572
00:31:05,760 --> 00:31:09,440
this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says.

573
00:31:09,440 --> 00:31:12,160
Long ago your ancestors including Terah,

574
00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:13,980
the father of Abraham and Nahor,

575
00:31:13,980 --> 00:31:18,220
lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods.

576
00:31:19,800 --> 00:31:23,920
Guess what, that means Abram was an idolatrous pagan

577
00:31:23,920 --> 00:31:25,380
false god worshiper.

578
00:31:26,560 --> 00:31:28,320
It was his culture, it was his life,

579
00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,420
that's just, that's what you did.

580
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:35,180
And so through the Noah and through Shem

581
00:31:35,180 --> 00:31:37,320
and coming all the way down to Abraham,

582
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:39,680
we find that Abram and his entire family

583
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:42,080
were initially polytheistic idolaters.

584
00:31:42,940 --> 00:31:47,940
Now I love that detail because what it shows us

585
00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,360
is God works through sinners.

586
00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:53,360
Aren't you grateful for that?

587
00:31:53,360 --> 00:31:56,260
If God didn't work through sinners, none of us would be here.

588
00:31:57,380 --> 00:32:00,000
But God works through sinners.

589
00:32:00,000 --> 00:32:01,440
As we're gonna read in chapter 12,

590
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:04,760
as God revealed himself to Abram and spoke to him,

591
00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:09,300
God spoke to him while he was a polytheistic idolater.

592
00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:14,080
You see some people, they get it in their heads sometimes

593
00:32:14,080 --> 00:32:19,080
that I've gotta clean up my life before I'll seek God.

594
00:32:19,320 --> 00:32:21,780
Because God's not gonna accept me in the middle of my sin.

595
00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:24,920
I have to stop drinking and then I'll give my life to Jesus.

596
00:32:24,920 --> 00:32:27,240
I have to stop cheating on my spouse

597
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,180
and then I'll give my life to Jesus.

598
00:32:31,620 --> 00:32:35,440
And God is constantly saying, come to me just as you are.

599
00:32:37,020 --> 00:32:40,240
I'm not gonna shun you because you're a sinner.

600
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,160
In fact, in the middle of your sin, I will talk to you

601
00:32:43,160 --> 00:32:45,960
and I will call you and you will have that opportunity

602
00:32:45,960 --> 00:32:48,040
in that moment to say, am I gonna listen to God

603
00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:49,320
and obey him or not?

604
00:32:49,320 --> 00:32:51,320
And so if you're in this room this morning

605
00:32:51,320 --> 00:32:53,880
and you're going, man, I wanna give my life to God,

606
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,880
but understand, God knows.

607
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,640
God's not waiting for you to clean up your life

608
00:33:01,640 --> 00:33:02,880
because if you could clean up your life,

609
00:33:02,880 --> 00:33:04,880
you would have already done it already.

610
00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,800
But God is saying, come to me and let me clean up your life.

611
00:33:09,800 --> 00:33:12,360
Because God loves you, he wants to save you.

612
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,520
And we're gonna see that in the story of this man, Abram.

613
00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:21,520
But as we move past this, we read in the story here

614
00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,960
that it was Terah who rounded up the whole family

615
00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:27,200
and headed to Canaan, right?

616
00:33:27,200 --> 00:33:28,760
And he never made it to Canaan.

617
00:33:28,760 --> 00:33:32,440
They stopped in Haran, it tells us, and settled there.

618
00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:34,440
Now some people go, wait a second,

619
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:37,640
his son's name was Haran and his son died

620
00:33:37,640 --> 00:33:40,760
during his lifetime, does it have anything to do

621
00:33:40,760 --> 00:33:42,880
with the city of Haran that they settled in?

622
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:43,920
We don't know.

623
00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,320
But it's very possible that when Terah left

624
00:33:46,320 --> 00:33:48,480
this family, there was such a large family

625
00:33:48,480 --> 00:33:51,960
that when they got there, they named the place Haran.

626
00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:56,120
That's just speculative, but we see that it tells us this.

627
00:33:56,120 --> 00:33:58,640
There's a problem here where people will point out

628
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:00,920
a detail and say, this is a Bible contradiction

629
00:34:00,920 --> 00:34:02,800
and therefore the Bible's not true.

630
00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:06,400
Okay, so let me give you the answer to this right now.

631
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:09,020
When we get to chapter 12 of Genesis,

632
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:12,760
this is next time in our next message,

633
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:16,760
it appears as if Abraham's call happened in Haran.

634
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:19,360
It says this in verse four of Genesis 12.

635
00:34:19,360 --> 00:34:21,720
So Abram went, as the Lord had told him,

636
00:34:21,720 --> 00:34:23,440
and Lot went with him.

637
00:34:23,440 --> 00:34:26,780
Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran.

638
00:34:26,780 --> 00:34:30,080
So it appears that he was called in Haran,

639
00:34:30,080 --> 00:34:32,840
he left Haran and went to Canaan.

