WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.400 Let's pray. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:09.820 Lord, may that be our prayer. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:12.660 May we cling to you. 00:00:13.439 --> 00:00:15.019 As we look into your word this morning, 00:00:15.759 --> 00:00:17.620 may we be drawn to you ever more closely, 00:00:18.339 --> 00:00:20.280 and may we reflect you ever more fully. 00:00:20.800 --> 00:00:22.140 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:00:23.339 --> 00:00:26.280 Turn with me in your Bible to Genesis chapter 10. 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:32.320 Again, we are nearing the end of our series 00:00:32.320 --> 00:00:33.920 in the opening chapters of Genesis. 00:00:35.160 --> 00:00:40.760 And this morning we are looking at the fourth major section 00:00:40.760 --> 00:00:43.200 of sort of the first half of Genesis, 00:00:43.900 --> 00:00:45.960 which begins at chapter 10, verse 1, 00:00:46.000 --> 00:00:47.760 and goes to chapter 11, verse 9. 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:52.540 As we've noticed, the sections of Genesis begin with this phrase, 00:00:52.659 --> 00:00:54.480 these are the generations of. 00:00:54.479 --> 00:00:59.119 And so today we are at the fourth time that that phrase appears. 00:00:59.379 --> 00:01:00.979 These are the generations of the sons of Noah. 00:01:01.119 --> 00:01:02.259 So let's read. 00:01:02.739 --> 00:01:07.060 I'm going to read all of chapter 10 and chapter 11 up to verse 9. 00:01:07.060 --> 00:01:11.420 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:13.340 Shem, Ham, and Japheth. 00:01:13.799 --> 00:01:16.100 Sons were born to them after the flood. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:21.640 The sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshach, and Tiras. 00:01:21.920 --> 00:01:25.240 The sons of Gomer, Ashkenaz, Riphoth, and Togarmah. 00:01:25.740 --> 00:01:29.060 The sons of Javan, Elisha, Tarshish, Kitim, and Dodanim. 00:01:29.060 --> 00:01:33.400 From these, the coastland peoples spread in their lands, 00:01:33.740 --> 00:01:37.140 each with his own language by their clans in their nations. 00:01:37.939 --> 00:01:38.780 The sons of Ham. 00:01:39.480 --> 00:01:41.400 Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 00:01:41.540 --> 00:01:42.280 The sons of Cush. 00:01:42.760 --> 00:01:45.620 Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Rama, and Sabteika. 00:01:46.180 --> 00:01:48.219 The sons of Rama, Sheba, and Dedan. 00:01:48.920 --> 00:01:50.120 Cush fathered Nimrod. 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:53.800 He was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 00:01:53.799 --> 00:01:56.359 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. 00:01:56.519 --> 00:02:00.319 Therefore, it is said like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord. 00:02:01.060 --> 00:02:07.359 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Kalne in the land of Shinar. 00:02:08.379 --> 00:02:14.560 From that land, he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-er, Kala, and Rezen 00:02:14.560 --> 00:02:17.139 between Nineveh and Kala, that is the great city. 00:02:17.139 --> 00:02:25.799 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Kazluhim, from whom the Philistines 00:02:25.799 --> 00:02:27.219 came, and Kaphtorim. 00:02:28.500 --> 00:02:33.359 Canaan fathered Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, Amorites, and Girgashites, 00:02:33.459 --> 00:02:37.859 the Hivites, Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvidites, the Zemurites, and the Hamathites, 00:02:37.939 --> 00:02:40.039 afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 00:02:40.879 --> 00:02:45.699 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:50.560 Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Adma, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha. 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:56.419 These are the sons of Ham by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 00:02:57.119 --> 00:03:00.659 To Shem also the father of all the children of Eber. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:03.819 The elder brother of Japheth's children were born. 00:03:04.899 --> 00:03:05.719 The sons of Shem. 00:03:06.459 --> 00:03:09.479 Elam, Asher, Arpaxad, Lud, and Aram. 00:03:09.879 --> 00:03:13.639 The sons of Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mosh. 00:03:14.539 --> 00:03:17.339 Arpaxad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 00:03:17.459 --> 00:03:18.879 To Eber were born two sons. 00:03:19.539 --> 00:03:23.659 The name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided. 00:03:24.599 --> 00:03:26.279 And his brother's name was Joktan. 00:03:26.459 --> 00:03:35.539 Joktan fathered Almadad, Shalef, Hazmar, Mabeth, Jera, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimeel, 00:03:35.979 --> 00:03:38.199 Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. 00:03:38.279 --> 00:03:40.019 All these were the sons of Joktan. 00:03:40.020 --> 00:03:45.820 The territory in which they lived extended from Misha in the direction of Sephar to the 00:03:45.820 --> 00:03:47.000 hill country in the east. 00:03:47.320 --> 00:03:52.240 These are the sons of Shem by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 00:03:52.460 --> 00:03:57.840 These are the clans of the sons of Noah according to their genealogies in their nations. 00:03:58.140 --> 00:04:02.379 And from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood. 00:04:02.379 --> 00:04:07.859 Now, the whole earth had one language and the same words. 00:04:08.659 --> 00:04:13.579 And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:18.939 And they said to one another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. 00:04:19.079 --> 00:04:22.439 And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. 00:04:22.439 --> 00:04:29.759 Then they said, come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:35.240 And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 00:04:36.459 --> 00:04:43.939 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the children of man had built. 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:49.399 And the Lord said, behold, they are one people and they have all one language. 00:04:49.399 --> 00:04:51.419 And this is only the beginning of what they will do. 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:55.519 And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 00:04:55.599 --> 00:04:57.719 Come, let us go down. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.279 And there confuse their language that they may not understand one another's speech. 00:05:04.299 --> 00:05:08.959 So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth. 00:05:09.599 --> 00:05:11.399 And they left off building the city. 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:13.879 Therefore, its name was called Babel. 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:18.879 Because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:24.800 And from there, the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth. 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:38.180 One of the most challenging issues facing our world and facing the church today is the issue of relationships between different racial, ethnic, and national groups. 00:05:39.180 --> 00:05:44.560 Now, in the United States, there's wide disagreement about how much of a problem this is. 00:05:44.560 --> 00:05:47.920 Some people say, what's the big deal? 00:05:48.819 --> 00:05:52.319 I've never actually met anyone who is really racist. 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:57.860 The issue is overblown by the media and by irresponsible activists. 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:04.819 But others say, how can you say it is only one of the problems that we are facing? 