Shall we bow our
heads for prayer?
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Father in heaven, we thank You
so much for this beautiful day
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that You have given us.
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We're thankful that in
spite of the sin in this world
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there still is so much
beauty to thank You for.
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We just ask that as we open Your
Holy Word, and we study about
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the Tower of Babel
and end time Babylon,
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that Your Holy Spirit
will be with us and help us to
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understand how from antiquity
You were preparing to bring
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the Seed into the
world to bless all nations.
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We thank You, Lord, for hearing
our prayer, for we ask it
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in Jesus' name, Amen.
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We'd like to begin our
study today in the book of
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Genesis 9:1, Genesis 9:1.
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This verse is describing God's
plan for Noah and his family,
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and their
descendents after the flood.
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And we find the following words:
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You notice that God's plan after
the flood was that humanity
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should scatter abroad
over all of the earth,
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and fill the earth.
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Now the Tower of Babel
episode took place approximately
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one hundred
years after the flood.
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And as we read Genesis 11,
we discover that human beings
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did exactly the opposite of
what God had told them to do.
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Instead of scattering
abroad over all of the earth,
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they conglomerated
together, they consolidated
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together in one place.
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Let's go in our
Bibles to Genesis 11:1, 2,
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Genesis 11:1, 2. It says:
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Actually, a better translation
is "as they journeyed
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toward the East," because
if you look at the geography,
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you'll discover that Mt. Ararat
is in Turkey, and Babylon,
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where the Tower
of Babel was built,
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is actually
southeast from Turkey.
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And so a better translation,
as many modern versions have it,
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is that they traveled towards
the east. It says that they:
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Now undoubtedly the reason why
they decided to dwell there was
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because Ararat is a place
where there are many mountains.
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The land is not so fertile.
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Therefore they looked
for more fertile ground.
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It's interesting to notice
that Genesis 11 begins by saying
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that they all
spoke the same language.
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Now if you look at the
world today you'll discover that
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people who speak the same
language tend to band together.
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Language unites
people in a national unity.
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It's much more natural to
unite people who speak the same
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language and the same dialect.
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We're going to find in this
story, however, that the devil
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had a very special plan in mind,
taking into account that there
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was one language and one speech.
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And that is that the devil,
instead of wanting them to
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spread abroad over the earth,
he wanted them to consolidate
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together in one place.
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Because when you have
this type of consolidation,
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apostasy is much easier
when people band together.
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And, of course, ultimately
the devil's purpose was to
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demoralize the human race, to
totally corrupt the human race
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shortly after the flood, as he
had tried to do before the flood
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in order to make the Holy line,
from which the Messiah would
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come, disappear
from human history.
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The whole Tower of Babel
episode needs to be understood
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in the light of Genesis 3:15.
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The devil, in this story, is
trying to consolidate humanity
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in open rebellion against
God, to destroy the Holy line,
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to totally corrupt
and demoralize the world,
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so that the promised Messiah,
who would crush the serpent's
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head, would not be able to come.
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Now it's interesting to notice
who the builder of the city
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and the Tower of Babel was.
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If we go back to Genesis
10: 8-11, we discover the name
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of the builder of the city
of Babylon and of this tower.
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It says there in Genesis 10:8:
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And then several other
cities are mentioned as well.
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And, by the way, the cities
that are mentioned are the worst
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enemies of Israel
in the Old Testament.
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Now Nimrod was a descendent
of Ham, and the line of Ham
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was the most wicked line
of the three sons of Noah.
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Of course, Shem
continued the Holy line.
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Ham brought into existence
the kingdom of Babylon, Assyria,
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also other kingdoms
that were inimical to God,
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and inimical to God's people.
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Now it's interesting to notice
that the name Nimrod means
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rebellion. In Hebrew the
name Nimrod means rebellion.
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And, of course, this whole
enterprise at the Tower of Babel
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was a rebellious enterprise.
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Now lest you think
that that's not important,
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over seventy times in the
book of Genesis we find God
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emphasizing the
meaning of a name.
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In Genesis names are not
just given to identify people.
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Names are given in order to
describe the character of the
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bearer of the name.
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And in Genesis you have God
changing names very frequently
00:08:09.28\00:08:12.75
when the character changes.
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And so the name
Nimrod, rebellion,
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is very, very important.
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This descendent of Ham,
who was intent on establishing
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an apostate
religion against God.
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By the way, later Babylonian
tradition said that Nimrod
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married a woman
called Semiramis.
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And when both of them
died, the Babylonian belief came
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that Nimrod went to the
sun and became the sun god,
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and Semiramis went to the moon,
and she became the moon goddess.
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In other words, we
have this apostate idolatry,
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which originated with
Nimrod at the Tower of Babel;
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the intention of
the devil to totally
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demoralize the human race.
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Now go with me back to Genesis
11, and I'd like to read verses
00:09:01.33\00:09:06.66
3 and 4, Genesis 11:3, 4.
00:09:06.69\00:09:10.92
It continues saying here:
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Now probably some of
you have been to Israel.
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And one thing which
really strikes you when you go
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to Israel is the amount of
stones that you have there.
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There seem to be rocks
everywhere, and most of the
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ancient edifications
were made out of rock.
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But we're talking here
about the Valley of Mesopotamia.
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We're talking about a place
where even today there's not
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an abundance of
rocks, but construction
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is made with bricks.
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And, of course, there's a
lot of asphalt because of the
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tremendous amount of oil.
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You know, the geographical
location today would be Iraq.
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And so this is historically
true, what is being said here.
00:10:03.36\00:10:07.40
Now notice verse 4:
00:10:07.43\00:10:10.07
Notice that word ourselves,
this is a selfish enterprise.
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There it is again!
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What didn't they want to happen?
00:10:37.30\00:10:39.32
They did not want to be what?
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They did not
want to be scattered
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on the face of the earth.
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They wanted to consolidate
in one great apostate united
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system against God.
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You might call
this a New World Order.
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It was no longer a patriarchal
type of existence where each
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household
basically was independent
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of the other household.
00:11:01.27\00:11:02.30
This is the first
time that you have a
00:11:02.33\00:11:03.75
monarchy in human history.
00:11:03.78\00:11:05.57
Now I want you to notice
a very interesting statement
00:11:05.99\00:11:10.61
that I found in the
book, Patriarchs and Prophets.
00:11:10.64\00:11:12.84
By the way, this is my favorite
book on Old Testament history.
00:11:12.87\00:11:17.00
It's tremendous. It
has incredible insights.
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It's been given away here in
the seminar to several people.
00:11:19.48\00:11:22.62
Allow me to just
read you this statement.
00:11:22.65\00:11:25.37
It's found on page 119 of the
book, Patriarchs and Prophets.
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It says this: God had
directed men to disperse
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throughout the earth to
replenish and subdue it.
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But these Babel builders
determined to keep their
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community united in one
body, and to found a monarchy
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that should eventually
embrace the whole earth.
00:11:49.69\00:11:53.28
Monarchy, that means
one ruler governing over all
00:11:53.31\00:11:57.34
of the world, basically.
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It continues saying: Thus their
city would become the metropolis
00:11:59.13\00:12:04.61
of a universal empire.
00:12:04.64\00:12:07.34
Its glory would command
the admiration and homage
00:12:07.37\00:12:11.22
of the world and render
the founders illustrious.
00:12:11.25\00:12:16.92
The magnificent tower,
reaching to the heavens,
00:12:16.95\00:12:20.70
was intended to stand as a
monument of the power and wisdom
00:12:20.73\00:12:26.34
of its builders,
perpetuating their fame
00:12:26.37\00:12:30.22
to the latest generations.
00:12:30.25\00:12:32.48
The word ourselves in
this verse indicates that this
00:12:32.51\00:12:38.48
was a selfish enterprise.
