Abram and Lot are opposite in many ways. Abram walked by faith; Lot walked by sight. Abram was magnanimous; Lot was greedy. Abram looked for city whose builder and maker wasGod; Lot made his home in cities built by wicked men which were later destroyed by God. Abram becomes the father of all them that believe; Lot becomes the father (through incest) of 2 different pagan nations—the Moabites and Ammonites.Concerning Abraham, Romans 4:13 says, “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to hisseed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.” Gen. 19:30 tells us that Lot lived in a cave. Thus, Abram inherits the world through righteousness of faith, Lot is not heard from again. So, it should not be a surprise to us that eventually, they part ways.

Faith is always tested, and now we learn that there was a famine in the land. Abram steps out in faith, and now comes face to face with famine. In fact, Abram now heads downto Egypt as if to be driven into a famine enforced exile from the very land God promised. I’m glad that God’s Word not only records the great victories of our great God, but it also records the humanity—the shortcomings and sins of thosewhom God calls. God did not call Abram because of Abram’s perfection. No, God called Abram that God Himself would be glorified. Today, we’re going to see that Abram does not do everything perfectly, yet God’s promises remain. God’smercy is everlasting. God’s grace is even upon the vile sinner, and His plan plan will not fail.

There is a lot to study in chapter 11, and I encourage you to read it on your own time. It will lead us to the text for today. As a summary of the things you will find there, there is a genealogy that takes us from Shem, the son of Noah to Abram who will soon experience a name change to Abraham. The setting is a time of warriors, shepherds, and builders all leaving the tower of Babel and the plain of Mesopotamia. I made mention of the Babylonian heart last week, and that iscertainly what traveled with the idolatrous pagans as they ventured out. Not only are the humans estranged from each other, but they are also estranged from the one true and living God. If we were to go through the remainder of chapter11, we would find that man’s years of life are shortened, fulfilling God’s promise from Genesis 6:3. Historicalevidence shows us that the predominate religion at this time in the land of Ur was the worship of a moon-god named Nanna. Joshua 24:2 lets us know that even Terah, Abraham’s father did not serve the one true and living God. It says, “Yourfathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and the father of Nahor, dwelt on the other side of the River in old times; and they served other gods.” This is significant because it is in thisenvironment that Abram not only hears God’s word, but by faith he obeys.

I’m going to suggest to you today that the human heart is a Babylonian heart. God scattering the people at the Tower of Babel, but don’t forget that centuries later, Nebuchadnezzar took a look around and said, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). Then there was King Herod who addressed his people and they shouted back, “Thevoice of a god, and not of a man!” (Acts 12:22). Then we have Alexander the Great, Caesar Augustus (some thought he was God), Louis XIV (the sun king), Hitler, and Stalin (who encouraged people to think of him when they were feeling down). And of course, how could we forget Elon Musk and others who elevate themselves? All of this is the height of...Human Arrogance.

I would like you to think about forgiveness. It can be difficult. In fact, I’d be willing to say, we have a difficult text . It’s notdifficult because we cannot possibly understand it; it’s difficult because we have to live it. I’m sure that each of us have experienced situations which have required us to forgive someone. Perhaps you have found it very difficultto do. Have you ever thought, “Why should I forgive?” Or maybe you’ve thought, “It is only right that I should receive some kind of payback, for what was done to me.” It has been said that you are never more like God than when youforgive.

HE IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED!

To understand what happened on what we call "Palm Sunday", we must understand history, prophecy, and context.

Picking it up from last week, let’s imagine what it must have been like. The Bible gives us a picture of Noah and his family standing there in this new, and I believe replenished world inthe sunlight. Take the time to think about what it must have been like, and allow the Word of God to impress your imagination. It represented a new beginning, with Noah as the human centerpiece. Last week we noticed that the first thing he did was build an altar to the Lord and sacrifice burnt offerings. We talked aboutthe turning aside of God’s wrath—propitiation. Remember also the comment I made about true worship happens when we recognize our total dependence upon God. I would add today that Noah was publicly and completely giving his life to God. We talked about the aroma of Noah’s offering pleasing God meaning that God accepted the worship. We talked about God’s covenant, blessing, and grace, and we found the sacredness of human life spelled out and affirmed by God’s Word.Lastly, we talked about the sign of the covenant: a shimmering rainbow, “my bow” as God literally termed it.

So... we're moving on...