00:06:04.960 --> 00:06:16.280 It is the problem that America has never really faced up to ever since Africans were kidnapped and enslaved and forcibly separated from their families for hundreds of years. 00:06:16.279 --> 00:06:24.639 But when people don't even agree on what exactly the problem is or if there is a problem, well, that's a problem. 00:06:26.379 --> 00:06:28.379 And it's not only an American problem. 00:06:28.500 --> 00:06:30.979 In Ethiopia, everyone's skin color is the same. 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:40.299 But strife has recently broken out between the prime minister's ruling party and frustrated members of his own ethnic group who feel that he does not represent them sufficiently. 00:06:40.300 --> 00:06:48.100 One news headline this week said, Ethiopia will explode if it doesn't move beyond ethnic-based politics. 00:06:48.980 --> 00:06:51.579 The same could be said of many other countries as well. 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:58.000 Eastern Europe still bears the scars of the war in the 1990s that tore apart the former Yugoslavia, 00:06:58.139 --> 00:07:03.960 where, again, everyone's skin color was the same, but people had different ethnic loyalties. 00:07:03.959 --> 00:07:12.560 In Asia, the governments of Myanmar and China actively repress millions of ethnic minorities. 00:07:12.759 --> 00:07:18.939 We could point to examples of ethnically-based strife and tension in every continent of the world. 00:07:20.139 --> 00:07:24.399 And it's not only a problem within nations, it's also a problem between nations. 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:31.500 Should we aim to build an increasingly globalized world through expansive trade agreements and alliances, 00:07:31.500 --> 00:07:37.379 more open borders with the goal of spreading liberal democratic values to the ends of the earth? 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:42.540 Or is that short-sighted, counterproductive, and even oppressive? 00:07:43.339 --> 00:07:45.439 Is nationalism a better option? 00:07:45.560 --> 00:07:50.220 These are complicated and challenging questions that face our modern world. 00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:54.060 And what about the church in the midst of all this? 00:07:54.060 --> 00:08:03.180 What is the Christian church to be and do in a world that is increasingly diverse and often divided? 00:08:04.360 --> 00:08:13.279 Does the Bible have any wisdom that can help us here in our multi-ethnic world? 00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:18.560 Now, one of the things I love about the Bible is that it was written thousands of years ago, 00:08:18.560 --> 00:08:24.980 but it has wisdom for all the most pressing issues that we face today. 00:08:25.100 --> 00:08:28.720 Now, it may not answer all of our modern questions directly, 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:34.000 but it gives us a framework for understanding the world and ourselves 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:39.259 and for living wisely within it as creatures of God. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:46.600 And this morning's text speaks to this very issue of ethnic and national identity and diversity. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:49.840 So, this morning we're going to see three things. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:56.960 First, in chapter 10, we're going to see that ethnic and national diversity is created by God. 00:08:58.519 --> 00:09:06.279 Second, in chapter 11, the part we read, we'll see that ethnic and national discord is caused by sin. 00:09:07.560 --> 00:09:14.399 And then we'll look to the New Testament where we'll see that our ethnicity and nationality can be redeemed through Christ. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:18.939 So, first, ethnic and national diversity is created by God. 00:09:19.019 --> 00:09:19.799 That's chapter 10. 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:24.220 Now, I read all of chapter 10, which is a little risky to read a chapter like that. 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:25.799 Right? 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:31.000 Because it's a long list of names, and you risk losing people in the midst of it. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:35.079 And most people, if you read Genesis, you get to chapter 10, and your eyes glaze over a little bit, 00:09:35.100 --> 00:09:37.879 and you're like, okay, whatever, I don't recognize most of these names. 00:09:37.879 --> 00:09:44.419 Even if you read the commentaries, the scholars of the ancient Near East can't identify with confidence several of these names. 00:09:45.220 --> 00:09:49.259 But we can notice a few things if we look at chapter 10 more closely. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:55.100 The first thing we might notice about chapter 10 is that it's not a straightforward genealogy. 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:56.320 Right? 00:09:56.379 --> 00:10:00.720 It's not just so-and-so was the son of so-and-so was the son of so-and-so was the son of so-and-so. 00:10:00.820 --> 00:10:00.980 Right? 00:10:00.980 --> 00:10:01.019 Right? 00:10:01.539 --> 00:10:07.200 Verse 13, for example, says, Egypt fathered Ludim and Amim and five other tribes. 00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:11.279 Now, that doesn't mean that Egypt was a man who had sons by these names. 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:16.000 It's saying that somehow these tribes emerged from Egypt or were connected to Egypt. 00:10:16.620 --> 00:10:20.740 You might, if you're really, if you look really closely, you'll notice that in verse 7, 00:10:21.259 --> 00:10:24.840 the names Havilah and Sheba occur as sons of Cush. 00:10:25.159 --> 00:10:28.539 And again, they appear in verse 29 as sons of Joktan. 00:10:28.539 --> 00:10:31.839 And you can't have two fathers, literally, biologically. 00:10:32.079 --> 00:10:32.219 Right? 00:10:32.379 --> 00:10:34.019 So, something else is going on here. 00:10:34.759 --> 00:10:40.419 We're not primarily talking about biological descendants, but converging influences of some 00:10:40.419 --> 00:10:41.779 kind or another. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:48.219 Verse 5, 20, and 31, at the end of each of the sections of the sons of Japheth and Ham 00:10:48.219 --> 00:10:54.339 and Shem, all refer to lands, languages, clans, and nations. 00:10:54.340 --> 00:11:01.560 So, in other words, we see geographic distinctions, linguistic distinctions, ethnic distinctions, 00:11:01.800 --> 00:11:06.139 and political or national connections and distinctions throughout this chapter. 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:12.780 Now, reading this chapter, if you're familiar with some of the names, it's a bit like listening 00:11:12.780 --> 00:11:16.240 to someone describe the splendor of a starry night. 00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:21.480 Now, they might mention some of the stars and constellations by name, but they're not drawing 00:11:21.480 --> 00:11:25.759 a precise scientific map with distances. 00:11:25.980 --> 00:11:29.259 They're not primarily concerned with precision and exactness. 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:34.580 They're trying to convey a sense of wonder at the vast array and the interconnectedness of 00:11:34.580 --> 00:11:35.039 the whole. 00:11:35.259 --> 00:11:38.039 And that's what we see in this chapter. 00:11:39.139 --> 00:11:44.539 There's all these interconnected nations and peoples and clans and language groups. 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:46.500 So, that's the first thing. 00:11:46.620 --> 00:11:48.279 It's not a straightforward genealogy. 