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After the Flood - The Book of Genesis · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: And the whole earth was of one language and of
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  Speaker 1: one speech. Genesis 11.1 Lord, in the beginning, humanity had
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  Speaker 1: one common language. There was only one people group on
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  Speaker 1: the earth and one shared cultural experience. As much as
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  Speaker 1: you desire for us to dwell in unity and peace,
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  Speaker 1: humanity can often use that unity for sin. Lord, I
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  Speaker 1: know you want compassion in the midst of diversity. Don't
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  Speaker 1: let me get so dependent on others that I forget
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  Speaker 1: to acknowledge you. Don't let me get so comfortable in
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  Speaker 1: my tribe of same-minded people that I drift away from you.
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  Speaker 1: Keep me from finding my identity in others and not
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  Speaker 1: in who you created me to be. You don't want
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  Speaker 1: cookie-cutter Christians. Nothing in your creation is the same. No
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  Speaker 1: two snowflakes are alike. No two blades of grass are alike.
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  Speaker 1: and no two people are alike. You made each of
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  Speaker 1: us exceptional, with special gifts and a distinctive personality. You
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  Speaker 1: have designed me to speak to certain people like no
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  Speaker 1: one else can. Help me to embrace who you created
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  Speaker 1: me to be. Help me celebrate the life you gave me.
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  Speaker 1: Don't let me try to blend in and be like
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  Speaker 1: everyone else. Help me develop my own style, personality, and gifts,
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  Speaker 1: so you can shine through me. Don't let me be
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  Speaker 1: afraid to be different. Let me always glorify you in
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  Speaker 1: all I do and say. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for praying with us today. Continue your time with
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  Speaker 1: God by listening to today's Bible story, brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: After the Flood Before this story, we learned about the
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  Speaker 2: flood in Noah's Ark. God cleansed the world of unimaginable
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  Speaker 2: evil through a flood, preserved Noah and his family, then
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  Speaker 2: promised to never flood the earth again. Now we discover
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  Speaker 2: that just because the flood is over does not mean
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  Speaker 2: the dysfunction of people is over as well. Yet God
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  Speaker 2: still endures with people and has a plan to expand
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  Speaker 2: them across the whole world. This is inspired by the
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  Speaker 2: book of Genesis.
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  Speaker 3: We're so glad you joined us on the Bible in
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  Speaker 3: a Year podcast today. The Bible in a Year podcast
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  Speaker 3: is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries and can only come
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: to you each week through the support of listeners just
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: like you. Your support today is so important that we
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: want to thank you for your gift by giving you
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: a copy of my book called The Jesus Book. It
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: is a powerful guide that shows how every book of
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: the Bible points to Jesus and and how his living word,
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: the truth of God's word, will transform your life. So
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: to get a copy of the Jesus book, simply go
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: to jackgraham.org slash Jesus. That's jackgraham.org slash Jesus. And thank
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  Speaker 3: you for your support. Today's reading picks up with Noah
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  Speaker 3: and his sons after the flood. God has delivered them
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  Speaker 3: from the destruction brought upon the earth, and now Noah
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  Speaker 3: begins to farm the land to labor and toil. The
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  Speaker 3: curse of sin has not been washed away by the flood,
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  Speaker 3: and it doesn't take long for it to once again
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  Speaker 3: wreak havoc. Pride once again takes center stage in today's reading.
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  Speaker 3: It's a theme we've seen before and one that will
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  Speaker 3: be repeated again and again and again. As you listen,
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  Speaker 3: notice first how pride leads to family divisions with Noah's sons.
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  Speaker 3: Then as we look at the story of Babel, notice
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  Speaker 3: how the descendants of Adam and Eve repeat the sins
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  Speaker 3: of their ancestors. wanting to elevate themselves on par with
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  Speaker 3: the Creator. The story of Babel is where we learn
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  Speaker 3: of the origin of different languages and the purposes for
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  Speaker 3: which God used them. It may be easy to hear
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  Speaker 3: these passages and fail to acknowledge the role of pride
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  Speaker 3: in our own lives and the way in which it
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  Speaker 3: causes us strife and pain. But remember that we too
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  Speaker 3: bear the seed of Adam's sin within us, and in
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  Speaker 3: many ways are not different from those we'll hear about today.
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  Speaker 3: Now let's dive into our story.