00:12:38.51\00:12:40.33
They wanted to bring
glory and honor to themselves.
00:12:40.36\00:12:43.49
They wanted to
establish a universal empire
00:12:43.52\00:12:47.23
in apostasy against God.
00:12:47.26\00:12:49.66
In fact, later on in history,
over a thousand years later,
00:12:49.69\00:12:54.52
another Babylonian ruler
named Nebuchadnezzar established
00:12:54.55\00:12:59.27
what is known as the
Neo-Babylonian Empire
00:12:59.30\00:13:02.33
in the same
geographical location.
00:13:02.36\00:13:04.97
And we catch a little bit of the
spirit of the original builders
00:13:05.00\00:13:08.74
by looking at the
spirit that Nebuchadnezzar had.
00:13:08.77\00:13:11.78
Notice Daniel 4:30, Daniel 4:30.
00:13:11.81\00:13:18.67
Here we have
Nebuchadnezzar's spirit.
00:13:18.70\00:13:20.27
It's the same spirit
as the Babel builders.
00:13:20.30\00:13:23.02
It says here, Nebuchadnezzar
speaking about his kingdom,
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The king spoke saying, Is not
this great Babylon that I have
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built for a royal
dwelling by my mighty power,
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and for the honor of my majesty?
00:13:41.72\00:13:45.62
He had the same spirit
as the original builders:
00:13:45.65\00:13:49.73
selfish, wanting
to exalt himself.
00:13:49.76\00:13:53.00
Now you'll notice that
they wanted to build the tower
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to reach unto the heavens.
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You need to understand
this in the light of the flood.
00:13:57.30\00:14:00.29
The fact is that perhaps
they wanted to build the tower
00:14:00.32\00:14:05.14
so high that they could
explain the reason for the flood
00:14:05.17\00:14:09.80
which was scientifically absurd.
00:14:09.83\00:14:12.09
But even more importantly,
in their minds, they felt that
00:14:12.12\00:14:15.90
they needed to build a tower
taller than what the waters
00:14:15.93\00:14:19.64
of the flood had reached,
so that in case there should be
00:14:19.67\00:14:22.90
another flood, they would be
able to climb up on the tower,
00:14:22.93\00:14:26.77
and they would
be able to deliver
00:14:26.80\00:14:28.39
themselves from destruction.
00:14:28.42\00:14:30.50
In other words, they distrusted
the Word of God when God said,
00:14:30.53\00:14:34.44
I will not send another
flood upon the earth, they said,
00:14:34.47\00:14:38.23
Let's build a
tower just in case.
00:14:38.26\00:14:41.41
It was a project
totally built upon selfishness.
00:14:41.44\00:14:47.33
Now you notice here that
they say that they want to make
00:14:47.36\00:14:50.66
themselves a name.
00:14:50.69\00:14:52.32
Probably a better translation
would be, they wanted their
00:14:52.35\00:14:56.43
reputation to become known.
00:14:56.46\00:14:58.39
They wanted to become renowned.
00:14:58.42\00:15:00.27
Now these individuals, the
builders of the Tower of Babel,
00:15:00.30\00:15:03.87
were actually sharing the
same spirit as the sons or the
00:15:03.90\00:15:09.79
daughters of men in Genesis 6.
00:15:09.82\00:15:14.69
I want you to notice Genesis
6, the giants that came from the
00:15:14.72\00:15:20.07
relationship between the Sons of
God, and the daughters of men.
00:15:20.10\00:15:23.04
Genesis 6:2. It says there:
That the Sons of God saw the
00:15:23.07\00:15:32.21
daughters of men,
that they were beautiful.
00:15:32.24\00:15:34.29
And they took wives for
themselves of all they chose.
00:15:34.32\00:15:38.69
Who intercrossed here? or
interbred? the Sons of God,
00:15:38.72\00:15:45.14
and whom? and
the daughters of men.
00:15:45.17\00:15:48.05
Now I want you t notice verse 4.
00:15:48.08\00:15:49.75
There were giants,
nephilim, is the word.
00:15:49.78\00:15:53.66
There were giants on
the earth in those days,
00:15:53.69\00:15:56.11
and also afterwards.
00:15:56.14\00:15:58.16
So you noticed that the giants
were not only the result of the
00:15:58.19\00:16:01.29
relationship between the Sons of
God, and the daughters of men,
00:16:01.32\00:16:03.70
they existed both
before and after these giants.
00:16:03.73\00:16:06.59
But now notice the expression,
it says, verse 4 again:
00:16:06.62\00:16:11.15
There were giants on
the earth in those days,
00:16:11.18\00:16:13.31
and also afterward when the Sons
of God came in to the daughters
00:16:13.34\00:16:16.63
of men, and they
bore children to them.
00:16:16.66\00:16:18.75
Now here comes the key portion:
Those were the mighty men who
00:16:18.78\00:16:23.48
were of old. Men of
what? men of renown.
00:16:23.51\00:16:28.14
It's the identical expression
that is used in Genesis 11:
00:16:28.17\00:16:31.10
Let us make a
name for ourselves.
00:16:31.13\00:16:32.92
In other words it really
says, they were men with a name,
00:16:32.95\00:16:38.49
or with a reputation.
00:16:38.52\00:16:40.09
And if you read the very next
verse you can see what kind of
00:16:40.13\00:16:43.09
reputation they had.
00:16:43.12\00:16:44.48
Every intent of the
imagination of their hearts
00:16:44.51\00:16:47.74
was only evil continually.
00:16:47.77\00:16:50.61
That's the type of
name that they had.
00:16:50.64\00:16:52.94
They were wicked. They were
renowned for their iniquity.
00:16:52.97\00:16:57.71
By the way, the expression,
Sons of men is used for
00:16:57.74\00:17:02.87
the builders of
the Tower of Babel.
00:17:02.90\00:17:04.08
Did you notice
that? Sons of men?
00:17:04.11\00:17:05.89
Now in Genesis chapter
6 you have Sons of God,
00:17:05.92\00:17:10.43
Daughters of men.
Here you have Sons of men.
00:17:10.46\00:17:15.48
Do you think maybe there
were Daughters of God also?
00:17:15.51\00:17:18.68
Have you ever stopped to wonder
why the Sons of God looked at
00:17:18.71\00:17:24.94
the Daughters of men and
they didn't pay any attention
00:17:24.97\00:17:27.46
to the Daughters of God?
00:17:27.49\00:17:28.73
Later on in this series I'm
going to explain the reason why.
00:17:28.76\00:17:32.65
The Daughters of men, which are
descendents from the lineage of
00:17:32.68\00:17:36.61
Cain, had something attractive
that the Daughters of God
00:17:36.64\00:17:39.44
did not have, and it had to do
with their external appearance.
00:17:39.47\00:17:43.22
Now the Sons of men here
are the male counterpart of the
00:17:43.25\00:17:49.29
Daughters of men
of Genesis chapter 6.
00:17:49.32\00:17:51.43
The Daughters of men
are the descendents of Cain;
00:17:51.46\00:17:54.49
the women descendents of Cain.
00:17:54.52\00:17:56.06
The Sons of men here are
the male descendents of whom?
00:17:56.09\00:17:59.97
of Cain. If you
read Ecclesiastes 8:11,
00:18:00.00\00:18:05.41
it says that because
the sentence is not given
00:18:05.44\00:18:08.97
against the wicked
immediately, their heart,
00:18:09.00\00:18:12.06
the heart of the Sons
of men, is set to do evil.
00:18:12.09\00:18:16.79
In other words, the expression,
Sons of men, in Genesis
00:18:16.82\00:18:19.78
represents the wicked.
00:18:19.81\00:18:22.53
Now we need to take
a look at Genesis 11:5.
