The PRV Fellowship has been chasing the Kingship of God through the entire Bible –  learning the BIG picture of what God is doing in the world  so that we can join with Him in this work.

We have looked at how God created everything and is, therefore, King over everything. Humanity was created in His image – not an accident nor created to be the slaves of the gods. We have also looked at the overarching metanarrative of the Bible: the mission of God to spread His glory throughout the world:

I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you. I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.  -Leviticus 26:11-12

You can listen to the full sermon here – or you can continue to read the sermon outline below.

Blessings and peace be upon you and yours.

Struggle with Kingship

•    Today we will be taking about humanity’s struggle with God’s kingship

o    We want to control everything ourselves
o    We want to be the ones who decided what is ‘good’ and what is ‘evil’

•    We will be covering a lot of territory  today

o    Around 2000 years
o    maybe less – maybe more
o    Genesis 4-11

•    Same struggle – different stories showing how this struggled affected all areas of life

o    Families
o    Nations
o    Creation

Cain and Abel

•    Genesis 4:1-5

o    Why was Abel’s offering accepted while the Lord rejected Cain’s?
o    Does this mean that ranching better then farming?

•    Context

o    Israelites are in the desert with Moses
o    They have just received the Law that told them how to make sacrifices

•    Peace Offering

o    Burning the ‘fat portions’
o    Voluntary act of worship; thanksgiving and fellowship
o    Lev 3; 7:11-34

•    Cain sacrifice

o    He didn’t obey God
o    He wanted to decided what was sacrificed

•    Why an animal?

o    Because it was a reminder of terrible cost of disobedience
o    When Adam and Eve left the garden, God killed an animal and covered their nakedness

•    Heart issue

o    Cain had let sin enter into his heart and fill him with bitterness
o    This bitterness lead him to kill his own brother

–  Genesis 4:6-8

o    This is why Jesus said,

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. –Matthew 5:22

•    Judgment – After Cain killed Abel three things could have happened

o    One, the people in the area (ie. Cain’s family – Adam, Eve, and any siblings) could have gathered together and punished Cain for his deeds.

– In modern terms, this would be a type of democratic society in which the people decided what is right and wrong according to popular vote or what is best for society.
– In other words, society as a whole becomes the “king” who determines the what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

o    Two, they could have ignored the killing and continued living out their lives as if nothing happened.

– This would be a similar concept as the first choice – namely promoting society to the role of “king”.
– Granted, there may have been some folks who would disagree with society and try to enact judgment on Cain themselves.
– But, then again, this would still be humanity deciding what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ – and if we learned anything from the Genesis 1-3, it is that God along determines what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’.

o    Three, they could let the God judge the deeds of Cain.

–  This may sound self-evident considering that this story is recorded in a religious book… but in reality it isn’t that simple. It is just that the story itself cares with it a ton of information about the rule and reign of God just below the surface.
– The Israelites had just been delivered from slavery under the kings (ie. pharaohs) of Egypt who had absolute power of their lives. The pharaoh could do anything he wanted without judgment or question as he was the supreme ruler of the land.
– In recording the story of Cain and Abel, the writer of Genesis is telling the Israelites that the only ‘person’ who has the right to judge the deeds of another is God Himself.
– Only He can make the decision on what is “right” and what is “wrong”.
– He is also the only one who can decide what the punishment will be – as that too was the propagative of the King.

•    Grace

o    Instead of killing Cain, which He had the authority and power to do, not to mention the political pressure of Adam, Eve and everyone else, God grants him grace.
o    He allowed Cain to continue to live.
o    Granted, he had some consequences to remind him of his error, but in simple terms, God gave Cain grace when He could have unleashed His wrath on him.

– Genesis 4:9-16

o    This same grace was given to Cain’s parents, Adam and Eve, when they decided to be kings of their lives.

•    The struggle

o    Heart issue – does it matter what state my heart is in as long as I give up something important to me?
o    Do I really have to obey God and do what He says? (animal sacrifice vs fruit of the land)
o    Who decided judgment in matters of law?
o    Who was king?
o    Humanity or God?

