Be A Blessing To The Nations (Exodus 1:1-14) Series

This morning we begin a new series on the book of Exodus. And I have to say, I'm excited about this. Just spending one week in Exodus was enough to make me incredibly happy. I think this will be interesting, and helpful spiritually.

Now, I'm going to be up front about something. I have one main question I'm bringing to the text, and it's this:

What will God do through people, if they are brave, and obedient, and bold? What's possible?

If we want to answer this question, Exodus is a nice place to start.

But, Exodus is not the first book in God's story, or our story. Genesis is. So what I want to do this morning, first, is prepare you for Exodus by giving you a bird's eye view of Genesis. [What follows is indebted to D.J.A. Clines, The Theme of the Pentateuch.] Think of this, as the book of Genesis explained, in half a sermon.

When God made the world, He made it for you. Almost every aspect of creation was designed specifically for you. And God's plan for you had two parts. The first, if we read Genesis 1, was that you be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it. You were made to be kings on earth. And the second part of God's plan, if we read Genesis 2, was that you live righteously, and faithfully, in relationship to each other, and to God.

Now, this didn't work. Adam and Eve sinned. They got kicked out of the garden before they could eat from the tree of life. And what we see, in Genesis 1-11, is a downward spiral from there. People commit worse and worse sins against God, and against each other. Cain kills his brother Abel (Gen. 4:8). Lamech kills someone for injuring him (Gen. 4:23). The sons of God take human wives, and create a different type of creature-- the Nephilim-- who start to spread across the earth (Gen. 6). And people, in Genesis 11, decide they are going to stop spreading out across the earth like God wanted (Genesis 9:7). Instead, they will come together, and build up.

So that's what we humans do in Genesis 1-11. We sin. We disobey God's command. We murder each other. And instead of spreading out, we congregate together into big cities, and build up.

What does God do, in these chapters?

God does two things: (1) He punishes, and (2) He mitigates the punishment. There is judgment, but this judgment is never as bad as it could be. And God in some way always softens it.

So God kicks Adam and Eve out of the garden to keep them from eating the tree of life. But He also gives them clothing to wear.

God condemns Cain to a life of exile for murdering his brother. But He also places a mark on his forehead, to keep him safe from other murderous humans.

God wipes out the world with a flood. But He also keeps Noah and his family safe.

In chapter 11, this pattern seemingly changes.

Let's read Genesis 11:1-9 (NIV no reason):

11 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.”

5 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[c]—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

We see God's punishment. We see the consequences. But where is God's mercy? At this point in Genesis, we've come to expect God's grace, and mercy. And it's not here.

Or is it? Let's read Genesis 12:1-3.

12 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,