The Third Great Rebellion

Last week we talked about God’s covenant with Noah and the symbolism of the rainbow. We talked about how as believers we need to discipline our minds to see God’s goodness in the symbol.

I mentioned that even though God was starting over again with Noah and his family. He acknowledges that this reset is far from the perfection of Eden. Sin is still alive and active.

In fact in today’s text were going to see that very thing take place.

Now, I mentioned that in Genesis we are going to see some pretty raw and shocking action by man.

We will see that in the following few verses.

Genesis 9:18–28 CSB

Noah’s sons who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were Noah’s sons, and from them the whole earth was populated. Noah, as a man of the soil, began by planting a vineyard. He drank some of the wine, became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a cloak and placed it over both their shoulders, and walking backward, they covered their father’s nakedness. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father naked. When Noah awoke from his drinking and learned what his youngest son had done to him, he said: Canaan is cursed. He will be the lowest of slaves to his brothers. He also said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; Let Canaan be Shem’s slave. Let God extend Japheth; let Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem; let Canaan be Shem’s slave. Now Noah lived 350 years after the flood.

I won’t spend a lot of time here today but I do want us to note a couple of possibilities.

The first thing I want you to notice is that Ham is the offender but his son Canaan is the receiver of the curse.

This gives us a clue as to what may have gone on. “to uncover a man’s nakedness” was used in Hebrew literature as an euphemism for sleeping with another man’s wife.

This type of act would have been seen a power grab. Ham was not the oldest, he did not stand to inherit. To raise up his own offspring by Noah’s wife would have been a way to try and grab some authority for himself but instead of this taking place Canaan is cursed to servitude which was a fitting reward for such an egregious and vile act; The sin of the flesh and disloyalty to the family.

So why it this passage in here. Once again it shows us that Noah was an incomplete redeemer. While God used him to save the race of mankind and start over , Noah could not redeem the world from sin.

From here the scriptures lay the foundation for the line of Christ. So we are going to read Chapter 10 in it entirely and I will make a few observations as we do, leading up to the Tower of Babel event

Genesis 10:1–5 CSB

These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood. Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these descendants, the peoples of the coasts and islands spread out into their lands according to their clans in their nations, each with its own language.

Verse 5 is telling us after the fact. In other words, the story that is coming will explain where the different languages came from.

Genesis 10:6–12 CSB

Ham’s sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan. Cush fathered Nimrod, who began to be powerful in the land. He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.” His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

I want you to notice this person by the name of Nimrod. The phrase mighty hunter is not a good thing. It speaks of his rebellion of gathering people to Himself.

In other accounts like the Epic of Gilgamesh, Nimrod is seen as a son of a god or one of the descendant of the Sons of god that we talked about in Genesis 6. He was later worshipped in Babylon under the name of “Marduk”

I also, want you to notice the first Kingdom he founded was Babylon. Babylon comes from same term as Babel. No doubt this tower was Nimrod’s endeavor as an act of rebellion toward Yahweh, God. In fact Babylon was seen by the ancient near eastern society as the “gateway to the gods”.

You also see other cities he founded where the inhabitants were evil, Like Nineveh.

Genesis 10:13–20 CSB

Mizraim fathered the people of Lud, Anam, Lehab, Naphtuh, Pathrus, Casluh (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtor. Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, as well as the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the Canaanite clans scattered. The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha. These are Ham’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.

Again you see all of Israels future enemies came from the line of Ham.

Genesis 10:21–25 CSB

And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had sons. Shem was the father of all the sons of Eber. Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

It seems that after God divided up the nations, he then divided the continents as well to further separate the tribes and slow down the progression of evil.

Genesis 10:26–32 CSB

And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons. Their settlements extended from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern hill country. These are Shem’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations. These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.

Trans: Now as we come to this section containing the Tower of Babel I First want to state the theme of the this passage.

Have you ever felt that their is to much evil in the world? I think often we look at the scorecard and it seems like evil is winning. It seems like mankind regardless of national boundaries is conspiring to to do evil. In fact, it seems like the nations although separated by boundaries are teaming up against God building the world in their own image apart from God.

In the Noah account sin had spread and the people over time became extremely evil but in today’s account we see something different. It is Evil as well. But it is different. It seems like this account we have an active and intentional rebellion. In there words, they made plans for their rebellion. It didn’t just happen. It wasn’t like in the flood account where man generationally over time became more and more corrupt. No. This was intentional corruption. I think we are now seeing elements of this same type of rebellion in our age. But there is a theme in this account that should bring us comfort.

Theme: Man seeks to build his own kingdom, But God intervenes and continues to build His.

You will notice that it is broken up into two sections or from a literary stand point, Two Acts.

Act One: The Actions of Man

Act Two: The Response of God.

Act One: The Actions of Man

Genesis 11:1–2 CSB

The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Now since all of these people were descendants from Noah it makes perfect sense that their language would be the same.

Now Moses is making a rather profound statement , “As people migrated from the east.”