640
00:34:33,720 --> 00:34:35,660
However, when we read in the book of Acts,

641
00:34:35,660 --> 00:34:37,960
chapter seven, verses two and three,

642
00:34:37,960 --> 00:34:39,680
this is what it tells us.

643
00:34:39,680 --> 00:34:42,460
Brothers and fathers, he replied, listen,

644
00:34:42,460 --> 00:34:44,760
the God of glory appeared to our father Abram

645
00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:48,520
when he was in Mesopotamia before he settled in Haran

646
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:50,680
and said to him, leave your country and your relatives

647
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:53,520
and come to the land that I will show you.

648
00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:56,120
So sometimes people will point to this and go,

649
00:34:56,120 --> 00:34:59,220
this is a contradiction in the Bible, you can't believe it.

650
00:34:59,220 --> 00:35:01,700
We're gonna deal with this when we get to chapter 12

651
00:35:01,700 --> 00:35:04,600
next time, but suffice to say that the true

652
00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,880
narrative here, it tells us in Acts that Abraham

653
00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,580
was the one that got the call from God

654
00:35:11,580 --> 00:35:16,580
when he was in Ur, before Haran is what it's telling us.

655
00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,260
Then when we go back to Genesis 11, it says,

656
00:35:19,260 --> 00:35:21,600
Terah is the one that rounded up the family to leave.

657
00:35:21,600 --> 00:35:25,600
So did Abraham tell the family to leave or did Terah?

658
00:35:26,860 --> 00:35:30,360
The answer is this, in their culture,

659
00:35:31,740 --> 00:35:34,320
the respect and honor that was given to heads of the family

660
00:35:34,320 --> 00:35:36,060
was immense, right?

661
00:35:36,060 --> 00:35:38,960
You did not disrespect the head of the family.

662
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,600
The head of the family was really judged during execution

663
00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:43,920
in those days of the family.

664
00:35:43,920 --> 00:35:47,680
And so in the genealogy that we read in chapter 11

665
00:35:47,680 --> 00:35:50,320
where it says Terah rounded up the family,

666
00:35:50,320 --> 00:35:53,120
I believe that the truth is, is Abraham got the call.

667
00:35:54,080 --> 00:35:56,800
Abraham said, Terah, we need to leave, convinced him,

668
00:35:56,800 --> 00:35:57,640
I don't know how he did it,

669
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:59,820
and then Terah rounded up the family and left.

670
00:35:59,820 --> 00:36:02,560
So the honor is being given to the head of the household

671
00:36:02,560 --> 00:36:04,820
still in the genealogy in chapter 11.

672
00:36:04,820 --> 00:36:06,100
There's no contradiction here,

673
00:36:06,100 --> 00:36:08,680
there's no issue with the scripture.

674
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,280
Now we're gonna deal with that more detail

675
00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:11,600
in Reconcile in chapter 12

676
00:36:11,600 --> 00:36:13,160
because it is based on some assumptions,

677
00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,800
however, it's easy to answer.

678
00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,680
So, but here it was Abraham who was called to Ur

679
00:36:19,680 --> 00:36:23,120
to leave his country and his relatives to go to Canaan.

680
00:36:23,120 --> 00:36:25,720
He somehow got Terah to lead the family out,

681
00:36:25,720 --> 00:36:26,920
they all went there.

682
00:36:26,920 --> 00:36:29,460
And the point of all of this is that it was there

683
00:36:29,460 --> 00:36:33,800
in pagan, idolatrous, dark, wicked Ur.

684
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:38,240
It was there that Abraham saw the God of glory.

685
00:36:39,920 --> 00:36:44,920
Again, God shows up into the dark place,

686
00:36:45,440 --> 00:36:47,480
into the sinful place,

687
00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,580
and he shows up there to call a man to follow him.

688
00:36:51,940 --> 00:36:53,540
God does that in our lives too.

689
00:36:55,240 --> 00:36:57,040
It's in the midst of our darkness,

690
00:36:57,040 --> 00:36:59,200
it's in the midst of our hangover,

691
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:00,680
it's in the midst of our being high,

692
00:37:00,680 --> 00:37:03,080
it's in the midst of being with someone

693
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:04,080
that's not your spouse,

694
00:37:04,080 --> 00:37:05,840
it's in the midst of the sinful place

695
00:37:05,840 --> 00:37:08,040
that God will show up and shine the light.

696
00:37:09,420 --> 00:37:14,420
And so, Abraham then gets this call and he leaves.

697
00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:19,060
But the call to Abraham was as a pagan idolater.

698
00:37:20,580 --> 00:37:22,360
As a worshiper of false gods,

699
00:37:22,360 --> 00:37:25,160
this is when God said, go to a land I will show you.