00:18:22.56\00:18:29.47
Let's continue our
analysis of this passage.
00:18:29.50\00:18:31.97
Genesis 11:5. It says here:
00:18:32.00\00:18:37.04
See the expression, Sons
of men? represents the wicked,
00:18:49.08\00:18:52.53
the male counterpart
of the Daughters of men.
00:18:52.56\00:18:56.02
The Sons of God are the
what? they are the righteous,
00:18:56.05\00:18:59.71
according to what we've studied.
00:18:59.74\00:19:01.31
Now notice verse 6:
00:19:01.34\00:19:03.65
Were they united
in this enterprise?
00:19:09.07\00:19:11.65
They most certainly were.
00:19:11.68\00:19:13.04
They were united in
rebellion against God.
00:19:13.07\00:19:15.18
What kept them glued together?
00:19:20.65\00:19:22.77
The fact that they
spoke the same language.
00:19:22.80\00:19:25.57
You see, they didn't need to
scatter over all of the earth,
00:19:25.60\00:19:28.55
because they all
spoke the same language.
00:19:28.58\00:19:31.40
But now notice what God says.
00:19:31.43\00:19:34.04
And this is what they...
00:19:34.07\00:19:36.19
What God is saying is
this is only the beginning
00:19:37.66\00:19:43.22
of what they intend to do.
00:19:43.25\00:19:45.49
And unless I nip this
thing in the bud, it is going to
00:19:45.52\00:19:50.93
totally get out of control.
00:19:50.96\00:19:52.84
The world is going to
become totally corrupted,
00:19:52.87\00:19:55.21
and then the holy
line will disappear,
00:19:55.24\00:19:57.95
and there will be no Messiah.
00:19:57.98\00:20:00.21
And so it says:
This is what they...
00:20:00.24\00:20:04.73
Basically, their master plan
was to establish a One World
00:20:12.99\00:20:18.56
Government in alienation from
God, totally united in iniquity,
00:20:18.59\00:20:25.12
and to erase from the
world the memory of God.
00:20:25.15\00:20:30.62
But God knew
what they were doing.
00:20:30.65\00:20:33.15
And so God looks and He says,
they all have one language,
00:20:33.18\00:20:37.11
they all have one intention,
they all have one purpose,
00:20:37.14\00:20:40.06
so I'm going to do something
to nip this in the bud before
00:20:40.09\00:20:43.53
they carry it so far that
the knowledge of God disappears
00:20:43.56\00:20:48.18
from the earth.
And so in Genesis 11:7
00:20:48.21\00:20:52.22
we find what God does.
00:20:52.25\00:20:54.76
And, of course, we're all
acquainted with this story.
00:20:54.79\00:20:57.01
It says in verse 7:
00:20:57.04\00:20:58.72
God is speaking.
00:20:59.83\00:21:01.10
And that's exactly what God did.
00:21:13.77\00:21:16.21
Now I want you to imagine
what this must have been like.
00:21:16.24\00:21:20.65
They were building this gigantic
tower, and probably it had
00:21:20.68\00:21:26.07
reached a height where they
had to communicate by levels.
00:21:26.10\00:21:31.66
In other words, one person
communicating to another person
00:21:31.69\00:21:34.58
lower on the tower.
00:21:34.61\00:21:35.72
And, of course, they passed
along the materials for the
00:21:35.75\00:21:39.10
building of the tower.
00:21:39.13\00:21:40.18
And suddenly, by a
divine miracle, their language
00:21:40.21\00:21:45.13
is confused. In other words,
they're given the capacity of
00:21:45.16\00:21:47.96
speaking, probably, many
of the languages that we have
00:21:47.99\00:21:51.03
in the world today.
00:21:51.06\00:21:52.09
And so the one that's at the
top level says to the next one,
00:21:52.12\00:21:56.98
Hey, pass me some bricks.
00:21:57.01\00:21:59.09
And the one on the lower
says ¿Qué fue lo que dijiste?
00:21:59.12\00:22:03.61
And then he talks
to the one below him,
00:22:03.64\00:22:08.79
and he's talking in French.
00:22:08.82\00:22:10.02
And the one below him
is speaking in German.
00:22:10.05\00:22:12.75
You can imagine the confusion,
and the division that came
00:22:12.78\00:22:17.84
as a result of God doing this.
00:22:17.87\00:22:20.12
In fact, they had to quit their
enterprise of building the city,
00:22:20.15\00:22:27.82
and building the tower.
00:22:27.85\00:22:29.77
And they scattered
over all of the earth.
00:22:29.80\00:22:32.98
We're going to notice
that in the next verse.
00:22:33.01\00:22:35.19
They scattered over the whole
earth, and they formed societies
00:22:35.22\00:22:39.45
according to the
languages which they spoke.
00:22:39.48\00:22:42.20
Now why was this God's plan?
00:22:42.23\00:22:45.78
Listen folks, it's much
less likely that you're going to
00:22:45.81\00:22:49.78
have a consolidated worldwide
universal rebellion against God
00:22:49.81\00:22:55.89
when you have many
nations, and many tongues,
00:22:55.92\00:22:58.62
and many peoples.
00:22:58.65\00:22:59.68
A universal rebellion against
God is much easier when you
00:22:59.71\00:23:04.46
have everybody consolidated
and gathered together
00:23:04.49\00:23:08.39
as one, to war
against the God of heaven.
00:23:08.42\00:23:11.95
And so God says, If I scatter
them abroad over the earth,
00:23:11.98\00:23:15.86
this will, at least for a long
period of time, keep them from
00:23:15.89\00:23:20.06
consolidating one evil
civilization to totally erase
00:23:20.09\00:23:25.14
from the earth the knowledge
of God, which will mean that
00:23:25.17\00:23:28.48
the holy line will disappear,
and the Messiah that I have
00:23:28.51\00:23:32.43
promised will not come.
00:23:32.46\00:23:33.93
Notice Genesis 11:8 on
this point; why God did this.
00:23:33.96\00:23:39.86
It's explained in
Genesis 11:8. It says:
00:23:39.89\00:23:44.73
The intention was not
only to confuse the languages,
00:23:46.79\00:23:50.89
it was to scatter them.
00:23:50.92\00:23:52.52
God is saying, Listen, if
you don't want to scatter,
00:23:58.65\00:24:01.72
I'll do it for you.
00:24:01.75\00:24:03.21
And they ceased
building the city.
00:24:03.24\00:24:07.47
And now notice verse
9, critically important.
00:24:07.50\00:24:11.37
Does that have
prophetic significance?
00:24:16.72\00:24:19.78
Does Revelation
speak about Babel?
00:24:19.81\00:24:23.46
It calls it Babylon, yes.
00:24:23.49\00:24:27.10
And so it says: Therefore
it's name is called Babel,
00:24:27.13\00:24:31.31
because there the Lord confused
the language of all the earth.
00:24:31.34\00:24:35.48
So now consolidated
rebellion against God,
00:24:44.04\00:24:48.75
a universal rebellion
against God, was made extremely
00:24:48.78\00:24:53.32
difficult, not impossible,
because in the end time it's
00:24:53.35\00:24:56.27
going to happen, but very, very
difficult before the Messiah
00:24:56.30\00:24:59.88
should come that the
whole world gathered together
00:24:59.91\00:25:02.64
in apostasy against God.
00:25:02.67\00:25:05.17
Now do you know that
every nation of the world
00:25:05.20\00:25:08.93
branched out from Babel?
00:25:08.96\00:25:11.80
You know, it's interesting.
00:25:11.83\00:25:14.18
The apostate religion of
Babel has been exported to every
00:25:14.21\00:25:17.74
nation in the world.