00:11:48.459 --> 00:11:52.019 It shows a whole bunch of connections. 00:11:52.179 --> 00:11:55.639 Second, there is a careful structure and order to this chapter. 00:11:56.659 --> 00:11:58.899 So, first, there's a broad geographic pattern. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:05.439 The sons of Japheth in verses 2 to 5 are located primarily to the north and west of Israel in 00:12:05.439 --> 00:12:10.779 southeastern Europe and modern-day Turkey around the coastlands and islands of the Mediterranean. 00:12:10.779 --> 00:12:18.379 The sons of Ham in verses 6 through 20 include Israel's closest neighbors, the Canaanites, 00:12:18.720 --> 00:12:24.740 and fiercest enemies, as well as several North African countries, Cush, Egypt, and Put, which 00:12:24.740 --> 00:12:25.199 is Libya. 00:12:26.159 --> 00:12:32.120 Finally, we get to Shem in verse 21, who is introduced as the father of all the children 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:32.879 of Eber. 00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.899 Now, Eber is probably where we get the word Hebrew. 00:12:35.899 --> 00:12:36.019 Hebrew. 00:12:36.679 --> 00:12:38.919 So, Abram, the Hebrew, right? 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:39.819 The Hebrew people. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:45.679 So, we go from the faraway nations up in the north and west to Israel's closest neighbors 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:50.319 to the south and east, and finally to the ancestor of Israel itself. 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:54.620 So, it's a picture of the world that's sort of starting on the far edges, coming closer, 00:12:54.980 --> 00:12:58.639 and ending with the ancestor of Israel itself. 00:12:58.639 --> 00:13:01.319 There are also numerical patterns. 00:13:01.679 --> 00:13:06.019 In particular, there's lots of groups of seven and a couple groups of twelve. 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:12.000 So, seven sons of Japheth, seven grandsons of Japheth, seven sons of Egypt. 00:13:12.259 --> 00:13:17.279 The phrase son of appears seven times before Nimrod and seven times after Nimrod. 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:18.939 There are twelve sons of Ham. 00:13:19.199 --> 00:13:20.319 Nimrod is number twelve. 00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:22.779 Only eleven sons of Canaan, interestingly. 00:13:22.779 --> 00:13:28.339 And most importantly, the most important number is that the whole, if you add up all the names 00:13:28.339 --> 00:13:31.159 in the chapter, you get seventy. 00:13:32.159 --> 00:13:32.559 Roughly. 00:13:36.399 --> 00:13:41.199 There's seventy-one, and then in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, they add one more, so 00:13:41.199 --> 00:13:44.679 it's seventy-two, and maybe that one dropped out and was really there in the beginning. 00:13:44.860 --> 00:13:48.199 So, maybe it's seventy-two, but maybe one of them is not really meant to be there. 00:13:48.539 --> 00:13:52.600 But the whole point is, they weren't so concerned about exact numbers back then, right? 00:13:52.600 --> 00:13:55.560 Seventy, seventy-one, seventy-two, it's all seventy, right? 00:13:58.920 --> 00:14:00.720 Seriously, in the ancient world, okay? 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:06.120 Seventy is a large and complete number in the Bible and for the Israelites. 00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:13.360 And you can notice that I'm not just making that up, or it's not just a random detail, 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:18.160 because later in the book of Genesis, the people of Israel go down to Egypt, and how many do 00:14:18.160 --> 00:14:18.580 they number? 00:14:19.019 --> 00:14:20.279 They number seventy. 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:23.799 And how many elders are there in Exodus? 00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.240 Seventy elders. 00:14:25.860 --> 00:14:30.980 So, seventy represents the whole of the nation of Israel, the whole of the family of Jacob, 00:14:31.299 --> 00:14:33.919 and here, the whole of the nations of the world. 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:36.659 Now, not every nation is mentioned. 00:14:36.860 --> 00:14:37.860 Moab is not mentioned. 00:14:38.039 --> 00:14:38.919 Ammon is not mentioned. 00:14:39.079 --> 00:14:39.819 India is not mentioned. 00:14:39.959 --> 00:14:40.699 China is not mentioned. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:41.899 Of course, America is not mentioned. 00:14:41.899 --> 00:14:49.559 But the whole point is, chapter ten is about all of…it's representing all of the nations 00:14:49.559 --> 00:14:50.899 of the world, the totality. 00:14:53.319 --> 00:14:55.860 And so, that brings us to our third point. 00:14:55.939 --> 00:14:57.220 It's not straightforward genealogy. 00:14:57.340 --> 00:15:02.220 It is carefully ordered, and it indicates God's concern for all the nations of the world. 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:12.759 Now, we've mentioned many times that other people groups in the ancient Near East had their own stories of creation and the flood. 00:15:13.180 --> 00:15:17.519 And so, some of those stories were familiar, but none of them had a chapter like chapter ten. 00:15:18.620 --> 00:15:20.139 Because what is this chapter about? 00:15:20.220 --> 00:15:21.639 It's not about Israel. 00:15:21.920 --> 00:15:22.620 Did you notice? 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:24.800 Israel is not mentioned in this chapter. 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:28.859 It's about all the other nations of the world. 00:15:30.139 --> 00:15:37.539 Now, if you read the Babylonian epics, they're all about the founding of Babylon, the greatness of Babylon, the heroes of Babylon. 00:15:38.799 --> 00:15:44.359 The ancient Egyptians did not even refer to other nations as humans. 00:15:44.859 --> 00:15:52.679 When they used the word human beings or men, they referred only to fellow Egyptians. 00:15:52.679 --> 00:15:57.679 Everyone else was considered a descendant of the enemies of the gods. 00:15:59.379 --> 00:16:03.459 You see, human beings are naturally ethnocentric. 00:16:03.699 --> 00:16:09.839 In other words, we naturally focus on preserving ourselves and our own kind. 00:16:13.299 --> 00:16:19.000 And sometimes go even as far as not seeing other ethnic groups as fully human. 00:16:19.000 --> 00:16:24.740 Now, it's not entirely wrong to start by loving our most immediate neighbors. 00:16:25.580 --> 00:16:33.500 So, there's an appropriate kind of patriotism, a love of home, a proper concern for our closest relatives and our fellow citizens. 00:16:34.500 --> 00:16:42.240 But from the very beginning, here in chapter ten, the Bible shows us God's concern for all the nations of the world. 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:46.759 And God's people should share God's concern. 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:50.220 In chapter twelve, we'll see God say to Abraham, 00:16:50.899 --> 00:16:55.000 In you, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:56.740 That's what chapter ten is about. 00:16:57.220 --> 00:17:02.399 All the families of the earth which Israel is called to be a blessing to. 00:17:03.299 --> 00:17:06.559 The Jewish scholar Nahum Sarna put it this way in his commentary, 00:17:06.720 --> 00:17:09.599 God's sovereignty extends to every nation. 00:17:10.319 --> 00:17:12.759 His providence governs them all. 00:17:12.759 --> 00:17:19.480 The nations of the world are all of one blood, and they all exist under the sovereign rule of God. 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:23.420 The apostle Paul said the same thing in Acts 17. 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:23.779 He said, 00:17:24.140 --> 00:17:32.000 God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth. 00:17:32.359 --> 00:17:36.660 Ethnic and national diversity is part of God's creational intent. 