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  Speaker 2: Noah and his three sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, along
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  Speaker 2: with their families, made a home in the new world
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  Speaker 2: after the flood, determined to live a new and holy
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  Speaker 2: life among God. Yet even now, the subtle imperfections of
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  Speaker 2: humanity began to bubble forth. Noah became a man of
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  Speaker 2: the earth just as his ancestor Adam. He tilled the
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  Speaker 2: ground and worked it with.
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  Speaker 3: Pain and labor.
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  Speaker 2: Noah planted a vineyard and made his own wine to drink.
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  Speaker 2: One morning he became drunk and stumbled into his tent naked.
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  Speaker 2: His youngest son, Ham, came into the tent to find
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  Speaker 2: his father naked and in a shameful state. Ham delighted
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  Speaker 2: in this and mockingly told his older brothers, furthering the
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  Speaker 2: shame of his old and drunken father. The delight of
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  Speaker 2: Ham revealed the subtle pride re-emerging in the hearts of mankind.
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  Speaker 2: Unamused and determined to protect their father's dignity, Shem and
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  Speaker 2: Japheth entered Noah's tent, walking backwards and carrying a piece
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  Speaker 2: of cloth over their shoulders. They draped a cloth over
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  Speaker 2: their father, covering his nakedness, and left the tent. Noah
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  Speaker 2: woke up from his drunken slumber and discovered what had happened.
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  Speaker 2: Dishonored and embarrassed, He cursed his youngest son Ham, saying,
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  Speaker 2: Cursed be the land in which you dwell, Canaan. Your
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  Speaker 2: descendants will toil under the oppression of your brothers as slaves.
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  Speaker 2: And he blessed Shem and Japheth, and blessed their descendants too.
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  Speaker 2: Noah turned to Shem and said, I praise God for Shem.
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  Speaker 2: The Canaanites will be the slaves of his descendants. Then
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  Speaker 2: Noah turned to Japheth and blessed him, saying, God will
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  Speaker 2: give Japheth more land. His descendants will live with the
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  Speaker 2: descendants of his brother Shem, and the Canaanites will be
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  Speaker 2: the slaves of Japheth's descendants. This furthered the familial strife
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  Speaker 2: between families for generations to come. Noah continued 350 years
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  Speaker 2: after the flood. He lived a total of 950 years,
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  Speaker 2: and then passed to the dust, just as his ancestor Adam.
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  Speaker 1: Ham, Shem, and.
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  Speaker 2: Japheth multiplied and filled the land with many descendants. Among
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  Speaker 2: Ham's line of cursed descendants was a man named Nimrod,
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  Speaker 2: who plagued the earth and hunted men. It was him
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  Speaker 2: who would lead the first kingdom to rebel against God, Babel.
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  Speaker 2: The people of the earth all spoke the same language,
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  Speaker 2: were drawn to one another, and gathered in the land
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  Speaker 2: of Shinar, also known as Babylon. Their collective pride mimicked
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  Speaker 2: that of their forefathers, Let us build ourselves a city
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  Speaker 2: and a tower going up to the heavens, and let
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  Speaker 2: us make a name for ourselves. To the heavens they ascended,
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  Speaker 2: determined to be like God. A mistake once made by
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  Speaker 2: their ancient parents, Adam and Eve. God lamented over their
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  Speaker 2: tower because it represented the same pride that continued to
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  Speaker 2: fracture their relationship with one another. Once again, filled with
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  Speaker 2: both anger and compassion, God said, Come, let us go
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  Speaker 2: down and confuse their language so that they cannot mingle
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  Speaker 2: together to build one kingdom under the mission of pride
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  Speaker 2: and arrogance.
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  Speaker 3: So the Lord.
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  Speaker 2: Dispersed them all over the face of the earth. Unable
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  Speaker 2: to communicate with one another, they left the great city
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  Speaker 2: and tower. The tower was then called Babel. because there
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  Speaker 2: the Lord confused the language of all the earth. So
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  Speaker 2: the people scattered, forming new and smaller kingdoms with those
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  Speaker 2: they had a common language with. Just as Noah had declared,
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  Speaker 2: Shem's descendants multiplied greatly. Out of the seed of Shem
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  Speaker 2: came forth great nations and people groups, the most important
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  Speaker 2: among them being Abram, one of God's greatest heroes and
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  Speaker 2: the father of all nations.