00:25:17.77\00:25:18.80
That's why you find
common practices among religions
00:25:18.83\00:25:23.66
that are radically different.
00:25:23.69\00:25:25.13
You have, for
example, the rosary.
00:25:25.16\00:25:29.23
Now I don't know what
denomination you belong to,
00:25:29.26\00:25:31.58
but just to give you an example,
do you know that Hindu's
00:25:31.61\00:25:35.52
use beads in their prayers?
00:25:35.55\00:25:38.01
Did you know that Muslims
use beads in their prayers?
00:25:38.04\00:25:42.53
I saw it myself,
with my own eyes.
00:25:42.56\00:25:44.46
Do you know that Buddhists
use beads, or a type of rosary,
00:25:44.49\00:25:51.08
in their prayers, as
also do Roman Catholics?
00:25:51.11\00:25:54.00
Now the question is, How do you
have such radically different
00:25:54.03\00:25:57.25
religions all
having a common practice?
00:25:57.28\00:26:00.49
The answer is that all of the
nations of the world originated
00:26:00.52\00:26:05.52
at Babel, and the religious
practices, which the nations
00:26:05.55\00:26:09.52
have in common, many of them
contrary to the word of God,
00:26:09.55\00:26:13.80
originated with a common
ancestry at the Tower of Babel,
00:26:13.83\00:26:18.85
including
worshipping the Sun god, Nimrod.
00:26:18.88\00:26:24.41
That proliferated all throughout
Old Testament history.
00:26:24.44\00:26:29.25
By the way, notice Genesis
10: 32, where we are told this.
00:26:29.28\00:26:33.38
Genesis 10:32. It
says there were families...
00:26:33.41\00:26:40.18
All nations were divided
on the earth after the flood.
00:26:54.49\00:26:57.61
So where did all
nations come from?
00:26:57.64\00:26:59.50
All nations came
from the experience
00:26:59.53\00:27:02.59
at the Tower of Babel.
00:27:02.62\00:27:03.90
Now there's something
that I want you to notice,
00:27:03.93\00:27:06.52
which is very significant.
00:27:06.55\00:27:07.83
Immediately after the Tower
of Babel episode is spoken of,
00:27:07.86\00:27:13.15
it ends in Genesis 11:9.
00:27:13.18\00:27:17.20
The very next verse...
00:27:17.23\00:27:19.85
Don't miss this point.
00:27:19.88\00:27:20.91
The very next verse
presents the genealogy of Shem.
00:27:20.94\00:27:27.92
Now you say, Why
is that important?
00:27:27.95\00:27:32.33
For the simple reason that the
Babel builders were descendents
00:27:32.36\00:27:36.82
of whom? of Ham.
00:27:36.85\00:27:39.24
They were the
ones who built Babylon.
00:27:39.27\00:27:43.59
The descendents of Shem would
eventually be whom? Israel.
00:27:43.62\00:27:51.07
And so in this early period
you have the devil establishing
00:27:51.10\00:27:57.33
his system, known as Babylon,
and God preparing the world
00:27:57.36\00:28:04.85
by establishing His
people, the Shemmites.
00:28:04.88\00:28:08.35
And, of course, all
throughout the Old Testament,
00:28:08.38\00:28:11.16
and into the book of Revelation,
the final war is between
00:28:11.19\00:28:15.43
Israel and what? and Babylon.
00:28:15.46\00:28:18.61
And so in Genesis 11
you have the lines drawn.
00:28:18.64\00:28:23.17
You have the builder of Babylon,
Nimrod, the rebellious one,
00:28:23.20\00:28:28.52
and then you have the genealogy
of Shem, from whom Abraham
00:28:28.55\00:28:32.58
will come, and
from whom eventually
00:28:32.61\00:28:34.98
the Messiah will come.
00:28:35.01\00:28:36.64
So you have the idea of the
two seeds already in Genesis 11.
00:28:36.67\00:28:41.43
Already God working to establish
His people, and the devil
00:28:41.46\00:28:44.81
working to establish
his people to war against
00:28:44.84\00:28:48.44
the people of God.
00:28:48.47\00:28:49.50
Are you
understanding what I'm saying?
00:28:49.53\00:28:51.19
Now it just so happens that
living there in the area where
00:28:51.22\00:28:55.52
the Tower of Babel was
built, was a man called Abraham.
00:28:55.55\00:29:01.83
Let's go to the book of
Acts 7: 2-4, Acts 7:2-4.
00:29:03.93\00:29:12.03
It speaks about
this man Abraham.
00:29:12.06\00:29:14.58
By the way, you have three
genealogies in the Bible which
00:29:14.61\00:29:19.60
are of crucial significance: you
have the genealogy in Genesis 5,
00:29:19.63\00:29:23.12
which gives you the lineage from
Seth all the way down to Noah.
00:29:23.15\00:29:29.20
And then you have the genealogy
in Genesis 11, which gives you
00:29:29.23\00:29:33.48
the line from
Shem, the son of Noah,
00:29:33.51\00:29:38.12
all the way down to Abraham.
00:29:38.15\00:29:40.25
And then in Matthew
chapter 1 you have the genealogy
00:29:40.28\00:29:43.50
from Abraham all the way down
to the times of Jesus Christ.
00:29:43.53\00:29:48.29
In other words, God is showing
that He was preserving the Holy
00:29:48.32\00:29:52.72
Seed, even in the midst
of rebellion and apostasy,
00:29:52.75\00:29:56.45
even when it looked like
the Babel builders were going to
00:29:56.48\00:29:58.91
demoralize the
world in its infancy.
00:29:58.94\00:30:01.40
God says, I'm not
going to allow it.
00:30:01.43\00:30:03.13
I'm going to scatter
them all over the earth.
00:30:03.16\00:30:05.43
And then, from this very region,
in Genesis 12:1, immediately
00:30:05.46\00:30:10.06
after the Tower of Babel
episode, God extends to Abraham
00:30:10.09\00:30:14.07
a call. Now notice Acts 7:2.
00:30:14.10\00:30:18.70
Stephen is speaking here.
00:30:20.11\00:30:21.66
Do you know what the
word Mesopotamia means?
00:30:35.11\00:30:37.30
It means, the land
between two rivers.
00:30:37.33\00:30:40.85
And the two rivers are
the Euphrates and the Tigris.
00:30:40.88\00:30:45.00
So where did he live?
00:30:45.03\00:30:47.65
Where did Abraham live?
00:30:47.68\00:30:48.73
He lived in
Babylon. That's right.
00:30:48.76\00:30:51.59
Now notice verse 3.
00:30:51.81\00:30:53.87
And said to him... What
does God say to Abraham?
00:30:53.90\00:30:56.62
What land is that?
00:31:04.03\00:31:05.06
The land of what? Canaan.
00:31:05.09\00:31:08.47
What was in Canaan? Bethlehem.
00:31:08.50\00:31:12.24
What was in Canaan? Jerusalem.
00:31:12.27\00:31:17.02
Who would come to Bethlehem
and Jerusalem? the Messiah.
00:31:17.05\00:31:22.53
So God calls Abraham.
00:31:22.56\00:31:25.84
He says, Come out of Babylon
and I will take you to Canaan.
00:31:25.87\00:31:32.35
Notice verse 4:
00:31:32.38\00:31:34.06
See, there's another
instance where it shows
00:31:38.65\00:31:40.98
that this is Babylon.
00:31:41.01\00:31:42.04
So God calls Abraham out
of Babylon and He takes him
00:31:54.34\00:31:59.44
to Canaan, to the promised land.
00:31:59.47\00:32:01.92
And God promises He's going
to establish a nation from him.
00:32:01.95\00:32:05.43
And, unfortunately, Christians
have missed the point.