00:17:36.660 --> 00:17:39.240 It's part of God's beautiful design. 00:17:40.460 --> 00:17:45.960 Now, this also explains why chapter ten comes before chapter eleven. 00:17:46.740 --> 00:17:52.060 Because even though it might seem chronologically out of order, right? 00:17:52.120 --> 00:17:55.040 Chapter ten shows us the nations dispersing over all the earth, 00:17:55.039 --> 00:18:00.859 and then chapter eleven seems to go back to a time when the whole earth had one language, 00:18:00.859 --> 00:18:03.779 and the people only scatter at the end of the story. 00:18:04.539 --> 00:18:07.099 But if chapter eleven came before chapter ten, 00:18:07.859 --> 00:18:11.700 then we might conclude that the diversity of nations and cultures 00:18:11.700 --> 00:18:15.740 is only a result of human pride and wickedness, 00:18:15.740 --> 00:18:17.279 which we'll see in chapter eleven. 00:18:18.119 --> 00:18:20.960 But that's not the message God wanted to communicate. 00:18:20.960 --> 00:18:26.840 God wanted His people, and God wants us to see that ethnic and national diversity 00:18:26.840 --> 00:18:32.340 is a fulfillment of God's creative intent, His good purpose. 00:18:32.440 --> 00:18:38.600 So, in chapter ten, we see the nations of the world multiplying under God's blessing. 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:43.000 Ethnic and national diversity is created by God. 00:18:43.100 --> 00:18:44.640 That is the first point. 00:18:45.340 --> 00:18:49.960 But that's not all that Genesis shows us about ethnicity and nationality. 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:52.519 In the first nine verses of chapter eleven, 00:18:52.519 --> 00:18:58.860 we also see that ethnic and national discord is caused by sin. 00:18:59.940 --> 00:19:06.039 And that's the main point of the story, which we call the Tower of Babel. 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:12.960 Human sin, especially pride and fear, ends in discord and dispersal. 00:19:13.400 --> 00:19:17.620 So, if chapter ten shows us the nations of the world multiplying under God's blessing, 00:19:17.619 --> 00:19:22.839 chapter eleven shows us the nations of the world scattering under God's wrath. 00:19:24.739 --> 00:19:26.959 Now, before we jump into chapter eleven, 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:30.619 I want you to notice briefly two parts of chapter ten 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:33.199 that sort of preview chapter eleven, 00:19:33.319 --> 00:19:35.359 or point forward to chapter eleven. 00:19:35.459 --> 00:19:36.959 You might have noticed as we were reading 00:19:36.959 --> 00:19:40.919 that the sequence of names occasionally gets interrupted. 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:44.380 And it really gets interrupted in two main places. 00:19:44.560 --> 00:19:47.740 First, chapter ten, verses eight to twelve, 00:19:48.279 --> 00:19:50.820 there's an extended note about Nimrod. 00:19:51.519 --> 00:19:54.340 Now, the description of Nimrod indicates his power. 00:19:54.800 --> 00:19:58.700 He was a mighty man, a mighty hunter, a founder of cities and kingdoms. 00:19:59.700 --> 00:20:02.820 But it also indicates his wickedness. 00:20:03.600 --> 00:20:07.840 His name, Nimrod, means we shall rebel. 00:20:07.839 --> 00:20:15.779 And the word mighty man was previously used in chapter six, verse four, 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:18.759 to describe the Nephilim, the giants, 00:20:19.139 --> 00:20:21.119 who ruled in the time before the flood 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:25.240 when the wickedness of humanity was great in the earth. 00:20:26.179 --> 00:20:29.019 And furthermore, you might have noticed that Nimrod's kingdom 00:20:29.019 --> 00:20:32.879 is specifically associated with Babel. 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:35.139 Chapter ten, verse ten. 00:20:35.140 --> 00:20:37.259 That is Babylon. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:38.980 Babel, same thing as Babylon, 00:20:39.520 --> 00:20:42.500 where the tower in chapter eleven is built. 00:20:44.660 --> 00:20:48.780 So, we see sort of the wickedness of Nimrod, 00:20:49.440 --> 00:20:50.520 the founder of Babel. 00:20:50.600 --> 00:20:52.960 The second note is much shorter in verse twenty-five. 00:20:53.700 --> 00:20:55.300 Verse twenty-five says, 00:20:55.420 --> 00:20:57.200 One of Eber's sons was Peleg, 00:20:57.740 --> 00:21:00.500 for in his days the earth was divided. 00:21:00.500 --> 00:21:05.960 Now, the verse doesn't explain what that was or how it happened, 00:21:06.099 --> 00:21:10.859 but most likely it points forward to the division and dispersal 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:12.559 that we see in chapter eleven. 00:21:13.380 --> 00:21:16.819 In fact, the Jewish tradition refers to chapter eleven, one to nine, 00:21:16.900 --> 00:21:18.460 not as the Tower of Babel, 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.660 but as the generation of division. 00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:26.259 In other words, the beginning of division and discord. 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:31.500 Now, what's going on in the first nine verses of chapter eleven? 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:36.480 Open up your bulletin to the center page. 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:42.339 So, I have included a diagram of what the Tower of Babel probably looked like. 00:21:42.839 --> 00:21:44.759 Now, the tower has since been destroyed, 00:21:44.879 --> 00:21:48.099 but archaeologists have found, have excavated its ruins. 00:21:48.099 --> 00:21:51.779 And the descriptions we've found, the written descriptions we've found, 00:21:51.879 --> 00:21:57.199 correspond actually quite precisely to the ruins that archaeologists can identify. 00:21:57.399 --> 00:22:01.299 So, we have a pretty good idea of what it was intended to look like. 00:22:01.899 --> 00:22:05.619 And it would have been a very impressive structure. 00:22:05.939 --> 00:22:08.179 Three hundred feet tall. 00:22:09.779 --> 00:22:10.819 Imagine that. 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.579 Thirty stories in today's world. 00:22:15.419 --> 00:22:15.599 Right? 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:17.899 That's about what 360 State is, I think. 00:22:18.159 --> 00:22:18.299 Right? 00:22:20.699 --> 00:22:24.639 Seven levels towering over the rest of the city and the countryside. 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:28.639 It was literally built to be a stairway to heaven. 00:22:29.639 --> 00:22:34.019 A temple tower to the Babylonian god Marduk. 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:40.439 And in fact, the Babylonians boasted that their tower had been built by the gods 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:47.720 with special materials, and they called their temple the house of the foundation of heaven and earth. 00:22:48.420 --> 00:22:54.860 And they called their city Babylon gate of the gods or gateway of heaven. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:00.940 But God and the author of Genesis were not impressed. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.700 Look at the story, verse 3. 00:23:03.820 --> 00:23:04.539 Verse 3 says, 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:06.839 The tower in Babylon was not built by the gods. 00:23:06.980 --> 00:23:09.000 It was built by mere mortals. 00:23:09.639 --> 00:23:12.639 And it wasn't even built with specially prepared materials. 00:23:12.639 --> 00:23:14.639 It was built with second-rate materials. 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:16.299 Brick instead of stone. 00:23:17.079 --> 00:23:18.639 And bitumen for mortar. 