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  Speaker 3: It was a brand new start for Noah and his descendants. But,
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  Speaker 3: as I've said before, Noah was righteous, not perfect. And
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  Speaker 3: neither were his sons. We began this story today with
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  Speaker 3: a son who failed to respect his father, the evidence
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  Speaker 3: of an ongoing struggle with pride. The first lesson we
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  Speaker 3: learn today is how pride poisons family relationships. Three brothers,
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  Speaker 3: one whose family line is cursed to live as slaves,
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  Speaker 3: oppressed by the other two brothers' descendants. This is not
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  Speaker 3: the unity and community God has designed for us. It
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  Speaker 3: does not reflect the loving fellowship that reflects the true God,
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  Speaker 3: the triune God. We then turn to the story of Babel,
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  Speaker 3: a kingdom united with one goal. Up until now, there
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  Speaker 3: was only one language on earth, so everyone understood each other.
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  Speaker 3: And they began to talk and plan, and an idea
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  Speaker 3: was hatched. We can be like God. It's the same
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  Speaker 3: lie the serpent told Eve in the garden. Pride once
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  Speaker 3: again taking hold, this time not just in a couple,
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  Speaker 3: but in an entire kingdom. Look what Genesis 11.4 says.
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  Speaker 3: And they said, Come, let's build ourselves a city and
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  Speaker 3: a tower whose top we'll reach into heaven, and let's
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  Speaker 3: make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered
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  Speaker 3: abroad over the face of the earth. Now, rather than
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  Speaker 3: filling the earth and subduing it as God intended, Mankind
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  Speaker 3: has decided to stay in one place and seek equality
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  Speaker 3: with God, to seek fame and recognition and power. This
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  Speaker 3: may seem like a feat of human cooperation, and in
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  Speaker 3: some ways it is, as even God acknowledges in Genesis 11, 6.
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  Speaker 3: And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people, and
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  Speaker 3: they will all have the same language. And this is
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  Speaker 3: what they have started to do, and now nothing which
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  Speaker 3: they plan to do will be impossible for them. But
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  Speaker 3: here's the lesson from this story. Just because you are
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  Speaker 3: creating something great and impressive, it doesn't mean that it
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  Speaker 3: is in line with God's will. Unity by itself is
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  Speaker 3: not enough. Their hearts were set on making themselves great,
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  Speaker 3: making a name for themselves, and not glorifying God. They
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  Speaker 3: were not living with a God-honoring purpose in their lives.
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  Speaker 3: So God confused their languages and Then the cooperation ceased.
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  Speaker 3: But here's what is important to note. In his solution
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  Speaker 3: to the problem, God brought about beauty. Think about all
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  Speaker 3: the wonderful sounds of different languages, the richness of expression
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  Speaker 3: that each different tongue brings. Now unable to understand each other,
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  Speaker 3: they're scattered into their own smaller kingdoms, which very soon
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  Speaker 3: would be at war with each other. Among those scattered
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  Speaker 3: groups were the descendants of one of Noah's sons, Shem.
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  Speaker 3: And from that line, God was already working his plan
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  Speaker 3: to bring about the ultimate redemption of the world, beginning
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  Speaker 3: with a man named Abram. And we'll meet him in
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  Speaker 3: our next episode. Heavenly Father, thank you for what today's
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  Speaker 3: story teaches us about the dangers of pride and the
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  Speaker 3: importance of being together for the purpose of glorifying you
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  Speaker 3: and not ourselves. Thank you also for the wonderful beauty
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  Speaker 3: of languages that we hear in our world today and
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  Speaker 3: how one day every tongue in every language will confess
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  Speaker 3: that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God.
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  Speaker 3: It is in that name of the Lord Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 3: that we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to today's
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. And before we go, I
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: wanted to let you know that the Bible in a
• 12:37
  Speaker 3: Year podcast is an outreach of PowerPoint Ministries, and can
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: only come to you each week through the support of
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: listeners like you. Your support today is so important that
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: we want to thank you for your gift by giving
• 12:50
  Speaker 3: you a copy of my book called The Jesus Book.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: This book is a powerful guide that shows how every
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: book in the Bible points to Christ and how you
• 12:59
  Speaker 3: can better read and understand the Bible and how God's
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: Word transforms our lives. So to get your copy of
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: the Jesus book, simply go to jackgram.org slash Jesus. That's
• 13:12
  Speaker 3: jackgram.org slash Jesus. And thank you for your support.