00:32:05.46\00:32:09.41
They focus on the nation
instead of the reason why
00:32:09.44\00:32:13.15
God called the nation.
00:32:13.18\00:32:14.62
You see, God did not
call Israel simply because
00:32:14.65\00:32:18.77
He preferred Israel.
00:32:18.80\00:32:20.12
He called Israel because
by preserving this people
00:32:20.15\00:32:24.86
with the truth, and with the
holy line, eventually from this
00:32:24.89\00:32:28.60
people established in Canaan,
in Jerusalem, the Messiah
00:32:28.63\00:32:32.96
would come to the world.
00:32:32.99\00:32:34.24
In other words, the center of
choosing Israel was not Israel.
00:32:34.27\00:32:38.38
It was Israel's Messiah.
00:32:38.41\00:32:40.09
Are you
understanding what I am saying?
00:32:40.12\00:32:41.61
Now, why did God take Abraham
out of Babylon to Canaan?
00:32:41.64\00:32:47.55
Notice what we find in
Joshua 24:2, 3, Joshua 24:2, 3,
00:32:47.58\00:32:58.25
and it clearly explains the
reason why God took him out.
00:32:58.28\00:33:01.27
It says there,
beginning in verse 2:
00:33:01.30\00:33:04.35
What river is that?
00:33:19.62\00:33:20.87
When the Bible speaks of
"the river," it's the Euphrates.
00:33:20.90\00:33:25.03
And then what does it say?
00:33:27.24\00:33:28.79
What was happening
with the lineage of Abraham?
00:33:32.41\00:33:36.01
It was becoming corrupted
by other gods and idolatry.
00:33:36.04\00:33:39.74
Whose agenda was this? Satan.
00:33:39.77\00:33:42.86
Did Satan know that Abraham
was a member of the holy line?
00:33:42.89\00:33:45.76
He certainly... Why
would he want to corrupt him
00:33:45.79\00:33:48.36
with other gods? What
is the devil's battle cry?
00:33:48.39\00:33:53.51
To prevent the Seed
from coming, because the Seed
00:33:53.54\00:33:57.24
is going to crush his head.
00:33:57.27\00:33:59.29
Are you understanding this?
00:33:59.32\00:34:00.93
See, there's more
than meets the eye here.
00:34:00.96\00:34:03.58
God didn't call Abraham to come
out of Babylon to go to Canaan
00:34:03.61\00:34:07.89
because God wanted to
have a favored people, Israel.
00:34:07.92\00:34:10.77
The purpose of Israel was
to proclaim the message of the
00:34:10.80\00:34:13.64
coming Messiah to the world,
so that when the Messiah would
00:34:13.67\00:34:16.12
come the world would
be ready to receive Him.
00:34:16.15\00:34:18.59
You're not with me tonight.
00:34:18.62\00:34:21.73
So it says in verse 3:
Then I took your father Abraham
00:34:21.76\00:34:29.08
from the other
side of the River;
00:34:29.11\00:34:30.62
that is from the Euphrates.
00:34:30.65\00:34:32.72
It says here.
Actually it's seed.
00:34:38.83\00:34:40.68
Now notice Genesis
12:1-3, Genesis 12:1-3.
00:34:45.64\00:34:53.65
By the way, what we're
discussing in our lecture today
00:34:53.68\00:34:55.93
is critical for
understanding Bible prophecy.
00:34:55.96\00:34:58.20
You need to remember what we're
studying, because most Bible
00:34:58.23\00:35:01.74
prophecy today that is
taught, centers on Israel.
00:35:01.77\00:35:04.89
But it misses the
point, because prophecy does
00:35:04.92\00:35:08.81
not center on Israel.
00:35:08.84\00:35:10.24
Prophecy centers
on Israel's Messiah.
00:35:10.27\00:35:14.35
The prophecies of the
Old Testament are Messianic.
00:35:14.38\00:35:17.59
Jesus said, If you believe
Moses, you would believe Me,
00:35:17.62\00:35:22.07
because Moses wrote about Me.
00:35:22.10\00:35:24.33
Beginning at Moses, and all
of the prophets, He expounded on
00:35:24.36\00:35:28.79
them in all of the scriptures
the things concerning Himself.
00:35:28.82\00:35:32.17
Now notice Genesis 12:1-3:
00:35:32.20\00:35:37.00
You see, God called him out.
00:35:40.30\00:35:41.33
Now notice:
00:35:52.48\00:35:53.51
And then He says
you will be a what?
00:35:53.84\00:35:55.26
God blesses him so that he
can become a blessing. It says:
00:35:55.29\00:35:59.85
Jews
00:36:08.23\00:36:09.26
No! It says, all the what?
00:36:10.12\00:36:13.69
Now if you read through Genesis
you'll discover that time
00:36:18.35\00:36:21.56
and again it not only says that
in you all of the nations of the
00:36:21.59\00:36:25.89
earth will be blessed, it says,
in your seed all the nations
00:36:25.92\00:36:30.05
of the earth would be blessed.
00:36:30.08\00:36:31.30
The only reason why God
says that they were going
00:36:31.33\00:36:34.48
to be blessed through
Abraham is because from Abraham
00:36:34.51\00:36:37.74
came whom? from
Abraham came the Messiah.
00:36:37.77\00:36:42.04
Now it's interesting to
notice that God chooses Abraham,
00:36:42.07\00:36:45.91
an individual. From that
individual He forms a huge
00:36:45.94\00:36:50.56
nation, and that nation is
to focus on preparing the world
00:36:50.59\00:36:55.79
for the coming of
whom? of an individual.
00:36:55.82\00:36:58.41
It begins with an
individual, spreads to a people,
00:36:58.44\00:37:02.99
to bring the message
about the Messiah to the world,
00:37:03.02\00:37:05.23
and then brings attention
to an individual at the end.
00:37:05.26\00:37:09.33
And then we're going to
notice that that individual,
00:37:09.36\00:37:13.70
who is Jesus, then calls a
people on the Day of Pentecost
00:37:13.73\00:37:19.93
to proclaim the message of
the Messiah to the whole world.
00:37:19.96\00:37:23.31
In other words, the plan
begins with an individual,
00:37:23.34\00:37:26.54
goes to a nation, to prepare
the world for the coming of the
00:37:26.57\00:37:30.24
Messiah. The Messiah, the
individual comes, and then when
00:37:30.27\00:37:33.82
Jesus comes He calls a people
just like He called the Jewish
00:37:33.85\00:37:37.86
nation, to proliferate
His message to the whole world
00:37:37.89\00:37:41.15
about the Messiah who has come.
00:37:41.18\00:37:43.78
The only difference between
Israel in the Old Testament,
00:37:43.81\00:37:45.85
and the church is that Israel in
the Old Testament was to prepare
00:37:45.88\00:37:48.73
the world for
the coming Messiah.
00:37:48.76\00:37:50.38
The church is supposed
to proclaim to the world
00:37:50.41\00:37:53.37
the Messiah who has come.
00:37:53.40\00:37:54.77
Now this is exciting, isn't it?
00:37:54.80\00:38:01.44
Now notice Galatians 3:16.
00:38:01.47\00:38:04.98
Lest you are wondering
whether I'm on target or not,
00:38:05.01\00:38:08.76
notice Galatians 3:16.
00:38:08.79\00:38:12.33
The scriptures tell
us this very clearly.
00:38:12.36\00:38:15.77
It says there in verse 16:
00:38:15.80\00:38:18.44
To whom were the promises made?
00:38:22.60\00:38:24.70
To Abraham and his what?
and his Seed. And now notice:
00:38:24.73\00:38:28.34
To whom were the promises made?
00:38:41.10\00:38:42.89
The promises made were
made to Abraham and his Seed.
00:38:42.92\00:38:46.88
And who is the Seed of Abraham?
