The Tower of Babel - Part 3
Genesis 11:5-7
05/22/2024
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the
tower, which the children of man 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 nothing
that they propose to do will now be impossible for
them.
7 Come, let us go down and there confuse their
language, so that they may not understand one
another's speech.'' (ESV)
The descendants of Noah were instructed by God to leave the
site where the ark had landed, to travel, and to fill the earth.
Instead, they traveled eastward until reaching the plains in
modern day Iraq between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There
they decided to build a large city with a tower in defiance of
God's desire that they go and care for all the earth. The ruins
of this city, later called Babylon, are still evident in the
desert.
God had other plans.
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower,
which the children of man had built. 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 nothing that they propose to do will
now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and
there confuse their language, so that they may not
understand one another's speech.''
Just a century earlier, in response to rampant sin, God had
destroyed all but eight people by causing a world-wide flood.
Later He would destroy Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone
for their great sins. Yet, in love and mercy, God determined not
to destroy those who rejected Him, but to cause circumstances so
that His will would be done.
Our Lord showed the same compassion three millenia later
when He sent His Son to bear the sins of the world rather than
destroying all who opposed Him. He does not desire the death of
the wicked, but that they repent of their sinful ways and return
to Him.
May our Lord grant us the grace to see His love, to receive
His mercy, and to set aside our selfish desires so to do His
will. Amen.Author: admin
The Tower of Babel — Part 2: May 21, 2024
The Tower of Babel - Part 2
Genesis 11:3-4
05/21/2024
3 And they said to one another, ``Come, let us make
bricks, and burn them thoroughly.'' And they had
brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 Then they said, ``Come, let us build ourselves a
city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and
let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
dispersed over the face of the whole earth.''
(ESV)
In the third chapter of Genesis we learn that original sin
is the desire to be like God, to replace Him. Over the course of
the years, people rejected the truth of God's Word. Sin became
so rampant that God destroyed all but eight people. Yet, 100
years after the Flood, Noah's descendants once again determined
to ignore God's Word and His command to fill the earth.
And they said to one another, ``Come, let us make
bricks, and burn them thoroughly.'' And they had brick
for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said,
``Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with
its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for
ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the
whole earth.''
More important than God's command to properly care for
creation was the desire for fame and legacy. To build a city and
tower was to defy God and His desire that mankind cares for all
of creation. This same arrogance is evident today as people
reject God's Word and determine to do things their own way.
Defying God brings consequences. Ignoring the truth of His
Word brings fear, loneliness, and the uncertainty of the future.
We may not build large cities or towering temples, but we seek
our own way to heaven, a way of works which is doomed to fail.
By rejecting God's offer of love, grace, and mercy as found in
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we find no comfort
when our world collapses.
May our Lord grant us the wisdom to learn the lessons from
ancient history, lessons which are important today. Amen.The Tower of Babel — Part 1: May 20, 2024
The Tower of Babel - Part 1
Genesis 11:1-2
05/20/2024
1 Now the whole earth had one language and the same
words.
2 And as people migrated from the east, they found a
plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
(ESV)
Last Sunday the Church celebrated Pentecost, fifty days
after Easter, the day upon which the Holy Spirit visibly came
upon the apostles and those who trusted in Jesus Christ. The
work of the Holy Spirit is to call people to faith in Jesus as
their Redeemer from sin, death, and the power of the devil. In
order to accomplish this work, the Holy Spirit has provided the
Church with both the written Word of God, which is the Bible, and
the sacraments.
The second chapter of Acts tell us how the Holy Spirit came
upon the apostles with the sound of the wind, and tongues of fire
adorned their heads. Saint Luke, the author of the book,
recounted how the disciples proclaimed the good news of salvation
by God's rich love and mercy for the sake of the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Speaking in known languages, Peter and
the rest of Jesus' followers brought the Gospel to all people.
About 2,200 years before the birth of Jesus, after Noah's
flood, God had commanded Noah and his descendants, ``Be fruitful
and multiply and fill the earth.''[1] Yet, rather than dispersing
to receive God's blessings of the fruits of the earth, for the
next hundred years the people remained in one large tribe. ``Now
the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as
people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of
Shinar and settled there.''
This week we will look at the rebellion of the flood
survivors, and God's method to cause mankind to fulfill the task
of filling the earth. We also will see how the Holy Spirit
brings one message of hope to all people.
May our Lord richly bless you with the good news of His
great love. Amen.
____________________
1. Genesis 9:1b (ESV)I Will Be Your God — Part 5: May 17, 2024
I Will Be Your God - Part 5
Ezekiel 36:28
05/17/2024
28 You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be
your God. (ESV)
We celebrated Jesus ascending into heaven eight days ago.