00:23:20.240 --> 00:23:23.240 And it was certainly not the meeting place of heaven and earth. 00:23:23.240 --> 00:23:28.120 In fact, verse 5, which is the crucial hinge point of the story. 00:23:28.220 --> 00:23:30.160 I've included a diagram of how the story works. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:33.799 Verse 5 is the crucial turning point of the story. 00:23:34.180 --> 00:23:35.000 And what does it say? 00:23:35.299 --> 00:23:37.259 The Lord came down. 00:23:38.339 --> 00:23:41.279 It's almost making fun of the Babylonian myths. 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.700 The foundation of heaven and earth. 00:23:44.839 --> 00:23:47.480 God, it's so small that God has to come down to see it. 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:50.660 I mean, God's talking smack here a little bit. 00:23:50.660 --> 00:23:58.759 The Lord had to come down to see the city and the tower which the children of Adam had built. 00:24:00.420 --> 00:24:01.779 And finally, verse 9, 00:24:01.860 --> 00:24:04.380 The city of Babylon is not the gateway of the gods. 00:24:04.540 --> 00:24:06.680 It is the birthplace of confusion. 00:24:06.840 --> 00:24:08.360 So there's a play on words in Hebrew. 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:13.120 Babo, Babylon, sounds like balel, which is confusion. 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:17.920 Babylon is the birthplace of confusion. 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:21.000 Or as we say in English, babbling. 00:24:22.180 --> 00:24:25.259 Now, you might ask, what was the problem? 00:24:26.360 --> 00:24:30.259 What was the problem with this great technological feat? 00:24:30.779 --> 00:24:33.180 This impressive human project? 00:24:33.800 --> 00:24:36.360 Why was God so mad and displeased? 00:24:36.460 --> 00:24:37.620 Well, look at verse 4. 00:24:37.619 --> 00:24:46.219 Underneath the grand plans and the great excitement, we see pride and fear. 00:24:46.379 --> 00:24:49.019 Let us make a name for ourselves. 00:24:49.459 --> 00:24:49.839 Pride. 00:24:50.859 --> 00:24:53.879 Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. 00:24:54.219 --> 00:24:54.599 Fear. 00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:58.899 Now, at one level, pride and fear are very natural human feelings, right? 00:24:58.979 --> 00:25:01.379 All human beings want to take pride in something. 00:25:01.380 --> 00:25:06.680 And all of us live in fear of losing whatever we take pride in. 00:25:07.860 --> 00:25:18.720 Now, the problem is the people of Babel want their city and their tower and their empire that they have built to be the source of their pride and the solution to their fears. 00:25:18.720 --> 00:25:37.440 Instead of receiving their identity, their pride from the one true God and His blessing, instead of receiving their security and the solution to their fears from a relationship, recognizing the true God, 00:25:37.779 --> 00:25:40.680 they are now worshiping themselves. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:47.500 Worshiping their achievements and worshiping their global empire. 00:25:47.500 --> 00:25:54.160 You see, just like Adam and Eve in the garden, they want to become gods. 00:25:55.339 --> 00:25:58.079 They want to live without any boundaries. 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:14.799 Now, the point of the story is not that architecture, technology, cities, centralized planning, a common language, or an organized government is inherently bad. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:27.759 The point is that all those things can accomplish great harm when human beings attempt to use them to further their godlike ambitions. 00:26:27.759 --> 00:26:34.619 You see, in verse 6, God sees what the people can't. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:46.140 God sees that great trouble and harm will follow if the people continue to pursue their godlike ambitions in a united way. 00:26:46.140 --> 00:26:58.360 One writer said, God intervenes not to protect His own power, but to protect us from the tenacious power of our own corruption. 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:09.559 So, if chapter 10 warns us against the danger of ungodly tribalism, that is, focusing only on the well-being of our own kind, 00:27:09.979 --> 00:27:14.479 or being hostile or indifferent toward other nations or other ethnic groups, 00:27:15.519 --> 00:27:19.919 chapter 11 warns us against the danger of ungodly globalism. 00:27:19.920 --> 00:27:29.720 The ambition to unite all tribes, all nations, and all cultures into one world empire without any boundaries. 00:27:31.820 --> 00:27:38.860 You see, the ambition of the ancient Babylonians, and of every world superpower throughout history, 00:27:39.600 --> 00:27:47.700 was to become a universal world empire, a universal world culture with a universally known language. 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:50.840 And we might say, but isn't that more efficient? 00:27:52.220 --> 00:27:54.720 Couldn't humanity accomplish more that way? 00:27:56.920 --> 00:28:03.860 But verse 6 suggests that if all the boundaries that limit our human ambitions were removed, 00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:07.740 we would accomplish more harm than good. 00:28:09.240 --> 00:28:10.740 One commentator said, 00:28:10.740 --> 00:28:20.099 There is no guarantee that global cooperation and a world-unifying culture will seek what is actually good. 00:28:22.259 --> 00:28:24.480 And that's a caution I think we need to hear. 00:28:26.579 --> 00:28:28.859 Globalism is not the solution to everything. 00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:35.819 Often, boundaries and creaturely limitations, frustrating though they may be to our human ambitions, 00:28:35.819 --> 00:28:39.339 are good and wise provisions of God. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:42.799 Proverbs 19, 21 says, 00:28:42.899 --> 00:28:48.099 Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand. 00:28:50.619 --> 00:28:52.019 That's what we see in this story. 00:28:52.099 --> 00:28:57.960 We see human plans, but we see ultimately God's purpose prevailing. 00:28:57.960 --> 00:29:08.600 You see, this is the second time in Genesis that human wickedness has increased to the point of provoking the active judgment of God. 00:29:09.940 --> 00:29:12.200 The people want to live without any boundaries. 00:29:12.340 --> 00:29:14.000 They want to be their own gods. 00:29:14.100 --> 00:29:18.700 And that also means they're not going to stop at anything in how they treat one another. 00:29:18.700 --> 00:29:29.000 They don't see any boundaries between them and God, and therefore, they will trample on anyone else to make their empire succeed. 00:29:32.539 --> 00:29:37.600 Now, in His mercy, God does not destroy the whole earth with a flood once again, 00:29:38.180 --> 00:29:41.700 but in His judgment, He confuses and disperses the people. 00:29:41.700 --> 00:29:50.200 And of course, the rest of human history is lived in the aftermath of Babel. 00:29:53.779 --> 00:29:54.220 Right? 00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:59.460 We live in a world where there's confusion and misunderstanding and miscommunication, 00:29:59.580 --> 00:30:03.259 not only between people of different languages, but even people who speak the same language, 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:07.160 even people who live in the same house, who are married to each other. 00:30:07.160 --> 00:30:16.220 There's frustration and failure in international affairs and in joint human projects. 00:30:16.600 --> 00:30:20.540 There's discord and disharmony between different ethnic groups. 00:30:21.259 --> 00:30:23.960 That stubbornly persists. 00:30:26.960 --> 00:30:34.600 Pride and boasting and fear and insecurity continue to dominate and destabilize human relationships. 