Genealogies

•    God in in control, history has a point and a reason, not random

o    The Israelites would have recognized some of the names – as well as the locations
o    God is saying that all people started with Him
o    No matter what those other folks said or the myths

•    Polemic against the mythological concepts of the ancient world

o    Mesopotamian tradition

– Seven Apkallu, or mythical sages,  (half-fish and half-man)
– Rose out of the sea and revealed to man

•    Sciences
•    Social system – writing, reading
•    Art

o    Greek

– Athena who invented the plough and the rake

o    Ugaritic-Hoenician

– Koshar the divine artisan and smith – use of iron

o    Humanity works with God to create music, writing, towns, etc

– Genesis 4:17 – building a city
– Genesis 4:20 – livestock and tents
– Genesis 4:21 – harp and flute
– Genesis 4:22 – tools out of bronze and iron

•    Struggle

o    God and humanity working together
o    Yet what was originally good can be used for bad
o    Bad for good (Cain and his family)

Noah and the Flood

•    Genesis 6:1-8

o    God’s judgment against sin

– Remember that the Israelites just say God punish Egypt via the 10 plagues

•    Genesis 6:9-22

o    Parallels in ancient history

– Other stories outside of the Bible

•    Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Chinese, and the American Indian

– Epic of Gilgamesh – Mesopotamia

•    The flood caused by the gods who lost control
•    One god goes against the others and tells one of the human kings

o    Builds a boat

– The Bible God saves a Noah on purpose

•    Noah is a not royalty, but a common man
•    God closes the door – not Noah

On that very day Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark. They had with them every wild animal according to its kind… The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in. -Genesis 7:13-14a, 16

•    The Flood

o    Summarize the story for folks

•    Sacrifices

o    Differs from the other stories
o    The other stories gods were depended upon sacrifices from humanity

–  They were hungry and thirsty
–  Promised to remember what happened, but did not promise NOT to do it again

o    Noah’s sacrifice was from the heart

– Humanity needs God
– Not that the gods need humanity

•    Covenant

o    Rainbow is simply ‘bow’ as in a warriors bow and arrows
o    To the ancient people, the rainbow

– A symbol of war for the other people

•    The warriors bow of Marduck with which he had killed Tiamat

o   The body of whom was turned into the heavens and the earth
o    A reminder of who was boss

o    God’s bow was hung on the wall

-War was over
– A covenant of peace and reconciliation between God and creation

o    Creation

– The covenant was to all of creation
– Animal as well as humanity

•    Afterwards

o    God’s instructions with Noah was the same – spread throughout the world

•    Struggle

o    Weather

– Was nature in charge?
– Were the other gods of the land in charge of the rain and weather?
– Or was God?

o    Sin

– The Israelites where setting up a new nation
– This was a warning to them to obey the King (God)

•    If they don’t, punishment would come
•    Moses warns them of this in Deuteronomy

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.

This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. -Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Nations

•    Table of Nations

o    There are 70 nations outlined in Genesis 10
o    The Israelites would have recognized them
o    God is king over all nations – not just Israel

•    Babel

o    Genesis 11:1-9
o    Mankind did not spread out – they stay put
o    Build a tower for their name, not God’s

– Interesting enough, Babel originally meant “gate of god”

o    A Ziggurat

– Tower is a meeting place for the gods to come visit humanity.
– At the top of the tower was a room with food and drink for the god who needed to rest on the trip down

•    Struggle

o    Israel could forget that God is King over all nations
o    Moses left a place for the foreigner in the Law

– They were not to be mistreated
– They were encouraged to come and give thanks to God Almighty
– This was vastly different than other nations where the foreigners were ‘less than’

Conclusion

•    We have traveled a long ways today
•    Covered close to 2000 years of history
•    Struggles over Kingship in the following areas:

o    Issues of the heart
o    Justice (murder and punishment)
o    Technology, cultures, and the arts
o    Nature and the weather
o    Sin and disobedience as a corporate body
o    Pride in wanting to have their name known above God’s Name
o    Self-Centeredness (thinking that they were better than everyone else)

•    Moses sums it all up in Deuteronomy 10

And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the LORD’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it. Yet the LORD set his affection on your ancestors and loved them, and he chose you, their descendants, above all the nations—as it is today. Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer. For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing. And you are to love those who are foreigners, for you yourselves were foreigners in Egypt. Fear the LORD your God and serve him. Hold fast to him and take your oaths in his name. He is the one you praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Your ancestors who went down into Egypt were seventy in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars in the sky.  -Deuteronomy 10:12-22

Prayer Points

•    Issues of the heart

o    Not just doing
o    Doing out of love for God
o    Get to – not have to

•    Revenge

o    As hard as it is, God wants us to know that He will set things right
o    We must leave it up to Him

•    Destroying the sacred and secular divide

o    Separating your walk with Jesus from your daily work, family, and/or recreation

•    Has much as we may not like it, we are a corporate body
•    Pride
•    Self-centeredness