Sabbath Afternoon - April 23
Memory Text:
“Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” KJV — Genesis 11:9
One would think that after the deluge, the world would have had great respect for religion and for the prophets of God. But that was not the case. The antediluvians did not believe Noah’s prediction that there was to be a flood, so they refused to go into the ark! But the flood came, and they perished. The post-diluvians did not believe his prediction that there was not to be another flood, so they set about to build the tower of Babel! But when God saw the tower skyrocketing, He blasted the top of it, and confounded the builders’ language. That is, He blotted their own language from their minds and carved into them the languages of today. Thus, he caused the birth of various races and languages which we today find even in the remotest parts of the earth.
Sunday - April 24
The Curse of Ham
Genesis 9:18-27
What is the message in Genesis 9:18-27?
“Noah, speaking by divine inspiration, foretold the history of the three great races to spring from these fathers of mankind. Tracing the descendants of Ham, through the son rather than the father, he declared, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” The unnatural crime of Ham declared that filial reverence had long before been cast from his soul, and it revealed the impiety and vileness of his character. These evil characteristics were perpetuated in Canaan and his posterity, whose continued guilt called upon them the judgments of God. PP 117.2
“On the other hand, the reverence manifested by Shem and Japheth for their father, and thus for the divine statutes, promised a brighter future for their descendants. Concerning these sons it was declared: “Blessed be Jehovah, God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” The line of Shem was to be that of the chosen people, of God's covenant, of the promised Redeemer. Jehovah was the God of Shem. From him would descend Abraham, and the people of Israel, through whom Christ was to come. “Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord.” Psalm 144:15. And Japheth “shall dwell in the tents of Shem.” In the blessings of the gospel the descendants of Japheth were especially to share. PP 117.3
“The posterity of Canaan descended to the most degrading forms of heathenism. Though the prophetic curse had doomed them to slavery, the doom was withheld for centuries. God bore with their impiety and corruption until they passed the limits of divine forbearance. Then they were dispossessed, and became bondmen to the descendants of Shem and Japheth.” PP 118.1
Monday - April 25
The Genesis Genealogy
Luke 3; 23-38
What is the purpose of this genealogy in the Bible?
“And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the Word of prophecy in this connection, “that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations,] and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall beat off from the channel of the river unto the stream of Egypt and ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.” Isa. 11:11, 12; 27:12.
"Since, therefore, history, logic, and scripture combine their evidence to prove unconditionally that God has preserved the genealogy of the chosen branch of the human race forward from Adam to Noah (Matt. 1:1-17), and backward from Jesus to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), He must, then, for a consistent reason, also have preserved the identity of the elect today. And this we see, is precisely what He has done in His designating the lineage of the 144,000, as “of all the tribes of the children of Israel.” Rev. 7:4. And though we know not what we are, and cannot ever of ourselves tell, the One Who knows all about us, even to the last hair of each head, knows our precise ancestry, although those of us who are to be gathered from the seed of Jacob are, says the prophet, as the sand of the sea,” whereas, comparatively speaking, the identifiable Jewish race of today, is but a handful to the nations, and therefore cannot today be the ones to whom apply---The Terms Israel, Ephraim, Joseph.
Tuesday - April 26
One Language
Genesis 11:1-4
Why were the people of the whole earth so keen to achieve unity?
Notwithstanding this punishment and its object lesson, as soon as the earth’s inhabitants multiplied after the deluge, sin likewise multiplied. And though the people could but give credit to Noah’s correct prediction of the flood, they mistrusted him in his next prediction: the prediction that there would be no more “flood to destroy the earth.” Gen. 9:11. Even the rainbow in the clouds, the Lord’s own token of His covenant not to flood the earth a second time, failed to convince them.
What a mystery sin indeed is! First they did not believe in even the possibility of a flood, and next they did not believe in the impossibility of one...So while the spirit of unbelief in the Word has always benumbed the mind and subjected the body to sin and decay, even in the days when men were strong and long-lived, the same spirit is having an even greater hold on humanity today.
Rather than to set them free from fear, the Word of God spoken through Noah impelled the post-diluvians to feel that there was an unavoidable necessity to build the tower of Babel as a defense against a second flood. Disapproving of their unbelief and false alarm, however, the Lord demonstrated His displeasure by interfering with their wicked and foolish project: He destroyed their tower and confounded their language. Thus, it was that the confusion at Babel (Gen. 11:8, 9) gave birth to the existing races and languages.
Finally, as the confused builders parted in groups, the neighboring ones began to quarrel one with another. And as they at length grew into nations, their quarrels grew into wars. Hence, the historical truth that wars for the first time broke out after the confusion of tongues, shows that the red horse [Rev. 6:4] and, in particular, its rider, depict the period in which the tower of Babel was annihilated, and in which peace gave way to wars
Wednesday - April 27
“Let Us Go Down”
Genesis 11:4-7
Why did God come down to the earth here?
Those that feared the Lord cried unto Him to interpose. “And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.” In mercy to the world He defeated the purpose of the tower builders and overthrew the memorial of their daring. In mercy He confounded their speech, thus putting a check on their purposes of rebellion. God bears long with the perversity of men, giving them ample opportunity for repentance; but He marks all their devices to resist the authority of His just and holy law. From time to time the unseen hand that holds the scepter of government is stretched out to restrain iniquity. Unmistakable evidence is given that the Creator of the universe, the One infinite in wisdom and love and truth, is the Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth, and that none can with impunity defy His power. PP 123.2
Thursday - April 28
The Redemption of the Exile
Genesis 11:8, 9; 9:1
Why is God’s dispersion redemptive?
It was not God’s purpose that the people should stack themselves in the plains of Shinar, but that they should spread out and replenish the earth. And so when they refused to obey His command He gave them the next best He had for them, and that they had to obey.
Man’s work independent of and contrary to God’s, you see, is certain to meet with disaster. A house that is built on sand cannot survive a storm, and no man can possibly defeat God’s purpose for men. Do not make a fool of yourself by trying.
It takes years in the schools of men to learn a language, but in the school of God, it takes but a moment. He can blot out one language from man’s brains and carve in another, and at the same time change the features of his face and the color of his skin. Yes, God can do all this more quickly than a dentist can pull a tooth. But whether a change be made for better or for worse, all depends upon the individual.
Friday - April 29
Further Study
“Here they decided to build a city, and in it a tower of such stupendous height as should render it the wonder of the world. These enterprises were designed to prevent the people from scattering abroad in colonies. God had directed men to disperse throughout the earth, to replenish and subdue it; but these Babel builders determined to keep their community united in one body, and to find a monarchy that should eventually embrace the whole earth. Thus, their city would become the metropolis of a universal empire; its glory would command the admiration and homage of the world and render the founders illustrious. The magnificent tower, reaching to the heavens, was intended to stand as a monument of the power and wisdom of its builders, perpetuating their fame to the latest generations.” PP 118.5