Always
Think Nations
(Part 1)
Part 1 of this study
introduces us to the
concept of nations in the Old testament. Part 2 will shed light
from the
New testament.
BIG PICTURE VERSUS DETAILS
God never loses
sight of the big
picture but man always does. God always sets out to do what He does
because of
the big picture. We mess things up because we lose our objective. The
big
picture gives context to God’s agenda.
Matthew 15:14 (The
Message)
“…When a
blind man leads a blind
man, they both end up in the ditch.“
There are varying degrees of blindness. The truth is we will never
have total
knowledge of God's agenda. God's will is revealed as progressive
revelation.
The degree to which we receive and walk in revelation correlates with
our
desire to pursue His agenda.
God's purpose is NATIONS.
Nothing more
nothing less. This is the big picture we must not lose sight of.
The word Nation according
to M-W
Dictionary:
1 a (1) : NATIONALITY 5a (2) : a
politically organized
nationality (3) : a non-Jewish nationality <why do the nations
conspire -- Psalms 2:1 (Revised Standard Version)> b :
a
community of people composed of one or more nationalities and
possessing a more
or less defined territory and government c : a
territorial
division containing a body of people of one or more nationalities and
usually
characterized by relatively large size and independent status
2 archaic : GROUP, AGGREGATION
3 : a tribe or federation of tribes (as of
American Indians)
‘Lost in Transition’
Between Old and New Testament man loses
sight of the
BIG PICTURE.
A vision always starts with a big picture
and is then
accompanied by a strategy. The problem arises when we are so wrapped up
in
strategizing that we lose sight of the big picture. This happens all
too often.
Consider this, when we
lose sight of
God's big picture, our strategy becomes the enemy of God's overall
agenda.
The word nations
(see Genesis 10:5 - plural tense) appears in the Bible before
the
word nation (see Genesis 12:2 - singular tense). This is not
semantics.
The first mention of the word nation
(singular tense) appears with respect to God blessing Abram who later
is
referred to as Abraham. The name change is not accidental. Abram means,
"exalted or high father" while Abraham means "father of
many nations."
God blesses a nation to bless
nations. Abraham
is a conduit or strategy to God's original intent the same way our
Savior is
His only means for reconciliation. "For
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son...." John
3:16.
Through one He reaches many. This a
pattern by
which God works.
Genesis 10: 5,
32 (NIV)
Versus 5 (MKJV):
“By these were the
coasts of the NATIONS divided in their lands, every one after his
tongue, after
their families, in their nations.”
Versus
32: “These are the
clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their
nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after
the
flood.”
Sons of Noah
- “Sons of Japheth”: Indo-Europeans.
- “Sons of Ham”: Africans, Babylon, Assyria
and Palestine.
- “Sons of Shem”: The Semitic people (Jews).
Interestingly, after the flood in Noah’s
day, the
people started thinking about their own progressive agenda.
Ambition is self
focused; vision is others focused.
God divides and conquers!
The Tower of Babel
Genesis 11:1-9
1AND THE
whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of
expression.
2And as they
journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar,
and
they settled and dwelt there.
3And they
said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.
So they
had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.
4And they
said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into
the sky,
and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
scattered over
the whole earth.
5And the Lord
came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had
built.
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 now nothing they have
imagined
they can do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let
Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that
they may
not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord
scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole
earth,
and they gave up building the city.
9 Therefore
the name of it was called Babel--because there the
Lord confounded
the
language of all the
earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the
face of
the whole earth.
The word confounded,
is also
translated confused. Man's agenda was to settle down and
be
satisfied with making a name for himself. God's purpose was for man to
not only
multiply but fill the whole earth (see Genesis 1:28). So while
God wanted
mankind to spread throughout the earth, the people of Babel thought it
was a better idea to
congregate in one place.
Today, we are so impressed
by the
size of our churches. We
may think that the concept of large assemblies
is a
new thing. When you look at Babel
you see that man has long before desired to congregate around a common
interest. Consider
this, God is not
particularly
impressed with the size of a congregation.
When God looks at a congregation He
is looking
to see (like in the case of the people of Babel)
if its common interest is in sync with His overall agenda: which is
kingdom
advancement around the world. Only men are impressed with numbers
not
God. God is only pleased when His "will is done on earth even as
it
is in heaven."
Let's take a look at languages seen in a
way that you may never
have considered before:
- Communication is
the currency for advancement. Even God acknowledges the power that the
people of Babel
possessed because they had a clarity of thought.
- Diverse languages are man’s burden
for godlessness or idolatry.
- Diverse languages are a creation of
consequence. It was God's strategy to stop an ambition that defied His
vision for mankind.
- God is willing to put an end to unity when
it is rooted in a wrong ideology.
- God NEVER thinks of unity at ANY COST if
it is a hindrance to His will.
A Few Facts about Language
According to one account:
- 1000 spoken in the Americas
- 1320 spoken in the Pacific, Including Australia
www.lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-endanger.cfm
Missionaries with interest in Bible
translation shed
light by “much pioneering work in documenting languages of the world…”
(David
Harrison, Laurence Horn, Rafaella Zanuttini and David Lightfoot).
Genesis 12:2-3, NIV
Genesis 12:2 is the strategy not the vision.
Verse 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.
Genesis 12:3 is the vision not the strategy.
Verse 3
“….and all peoples
on earth will be
blessed through you.”
Note:
If we
misunderstand what vision is and what the strategy is not, we misplace
our
priorities. The vision is always the end game. God's end game is
the
people or nations of the earth.
Joseph: Type of Redemption for the Nations
Genesis 41: 53-57:
53 When the seven
years of plenty were
ended in the land of
Egypt,
54 The seven years
of scarcity and famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would;
the famine
was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt
there was food.
55 But when all the land of
Egypt
was
weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and
Pharaoh
said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.
56 When the famine
was over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to
the
Egyptians; for the famine grew extremely distressing in the land of Egypt.
57 And all countries
came to Egypt to Joseph to buy
grain, because the
famine was severe over all [the known] earth.
Let us all focus on God's big picture: which ALWAYS IS NATIONS. (End of Part 1).
Kay Taiwo
Vision For Life
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