Christ, who is at the very
00:38:46.91\00:38:50.82
center of the call of Abraham.
00:38:50.85\00:38:52.71
It is Jesus Christ.
00:38:52.74\00:38:56.37
By the way, do you know that in
2 Corinthians 1:20 it says that
00:38:56.40\00:39:00.43
all of the promises of God are
Yes and Amen in Jesus Christ.
00:39:00.46\00:39:06.13
By the way, do you know
that God made four basic
00:39:06.16\00:39:10.03
promises to Abraham?
00:39:10.06\00:39:11.15
You have them on your list.
00:39:11.18\00:39:12.25
We don't' have
time to read them.
00:39:12.28\00:39:13.62
We'll come back to them, by
the way, in our next lecture
00:39:13.65\00:39:16.35
where we'll deal more
specifically with Abraham
00:39:16.38\00:39:18.57
and the covenant promises.
00:39:18.60\00:39:19.75
God, first of all, promised
him the blessing; that from him
00:39:19.78\00:39:24.35
would come the blessing.
00:39:24.38\00:39:25.41
That's in Genesis 12:3.
00:39:25.44\00:39:28.82
Secondly he
promised him the land.
00:39:28.85\00:39:32.64
The blessing, the land.
00:39:32.67\00:39:37.25
And some people say He
promised him the land of Canaan.
00:39:37.28\00:39:39.71
Listen folks, Abraham
knew that God was promising him
00:39:39.74\00:39:42.97
much more than
the land of Canaan.
00:39:43.00\00:39:44.64
It says in Romans 4:13
that Abraham knew that God had
00:39:44.67\00:39:50.14
promised him that he
would be the heir of the world.
00:39:50.17\00:39:52.48
And in Hebrews 11 it says
that Abraham looked for a city,
00:39:52.51\00:39:57.79
a heavenly city, whose
builder and maker is God.
00:39:57.82\00:40:02.34
He knew that the center of the
promises was not old Jerusalem,
00:40:02.37\00:40:06.00
but new Jerusalem.
00:40:06.03\00:40:07.41
In other words, God promised
him not only that little stretch
00:40:07.44\00:40:11.27
of land over there known
as Israel, He promised him
00:40:11.30\00:40:14.96
the whole world, of which
that land was a down payment.
00:40:14.99\00:40:18.56
So He promised him the blessing.
00:40:18.59\00:40:21.22
He promised him the land.
00:40:21.25\00:40:22.80
By the way, He
promised him that he would have
00:40:22.83\00:40:25.10
dominion over his enemies.
00:40:25.13\00:40:27.07
He would regain
kingship in other words.
00:40:27.10\00:40:30.60
And He also promised him that he
would have a Seed through whom
00:40:30.63\00:40:35.91
all of the nations of
the earth would be blessed.
00:40:35.94\00:40:38.65
Four basic promises: the
blessing, the land, dominion,
00:40:38.68\00:40:43.18
and the Seed. Now allow
me to share with you some
00:40:43.21\00:40:47.01
very interesting information.
00:40:47.04\00:40:48.52
You know, people ask, Did
the heroes of the Old Testament
00:40:48.55\00:40:51.87
really understand
that all of this was
00:40:51.90\00:40:54.89
pointing to the Messiah?
00:40:54.92\00:40:56.54
That they were called only
with the intention of bringing
00:40:56.57\00:41:00.04
the Messiah, the knowledge
of the Messiah to the world?
00:41:00.07\00:41:02.81
I'm going to share
some information with you.
00:41:02.84\00:41:05.09
I'm not going to read it
right now because we don't have
00:41:05.12\00:41:07.52
the time to read it, but you
have it on your list of texts.
00:41:07.55\00:41:09.92
It's also in the
copy of the lecture.
00:41:09.95\00:41:11.51
I hope that you go through
that copy of the lecture.
00:41:11.54\00:41:13.75
But there's an expression that
is used all throughout the Bible
00:41:13.78\00:41:16.74
and it's the expression, to
call upon the name of the Lord.
00:41:16.77\00:41:20.51
To call upon the
name of the Lord.
00:41:20.54\00:41:23.81
The first time that this
is used is in Genesis 4:26
00:41:23.84\00:41:28.39
where it says that Seth called
upon the name of the Lord.
00:41:28.42\00:41:33.78
Then you find in
Genesis 12:8 that Abraham called
00:41:33.81\00:41:40.97
upon the name of the Lord.
00:41:41.00\00:41:42.39
You find in Genesis
26:25 that Isaac called upon
00:41:42.42\00:41:49.64
the name of the Lord.
00:41:49.67\00:41:50.70
In 1 Kings 18:36, 37
it says that Elijah called
00:41:50.73\00:41:56.35
upon the name of the Lord.
00:41:56.38\00:41:57.65
Do you know that each time they
call upon the name of the Lord,
00:41:57.68\00:42:00.06
there's a common denominator?
00:42:00.09\00:42:01.60
They raise an altar, they offer
a sacrifice, and then they call
00:42:01.63\00:42:05.71
upon the name of the Lord.
00:42:05.74\00:42:06.85
What did those sacrifices
represent when they called
00:42:06.88\00:42:10.31
upon the name of the Lord?
00:42:10.34\00:42:11.37
They represented whom? Jesus.
00:42:11.40\00:42:14.82
And does anybody doubt this?
00:42:14.85\00:42:17.87
In Acts 2:21 Peter on the Day
of Pentecost is preaching this
00:42:17.90\00:42:22.76
tremendous sermon, and Peter
quotes this phrase from the
00:42:22.79\00:42:30.13
Old Testament: Call
upon the name of the Lord,
00:42:30.16\00:42:32.17
and he says that everyone who...
00:42:32.20\00:42:34.55
And who is the Lord in
that text? It is Jesus.
00:42:39.18\00:42:44.38
So upon whom did Seth, Abraham,
Isaac, Elijah, and all of the
00:42:44.41\00:42:50.75
Old Testament heroes call?
00:42:50.78\00:42:52.29
They called upon
the name of Jesus.
00:42:52.32\00:42:55.89
By the way, the apostle
Paul also, in Romans 10:11-13,
00:42:55.92\00:43:01.04
speaks about calling upon
the name of the Lord Jesus
00:43:01.07\00:43:05.22
in order to be saved.
00:43:05.25\00:43:06.60
So all of these Old
Testament heroes understood,
00:43:06.63\00:43:10.00
very clearly understood,
that the sacrifices represented
00:43:10.03\00:43:16.28
the coming of the
Messiah, who was going to die
00:43:16.31\00:43:18.95
for the sins of the world.
00:43:18.98\00:43:20.50
Incidentally, we're explicitly
told in John 8:56, as Jesus is
00:43:20.53\00:43:27.69
speaking with the Jewish
leaders He says, Abraham what?
00:43:27.72\00:43:34.26
Did Abraham
understand Christ's day?
00:43:45.61\00:43:51.33
Did he understand that all
of these promises were to be
00:43:51.36\00:43:53.92
fulfilled in and
through the Messiah?
00:43:53.95\00:43:56.39
The Bible says, Yes.
00:43:56.42\00:43:58.66
So Abraham understood that
Israel was not at the center.
00:43:58.69\00:44:02.59
Jesus was at the center.
00:44:02.62\00:44:04.44
Calling upon the name of the
Lord, upon offering a sacrifice,
00:44:04.47\00:44:08.36
represents the fact
that Jesus dies for our sins,
00:44:08.39\00:44:10.93
and we call upon
His name to receive
00:44:10.96\00:44:14.16
forgiveness for our sins.
00:44:14.19\00:44:16.11
That was at the very center
of the lineage of those who
00:44:16.14\00:44:21.12
were faithful to God.
