Nimrod and Babel

Nimrod was Ham's grandson, though by Cush rather than Canaan.  Perhaps the Canaanites were already too slavish to do the kinds of " mighty" works Nimrod did.  Nimrod founded two cities that grew into two of the mightiest empires of the ancient world: Babylon and Nineveh (Assyria).  Genesis 10: 8 - 12 tells us that he built Babylon first and then moved to the Assyria.  The story of the Tower of Babel explains his move. 

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth.  He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD."  The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.  Genesis 10:8-10

As we begin the story of the Tower of Babel we read, "now the whole earth used the same language and the same words" (Genesis 11:1).  This common translation does not bring out the meaning of the Hebrew, for the word translated language in the verse actually means lip.  The phrase "same words" refers to language, but the phrase "same lip" - literally "one lip" - refers to religion*. 

Now the idea of speaking one language or another is not absolutely excluded from this word lip (see Isaiah 19:18), but in the context of Genesis 11, there is clearly a difference between the "one lip [confession, ideology]" and the "one words [vocabulary]" of verse one.  What happened at the Tower of Babel was not first and foremost a division of languages, but rather a division of religious belief, as we shall see more fully below.

*Zephaniah 3:9; Psalm 81:5; Job 27:4; 33:3; Psalm 12:2-4; 16:4; 40:9; 45:2; 51:15; Isaiah 6:5; 6:7; Malachi 2:6-7

Primeval Saints: Studies in the Patriarchs of Genesis by James Jordan

Yet it doesn't add up

(at the start of Numbers) Israel has strong leadership, a divinely revealed code by which to live, a new sense of national identity and purpose and God's promise to make them successful. Israel knows the basic character of their God. They know what leads their Lord to punish them and have learned how to secure forgiveness. The potential for greatness is well within their grasp. (p153 Old Testament Theology - Paul House)

Wise Men Build

How the conversation didn't go

Commenting on Genesis 3, Carson says:

We gain a little insight into the terrible slippage going on in the woman's mind if we conjure up what she should have said.  Perhaps something like this: "Are you out of your skull?  Look around!  This is Eden; this is paradise!  God knows exactly what he is doing.  He made everything; he even made me.  My husband loves me and I love him - and we are both intoxicated with the joy and holiness of our beloved Maker.  My very being resonates with the desire to reflect something of his spectacular glory back to him.  How could I possibly question his wisdom and love?  He knows, in a way I never can, exactly what is best - and I trust him absolutely.  And you want me to doubt him or question the purity of his motives and character?  How idiotic is that?  Besides, what possible good can come of creature defying his Creator and Sovereign?  Are you out of your skull?"

The God Who is There: Finding Your Place in God's Story, p31-32.

The extraordinary local church

The thesis of this little book is that the ordinary local Christian church contains within itself the seeds, or the DNA, of a remade world.  That will seem a very surprising thesis to those who think the local church is a complete irrelevance to the real world; and it will be greeted with ironic smiles by those whose experience of local churches is one of strife and tension.  But I believe it to be true. 

I want to persuade us to commit ourselves wholeheartedly to belonging to, and serving God is in the fellowship of, a local chruch; and that this may prove to be the most significant thing we do with our lives.  I want to convince us that the local church is at the heart of the Bible story, that it is close to the hearts of the purposes of God, and that it is how broken world will be remade. 

 Remaking a Broken World pxi

Nothing I do is my fault

Click to view

In preparation for our HouseGroup tomorrow I am reading ch 1 of Remaking a Broken World (Christopher Ash) again. And Christopher Ash 'quotes' this Calvin and Hobbes Cartoon as he illustrates the way that Adam and Eve paint themselves as victims in Genesis 3. 

edgehill 2011 commercials: vote now!

So the Superbowl XLV had some great commercials.

But making these cost a couple of million, needed amazing CGI special effects, involved highly paid actors and took weeks or even months to make! 

At the recent edgehill reunion we had a budget of £5, 3 props we HAD to use and 2 hours to dream up, script, cast and then film an advert for edgehill 2011: space odyssey. 

Judge for yourselves how successful we have been (click here) & join in VOTING for the best one! Voting closes on 22nd February! 

The greatest of men

If we knew nothing about Jesus except what was spoken of Him by His opponents, He would still appear as the most lovable of beings ever to have to walk of this earth. The Pharisees say to Him, 'Master, we know that Thou art true and teachest the way of God in truth' (Matthew 22:16). Pilate declares to the angry crowds: 'I am innocent of the blood of this just person' (Matthew 27:24). The man who passed the sentence of death upon Jesus knew Him to be a 'just person'.
Judas cried: 'I have betrayed innocent blood' (Matthew 27:4). Jesus was innocent even in the mind of the man who betrayed Him.
The crowds who stood at the foot of the cross mocked Him shouting: 'He saved others; Himself He cannot save' (Matthew 27:4). Even in their mockery they had to acknowledge that He had in fact 'saved others'! In their reviling they uttered one of the greatest truths of the story of salvation. (Soviet Saints - Richard Wurmbrand, p8)

The Tide is Rising

Preparations are speeding up for this half-term's Seaside Rock! 

3 mornings of seaside fun (in Tipton!). 

3 mornings of seaing (sea what I've done there?) who Jesus is through the eyes of Peter. 

Sea-riously good news. 

Sea you there?

Seaside Rock from Grace Community Church on Vimeo.

Haiti: One Year on

Truly Christian

What a lovely vision for a Christian education (in this case a school). The website is here. 

Getting to the Heart of Parenting

Here is a taster of the 1st Session: 

Does anyone know if this is available in the UK (and workable on a normal DVD player /computer!)?

edgehill 2011: Space Odyssey ...

edgehill 2011: Space Odyssey from edgehill venture on Vimeo.

You can find more information here!

Name and Number

In the Hebrew Bible, the name for the book of Numbers is 'in the wilderness'. This reminds us that the book is about Israel's journey through the wilderness to the land. One of the important contrasts in the Bible is the contrast of wilderness and garden. Wilderness is a place of death and drought and also a place of testing and temptation. In Numbers and the following books, Israel moves through the wilderness to the garden-like land. 

But the English name for this book is a good title too since twice in the book the fighting men of Israel are counted (Numbers 1 and 26), and these two censuses are the 'bookends' that hold the book of Numbers together. The numbers in the first counting show that God has fulfilled His promise to Abraham. God promises Abraham that he will have a seed like the sand on the seashore. When Moses counts, he find that the fighting men are 600,000, and that means that there are perhaps as many as two million if you include women and children. Even though Pharaoh has tried to kill of all the Israelites, Israel has been fruitful in Egypt. God is not only keeping His promise to Abraham. These numbers also show us that Israel is doing what Adam was told to do: being fruitful and multiplying (Genesis 1:26-28) (p102, A House for My Name)