700
00:37:26,540 --> 00:37:28,440
Now they went and then it tells us

701
00:37:28,440 --> 00:37:30,960
that as Terah was leading the family there,

702
00:37:30,960 --> 00:37:32,720
they got to Haran and stopped.

703
00:37:32,720 --> 00:37:35,240
It doesn't tell us why, right?

704
00:37:35,240 --> 00:37:37,540
Maybe Terah was like, bro, I'm old.

705
00:37:37,540 --> 00:37:40,320
I just want to stop walking through the desert, right?

706
00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:41,880
We don't know.

707
00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,600
Maybe they had a gift shop that was really cool.

708
00:37:43,600 --> 00:37:45,740
No, they didn't have no gift shop.

709
00:37:45,740 --> 00:37:47,200
But they stopped.

710
00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:51,680
And then what we see is Abraham doesn't say,

711
00:37:51,680 --> 00:37:54,440
dad, God said we're going to Canaan.

712
00:37:54,440 --> 00:37:55,320
So if you're not gonna go,

713
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:56,800
I'm gonna lead the family anyways.

714
00:37:56,800 --> 00:38:00,440
We see Abraham honoring the head of the family,

715
00:38:00,440 --> 00:38:03,000
honoring Terah and staying there

716
00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:06,040
until Terah died at 205 years old

717
00:38:06,040 --> 00:38:08,280
and that's the end of the chapter.

718
00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:12,200
So again, we see this honor

719
00:38:12,200 --> 00:38:14,280
and it answers the question of why does it say here

720
00:38:14,280 --> 00:38:17,840
that Terah left and in other places it say Abraham left.

721
00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:20,200
Now, I believe it was just a respect issue

722
00:38:20,200 --> 00:38:21,880
of Abraham to his father.

723
00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,840
But this genealogy is all coming down

724
00:38:24,840 --> 00:38:27,760
and leading to this great figure of Genesis,

725
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,520
this great figure of Israel, Abram.

726
00:38:31,700 --> 00:38:33,400
Now, we know Abraham is important,

727
00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,200
but how important is he?

728
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:37,960
Well, we have this book, Genesis,

729
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:40,760
that I believe the Holy Spirit spoke to Moses.

730
00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:44,480
And this book covers about 2,200 years of history.

731
00:38:44,480 --> 00:38:47,080
From the very beginning till we get to the end of Genesis

732
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:50,420
and they're in Egypt, it's 2,200 years of history.

733
00:38:50,420 --> 00:38:54,840
Now, 1,800 of those 2,200 years

734
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:56,760
takes place in chapters one through 11.

735
00:38:56,760 --> 00:38:59,480
That's 20% of the book of Genesis.

736
00:38:59,480 --> 00:39:02,000
Right, there we have creation, the fall, the flood, babble.

737
00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:06,000
And then from chapter 12 all the way to chapter 50,

738
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,940
that only covers about 400 years of history.

739
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:11,720
So we have 20% of the book covering

740
00:39:11,720 --> 00:39:14,620
the biggest chunk of time and the largest part of the book

741
00:39:14,620 --> 00:39:16,120
covering the shortest period of time.

742
00:39:16,120 --> 00:39:18,600
But what's covered in those 400 years?

743
00:39:18,600 --> 00:39:19,620
Abram's story.

744
00:39:20,560 --> 00:39:23,920
The story of Abram and how he grew and his faith in God,

745
00:39:23,920 --> 00:39:26,360
how it was tested, how he came to grow and all of that,

746
00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:28,920
how he taught his family, how his family grew,

747
00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:32,240
ultimately ending up in the 12 tribes of Israel.

748
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:35,060
So the beginning, the beginning here that we see of Abram,

749
00:39:35,060 --> 00:39:36,560
this first mention of him,

750
00:39:36,560 --> 00:39:40,440
it sets up the rest of the book of Genesis.

751
00:39:40,440 --> 00:39:43,560
Now his departing from Ur, as we're gonna read about,

752
00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:46,180
that had to have been an immense act of faith.

753
00:39:47,080 --> 00:39:49,140
So there are people in many countries of the world today

754
00:39:49,140 --> 00:39:51,040
where if they convert their religion,

755
00:39:51,040 --> 00:39:52,840
they have to flee their country

756
00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,320
because they're at risk of being killed,

757
00:39:55,320 --> 00:39:57,840
they're at risk of all kinds of dangers.

758
00:39:57,840 --> 00:40:00,400
You can imagine in this culture where everything was based

759
00:40:00,400 --> 00:40:02,640
around the worship of these false gods.

760
00:40:02,640 --> 00:40:04,760
Everything was based around this worship of Nana

761
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:05,920
at the top of this ziggurat.

762
00:40:05,920 --> 00:40:08,200
The whole culture was this way.

763
00:40:08,200 --> 00:40:11,000
And Abram, out of all those people,

764
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,080
is approached by God, if you will,

765
00:40:14,080 --> 00:40:18,280
and says, all those false gods are false.