Saint Luke recorded:
Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up
his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he
parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And
they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy, and were continually in the temple blessing
God.[3]
Jesus Christ is present with His Church through His Word and
Sacraments. We believe, teach, and confess that He is at the
right hand of the omnipresent Father, thus He is also with us
physically, though we cannot see Him. Finally, our Lord and
Savior is with His Church through the holy office He bestowed
when He sent His disciples to spread the good news of salvation
by grace through faith for the sake of His suffering, death, and
resurrection to all the earth.
This is to fulfill the promise given through Ezekiel the
prophet:
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your
fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your
God.
Today, the Church on earth is in God's presence. He calls
us to be His people, and has promised that we will have
everlasting life in His holy mansions. The land in which we will
dwell eternally is like the Garden into which our Creator placed
the first man and woman.
While on earth, we have the opportunity to join with angels,
archangels, and all the company of heaven as we gather to hear of
God's rich love and mercy, that Jesus died and rose again for
your redemption. Please come to Trinity Lutheran Church on
Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. to hear this marvelous news. May our
Lord grant you the peace of knowing your sins are forgiven for
Jesus' sake. Amen.
____________________
3. Luke 24:50-53 (ESV)I Will Be Your God — Part 4: May 16, 2024
I Will Be Your God - Part 4
Ezekiel 36:26-27
05/16/2024
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit
I will put within you. And I will remove the
heart of stone from your flesh and give you a
heart of flesh.
27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you
to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my
rules. (ESV)
During forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He taught
His disciples:
And he said to them, ``Go into all the world and
proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever
believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever
does not believe will be condemned.
What is the Gospel which Jesus entrusted to the Apostles?
Nothing more than what Ezekiel wrote centuries before the birth
of Jesus:
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I
will put within you. And I will remove the heart of
stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to
walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
The result of the faith which the Holy Spirit gives through
the Word and Sacraments are a complete change in our lives for
the better. Because of God's love, of His redeeming us from sin
and eternal death, our perspective changes. No longer are we
content to focus on our wants and desires, coldly ignoring the
need of our neighbor. Rather, we desire to love our neighbor as
ourselves, helping them in every way possible, especially
inviting them to know the peace which we have from being marked
as God's children.
Ezekiel shows us that the new heart, the new spirit, and the
desire to walk in God's ways are not because of our own work or
desire. The new heart, the new spirit, the new love we reflect
are a gift, given because of His love and mercy.
May our Lord grant that we come to know of His grace, first
poured out on His people at the beginning of creation, and shown
to us by Jesus Christ. Amen.
____________________
2. Mark 16:15-16 (ESV)I Will Be Your God — Part 3: May 15, 2024
I Will Be Your God - Part 3
Ezekiel 36:24-25
05/15/2024
24 I will take you from the nations and gather you
from all the countries and bring you into your own
land.
25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall
be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all
your idols I will cleanse you. (ESV)
For forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He taught His
disciples:
And [He] said to them, ``Thus it is written, that the
Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the
dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things.[2]
His words showed how God fulfilled the promise made through
the prophet Ezekiel.
I will take you from the nations and gather you from
all the countries and bring you into your own land. I
will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be
clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your
idols I will cleanse you.
The promise was fulfilled first as the children of Israel
were restored to Jerusalem and Judea following the Babylonian
Captivity. More so, it is fulfilled in the Church as the Holy
Spirit, through the Gospel and Sacraments, calls us from the
darkness of sin into the light of God's love and grace.
How does the Holy Spirit create the faith which acknowledges
and trusts the Word of God? We believe, teach, and confess that
the water of Baptism, combined with the promise of Jesus Christ,
marks us as God's own children, buries our sinful nature with
Jesus in His tomb, and bursts forth as the resurrected child of
the almighty.
May our Lord grant that we hold firmly to the promise of
life and forgiveness given to us through the water and the word.
Amen.
____________________
2. Luke 24:46-48 (ESV)I Will Be Your God — Part 2: May 14, 2024
I Will Be Your God - Part 2
Ezekiel 36:23
05/14/2024
23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great
name, which has been profaned among the nations,
and which you have profaned among them. And the
nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the
Lord GOD, when through you I vindicate my holiness
before their eyes. (ESV)
As Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His Apostles:
He said to them, ``It is not for you to know times or
seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has
come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end
of the earth.''[1]
His instructions reinforced the words of Ezekiel the
prophet:
And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name,
which has been profaned among the nations, and which
you have profaned among them. And the nations will
know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when
through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.
The Church tells of God's holiness, how He created us
because of His great love. Even when we rejected Him, He
promised to redeem us from sin, death, and the power of the
devil. Because we are sinful from birth, this meant that our
heavenly Father had to send His only-begotten Son to bear the
guilt and punishment of our sin. For the sake of Jesus, the Son
of God, His perfect obedience to the Father, His innocent
suffering and death, and His glorious resurrection, we are
declared holy and righteous in God's sight.