00:44:21.15\00:44:22.63
By the way, the New Testament
makes it very clear that Jesus
00:44:22.66\00:44:28.24
is the one who brings
the blessing of Abraham.
00:44:28.27\00:44:31.27
Let's read Galatians 3:13, 14.
00:44:31.30\00:44:36.18
It could not be any
more explicit than this.
00:44:36.21\00:44:39.02
Galatians 3:13, 14.
00:44:39.05\00:44:43.26
There you have the
sacrifice of Christ, right?
00:44:55.02\00:44:56.77
Now notice verse 14:
00:44:56.80\00:44:58.96
Jesus took the curse upon Him
so that the blessing of Abraham
00:45:14.73\00:45:20.15
could come upon everyone
who what? who believes in Jesus.
00:45:20.18\00:45:25.59
All of these
prophecies were Messianic.
00:45:25.62\00:45:28.88
And so you have in the Old
Testament the devil doing his
00:45:28.91\00:45:33.27
utmost to keep
the Seed from coming.
00:45:33.30\00:45:37.00
He knows that God is choosing
Abraham, and so he corrupts
00:45:37.03\00:45:42.32
the holy line, even
Terah, the father of Abraham.
00:45:42.35\00:45:45.80
God says, I'm going to take you
out of there, and I'm going to
00:45:45.83\00:45:47.85
bring you to the land of Canaan,
to preserve pure the faith,
00:45:47.88\00:45:51.36
and to prepare Canaan for
the coming of the Messiah,
00:45:51.39\00:45:54.36
where He will be born,
and where the Holy Spirit
00:45:54.39\00:45:56.52
will be poured out.
00:45:56.55\00:45:57.58
And so God takes Abraham out.
00:45:57.61\00:45:59.38
Are you understanding
what's happening here?
00:45:59.41\00:46:02.47
By the way, the Tower
of Babel made things a lot
00:46:02.50\00:46:05.99
more difficult, too.
00:46:06.02\00:46:07.05
It made it impossible
for rebellion to consolidate,
00:46:07.08\00:46:09.71
but it also made
it very difficult
00:46:09.74\00:46:11.65
to proclaim the gospel.
00:46:11.68\00:46:12.74
Because now you
couldn't proclaim the gospel in
00:46:12.77\00:46:20.15
in a multiplicity of languages.
00:46:20.18\00:46:23.14
The question is,
how could you do it?
00:46:23.17\00:46:25.02
This is where
the Lord intervened.
00:46:25.05\00:46:28.48
Notice Acts 1:8, Acts 1:8.
00:46:28.51\00:46:35.75
Do you know that God
undid the curse of Babel
00:46:35.78\00:46:38.72
by giving a gift to the church?
00:46:38.75\00:46:41.19
Acts 1:8. Here Jesus is speaking
to His disciples. He says:
00:46:41.22\00:46:50.81
Now they're going to
witness about the Messiah
00:47:09.73\00:47:11.49
to the whole world.
00:47:11.52\00:47:12.55
But there's a problem at Babel.
00:47:12.58\00:47:15.73
All of the
languages were confused.
00:47:15.76\00:47:18.36
How could these fishermen,
who spoke Arabic, proclaim the
00:47:18.39\00:47:23.00
message to the
whole world, where the
00:47:23.03\00:47:24.92
languages were confused?
00:47:24.95\00:47:27.18
What did God give on
the Day of Pentecost?
00:47:27.21\00:47:30.58
By the way, do you know
that there were thirteen nations
00:47:30.61\00:47:34.50
on the Day of Pentecost gathered
there, to whom the disciples
00:47:34.53\00:47:38.66
were preaching to?
00:47:38.69\00:47:39.72
You can read it in Acts 2.
00:47:39.75\00:47:41.52
There were thirteen
nations mentioned by name,
00:47:41.55\00:47:44.09
each with its own language.
00:47:44.12\00:47:46.90
And suddenly God gave the
apostles the capacity to speak
00:47:46.93\00:47:53.18
instantaneously, and perfectly,
the languages of those peoples.
00:47:53.21\00:47:59.86
In other words, what God did at
Babel, confused the languages,
00:47:59.89\00:48:05.24
scattered people into different
nations so that evil could not
00:48:05.27\00:48:08.80
consolidate, so that the Messiah
could come, which complicated
00:48:08.83\00:48:13.25
the preaching of the gospel.
00:48:13.28\00:48:14.66
Now on Pentecost God
says, The Seed is already come.
00:48:14.69\00:48:17.73
He's done what He needs to do.
00:48:17.76\00:48:19.03
And so now what I'm going to do
is I'm going to bridge the gap.
00:48:19.06\00:48:22.47
I'm going to give
the gift of tongues
00:48:22.50\00:48:24.14
so that my followers can preach
the gospel to the uttermost ends
00:48:24.17\00:48:28.14
of the earth, in the
languages of all of the nations.
00:48:28.17\00:48:31.45
Wow! You see how
God is working here?
00:48:31.48\00:48:35.99
It's amazing how God is weaving
a pattern here, very clearly.
00:48:36.02\00:48:42.06
And now He calls a
people to take His message
00:48:42.09\00:48:45.55
to the whole world; the
message of Jesus who has come,
00:48:45.58\00:48:50.63
in contrast to the Old
Testament, the Jews were chosen
00:48:50.66\00:48:55.57
to preach the
Messiah who would come.
00:48:55.60\00:48:57.75
But it's the same Messiah!
00:48:57.78\00:48:59.89
Now we must go in the
few minutes that we have left
00:48:59.92\00:49:03.54
to the end time. Do you
know that the book of Revelation
00:49:03.57\00:49:07.72
tells us that at the end
of time there is going to be
00:49:07.75\00:49:13.01
a gigantic consolidation,
and unification of the world
00:49:13.05\00:49:18.28
of one great
apostate system against God?
00:49:18.31\00:49:22.26
I'm going to go through
the details very quickly.
00:49:22.29\00:49:24.93
I wish we had the time to read
all of the texts, but I'm just
00:49:24.96\00:49:28.03
going to paint
the picture for you.
00:49:28.06\00:49:29.50
We're going to be studying
these things in much more detail
00:49:29.53\00:49:32.61
as we go along in this seminar.
00:49:32.64\00:49:33.99
We're going to talk about the
beast, the image to the beast.
00:49:34.02\00:49:36.05
We're going to
talk about the dragon.
00:49:36.08\00:49:37.31
We're going to talk
about the battle of Armageddon.
00:49:37.34\00:49:39.09
We're going to talk
about the millennium.
00:49:39.12\00:49:40.95
We're going to deal with all
of these issues piece by piece,
00:49:40.98\00:49:43.64
but what I want you to see now
is the global picture of what
00:49:43.67\00:49:47.73
Revelation
portrays is going to happen.
00:49:47.76\00:49:49.85
You're going to have, once
again, the same experience as
00:49:49.88\00:49:52.46
the Tower of Babel, only
it's not going to be in one
00:49:52.49\00:49:55.19
geographical location.
00:49:55.23\00:49:56.38
It is going to be a whole world
united in rebellion against God,
00:49:56.41\00:50:00.89
in spite of all
of the languages.
00:50:00.92\00:50:04.26
One gigantic worldwide economic
system, political system,
00:50:04.29\00:50:10.45
national system. It's going to
be amazing, with the intention
00:50:10.48\00:50:17.56
of uniting the world
in rebellion against God.
00:50:17.59\00:50:23.44
Let me portray
the picture for you.
00:50:23.47\00:50:25.41
Revelation 17:5. Don't even
bother to look for the text.
00:50:25.44\00:50:28.83
They're in your list,
and they're in the lecture.
00:50:28.86\00:50:31.16
All of this is explained
in the copy of the lecture.