766
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:19,680
There's only one true God.

767
00:40:20,600 --> 00:40:23,820
Huge act of faith and then God said, leave.

768
00:40:23,820 --> 00:40:25,600
Leave because I'm gonna give you something

769
00:40:25,600 --> 00:40:27,080
that I've promised you.

770
00:40:27,080 --> 00:40:29,860
Now, it was also a big act of faith,

771
00:40:29,860 --> 00:40:31,700
not just because of his paganism,

772
00:40:31,700 --> 00:40:34,240
but it was because he was getting old too, right?

773
00:40:34,240 --> 00:40:39,240
It tells us that he was 75 when he left Haran, you know?

774
00:40:39,840 --> 00:40:42,120
I mean Abram was getting to be an old man.

775
00:40:42,120 --> 00:40:44,040
Now I know in those times the life spans were longer,

776
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,520
but still, it was a huge act of faith

777
00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:49,660
for him to trust God, to believe God, and to go.

778
00:40:49,660 --> 00:40:54,140
And not only that, but in that whole culture,

779
00:40:54,140 --> 00:40:57,980
he was the only one, we're told, that heard God's word.

780
00:40:59,840 --> 00:41:01,900
Does that mean God didn't speak to anybody else?

781
00:41:01,900 --> 00:41:02,760
We don't know.

782
00:41:03,740 --> 00:41:07,020
But this man was called out, especially by God,

783
00:41:07,020 --> 00:41:09,660
to fulfill God's promise.

784
00:41:09,660 --> 00:41:12,100
What God did is he called a man who didn't deserve it,

785
00:41:12,100 --> 00:41:13,740
he called a man that didn't earn it,

786
00:41:13,740 --> 00:41:15,660
he called a man that worshiped other gods,

787
00:41:15,660 --> 00:41:19,900
he called a man who was just a sinner to be the vessel

788
00:41:19,900 --> 00:41:22,740
in which he was gonna bring blessing to the entire world.

789
00:41:23,660 --> 00:41:27,060
And so when God spoke, we're gonna see that Abraham,

790
00:41:27,060 --> 00:41:29,260
Abram listened.

791
00:41:29,260 --> 00:41:31,740
He believed that God was real.

792
00:41:31,740 --> 00:41:36,500
He went as God told him to go, or got his family to go,

793
00:41:36,500 --> 00:41:39,500
so he had faith, and then he obeyed.

794
00:41:39,500 --> 00:41:40,660
And that obedience was simply

795
00:41:40,660 --> 00:41:42,960
the outward evidence of his faith.

796
00:41:42,960 --> 00:41:45,200
You see, some of you today,

797
00:41:46,280 --> 00:41:47,880
there might be something in your life

798
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,980
that you are pretty sure that God

799
00:41:50,980 --> 00:41:52,640
has been prompting you to do.

800
00:41:53,640 --> 00:41:55,400
Maybe it's to talk to someone,

801
00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:58,540
maybe it's to get involved in evangelism,

802
00:41:58,540 --> 00:42:02,720
maybe it's to go somewhere or do something, right?

803
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:05,080
And you're pretty sure it's God telling you to do that,

804
00:42:05,080 --> 00:42:06,720
but you have been resisting.

805
00:42:09,540 --> 00:42:11,300
And I wanna encourage you today,

806
00:42:11,300 --> 00:42:14,000
if God said go, go.

807
00:42:15,140 --> 00:42:16,620
Because if God is telling you to go,

808
00:42:16,620 --> 00:42:18,780
God is telling you to do, God is telling you to say,

809
00:42:18,780 --> 00:42:22,980
that is the best possible thing you could do

810
00:42:22,980 --> 00:42:25,780
that will have the best outcome in your life

811
00:42:25,780 --> 00:42:28,180
that God has in the plan for your life.

812
00:42:29,940 --> 00:42:31,140
I mean, there's been so many times,

813
00:42:31,140 --> 00:42:32,620
you know, you're at the grocery store,

814
00:42:32,620 --> 00:42:33,860
and you pass someone in the aisle,

815
00:42:33,860 --> 00:42:35,380
and God says, give them a gospel tract.

816
00:42:35,380 --> 00:42:38,460
And what do you do, many of us?

817
00:42:38,460 --> 00:42:41,240
We go down the rest of the aisles debating with God

818
00:42:41,240 --> 00:42:43,380
whether we're gonna do that or not.

819
00:42:43,380 --> 00:42:45,780
Well, God, do you really want me to give them tract?

820
00:42:47,640 --> 00:42:48,480
Just do it.

821
00:42:49,840 --> 00:42:50,680
Just do it.

822
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:53,120
This is what we're gonna see in Abram's life.

823
00:42:53,120 --> 00:42:54,460
He heard God, he believed God,

824
00:42:54,460 --> 00:42:56,420
and then he did what God told him to do.

