Mark 4:24 “Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it shall be measured to you.”

The Religion of Culture Genesis 11

Where Did All of This Begin? The World Is Divided Where Did All of This Begin?

The Tower of Babel Gen 11 11:1 = The whole earth used the same language and the same words. 11:4 = The very thing they were worried about came to be the result. 11:7-9 = God did two things: Confused their languages. Scattered them.

What Happened? Two Immediate Divisions They Divided Based on Language They Divided Based on Land (Gen. 10).

What Happened? Two Immediate Divisions Two Gradual Divisions They Divided Based on Language They Divided Based on Land (Gen. 10). Two Gradual Divisions Thanks to Genetics They Divided on Appearance. They are Divided Based on Culture

The Creation of Culture Developed their own dances, celebrations, foods, rituals, and customs. Developed their own games, sports, and contests. DEVELOPED THEIR OWN RELIGION Most developed a Worldly Religion These Are All Man-made

They Are Different, But the Same God Decides to Create His Own Nation. God Decides to Create His Own Culture, But IT WAS GOING TO BE DIFFERENT!

Ex 19:5-6 “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

Deut 26:18-19 “And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, a treasured possession, as He promised you, and that you should keep all His commandments; and that He shall set you high above all nations which He has made, for praise, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken.”

God Gave Them a Covenant & Law They Had No King But God. They Worshipped One God. They Were a Moral People. They Were Smaller, But Stronger. GOD CREATED HIS OWN CULTURE Civil, Religious, and Moral Law All in One.

What Was Israel’s Biggest Challenge? When They Wanted to Be Like All Other Nations. Whenever They Did This, They Failed.

God’s Culture Man’s Culture Divides. It Creates Pride and Peer Pressure. God Created a Culture That Would Unite and Humble. He Started With One Nation, Then Called All Nations.

1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Heb 8:10-11 “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them upon their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' For all shall know Me, From the least to the greatest of them.”

Heb 11:8-10 “By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”

Heb 11:13-16 “All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

Heb 11:24-26 “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward.”

God’s Culture You Have to Give Up Your Culture. How Much of Your National Culture Can You Keep? You Will Never Profit Anything If You Allow Your Culture to Keep You From Being Completely Devoted to God and His Culture.