Think back with me again to Genesis 3. The Garden was placed in the east of Eden. Noah is the new yet still flawed Adam and once again the we see this imagery of moving away from the east. Moving away from Eden.

In other words, this statement is both actual and yet figurative.

Mankind once again is moving away from perfection. They are once again getting worse in their rebellion.

So they settle in the plain of Shinar. Which is also where were we get the word for “Sumer or the Sumerians”. Historians tells us that the Sumerians were one of the oldest civilizations, Inventing an early writing type know in as “cuneiform”.

Genesis 11:3–4 CSB

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.) And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

We see they decide to build a tower.

Now we don’t know exactly what it looked like but we do have other examples of towers called ziggarets or pyramids that are found on every continent minus Antarctica. Which is interesting because it once again serves as a verification of this narrative. As the people scattered they would have taken this culture with them.

The result is that we see these structures everywhere.

But what’s the big deal with building a tower anyway?

Now the modern use of the contraction “Let’s” in stead of “let us” potentially makes this harder to see if we are not paying attention.

But let’s expand it to its larger form.

Let us…3x in this short passage of scripture we see this phrase.

Now look at...

Genesis 1:26 (CSB)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image.

Over the last few weeks we defined being made in the image of God as “imaging God’s authority”. Now we see in man’s rebellion that they are making an “image or name” for themselves.

In ancient near eastern culture, Mountains were sacred places. We also see this imagery in scripture of God’s holy mountain. God met with Moses on the mountain. Jesus transfigured on a mountain.

Mountains were seen as the thrones of the gods. Here they decided to make their own mountain. Created not by Yahweh God but by their own hands.

The reference to it being in the sky or heavens has the idea that they would be as the divine or touching the divine realm.

So instead of making God’s name and kingdom great they would elevate themselves and make their own kingdom apart from God.

The Tower of Babel was a predecessor to what the we see in revelation. A one world order in direct rebellion to God. It symbolizes man casting off the authority of God and a an attempt at creating for themselves a world apart from the rule and reign of God.

Act Two: The Response of God

Genesis 11:5 CSB

Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building.

The language used here is purposeful. Here man thought they were accomplishing something monumental.

Yet God had to come down to look at it.

So the entire world came together to accomplish a monumental task yet God be so far above mankind had to lower himself in order to examine it. Do you see the imagery being made? It isn’t that God couldn’t see it but rather he would have to lower himself to deal with it. It was beneath his status. The achievements were minuscule compared to Him.

The works of a sinful world no matter how great they appear are as nothing to our God. While we often sit around and worry about all the evil accomplishment of our world. No matter how big they seem.....

God has to come down to look at it. The actions of this world seem to us a great and insurmountable yet to God they are as nothing. Do you ever sit and ponder the fact that God is never worried? Next time you are worried about evil is up to in our world. Remind yourself of Who God is. Even if the whole world gathers in rebellion to accomplish some great act, Our God must lower himself to deal with it. But then also look at..

2 Thessalonians 2:8 CSB

and then the lawless one will be revealed. The Lord Jesus will destroy him with the breath of his mouth and will bring him to nothing at the appearance of his coming.

With the very breath that spoke all of creation into existence is the same breath that will simply utter the word and all the plans, all the scheming of the wicked, and the very wicked one himself will be destroyed.

You see man thinks that he is building something great in their rebellion ,a new world order apart from the rule of God, but with a simple word it all will come to an end. With a word from theJesus himself he will end The enemey.

We do not have a God that is shaken by evil. So therefore we shouldn’t be shaken by it either.

So lets look at God’s response.

Genesis 11:6–7 CSB

The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

Note: Notice the use of “let us” and how it fits into the Deuteronomy account of dividing the nations according to the number of the Sons of God. It seems the visiting the tower and the city was more for the benefit of the Sons of God, Elohim, than it was for God to actually come see it.

The Phrase “nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them” Is not giving them God-like status but rather saying the world comes together in rebellion the evil that they plan will be great. There will be nothing to hold them back.

So God remembering his promise not to destroy the earth again by flood issues a different type of judgement, a divided world.

Now if we are honest this seems like a disastifactory ending to this account. I mean God scatters the people through language and the account ends. There is no act of redemption or of reconciliation between the world and God. But remember this is not the end of the story.

The whole world is in rebellion yet God sets the scene for the calling of a man and the beginning of a nation that would be used to display his glory to the world.

Then we would see the very reversal of this curse in the day of Pentecost. In the account of Babel the world is separated by language because of sin. Yet in the Day of Pentecost This curse is overcome. While sin was slowed down by the confusing of the languages. The gospel would spread faster because of it.

Acts 2:1–8 CSB

When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them. Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. They were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? How is it that each of us can hear them in our own native language?

Acts 2:41 CSB

So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

Church nothing is to great an obstacle for our God! Weather the plans of the enemy or languages. God will use all things to bring about his Kingdom on earth. So do not be afraid. Live in boldness. The Lord is coming and He will win!