825
00:42:57,500 --> 00:42:59,420
So much of the church, I think,

826
00:42:59,420 --> 00:43:03,340
would be in such a more positive position

827
00:43:03,340 --> 00:43:05,800
if everybody in the church just simply did

828
00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:07,400
what God was telling them to do.

829
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:12,400
Some of you here might be having relationship problems, right?

830
00:43:14,400 --> 00:43:16,120
And you're seeking counseling,

831
00:43:16,120 --> 00:43:18,240
and I've been in many positions where I'm trying

832
00:43:18,240 --> 00:43:20,280
to give counsel from the word of God to a couple

833
00:43:20,280 --> 00:43:22,420
that's having difficulties,

834
00:43:22,420 --> 00:43:25,240
and the answer over the years, you know,

835
00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:28,960
I used to be like, oh, let's drag this practical thing in

836
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:31,220
and this strategy, and over the years,

837
00:43:31,220 --> 00:43:34,040
the answer has boiled down to this one thing.

838
00:43:34,040 --> 00:43:36,000
We're having relationship problems.

839
00:43:36,000 --> 00:43:37,360
Well, stop doing what you wanna do

840
00:43:37,360 --> 00:43:39,400
and do what God tells you to do.

841
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:40,240
That's it.

842
00:43:41,120 --> 00:43:43,360
Well, she does this and I do this.

843
00:43:43,360 --> 00:43:45,320
Okay, well, stop doing whatever you're doing

844
00:43:45,320 --> 00:43:47,200
and do what God tells the husbands to do

845
00:43:47,200 --> 00:43:49,020
and do what God tells the wives to do.

846
00:43:49,020 --> 00:43:49,860
Problem solved.

847
00:43:51,440 --> 00:43:52,720
And then people come back two weeks later,

848
00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:54,320
it's not working, and then you find out,

849
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:55,760
well, you didn't do it.

850
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:57,880
You're still trying to do it your own way.

851
00:43:59,600 --> 00:44:03,020
Honoring God by following what he says

852
00:44:03,020 --> 00:44:06,080
is one of the greatest ways we just glorify his name.

853
00:44:06,920 --> 00:44:09,000
It's one of the greatest ways that we find ourselves

854
00:44:09,000 --> 00:44:11,040
in that place where God wants us to be.

855
00:44:11,960 --> 00:44:14,700
God leads, God directs, God calls,

856
00:44:14,700 --> 00:44:18,320
God sends according to his purposes,

857
00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,840
and God is not obligated to tell you what his purposes are

858
00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:24,680
before he calls you or tells you to go or speak or do.

859
00:44:26,480 --> 00:44:31,220
Our job is to do when we're called,

860
00:44:31,220 --> 00:44:35,340
to believe, to say, God, you are God,

861
00:44:35,340 --> 00:44:36,740
so if you're asking me to do something

862
00:44:36,740 --> 00:44:37,780
or go somewhere or do something,

863
00:44:37,780 --> 00:44:39,820
it is the best possible thing.

864
00:44:39,820 --> 00:44:41,940
It is the right thing to do,

865
00:44:41,940 --> 00:44:44,140
so God, without question, I'm gonna go do it.

866
00:44:45,940 --> 00:44:50,100
And then God blesses through that in such amazing ways.

867
00:44:50,100 --> 00:44:53,700
If you say you have faith, the fruit of that is obedience.

868
00:44:53,700 --> 00:44:55,380
Now, we know it's not perfect obedience,

869
00:44:55,380 --> 00:44:59,800
none of us are perfect, but faith steps out.

870
00:44:59,800 --> 00:45:04,000
Faith and obedience are inseparable

871
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:07,560
in relation to our man's relationship to God.

872
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:09,680
James touched on this, right?

873
00:45:09,680 --> 00:45:11,840
James said in chapter two, verse 26,

874
00:45:11,840 --> 00:45:13,880
for just as the body without the spirit is dead,

875
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,840
so also faith without works is dead.

876
00:45:19,080 --> 00:45:21,860
We don't earn salvation by our works.

877
00:45:21,860 --> 00:45:23,520
We're saved because we believe God.

878
00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:24,960
It's a simple faith.

879
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:27,000
God, I believe you're real.

880
00:45:27,000 --> 00:45:28,060
Nana's not.

881
00:45:28,060 --> 00:45:30,920
Sorry, Nana.

882
00:45:32,680 --> 00:45:34,320
But God is real.

883
00:45:34,320 --> 00:45:36,480
You are the one true and only God.

884
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:37,460
I believe you.

885
00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:39,960
I'm this messed up person.

886
00:45:39,960 --> 00:45:41,800
God said, hold on, we're not, we're not,

887
00:45:41,800 --> 00:45:43,120
just, do you believe I'm real?

888
00:45:43,120 --> 00:45:44,440
Yes.

889
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:45,280
Okay.

890
00:45:46,560 --> 00:45:49,960
You're saved, the Bible says, through faith.