00:50:31.19\00:50:33.67
I hope that you'll
take the time to study it.
00:50:33.70\00:50:35.83
It's very important!
00:50:35.86\00:50:37.03
Revelation 17:5 says
that the final power,
00:50:37.06\00:50:40.90
which will rule the
world, is called Babylon.
00:50:40.93\00:50:43.68
And it says in
Revelation 17:1 that Babylon
00:50:43.71\00:50:52.24
sits upon many waters.
00:50:52.27\00:50:54.14
In Revelation 16:12
it says that the many
00:50:54.17\00:50:59.79
waters are the Euphrates.
00:50:59.82\00:51:01.62
Any relationship between
Genesis 11 and Revelation 17?
00:51:01.65\00:51:07.67
Yeah, this harlot represents
an apostate religious system.
00:51:07.70\00:51:13.03
She's seated, which
means that she governs
00:51:13.06\00:51:17.54
upon the waters of the
Euphrates, but it's not the
00:51:17.57\00:51:21.83
literal Euphrates.
00:51:21.86\00:51:22.90
Because the angel explains that
waters represent multitudes,
00:51:22.93\00:51:26.60
nations, tongues, and peoples.
00:51:26.63\00:51:29.27
In other words, she's ruling
over all of these nations that
00:51:29.30\00:51:33.77
came from what
happened at the Tower of Babel.
00:51:33.80\00:51:36.65
She sits upon the Euphrates,
and she gives her wine to all
00:51:36.68\00:51:42.16
of the nations of the world.
00:51:42.19\00:51:43.48
Revelation 18:2, 3.
00:51:43.51\00:51:46.12
The wine represents her apostate
false religious teachings
00:51:46.15\00:51:50.74
that makes the
nations drunk with her wine.
00:51:50.77\00:51:54.70
Now do you suppose that
God is going to have a people
00:51:54.73\00:51:58.53
who are going to warn against
this worldwide apostate system?
00:51:58.56\00:52:03.94
It's no coincidence, folks, that
it says that the harlot sits
00:52:03.97\00:52:09.13
upon many waters, and
it interprets the waters in
00:52:09.16\00:52:12.32
Revelation 17:15 as multitudes,
nations, tongues, and peoples.
00:52:12.35\00:52:17.13
Revelation 14:6-12 warns against
this system, by saying that
00:52:17.16\00:52:24.74
God sends three
messages, by three angels.
00:52:24.77\00:52:28.66
And these messages are to
go to every nation, kindred,
00:52:28.69\00:52:32.72
tongue, and people.
00:52:32.75\00:52:34.32
The very words that are used to
describe where the harlot sits.
00:52:34.35\00:52:37.90
So is God going to have
two groups at the end of time,
00:52:37.93\00:52:41.64
just like at the Tower of Babel?
00:52:41.67\00:52:44.32
He most certainly is.
00:52:44.35\00:52:45.77
He's going to have one group,
like the descendents of Shem,
00:52:45.80\00:52:49.71
who are faithful to God,
who preserved the holy line
00:52:49.74\00:52:53.29
of Messiah,
spiritually speaking.
00:52:53.32\00:52:55.29
And then there's going to be
the Babel builders who are in
00:52:55.32\00:52:58.80
apostasy against God.
00:52:58.83\00:53:00.69
Are you understanding me or not?
00:53:00.72\00:53:02.64
Tremendous! And those who are
building Babylon, this harlot,
00:53:02.67\00:53:08.03
and the kings of the earth,
and it says in Revelation 18,
00:53:08.06\00:53:10.48
the merchants of the
earth, are all working together.
00:53:10.51\00:53:13.86
It says in Revelation 17 that
they will all have one mind.
00:53:13.89\00:53:18.17
Did they have
that at Babel? Yes.
00:53:18.20\00:53:22.00
They will have one mind
in apostasy against God.
00:53:22.03\00:53:26.19
And you will have the
same experience that took place
00:53:26.22\00:53:29.63
in the days of Daniel, when
Nebuchadnezzar raised an image
00:53:29.66\00:53:32.87
in honor of himself, and he
commanded everyone to worship,
00:53:32.90\00:53:36.61
and whoever did not
worship was to be killed.
00:53:36.64\00:53:38.52
Remember that that
happened in Babylon
00:53:38.55\00:53:42.45
where the Tower
of Babel was built.
00:53:42.48\00:53:44.74
Revelation 13 picks up on that,
and it speaks about an image
00:53:44.77\00:53:49.22
which is built by the beast.
00:53:49.25\00:53:53.72
And the beast commands
everyone to worship his image.
00:53:53.75\00:53:56.52
And whoever does not worship
the image will be killed.
00:53:56.55\00:53:59.94
You see, it's picking up on what
happened in ancient Babylon.
00:53:59.97\00:54:02.65
Only in the end time it's
not going to be a literal image
00:54:02.68\00:54:05.64
we're going to study.
00:54:05.67\00:54:06.84
It represents a worldwide
system in apostasy against God.
00:54:06.87\00:54:12.60
So God raises up a people to
preach to those upon whom this
00:54:12.63\00:54:17.14
apostate religious system sits.
00:54:17.17\00:54:19.26
And God actually calls
His people to come out,
00:54:19.29\00:54:23.33
just like He did with Abraham.
00:54:23.36\00:54:25.30
Notice Revelation 18, so
interesting, so many things
00:54:25.33\00:54:30.45
to discuss, and so
little time to discuss them.
00:54:30.48\00:54:33.43
Notice
Revelation 18:4, 5. It says:
00:54:33.46\00:54:42.19
Is God going to call a people
out of Babylon in the end time?
00:54:49.78\00:54:53.43
Yes. By the way, do you know
that Babylon has three parts?
00:54:53.46\00:54:57.63
Revelation 16:13 says
that Babylon has three parts.
00:54:57.66\00:55:00.89
It's the dragon, the beast,
and the false prophet, and we're
00:55:00.92\00:55:06.21
going to have a whole
lecture on each one of them
00:55:06.24\00:55:07.72
in this series, because
we need to know who they are.
00:55:07.75\00:55:11.39
It's a triple coalition
which unites the whole world
00:55:11.42\00:55:17.06
in rebellion
against God, and God says:
00:55:17.09\00:55:20.97
For her sins have
reached to heaven,
00:55:31.98\00:55:34.15
and God has
remembered her iniquities.
00:55:34.18\00:55:38.08
And, by the way, like the Tower
of Babel came crashing down,
00:55:38.11\00:55:42.80
end time Babylon will
also come crashing down.
00:55:42.83\00:55:48.03
Notice our final
passage: Revelation 16.
00:55:48.06\00:55:51.73
We'd better not be in
Babylon if it's going to
00:55:51.76\00:55:53.72
come crashing down.
00:55:53.75\00:55:54.78
We'd better make sure that we
accept God's call to come out.
00:55:54.81\00:55:58.35
Notice Revelation 16
and beginning with verse 17,
00:55:58.38\00:56:02.53
the seventh plague, the
culmination of this whole
00:56:02.56\00:56:05.60
end times scenario. It says:
00:56:05.63\00:56:07.50
See, now the city
that was united is what?
00:56:31.13\00:56:33.72
is divided into three parts.
00:56:33.75\00:56:36.16
That's about fifty pounds.
00:56:56.51\00:56:57.65
Babylon will fall
just like at the beginning.
00:57:03.95\00:57:10.03
And then God will
take His people home,
00:57:10.06\00:57:12.26
where they will
live with Him forever.
00:57:12.29\00:57:15.46
Folks, we'd better be absolutely
sure that we are not in Babylon.
00:57:15.49\00:57:20.09
Let's be on God's side!
00:57:20.12\00:57:23.07