00:30:37.160 --> 00:30:45.019 We continue to design taller skyscrapers, build cathedrals of knowledge, 00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:53.580 and harness our technical prowess in a quest for fame and significance and security and even immortality. 00:30:56.380 --> 00:31:01.259 Yes, we see God's mercy in not wiping everyone out again like He did in the flood, 00:31:01.420 --> 00:31:05.500 but the world after Babel is no better than before. 00:31:05.500 --> 00:31:11.579 Ethnic and national diversity is created by God. 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:16.720 But ethnic and national discord is rampant because of sin. 00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:22.900 So we might ask, is there any hope? 00:31:24.460 --> 00:31:29.279 Is there any hope for a renewed and healed and purified and reconciled humanity? 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:33.299 Can the ethnic and national diversity that God created be preserved? 00:31:34.059 --> 00:31:38.220 And can the ethnic and national discord produced by sin be healed? 00:31:40.139 --> 00:31:42.899 Well, thankfully, the story of the Bible doesn't end here. 00:31:44.500 --> 00:31:50.019 Next week, we'll see God's promise to Abraham that somehow, someday, through one of his descendants, 00:31:50.180 --> 00:31:52.899 the whole, all the families of the earth will be blessed. 00:31:52.900 --> 00:31:59.380 And later on in the Old Testament, the prophet Zephaniah looks forward to a day 00:31:59.380 --> 00:32:04.560 when God would change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech 00:32:04.560 --> 00:32:12.140 that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord. 00:32:13.100 --> 00:32:15.300 Zephaniah 3, verses 9 and 10. 00:32:15.299 --> 00:32:21.019 You see, the Old Testament held out this hope that somehow, someday, 00:32:21.220 --> 00:32:26.879 the division and discord of the nations produced by our pride and fear and idolatry 00:32:26.879 --> 00:32:28.079 could one day be healed. 00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:34.180 And that pride and fear could be transformed into humility and worship of the true God. 00:32:36.460 --> 00:32:38.500 That somehow, through the seed of Abraham, 00:32:38.700 --> 00:32:43.200 all the families of the earth would one day come together in the family of God. 00:32:43.200 --> 00:32:49.460 When we come to the New Testament, we see that's precisely what Jesus Christ came to do. 00:32:51.380 --> 00:32:57.259 Our third point this morning is that our ethnicity and nationality can be redeemed through Christ. 00:32:59.200 --> 00:33:03.019 Listen to the words of the Apostle Paul from Ephesians chapter 2. 00:33:04.740 --> 00:33:09.940 He said Christ…and he's talking to the Jews and the Gentiles, 00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:18.440 who were sort of the two…the groups that…sort of God's…the descendants of Abraham and all the other nations. 00:33:20.120 --> 00:33:25.580 And he says Christ Jesus Himself is our peace. 00:33:26.539 --> 00:33:28.799 He has made us both one. 00:33:29.660 --> 00:33:35.160 He has broken down in His flesh the dividing wall of hostility, 00:33:35.160 --> 00:33:41.700 that He might create in Himself one new humanity in place of the two, 00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:44.000 so making peace, 00:33:44.340 --> 00:33:48.240 and might reconcile us both to God 00:33:48.240 --> 00:33:50.180 in one body 00:33:50.180 --> 00:33:52.660 through the cross. 00:33:54.380 --> 00:33:57.160 You see, because of Jesus Christ's reconciling 00:33:57.759 --> 00:33:59.940 and atoning work on the cross, 00:33:59.940 --> 00:34:04.320 the dividing walls of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, 00:34:04.400 --> 00:34:08.400 between people of every race and ethnicity and nation, 00:34:08.539 --> 00:34:09.760 have been broken down. 00:34:10.280 --> 00:34:12.659 And now His Spirit has been poured out 00:34:12.659 --> 00:34:16.440 upon all who turn to Him as Savior and Lord. 00:34:17.460 --> 00:34:19.440 We read earlier from the book of Acts 00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:21.639 what happened on the day of Pentecost. 00:34:22.619 --> 00:34:25.800 Fifty days after Jesus' resurrection from the dead, 00:34:25.800 --> 00:34:27.200 and did you notice? 00:34:28.160 --> 00:34:31.600 It was a reversal of what happened at Babel. 00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:36.720 Babel began with pride and fear 00:34:36.720 --> 00:34:39.320 and ended in confusion and dispersion. 00:34:40.800 --> 00:34:42.660 On the day of Pentecost, it says, 00:34:42.920 --> 00:34:44.360 people from every nation under heaven 00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:45.700 were gathered in Jerusalem, 00:34:46.340 --> 00:34:48.120 and they heard and understood 00:34:48.120 --> 00:34:50.380 the mighty works of God being declared 00:34:50.380 --> 00:34:51.700 in their own languages. 00:34:52.320 --> 00:34:53.900 They were amazed and astonished 00:34:53.900 --> 00:34:55.260 because what God had promised 00:34:55.260 --> 00:34:57.619 was now coming to pass. 00:34:59.660 --> 00:35:02.059 You see, Jesus Christ did not come to destroy 00:35:02.059 --> 00:35:06.160 our ethnicities and nationalities and languages, 00:35:06.160 --> 00:35:09.619 but rather to heal and purify them 00:35:09.619 --> 00:35:12.099 and gather them into His very own body. 00:35:14.139 --> 00:35:16.139 The African church father, Augustine, 00:35:16.200 --> 00:35:16.920 put it this way, 00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:20.519 for just as after the flood, 00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:23.659 the proud ungodliness of men 00:35:23.659 --> 00:35:26.059 built a tower to the heavens against God, 00:35:27.340 --> 00:35:29.800 when humanity deserved to become divided 00:35:29.800 --> 00:35:31.019 through diverse languages, 00:35:31.880 --> 00:35:34.139 so on the day of Pentecost, 00:35:34.860 --> 00:35:37.720 the humble godliness of the faithful 00:35:37.720 --> 00:35:40.639 gathered the diversity of their languages 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:42.340 into the unity of the church, 00:35:42.340 --> 00:35:45.600 so that what discord had dispersed, 00:35:46.280 --> 00:35:47.519 love would gather. 00:35:48.579 --> 00:35:51.500 The dispersed limbs of each race 00:35:51.500 --> 00:35:52.880 would be brought back together 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:55.800 and rejoined to the one head Christ 00:35:55.800 --> 00:35:59.800 and would be refined by the fire of love 00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:03.480 into the unity of His holy body. 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:08.000 That's what Jesus Christ has come to do, 00:36:08.619 --> 00:36:11.260 to gather people from every nation, 00:36:11.380 --> 00:36:13.340 from all tribes and peoples and languages 00:36:13.340 --> 00:36:15.019 into His very own body, 00:36:15.099 --> 00:36:16.740 into fellowship with Him, 00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:18.460 into His church. 00:36:20.639 --> 00:36:23.039 Now, what does that look like practically for us 00:36:23.039 --> 00:36:27.460 here in New Haven at the end of 2019? 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:32.460 Let me try to end with some practical applications 00:36:32.460 --> 00:36:33.820 of this vision. 00:36:36.599 --> 00:36:38.179 Well, the renewing work of Christ 00:36:38.179 --> 00:36:39.820 begins in our hearts. 00:36:40.639 --> 00:36:41.360 And in particular, 00:36:42.460 --> 00:36:44.039 the renewing work of Christ 00:36:44.039 --> 00:36:44.760 and the Holy Spirit 00:36:44.760 --> 00:36:46.780 counteracts two very common 00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:48.760 and very dangerous human tendencies. 00:36:49.820 --> 00:36:51.260 So the first human tendency 00:36:51.260 --> 00:36:53.820 is pride and self-justification. 