891
00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:50,800
Now, who is God?

892
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:53,120
He revealed himself in this world

893
00:45:53,120 --> 00:45:54,600
when he was born in the flesh

894
00:45:54,600 --> 00:45:58,840
and was named Jesus Christ.

895
00:45:58,840 --> 00:46:01,160
That is God the Son, the second person of the Trinity,

896
00:46:01,160 --> 00:46:03,160
God here revealing himself to us

897
00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:05,220
in a way that we can truly understand.

898
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:08,120
And you say, I believe that.

899
00:46:09,520 --> 00:46:12,060
I don't understand it fully.

900
00:46:13,660 --> 00:46:15,520
I don't understand it fully, but I believe it

901
00:46:15,520 --> 00:46:18,280
because I believe God is true, God is real.

902
00:46:18,280 --> 00:46:20,440
God says, good, you're saved.

903
00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:24,040
Now, since you're my child, since I'm your God,

904
00:46:24,040 --> 00:46:25,520
I wanna call you to do this

905
00:46:25,520 --> 00:46:27,080
or I wanna call you to go here.

906
00:46:27,960 --> 00:46:29,680
And then we say, God, you're my God,

907
00:46:29,680 --> 00:46:31,360
I give you my whole life, but wait a second,

908
00:46:31,360 --> 00:46:32,880
let's talk about that.

909
00:46:32,880 --> 00:46:34,760
Can I adjust the details?

910
00:46:34,760 --> 00:46:37,120
You know, I'm really comfortable here at home.

911
00:46:37,120 --> 00:46:37,940
No.

912
00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:42,380
Faith begets obedience.

913
00:46:42,380 --> 00:46:45,320
And really, if you imagine you have faith

914
00:46:45,320 --> 00:46:46,560
but you're not being obedient,

915
00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:48,160
your faith can be questioned.

916
00:46:49,560 --> 00:46:50,760
If you say, I'm saved, I'm saved,

917
00:46:50,760 --> 00:46:52,200
but you don't obey God.

918
00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:53,760
I have a good reason to question

919
00:46:53,760 --> 00:46:55,160
whether you're saved or not.

920
00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,200
It's just one of those issues where if you have faith,

921
00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:00,840
you're gonna endeavor to be obedient.

922
00:47:00,840 --> 00:47:02,400
You're gonna stumble and make mistakes,

923
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:03,240
and then God says, yeah,

924
00:47:03,240 --> 00:47:05,240
that's why I died on the cross 2,000 years ago.

925
00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:06,320
Let's get up and keep going.

926
00:47:06,320 --> 00:47:07,720
God, I wanna honor you.

927
00:47:08,740 --> 00:47:10,560
This is what we see in this man Abram's life.

928
00:47:10,560 --> 00:47:11,880
Perfect works, no.

929
00:47:13,040 --> 00:47:16,440
But steps of faith based on belief in God

930
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:17,880
and His word and His will,

931
00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:21,000
knowing that He has a purpose and that purpose is right.

932
00:47:21,000 --> 00:47:23,600
So the beautiful thing in Genesis,

933
00:47:25,480 --> 00:47:29,200
we have the two greatest characters of faith here.

934
00:47:29,200 --> 00:47:32,720
We have the hero of the primeval period, Noah,

935
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:36,600
who was saved simply because he believed God.

936
00:47:36,600 --> 00:47:40,260
And then we have the hero of the patriarchal times, Abram.

937
00:47:41,680 --> 00:47:44,560
Both champions of faith,

938
00:47:44,560 --> 00:47:46,640
Hebrews 11 makes that very clear.

939
00:47:47,680 --> 00:47:50,740
Both men who were saved by their faith.

940
00:47:50,740 --> 00:47:53,140
Both men who were then had righteousness

941
00:47:53,140 --> 00:47:56,720
accounted to them because of their faith.

942
00:47:57,740 --> 00:48:01,960
You see, faith does not earn righteousness.

943
00:48:01,960 --> 00:48:04,100
Faith receives righteousness.

944
00:48:05,260 --> 00:48:07,120
When you say, God, I'm a sinner and I'm a wretch

945
00:48:07,120 --> 00:48:08,120
and I deserve nothing,

946
00:48:08,120 --> 00:48:10,960
and you know, actually, if you just killed me

947
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:12,400
and judged me and that was it,

948
00:48:12,400 --> 00:48:15,040
you would be completely holy and just.

949
00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:16,220
I deserve nothing.

950
00:48:17,680 --> 00:48:18,960
And God says, do you believe in me?

951
00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:22,500
Yeah, and I'm gonna give righteousness to you.

952
00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:25,620
But God, look at all the cool things I'm doing.

953
00:48:25,620 --> 00:48:26,560
Didn't I earn it?

954
00:48:27,640 --> 00:48:30,520
Your best work is comparable to a filthy rag.

