20 - Genesis 11:1-9 - Let us make a name - 05.05.24

CHILDREN'S SERMON

Let me ask Amanda Oliveira to lift Daniel up and throw him out of the building. Is this possible? No, why not?

What if I ask all of you to lift Daniel up and throw him out of the building? Could you do it? Yes, we could.

Now, is that the right thing to do? No…

But could you do it?

Sometimes, people will gather to do what is not right according to God.

Because we were born in sin, if we are left alone we will do what does not please God. That is why we need a better solution. We need a savior.

This text Genesis 11 shows Mankind's desperate situation and God's gracious response in making the name of Christ above all names.

INTRODUCTION Here we go again. There are many time I tell my wife: “I can't believe you did it again! Haven't I told you this before?” The funny video of a sheep falling in the same hole the she was stuck.

After the Flood, they were doing it all over again.

Verse 5 of our text today say that "The children of man” did it. Here we go again. There is no way for there sons of the first Adam. This is what they do.

Sin was still in the world and they were in desperate need for a Solution

Let's read Gn 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” Let's pray.

CONTEXT In the previous chapter (Chap 10), we looked at the Table of the Nations, which is the record that Moses made of how the nations spread throughout the earth from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Moses goals in Chapter 10 that helps us understand our text today:

- To show how God's mandate for mankind to multiply if he filled the earth was being fulfilled.

- To show the origin of those peoples who were enemies of the Israelites and who throughout their history would oppose them and all these enemies.

The pain in the neck number one for them was certainly the Canaanites.

- To show a clear link form Noah to Abraham, that is why he anticipates the dispersion of Noah's sons in the world.

Our text:

Today we will look at an episode that chronologically happened before chapter 10, which is the Tower of Babel and the confusion of languages.

When Moses gives this account of what happened in Babel, we see from Gen 10:25 that this story probably happened during the time of Peleg, the text says: “To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.”

We hear about people worried with the ONE-WORLD GOVERNMENT in the last days and here we have an ancient story about it.

Important phrase in the text:

3x in the text: Come, let us

2x by men

1x by God himself

ΜΑΙΝ IDEA: Afirmação Teológica (A.T.) + Sentença Transicional (S.T.) + Palavra Chave (P.C.) This text shows Mankind's desperate situation and God's gracious response in making the name of Christ above all names.

O. I. - Wait what? The name of Christ? O. T. - Let's see how the stage is set for this story. Verses 1 through 3.

I. Setting the stage (v.1-3) Argumentation: v1. Unity

These things do not seem wrong, they are not sins necessarily.

There are Red Flags: (Dr. Paul Twiss)

Red Flag 1- v. 2: Migration from the East.

- Adam and Eve leaving the garden in the East

- They are moving further away from the East (Key theme in Genesis) [Adam, Cain, Lot…]

Red Flag 2- v.2 The Settling in the land of Shinar

God gave them the mission of expanding on the earth…

Same with Cain and his line (Chap 4)

Red Flag 3- v.3 - The making of bricks

Israel is made out of rocks

Making bricks - The other nations were used to doing that. The kings would order to etch his name on the bricks. These projects were an attempt for the king to validate his existence to the gods. Like he's saying: “I have value”

They seem to be choosing to do something foolish.

That is what leads to their sin.

Theology of sin - Genesis 1-11

Illustration:

Learning about cleaning the pool. Everyday a little is much better than 5h just once a month.

Application: Do not open the door to sin.

Psalm 119:11 “11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.”

Do not negotiate your time in the presence of the Lord. We must saturate our minds with the Gospel. We must pray the gospel. Our conversation should be full of the Gospel in it.

John Piper said:

“You can read theology ten hours a day for forty years and not know God as beautiful and all-satisfying — as the highest treasure of your life. Who cares about knowing God the way the devil knows God? He hates everybody. His knowledge of God helps him hate people.

They don’t know God for who he is — infinitely valuable, infinitely beautiful, infinitely satisfying — why your soul was made. There are more pleasures at his right hand, more eternal joys in his presence, than you could have in ten thousand sexual trysts. If you know that, sin will have lost its dominion in your life.”

OT - So, don't open the door to sin. They did, now we will see why they wanted to build a city and a tower.

II. Why a city and a tower? (v.4). Argumentation Purpose: 1- Build a city and a tower (or a city tower)

Being able to sustain themselves and not need God.

Going up in the heavens

Not nearer communion with God

It’s to say they’re equal to God - It’s a clear open rebellion

2- Let us make A NAME for ourselves

Whole being

Your purpose, character, purpose, worldview is in your name.

God named Adam - This is who we are.

We all want to name ourselves.

They’re trying to replace God.

“We’re going to choose our domain”

3- “Lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.”

Zoom out… God said to Adam:

* Multiply

Go

Fill the earth

Tower of Babel: “No! We want to stay!” We don't want to obey God, we want to stay here and make a name for ourselves.

But This is what we are here to do: to go, to multiply, fill the earth

For God’s glory.

“ Lest we be dispersed” - They’re saying: “We don’t want to align with God’s plan.”

1- They make themselves like God

2- They try to supplant God

3- They try to thwart God - “Crossing our arms” and like a child that won’t eat eat their vegetables.

Great sin: Pride of our hearts

You won’t flourish until you align yourself with God’s plans. You will only hurt yourself.