00:36:55.480 --> 00:36:57.679 We take pride in our own culture, 00:36:57.880 --> 00:36:58.860 in our own race, 00:36:59.019 --> 00:36:59.900 in our own nation. 00:37:00.059 --> 00:37:00.880 We see its beauty 00:37:00.880 --> 00:37:02.420 and celebrate its strengths. 00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:03.639 And maybe we can see 00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:05.019 some of our own culture's weaknesses, 00:37:05.220 --> 00:37:06.940 but we also see the reasons 00:37:06.940 --> 00:37:07.820 for those weaknesses. 00:37:08.500 --> 00:37:09.619 And so we can understand 00:37:09.619 --> 00:37:10.780 and sympathize 00:37:10.780 --> 00:37:14.440 with our own nation's weaknesses. 00:37:15.280 --> 00:37:16.820 But when we look at other cultures 00:37:16.820 --> 00:37:18.039 or other races 00:37:18.039 --> 00:37:19.220 or other nations, 00:37:19.220 --> 00:37:21.800 we immediately see their strangeness 00:37:21.800 --> 00:37:23.280 and their flaws 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:24.639 and their idolatries 00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:25.480 and their corruptions. 00:37:25.539 --> 00:37:26.780 And so we can be very patient 00:37:26.780 --> 00:37:29.039 with people of our own kind 00:37:29.039 --> 00:37:30.360 when they mess up, 00:37:30.360 --> 00:37:32.760 but we're immediately indignant 00:37:32.760 --> 00:37:34.640 toward people of other cultures 00:37:34.640 --> 00:37:35.579 when they mess up. 00:37:36.720 --> 00:37:38.620 We can easily point out the flaws 00:37:38.620 --> 00:37:40.420 common to other cultural groups, 00:37:40.519 --> 00:37:42.120 but we feel immediately defensive 00:37:42.120 --> 00:37:43.940 if someone says anything critical 00:37:43.940 --> 00:37:45.820 of the group that we belong to. 00:37:46.860 --> 00:37:48.320 And Jesus challenges 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:50.900 that very natural human tendency 00:37:50.900 --> 00:37:53.420 toward pride and self-justification 00:37:53.420 --> 00:37:56.559 and the tribalism 00:37:56.559 --> 00:37:57.860 and ethnocentrism 00:37:57.860 --> 00:37:58.559 that is measuring 00:37:58.559 --> 00:37:59.820 every other nation 00:37:59.820 --> 00:38:01.460 in relation to our own 00:38:01.460 --> 00:38:02.920 that flow out of that. 00:38:05.720 --> 00:38:06.059 But you know, 00:38:06.139 --> 00:38:07.320 Jesus also protects us 00:38:07.320 --> 00:38:08.220 against a second, 00:38:08.380 --> 00:38:09.320 very common, 00:38:09.460 --> 00:38:10.960 but opposite human tendency. 00:38:11.740 --> 00:38:12.920 That is a tendency 00:38:12.920 --> 00:38:14.980 toward shame and self-hatred. 00:38:16.980 --> 00:38:18.700 Maybe you've been dishonored 00:38:18.699 --> 00:38:20.579 because of your status 00:38:20.579 --> 00:38:21.799 as an ethnic minority 00:38:21.799 --> 00:38:23.139 or an immigrant. 00:38:24.539 --> 00:38:26.039 Maybe you've internalized 00:38:26.039 --> 00:38:27.819 a sense of being second class 00:38:27.819 --> 00:38:29.139 and less than. 00:38:30.639 --> 00:38:32.019 Maybe you repress 00:38:32.019 --> 00:38:34.099 parts of your cultural heritage. 00:38:34.419 --> 00:38:35.779 You even feel ashamed 00:38:35.779 --> 00:38:37.079 in some way 00:38:37.079 --> 00:38:38.000 to associate 00:38:38.000 --> 00:38:39.259 with your ethnicity 00:38:39.259 --> 00:38:40.639 or with your nationality 00:38:40.639 --> 00:38:42.099 because you're afraid 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:42.839 that if you do, 00:38:42.939 --> 00:38:44.179 you will only experience 00:38:44.179 --> 00:38:45.399 more rejection 00:38:45.399 --> 00:38:46.599 and humiliation. 00:38:46.599 --> 00:38:51.119 Or maybe you're not a minority. 00:38:52.579 --> 00:38:54.699 Maybe you are a white person 00:38:54.699 --> 00:38:56.519 who is progressive 00:38:56.519 --> 00:38:58.179 and anti-racist. 00:38:58.699 --> 00:39:00.199 And you feel shame 00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:01.039 and self-hatred 00:39:01.039 --> 00:39:02.440 because of the white privilege 00:39:02.440 --> 00:39:03.659 that you've inherited 00:39:03.659 --> 00:39:05.539 and the white guilt 00:39:05.539 --> 00:39:07.119 that goes along with it. 00:39:08.380 --> 00:39:09.440 And so you can celebrate 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:10.000 the virtues 00:39:10.000 --> 00:39:11.159 of non-white cultures 00:39:11.159 --> 00:39:12.239 but only lament 00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:13.980 the failures of white cultures. 00:39:13.980 --> 00:39:16.679 either way, 00:39:17.440 --> 00:39:18.719 shame and self-hatred 00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:20.639 do not ultimately lead 00:39:20.639 --> 00:39:21.900 to healing and hope. 00:39:23.360 --> 00:39:24.440 And ironically, 00:39:24.659 --> 00:39:26.119 these two opposite errors, 00:39:26.460 --> 00:39:27.960 pride and self-justification 00:39:27.960 --> 00:39:29.780 and shame and self-hatred, 00:39:30.039 --> 00:39:31.840 end up reinforcing one another. 00:39:32.599 --> 00:39:34.219 And we sometimes flip 00:39:34.219 --> 00:39:35.519 from one end to the other. 00:39:35.519 --> 00:39:38.900 And we are left 00:39:38.900 --> 00:39:39.900 in a vicious cycle. 00:39:41.219 --> 00:39:42.219 But the gospel 00:39:42.219 --> 00:39:43.059 of Jesus Christ 00:39:43.059 --> 00:39:44.019 sets us free. 00:39:45.420 --> 00:39:46.699 It frees us 00:39:46.699 --> 00:39:47.440 from pride 00:39:47.440 --> 00:39:48.699 and self-justification 00:39:48.699 --> 00:39:50.599 because when we stand 00:39:50.599 --> 00:39:51.500 before the cross 00:39:51.500 --> 00:39:52.460 of Jesus Christ, 00:39:52.739 --> 00:39:54.659 we are on level ground 00:39:54.659 --> 00:39:56.159 with people 00:39:56.159 --> 00:39:57.219 of every ethnicity 00:39:57.219 --> 00:39:57.880 and culture 00:39:57.880 --> 00:39:59.119 who also stand there. 00:39:59.119 --> 00:40:01.980 And we see 00:40:01.980 --> 00:40:02.480 that we are 00:40:02.480 --> 00:40:03.400 not only 00:40:03.400 --> 00:40:04.739 fellow human beings 00:40:04.739 --> 00:40:06.000 made of one blood, 00:40:06.099 --> 00:40:06.799 but through Christ 00:40:06.799 --> 00:40:07.880 we have been redeemed 00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:10.319 through one blood, 00:40:10.940 --> 00:40:12.000 the blood 00:40:12.000 --> 00:40:13.460 of God's Son. 00:40:16.619 --> 00:40:17.099 And 00:40:17.099 --> 00:40:19.460 so the gospel 00:40:19.460 --> 00:40:20.179 gives us 00:40:20.179 --> 00:40:21.380 humility 00:40:21.380 --> 00:40:22.579 and confidence 00:40:22.579 --> 00:40:23.539 instead of pride 00:40:23.539 --> 00:40:24.539 and self-justification. 00:40:24.659 --> 00:40:25.119 And the gospel 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:26.079 also frees us 00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:26.699 from shame 00:40:26.699 --> 00:40:27.639 and self-hatred 00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:29.519 because in Christ 00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:30.339 we are loved 00:40:30.339 --> 00:40:31.819 and forgiven 00:40:31.819 --> 00:40:33.259 and honored. 00:40:34.440 --> 00:40:35.659 And we can receive 00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:36.279 our ethnicity 00:40:36.279 --> 00:40:37.219 and our nationality 00:40:37.219 --> 00:40:37.839 as the gift 00:40:37.839 --> 00:40:39.199 that it is from God 00:40:39.199 --> 00:40:40.219 and through the Spirit 00:40:40.219 --> 00:40:40.779 of God 00:40:40.779 --> 00:40:41.539 our ethnic 00:40:41.539 --> 00:40:42.779 and national identities 00:40:42.779 --> 00:40:44.199 can be purified 00:40:44.199 --> 00:40:45.219 and healed 00:40:45.219 --> 00:40:46.339 and transformed. 