955
00:48:32,960 --> 00:48:37,640
Well, just stop working to earn.

956
00:48:38,940 --> 00:48:41,920
Rest in who God is, believe,

957
00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:44,680
and then work out of obedience just to honor Him.

958
00:48:44,680 --> 00:48:49,680
Both of these men were used to bring salvation to others

959
00:48:50,240 --> 00:48:52,200
by their faith.

960
00:48:52,200 --> 00:48:54,440
Noah's faith saved his family.

961
00:48:54,440 --> 00:48:56,440
Abram's faith will create a people

962
00:48:56,440 --> 00:48:58,840
through whom the promised offspring will come,

963
00:48:58,840 --> 00:49:01,600
ultimately blessing the entire planet.

964
00:49:01,600 --> 00:49:03,120
And so my encouragement to all of us today

965
00:49:03,120 --> 00:49:05,700
is may we be people who believe God.

966
00:49:06,920 --> 00:49:08,000
Just believe in Him.

967
00:49:09,520 --> 00:49:10,360
What's His name?

968
00:49:10,360 --> 00:49:13,860
Jesus Christ, that we believe in Him.

969
00:49:13,860 --> 00:49:15,040
We have faith in Him to say,

970
00:49:15,040 --> 00:49:18,960
I'm gonna do what you say to do, help me do it right.

971
00:49:18,960 --> 00:49:21,240
Because I can't do it right on my own.

972
00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:23,120
Help me be the person you're calling me to be.

973
00:49:23,120 --> 00:49:26,520
May we be people that believe God's word,

974
00:49:26,520 --> 00:49:30,580
that believe in the true reality of His presence,

975
00:49:31,520 --> 00:49:33,240
that like Noah and like Abram,

976
00:49:33,240 --> 00:49:35,240
we would be people through whom God

977
00:49:35,240 --> 00:49:37,300
will affect salvation to others.

978
00:49:38,600 --> 00:49:40,240
That's the goal.

979
00:49:40,240 --> 00:49:41,640
I wanna glorify God in my life

980
00:49:41,640 --> 00:49:43,720
so that other people will see God's glory, not mine.

981
00:49:43,720 --> 00:49:46,240
God's glory and go, I need Him.

982
00:49:48,400 --> 00:49:49,560
That's why we're here.

983
00:49:49,560 --> 00:49:51,920
That's why we study the word, that's why we worship.

984
00:49:51,920 --> 00:49:54,720
That we would go into the world and be lights.

985
00:49:55,620 --> 00:49:56,960
Christians aren't supposed to be lights

986
00:49:56,960 --> 00:49:59,420
that are hidden under a basket.

987
00:49:59,420 --> 00:50:01,520
We're supposed to be lights on a hill.

988
00:50:01,520 --> 00:50:04,920
And the encouragement is if God says go, go.

989
00:50:06,240 --> 00:50:08,140
Well what if they are mean to me?

990
00:50:08,140 --> 00:50:10,400
God didn't say go if they're nice, He said go.

991
00:50:10,400 --> 00:50:13,480
But what if, but what if, but what if?

992
00:50:14,320 --> 00:50:16,000
What if you just trusted God

993
00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:19,000
and did the thing He's calling you to do?

994
00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:21,840
Man, what would happen then?

995
00:50:21,840 --> 00:50:24,480
Well you won't know until you do it.

996
00:50:24,480 --> 00:50:27,800
And so I pray God would just bless your life,

997
00:50:27,800 --> 00:50:30,800
that God would keep continuing to speak to you,

998
00:50:31,680 --> 00:50:33,280
and that from here on as you hear it,

999
00:50:33,280 --> 00:50:37,620
you would obey and experience just the blessing

1000
00:50:37,620 --> 00:50:40,320
of doing what He's called you to do.

1001
00:50:40,320 --> 00:50:42,560
Ultimately to see people come to know the Lord

1002
00:50:42,560 --> 00:50:45,600
because you got to hand them a tract.

1003
00:50:45,600 --> 00:50:48,200
You got to have a conversation with them about God.

1004
00:50:49,880 --> 00:50:51,860
Or that they just saw the way you lived your life

1005
00:50:51,860 --> 00:50:52,840
in obedience to the Lord,

1006
00:50:52,840 --> 00:50:54,960
that they wanted to have what you have.

1007
00:50:55,840 --> 00:50:58,280
And that is the ultimate thing, the ultimate gift,

1008
00:50:58,280 --> 00:51:01,600
the salvation, the promise of eternal life, amen?

1009
00:51:01,600 --> 00:51:02,800
All right, let's pray.

1010
00:51:02,800 --> 00:51:07,800
Father God, we trust you so much.

1011
00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:10,400
And yet God, we don't trust you.

1012
00:51:14,060 --> 00:51:16,420
Lord, as Peter said when he was confronted

1013
00:51:16,420 --> 00:51:19,500
with the reality of what you're calling him to do,

1014
00:51:19,500 --> 00:51:21,140
he said Lord, increase our faith.