The antidote:

We live Proverbs 27:2 “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”

There builders in Genesis 11 were doing the opposite to that.

Illustration 1:

Social Media feed: “Look at how great I am.”

Application:

2- Tune your heart with a vision of the Glory of God.

They couldn’t see the glory in the Adamic mandate. We must see the Glory in that!

Not to make a name for ourselves but make God’s glory known.

There are churches today more concerned in getting the attention and glamour of the world that they do whatever it takes to make their name known.

Our Prayer must be:

“May my name disappear when I die, and the name of Christ remain in everything I did.”

We should not be here today to leave a legacy for our family name in the world. It’s all about Jesus and to Him be all the glory forever.

My meaning and purpose in life is not in what I will leave behind. I am found in Christ.

He is my treasure, my pleasure, my delight. Nothing else matters when it’s compared to knowing our Lord Jesus Christ.

One Day:

Habakkuk 2:14 “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”

We were called to reveal His Glory into the world.

We will know.

Illustration 2:

“The waters covering the sea” waters pressing down.

Deep dive - Submarine experience/ pressure increases/ you get crushed the deeper you go

You will not be able to escape from the glory of God. When you have this vision of the Glory of God, like the prophets said, “it will be absolutely folly to do anything else.”

It’s stupid to make anything rather than making God’s glory known.

III. God comes down. (v.5-9)

Argumentation

Genesis 11:6 “And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

God is not saying that out of fear.

“Now that they decided to reject me, nothing will be impossible to them as it relates to their own ruin.”

God is saying: they’re choosing to damn themselves going in that directions.

“Our obedience to God acts as barrier to other acts of disobedience. If you take one step toward sin you’re far more likely to commit other sins that previously you hadn’t thought of.”

God is saying: “They’ve done this, now they will do anything.” He’ll still be be on His throne.

Genesis 11:7 “Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.””

Storytelling 1, 2, 3

Come, let us go down… Trinitarian language

In the third time in this story (Come, let us) is that God comes and confuses their language to show them his grace.

“Nothing is impossible for them, they will do anything to their own ruin. My glory will not be threatened by main.”

It’s for their own good.

Think about missions. Language is a hindrance for missions.

Why did you do this God?

It was my grace to you. It stopped you from sinning in a multitude of other ways.

Correspondence Gn 3 to Gn 11.

There's an intentionality of Moses here.

Language:

Heavens and the earth

the whole earth

making

come, let us, (trinitarian language of Genesis 1:26) “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.””

The Flood - The ReCreation of the world

Then the Tower of Babel - Sin is not dealt completely

Illustration:

God's Response: Genesis 11:10 “10 These are the generations of Shem…

There's a word play here with the Hebrew Name.

Then a few verses later (Chap 12:2), God comes to a man named Abram and tells him: Genesis 12:1–2 “1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Go - Obey God, fulfill your calling, do the will of God.

Great nation and make your name great - Now it's a blessing because he's under God's ordinance. God is the one who makes peoples name's great.

TO BE A BLESSING! It's never about you.

How was Abram's name a blessing?

Through Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, David - we come to Jesus!

THE NAME ABOVE ALL NAMES

Philippians 2:9–11 “9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Human's plan to make a name is nothing but a laughable tower that God has to come down to see.

God's plan to make a name for Himself (The name of Jesus) was fulfilled on the cross and now we await the day that it will be fully fulfilled when every person that has ever lived on the earth will be before Him and will worship his name. Many will give Him glory by paying eternally for their own sins in hell, and many many many will be giving Him glory by eternally praising His name in the heaven and new earth.

God is obsessed with His own Glory

Application: We were created to give Jesus glory

The more we are commited to giving Jesus glory, the more we are living for what we are created for.

How are you treasuring Christ in your life?

How precious is the Son of God to you church?

The more I delight in Jesus:

- I will enjoy my prayer time

- I will study and read my bible more

- I will forgive

- I will serve my family and neighbors

OUR MISSION AS CHURCH:

To Glorify God by delighting in Him through the Word, the Gathering of the saints, and faithful obedience to Jesus Christ in Lakeland.

CONCLUSION The children of men were trying to ruin their own lives because of their sins. Their sins were leading them further away from God.

In Daniel 7, we hear about another Son of Man. He would be the One who would obey the Father perfectly, and by that we would be able to fulfill God's command.

It's only through our Lord Jesus Christ that we are able to bring Glory to God.

While this people from Babel, Babylon, were trying to make a name for themselves, God brings confusion in their languages. That is because, that unity in sin would lead to their destruction and they would not live God's mission for them.

In Acts 2, we see the reverse of what happens there. Because God chose his people, the Church, he wanted that what we read in our text in verse 6 would be now true for His church. Genesis 11:6 “6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.”

The main difference is that now, we will make the majestic name of Christ known on the earth, we will GO and make disciples of all nations.

In the pentecost in Acts 2:11 “11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”” They can hear the Good News of Jesus Christ in their own languages.

The Spiritual Gifts are given to the Church in order to make the name of Jesus exalted through all the Nations.

Finally - Babylon (babel) is destroyed

Revelation 18:2 “2 And he called out with a mighty voice, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast.”

And the New Heavens and the New Earth come from above!

Revelation 21:1–4 “1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” The Promise will be ultimately fulfilled and we will live with our Lord forever.

It is with that hope that we celebrate the Lord's Supper this morning.