Through Jesus, whose name means ``The LORD is our
salvation,'' we see the fullness of God's love and grace. This
grace, this undeserved love, this mercy, compels God to offer to
us the complete forgiveness of our sins.
May our Lord grant that we know that He is the Almighty God
who has created us, redeemed us from sin and death, and made us
holy. Amen.
____________________
1. Acts 1:7-8 (ESV)I Will Be Your God — Part 1: May 13, 2024
I Will Be Your God - Part 1
Ezekiel 36:22
05/13/2024
22 Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says
the Lord GOD: ''It is not for your sake, O house
of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the
sake of my holy name, which you have profaned
among the nations to which you came.'' (ESV)
Last Thursday the Church celebrated Jesus' ascension into
heaven where He is at the right hand of God our heavenly Father.
Before Jesus ascended, He gave His disciples clear instructions.
And Jesus came and said to them, ``All authority in
heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have
commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the
end of the age.''[1]
Since that day, the Church has been built on Jesus Christ,
His Words, and the Sacraments which He instituted to create and
sustain our faith, and to bring us the forgiveness of our sins.
This week's Old Testament lesson from the prophet Ezekiel speaks
of God, for own Name's sake, cleansing His people from their
sins.
Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the
Lord GOD: ''It is not for your sake, O house of Israel,
that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy
name, which you have profaned among the nations to
which you came.''
God's name includes everything He has revealed about
Himself. He is from everlasting to everlasting, almighty, all
knowing, and all powerful. This is why we pray, ``Hallowed by
Thy name,'' because we desire that all people know the truth
about our gracious God. His actions reflect His character, which
we acknowledge in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.
May our Lord richly bless you with the comfort that comes
from knowing His holy name. Amen.
____________________
1. Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)Lifting Up the Serpent — Part 5: May 10, 2024
Lifting Up the Serpent - Part 5
Numbers 21:8-9
05/11/2024
8 And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent
and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten,
when he sees it, shall live.''
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a
pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look
at the bronze serpent and live. (ESV)
The children of Israel had sinned against God and Moses by
faithless grumbling about God's rich gifts of food and
protection. When confronted with their sin, they repented.
And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent and
set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he
sees it, shall live.'' So Moses made a bronze serpent
and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he
would look at the bronze serpent and live.
Jesus told Nicodemus:
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever
believes in him may have eternal life.[2]
Like the children of Israel, we have sinned against God and
neighbor. We deserve God's eternal wrath and punishment. Yet,
in the same way the children of Israel looked in faith at the
bronze serpent, we look in faith to Jesus Christ, who was lifted
on the cross for our salvation from sin and death.
Faith is knowledge of God's love and grace, even though we
do not deserve His mercy. Faith is agreement that the Word of
God is true, that Jesus was crucified to pay the price of our
sin. Faith is trust that Jesus truly bore our sins and
reconciled us to the Father.
Please join us on Sunday morning at 9:00 a.m. at Trinity
Lutheran Church to learn more of God's rich grace and mercy. May
our Lord bless you with faith that looks to Jesus Christ alone.
Amen.
____________________
2. John 3:14-15 (ESV)Lifting Up the Serpent — Part 4: May 9, 2024
Lifting Up the Serpent - Part 4
Numbers 21:8-9
05/09/2024
8 And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent
and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten,
when he sees it, shall live.''
9 So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a
pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look
at the bronze serpent and live. (ESV)
The children of Israel had grumbled about the food and the
problems of their nomadic life. Because they did not trust God,
they were plagued by many venomous serpents. Finally, they
repented and called upon Moses to intercede for them.
Moses prayed, and God gave him explicit instructions.
And the LORD said to Moses, ``Make a fiery serpent and
set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he
sees it, shall live.'' So Moses made a bronze serpent
and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he
would look at the bronze serpent and live.
God's instructions to Moses were clear. When the people
bitten by the snakes looked at the bronze serpent on the pole,
they believed God's promise that they would not die. They
trusted that this unusual way of dealing with a snake bite would
remove the pain and death caused by the venom. Looking at the
bronze serpent required faith in God's Word and promise. The
very promises that the children of Israel had rejected earlier
were again made by God, with the visible proof that His Word is
true. There was no power in the bronze serpent, the power was in
God's promise of life and redemption.
This becomes a promise for all people, when God speaks in
His Holy Word, we can believe and trust in Him. When God says,
``Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved,''[1] we
know that our only hope for redemption from sin, death, and the
power of the devil is through the Son of God. May our Lord grant
us faith to believe in Jesus as our Savior. Amen.
____________________
1. Acts 15:11