1015
00:51:22,620 --> 00:51:25,380
And God, I pray Lord that you would increase our faith.

1016
00:51:26,600 --> 00:51:29,340
That as we trust you, you would increase our trust.

1017
00:51:30,820 --> 00:51:32,580
That as we work to obey you,

1018
00:51:32,580 --> 00:51:34,780
you would increase our ability to obey you.

1019
00:51:34,780 --> 00:51:36,620
That God, as we talk to you, Lord,

1020
00:51:36,620 --> 00:51:38,620
we would hear you more and more.

1021
00:51:38,620 --> 00:51:41,420
As we study your word, God, we would grow closer to you.

1022
00:51:43,500 --> 00:51:46,300
God, we want to be people of faith that you work through.

1023
00:51:46,300 --> 00:51:48,460
Lord, you gave us your word and you're showing us

1024
00:51:48,460 --> 00:51:51,180
that your promises in working through humanity are true.

1025
00:51:51,180 --> 00:51:53,100
And God, you've made promises in our life.

1026
00:51:53,100 --> 00:51:54,820
We have so many of them in your word

1027
00:51:54,820 --> 00:51:56,700
and so many of them spoken to us

1028
00:51:56,700 --> 00:51:58,660
in the quietness of our own mind

1029
00:51:58,660 --> 00:52:00,860
or through prophecy, through whatever, Lord.

1030
00:52:00,860 --> 00:52:03,500
And God, help us to not question that.

1031
00:52:03,500 --> 00:52:05,740
God, help us to not question those promises,

1032
00:52:05,740 --> 00:52:07,620
but instead to live in obedience to him,

1033
00:52:07,620 --> 00:52:09,180
to step out in faith.

1034
00:52:10,060 --> 00:52:12,300
God, you're calling us to take those steps of faith,

1035
00:52:12,300 --> 00:52:16,380
even when we're not sure what's gonna happen after.

1036
00:52:17,380 --> 00:52:19,060
God, you called Abram out and didn't even tell him

1037
00:52:19,060 --> 00:52:21,340
where he was going, but he went.

1038
00:52:21,340 --> 00:52:22,820
And we have that kind of faith, God,

1039
00:52:22,820 --> 00:52:25,920
because we know that on the other side of that faith,

1040
00:52:26,940 --> 00:52:29,100
there is the opportunity to introduce you

1041
00:52:29,100 --> 00:52:30,500
to people who don't know you.

1042
00:52:31,940 --> 00:52:33,340
And we step out on that faith, God,

1043
00:52:33,340 --> 00:52:35,540
because we know on the other side of that faith,

1044
00:52:35,540 --> 00:52:37,340
there's blessing for us, yeah.

1045
00:52:38,300 --> 00:52:40,900
But God, that you would be lifted high and glorified.

1046
00:52:42,540 --> 00:52:44,260
Lord, we wanna be used by you.

1047
00:52:44,260 --> 00:52:47,420
We wanna be tools in the hand of our creator

1048
00:52:47,420 --> 00:52:49,820
to accomplish our creator's will.

1049
00:52:49,820 --> 00:52:52,020
Help us to be those people, Lord.

1050
00:52:52,020 --> 00:52:54,020
Help us to trust you more.

1051
00:52:54,020 --> 00:52:57,500
Help us to walk in faith more.

1052
00:52:57,500 --> 00:53:00,340
God, thank you for loving us so much.

1053
00:53:00,340 --> 00:53:02,340
Thank you for saving us.

1054
00:53:02,340 --> 00:53:05,140
Thank you for everything you've done in our lives, Lord.

1055
00:53:05,140 --> 00:53:06,500
We love you.

1056
00:53:06,500 --> 00:53:08,560
It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

1057
00:53:09,760 --> 00:53:10,900
Well, God bless you guys.

1058
00:53:10,900 --> 00:53:12,260
We're gonna close in worship here,

1059
00:53:12,260 --> 00:53:14,900
and I just pray that you just take this final moment.

1060
00:53:15,940 --> 00:53:18,540
Don't think about where you're going to lunch right now.

1061
00:53:19,740 --> 00:53:22,260
Don't think about what you're doing after church.

1062
00:53:22,260 --> 00:53:25,160
Just use one more moment to focus on him.

1063
00:53:25,160 --> 00:53:28,960
Say, God, I have no words,

1064
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:31,900
but I'm gonna try and use the words

1065
00:53:31,900 --> 00:53:35,140
in this worship song anyways to praise your holy name.

1066
00:53:35,140 --> 00:53:36,940
May God be blessed in your life.

1067
00:53:36,940 --> 00:53:39,140
May he use you to do great things.

1068
00:53:39,140 --> 00:53:40,180
Praise the Lord.

1069
00:53:40,180 --> 00:54:02,300
God bless you guys.