First panel:
The creator king reigned over heaven and earth and wanted to share his glory with his human family on earth
Second panel:
God Reign Rejected through the three Rebellions
1. The human family rejected God's rule and chose self rule
2. Rebellious Supernatural beings deepened human depravity by mating with the daughters of men and spreading wickedness
Big idea:
Though the nations turned from God, King Jesus provides a way for every nation to return to His Kingdom
Supernatural beings Corrupt humanity with wickedness so that we cannot see His fullness
Genesis 11:1-4
Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
What's wrong with this idea and ambition?
God commands:
to Noah's family:
Genesis 9:1
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
to Adam's family:
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Their acts of wickedness:
1. The refusal to disperse all over the earth
2. The desire to make a name for themselves
3. The intent to build a temple structure (ziggurat) to worship other gods
In another word, the towel of Babel was built NOT to worship Yahweh
Genesis 11:5-9
But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[a]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
The Dominion Mandate (Genesis 1:26) was about humans being fruitful, multiplying, overseeing the land, and stewarding its resources, through responsible care of the earth
1. Towel of Babel is a Statement of defiant towards what God had intended
How do we ensure that we do not build a towel of Babel?
2. The dispersion of the nations
God allow other lower rank supernatural beings to rule the nations
Deuteronomy 32:8-9
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance, when he divided all mankind, he set up boundaries for the peoples according to the number of the sons of Israel.[a] 9 For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted inheritance.
YahWeh disinherited the nations through the sons of God but Israel was God allocated nation
Moses reminded Israel of how God had formed them through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But the rest of the nations were ruled by the sons of God
Psalm 82:1-8
God presides in the great assembly; he renders judgment among the “gods”: 2 “How long will you[a] defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked?[b] 3 Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. 4 Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. 5 “The ‘gods’ know nothing, they understand nothing. They walk about in darkness; all the foundations of the earth are shaken. 6 “I said, ‘You are “gods”; you are all sons of the Most High.’ 7 But you will die like mere mortals; you will fall like every other ruler.” 8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
YahWeh called the sons of God before Him. They failed to uphold Righteousness and justice among the nations. They turned nations to idolatry and corruption. Due to their rebellion and corruption, God punished them to experience death like human beings when Christ return. Supernatural beings to die like human beings is horrific. Thus they prevent the nations from coming back to the family of God
Are the nations today still under the sons of God?
Daniel 10:12-13
Then he continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. 13 But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia.
We are told that another supernatural beings call Prince of Persia intercepted
Are there other fallen sons of God or supernatural beings overseeing the nations?
There is no need for believers to find out about this, since we don't see it in scripture
All we need today as God's people is to know the Prince of Peace
Colossians 2:13-15
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you[a] alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.[b]
This passage shows Jesus has "disarmed" means to permanently removed. Jesus ascension has done it all
3. God's plan to inherit the nations
Genesis 12:1-3
The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. 2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.[a] 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”[b]
Israel was the north star pointing the nations back to God as seen in
Psalm 82:8
8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth, for all the nations are your inheritance.
God's heart is not just for Israel. His heart has always been for the nations
Sadly, Israel was conquered by the Babylonian but God's plan was not to be thwarted, He sent Jesus
Matthew 28:18-19
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
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