Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
Ah Friends, yesterday we saw the punishment the Lord meted out to our fore-parents for disobedience. It was indeed a tough bit of justice, but they had been thoroughly warned. And having been kicked out of paradise, you’d think that would instil some sense in them, but it did not, they became even more ungodly. One of our uncles, Cain, killed his brother Abel, and when the Lord asked him for Abel, he was boldfaced enough to reply: ‘I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Gen.4:9) Hn! Can you imagine talking to our earthly parents like that, much less God Almighty? Ah Lord eh! So yuh see Friends, right from the start we had that rude, rebellious, disobedient spirit, which never got us anywhere then, and is still not getting us anywhere today, though many of us persist in displaying it. Anyway, sin blossomed so much amongst early man that at one stage the Lord became totally disenchanted with His most wonderful creation. ‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination (intent) of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord (He regretted) that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth: both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me (I regret) that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:5-8) Oh my people, why can’t we see what a LOVING, tender-hearted, merciful, forgiving God we have and stop being so sinful and disobedient eh? But although man’s sinfulness inflicted a terrible hurt on the Lord and He decided to destroy His handiwork, He still couldn’t bring Himself to just eradicate us from off the earth forever. He gave us a second chance, which shows how much He valued us. And we all know how He instructed Noah to build the ark and take therein His family and two of every living thing, and how the rains came for forty days and nights and flooded the earth and wiped out everything besides the ark and its contents. After the flood receded and Noah came out, the Lord blessed the family saying; ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’ (Gen 9:1) And the Lord made a covenant with Noah (Noahic covenant). Oh Friends, isn’t it interesting how the Lord went around making covenants with man, although He knew that we’d break them. ‘And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token (sign) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow (rainbow) shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is in the earth.’ (Gen.9:11-16) And all God’s people joyfully shouted; ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes Friends, that should have made us happy, because the Lord promised not to destroy us by flood again, and even gave us a sign of His promise, the beautiful rainbow when the skies cry no more. But Friends, I just realized that the Lord didn’t promise never to destroy us or the earth again, He just said by flood, so He’s still entitled to use some other means. (smile) So man was authorized to govern the earth on God’s behalf, but it wasn’t long before we faltered again. At that time ‘the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.’ (Gen.11:1) Everybody spoke the same language. But as Noah’s descendants journeyed eastward, they decided; ‘let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ Gen.11:3) Who knows what they were seeking, strength, fame, security etc, but whatever it was, did not sit well with God. ‘And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined (proposed) to do. Go to (come), let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel (Babylon, confusion); because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.’ (Gen.11:5-9) Ah Friends, when the Lord doesn’t like our doings, He finds ways to confound and confuse us. He did not approve of the people building a tower and a city, which possibly involved pride and other things He detested, so He scattered them abroad and made a muddle of their language, so they could no longer understand each other. Per the scholars, today we have over three thousand dialects and languages. It’s also interesting to note that the name Babel is tied to the Hebrew verb balal, to confuse. However the ancient Babylonians called the city Bab-ilu, which means ‘Gate of God,’ but Babylon eventually came to symbolize a godless society, with sinful pleasures, persecutions and superstitions. How are the mighty fallen! And that’s the history lesson for today my people. I hope knowing where we came from, gives us a little more insight into where we are now, and where we’re going. Sadly, much hasn’t changed in the way we behave towards each other and God, but let’s hope that with a new dawning and a new appreciation of what we have, our lives will take on a more godly character. We’ll continue this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, Much LOVE!…the only way to stop iniquity…LOVE our God…LIVE our Faith…SPREAD His Word…
Ah Friends, yesterday we saw the punishment the Lord meted out to our fore-parents for disobedience. It was indeed a tough bit of justice, but they had been thoroughly warned. And having been kicked out of paradise, you’d think that would instil some sense in them, but it did not, they became even more ungodly. One of our uncles, Cain, killed his brother Abel, and when the Lord asked him for Abel, he was boldfaced enough to reply: ‘I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?’ (Gen.4:9) Hn! Can you imagine talking to our earthly parents like that, much less God Almighty? Ah Lord eh! So yuh see Friends, right from the start we had that rude, rebellious, disobedient spirit, which never got us anywhere then, and is still not getting us anywhere today, though many of us persist in displaying it. Anyway, sin blossomed so much amongst early man that at one stage the Lord became totally disenchanted with His most wonderful creation. ‘And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination (intent) of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord (He regretted) that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth: both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me (I regret) that I have made them. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.’ (Gen.6:5-8) Oh my people, why can’t we see what a LOVING, tender-hearted, merciful, forgiving God we have and stop being so sinful and disobedient eh? But although man’s sinfulness inflicted a terrible hurt on the Lord and He decided to destroy His handiwork, He still couldn’t bring Himself to just eradicate us from off the earth forever. He gave us a second chance, which shows how much He valued us. And we all know how He instructed Noah to build the ark and take therein His family and two of every living thing, and how the rains came for forty days and nights and flooded the earth and wiped out everything besides the ark and its contents. After the flood receded and Noah came out, the Lord blessed the family saying; ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’ (Gen 9:1) And the Lord made a covenant with Noah (Noahic covenant). Oh Friends, isn’t it interesting how the Lord went around making covenants with man, although He knew that we’d break them. ‘And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token (sign) of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow (rainbow) in the cloud, and it shall be for a token (sign) between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow (rainbow) shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is in the earth.’ (Gen.9:11-16) And all God’s people joyfully shouted; ‘Glory Hallelujah!’ Yes Friends, that should have made us happy, because the Lord promised not to destroy us by flood again, and even gave us a sign of His promise, the beautiful rainbow when the skies cry no more. But Friends, I just realized that the Lord didn’t promise never to destroy us or the earth again, He just said by flood, so He’s still entitled to use some other means. (smile) So man was authorized to govern the earth on God’s behalf, but it wasn’t long before we faltered again. At that time ‘the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.’ (Gen.11:1) Everybody spoke the same language. But as Noah’s descendants journeyed eastward, they decided; ‘let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.’ Gen.11:3) Who knows what they were seeking, strength, fame, security etc, but whatever it was, did not sit well with God. ‘And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined (proposed) to do. Go to (come), let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel (Babylon, confusion); because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.’ (Gen.11:5-9) Ah Friends, when the Lord doesn’t like our doings, He finds ways to confound and confuse us. He did not approve of the people building a tower and a city, which possibly involved pride and other things He detested, so He scattered them abroad and made a muddle of their language, so they could no longer understand each other. Per the scholars, today we have over three thousand dialects and languages. It’s also interesting to note that the name Babel is tied to the Hebrew verb balal, to confuse. However the ancient Babylonians called the city Bab-ilu, which means ‘Gate of God,’ but Babylon eventually came to symbolize a godless society, with sinful pleasures, persecutions and superstitions. How are the mighty fallen! And that’s the history lesson for today my people. I hope knowing where we came from, gives us a little more insight into where we are now, and where we’re going. Sadly, much hasn’t changed in the way we behave towards each other and God, but let’s hope that with a new dawning and a new appreciation of what we have, our lives will take on a more godly character. We’ll continue this tomorrow, God willing. Till then, Much LOVE!…the only way to stop iniquity…LOVE our God…LIVE our Faith…SPREAD His Word…
SCRIP-BITS 