00:40:47.559 --> 00:40:48.839 And we can work 00:40:48.839 --> 00:40:49.420 in accordance 00:40:49.420 --> 00:40:50.259 with the purposes 00:40:50.259 --> 00:40:51.019 of God 00:40:51.019 --> 00:40:52.519 towards healing 00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:53.440 and reconciliation 00:40:53.440 --> 00:40:54.759 in the world, 00:40:55.239 --> 00:40:56.199 whatever our background. 00:40:57.639 --> 00:40:58.719 that's how 00:40:58.719 --> 00:40:59.420 the gospel of Christ 00:40:59.420 --> 00:41:00.699 begins renewing 00:41:00.699 --> 00:41:01.239 our hearts 00:41:01.239 --> 00:41:02.139 and our attitudes. 00:41:02.279 --> 00:41:03.359 But it doesn't stop there. 00:41:03.639 --> 00:41:04.359 The gospel begins 00:41:04.359 --> 00:41:04.920 to transform 00:41:04.920 --> 00:41:05.779 our relationships. 00:41:06.679 --> 00:41:07.239 Through Christ 00:41:07.239 --> 00:41:07.699 we're filled 00:41:07.699 --> 00:41:08.440 with a divine 00:41:08.440 --> 00:41:10.000 and supernatural love. 00:41:10.679 --> 00:41:12.139 A love that perseveres 00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:13.480 and a love that can overcome 00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:14.460 all kinds of 00:41:14.460 --> 00:41:15.579 worldly differences. 00:41:16.219 --> 00:41:17.099 When we have Christ 00:41:17.099 --> 00:41:17.779 living in us 00:41:17.779 --> 00:41:18.519 we have the courage 00:41:18.519 --> 00:41:19.719 to go outside 00:41:19.719 --> 00:41:21.219 of our comfort zone. 00:41:21.659 --> 00:41:22.599 We have patience 00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:23.319 and confidence 00:41:23.319 --> 00:41:24.500 to engage with people 00:41:24.500 --> 00:41:25.819 who we might otherwise 00:41:25.820 --> 00:41:27.280 fear or avoid. 00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:30.059 And we have the humility 00:41:30.059 --> 00:41:31.260 to listen and learn 00:41:31.260 --> 00:41:31.820 from people 00:41:31.820 --> 00:41:33.080 who've had very different 00:41:33.080 --> 00:41:33.740 experiences 00:41:33.740 --> 00:41:35.300 and backgrounds 00:41:35.300 --> 00:41:35.980 than ourselves. 00:41:37.500 --> 00:41:38.519 And some of you 00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:39.880 have experienced this. 00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:42.260 And you can look 00:41:42.260 --> 00:41:43.080 at other people 00:41:43.080 --> 00:41:44.440 in this very room today. 00:41:44.800 --> 00:41:45.940 Close friends. 00:41:46.140 --> 00:41:46.940 Brothers and sisters 00:41:46.940 --> 00:41:47.480 in Christ 00:41:47.480 --> 00:41:48.100 and the family 00:41:48.100 --> 00:41:48.640 of the church. 00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:49.539 And you can look 00:41:49.539 --> 00:41:50.059 at them and say, 00:41:50.140 --> 00:41:50.360 you know, 00:41:50.539 --> 00:41:51.720 I don't think we ever 00:41:51.720 --> 00:41:52.220 would have found 00:41:52.220 --> 00:41:53.260 common ground otherwise. 00:41:53.260 --> 00:41:55.760 I don't think we ever 00:41:55.760 --> 00:41:56.340 would have been 00:41:56.340 --> 00:41:58.580 such close friends 00:41:58.580 --> 00:41:59.780 or had such, 00:42:00.480 --> 00:42:01.760 been part of each 00:42:01.760 --> 00:42:02.540 other's lives 00:42:02.540 --> 00:42:03.640 apart from the work 00:42:03.640 --> 00:42:04.160 of Christ 00:42:04.160 --> 00:42:05.320 bringing us together 00:42:05.320 --> 00:42:06.260 in the context 00:42:06.260 --> 00:42:06.980 of His church. 00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:09.880 Jesus said 00:42:09.880 --> 00:42:10.400 that the world 00:42:10.400 --> 00:42:10.900 will know 00:42:10.900 --> 00:42:12.800 that we are His disciples 00:42:12.800 --> 00:42:14.060 by our love 00:42:14.060 --> 00:42:15.680 for one another. 00:42:17.160 --> 00:42:18.580 We live in a world 00:42:18.580 --> 00:42:20.160 that is increasingly 00:42:20.160 --> 00:42:20.860 fractured 00:42:20.860 --> 00:42:22.120 and polarized 00:42:22.120 --> 00:42:23.620 and isolated 00:42:23.620 --> 00:42:24.620 and desperate. 00:42:25.820 --> 00:42:27.200 But if by the power 00:42:27.200 --> 00:42:28.599 of Christ working in us, 00:42:28.800 --> 00:42:30.200 if we love one another 00:42:30.200 --> 00:42:31.539 and if we love 00:42:31.539 --> 00:42:32.099 our neighbors 00:42:32.099 --> 00:42:33.320 and if we love 00:42:33.320 --> 00:42:34.680 even those who oppose us 00:42:34.680 --> 00:42:35.920 and disagree with us, 00:42:36.920 --> 00:42:38.200 some in the world 00:42:38.200 --> 00:42:38.740 will see 00:42:38.740 --> 00:42:40.579 and give glory 00:42:40.579 --> 00:42:41.280 to our Father 00:42:41.280 --> 00:42:42.519 who is in heaven. 00:42:43.680 --> 00:42:44.660 Let us pray 00:42:44.660 --> 00:42:45.660 that it may be so. 00:42:45.659 --> 00:42:50.139 Father God, 00:42:50.179 --> 00:42:50.799 we thank You. 00:42:53.899 --> 00:42:54.759 We thank You 00:42:54.759 --> 00:42:55.399 for making us 00:42:55.399 --> 00:42:56.019 in Your image. 00:42:56.139 --> 00:42:56.579 We thank You 00:42:56.579 --> 00:42:57.359 for how Your Scripture 00:42:57.359 --> 00:42:57.899 speaks, 00:42:58.719 --> 00:42:59.259 Lord, 00:42:59.359 --> 00:43:01.599 to every challenge 00:43:01.599 --> 00:43:03.079 and every difficult issue 00:43:03.079 --> 00:43:03.759 that we face 00:43:03.759 --> 00:43:04.579 in our world today. 00:43:05.099 --> 00:43:05.839 We thank You 00:43:05.839 --> 00:43:06.440 for the gift 00:43:06.440 --> 00:43:08.719 of ethnic 00:43:08.719 --> 00:43:09.799 and national diversity 00:43:09.799 --> 00:43:10.399 that You, 00:43:11.159 --> 00:43:12.059 in Your command 00:43:12.059 --> 00:43:12.619 to humanity 00:43:12.619 --> 00:43:13.339 to be fruitful 00:43:13.340 --> 00:43:14.000 and multiply 00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:14.880 and fill the earth 00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:15.700 that You intended 00:43:15.700 --> 00:43:20.160 for that ethnic diversity 00:43:20.160 --> 00:43:21.460 is part of Your creative 00:43:21.460 --> 00:43:22.860 and beautiful intent 00:43:22.860 --> 00:43:24.120 and design. 00:43:25.200 --> 00:43:26.400 And we thank You 00:43:26.400 --> 00:43:28.039 for sending Jesus Christ 00:43:28.039 --> 00:43:30.500 into this broken world. 00:43:31.620 --> 00:43:32.440 We thank You 00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:33.600 for the healing 00:43:33.600 --> 00:43:34.380 that He brings. 00:43:34.660 --> 00:43:35.240 We thank You 00:43:35.240 --> 00:43:36.000 for the power 00:43:36.000 --> 00:43:37.019 and love 00:43:37.019 --> 00:43:38.300 that He pours 00:43:38.300 --> 00:43:38.980 into our hearts 00:43:38.980 --> 00:43:40.400 through the Holy Spirit. 00:43:40.539 --> 00:43:40.800 Lord, 00:43:40.960 --> 00:43:41.900 fill us today 00:43:41.900 --> 00:43:43.079 with Your Holy Spirit 00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:43.559 that we, 00:43:43.759 --> 00:43:45.159 like those disciples 00:43:45.159 --> 00:43:46.440 on the day of Pentecost, 00:43:46.539 --> 00:43:47.159 may declare 00:43:47.159 --> 00:43:48.519 the wonders of God, 00:43:49.340 --> 00:43:51.360 that others may hear 00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:52.819 and join 00:43:52.819 --> 00:43:53.920 in praising You, 00:43:54.960 --> 00:43:55.759 Lord, 00:43:55.840 --> 00:43:56.960 from every tribe 00:43:56.960 --> 00:43:57.460 and people 00:43:57.460 --> 00:43:58.159 and language 00:43:58.159 --> 00:43:59.259 and nation. 00:44:00.699 --> 00:44:01.699 Pray all these things 00:44:01.699 --> 00:44:02.380 in Jesus' name. 00:44:03.079 --> 00:44:03.380 Amen. 00:44:03.380 --> 00:44:03.480 Amen. 00:44:03.480 --> 00:44:03.539 Amen. 00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:03.599 Amen. 00:44:03.599 --> 00:44:03.619 Amen. 00:44:03.619 --> 00:44:03.639 Amen. 00:44:03.639 --> 00:44:03.659 Amen. 00:44:03.659 --> 00:44:03.699 Amen. 00:44:03.699 --> 00:44:03.739 Amen. 00:44:03.739 --> 00:44:04.139 Amen. 00:44:04.139 --> 00:44:05.539 Amen. 00:44:05.539 --> 00:44:05.639 Amen. 00:44:05.639 --> 00:44:05.659 Amen. 00:44:05.659 --> 00:44:05.679 Amen.