Always Think Nations (Part 1)

Part 1 of this study introduces us to the concept of nations in the Old testament. Part 2 will shed light from the New testament.

BIG PICTURE VERSUS DETAILS

God never loses sight of the big picture but man always does. God always sets out to do what He does because of the big picture. We mess things up because we lose our objective. The big picture gives context to God’s agenda.

Matthew 15:14 (The Message)

“…When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch.”

There are varying degrees of blindness. The truth is we will never have total knowledge of God’s agenda. God’s will is revealed as progressive revelation. The degree to which we receive and walk in revelation correlates with our desire to pursue His agenda.

God’s purpose is NATIONS. Nothing more nothing less. This is the big picture we must not lose sight of.

The word Nation according to M-W Dictionary:

1 a (1) : NATIONALITY 5a (2) : a politically organized nationality (3) : a non-Jewish nationality b : a community of people composed of one or more nationalities and possessing a more or less defined territory and government c : a territorial division containing a body of people of one or more nationalities and usually characterized by relatively large size and independent status
2 archaic : GROUP, AGGREGATION
3 : a tribe or federation of tribes (as of American Indians)

‘Lost in Transition’

The Big Picture
The Details “Strategy”
Between Old and New Testament man loses sight of the BIG PICTURE.

A vision always starts with a big picture and is then accompanied by a strategy. The problem arises when we are so wrapped up in strategizing that we lose sight of the big picture. This happens all too often.

Consider this, when we lose sight of God’s big picture, our strategy becomes the enemy of God’s overall agenda.

The word nations (see Genesis 10:5 – plural tense) appears in the Bible before the word nation (see Genesis 12:2 – singular tense). This is not semantics. The first mention of the word nation (singular tense) appears with respect to God blessing Abram who later is referred to as Abraham. The name change is not accidental. Abram means, “exalted or high father” while Abraham means “father of many nations.”

God blesses a nation to bless nations. Abraham is a conduit or strategy to God’s original intent the same way our Savior is His only means for reconciliation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son….” John 3:16.

Through one He reaches many. This a pattern by which God works.

Genesis 10: 5, 32 (NIV)

Versus 5 (MKJV): “By these were the coasts of the NATIONS divided in their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.”

Versus 32: “These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.”

Sons of Noah

“Sons of Japheth”: Indo-Europeans.
“Sons of Ham”: Africans, Babylon, Assyria and Palestine.
“Sons of Shem”: The Semitic people (Jews).
Interestingly, after the flood in Noah’s day, the people started thinking about their own progressive agenda. Ambition is self focused; vision is others focused.

God divides and conquers!

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1-9

1 AND THE whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.

2 And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.

4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.

9 Therefore the name of it was called Babel–because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

The word confounded, is also translated confused. Man’s agenda was to settle down and be satisfied with making a name for himself. God’s purpose was for man to not only multiply but fill the whole earth (see Genesis 1:28). So while God wanted mankind to spread throughout the earth, the people of Babel thought it was a better idea to congregate in one place.

Today, we are so impressed by the size of our churches. We may think that the concept of large assemblies is a new thing. When you look at Babel you see that man has long before desired to congregate around a common interest. Consider this, God is not particularly impressed with the size of a congregation.

When God looks at a congregation He is looking to see (like in the case of the people of Babel) if its common interest is in sync with His overall agenda: which is kingdom advancement around the world. Only men are impressed with numbers not God. God is only pleased when His “will is done on earth even as it is in heaven.”

Let’s take a look at languages seen in a way that you may never have considered before:

Communication is the currency for advancement. Even God acknowledges the power that the people of Babel possessed because they had a clarity of thought.
Diverse languages are man’s burden for godlessness or idolatry.
Diverse languages are a creation of consequence. It was God’s strategy to stop an ambition that defied His vision for mankind.
God is willing to put an end to unity when it is rooted in a wrong ideology.
God NEVER thinks of unity at ANY COST if it is a hindrance to His will.

A Few Facts about Language

According to one account:

6,703 separate languages
225 spoken in Europe
1000 spoken in the Americas
1320 spoken in the Pacific, Including Australia
2011 spoken in Africa
2165 spoken in Asia
www.lsadc.org/info/ling-faqs-endanger.cfm

Missionaries with interest in Bible translation shed light by “much pioneering work in documenting languages of the world…” (David Harrison, Laurence Horn, Rafaella Zanuttini and David Lightfoot).

Genesis 12:2-3, NIV

Genesis 12:2 is the strategy not the vision.
Verse 2

“I will make you into a GREAT NATION and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.

Genesis 12:3 is the vision not the strategy.

Verse 3

“….and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Note: If we misunderstand what vision is and what the strategy is not, we misplace our priorities. The vision is always the end game. God’s end game is the people or nations of the earth.

Joseph: Type of Redemption for the Nations

Genesis 41: 53-57:

53 When the seven years of plenty were ended in the land of Egypt,

54 The seven years of scarcity and famine began to come, as Joseph had said they would; the famine was in all [the surrounding] lands, but in all of Egypt there was food.

55 But when all the land of Egypt was weakened with hunger, the people [there] cried to Pharaoh for food; and Pharaoh said to [them] all, Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.

56 When the famine was over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold to the Egyptians; for the famine grew extremely distressing in the land of Egypt.

57 And all countries came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, because the famine was severe over all [the known] earth.

Let us all focus on God’s big picture: which ALWAYS IS NATIONS. (End of Part 1).

Kay Taiwo
Vision For Life

Identical twins, Olu and Kay Taiwo are international speakers, ministers, consultants, featured authors, and licensed Pharmacists. With over 20 years of speaking experience, their ministry has impacted audiences in the Ukraine, Nigeria, England, Canada, Philippines, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and across the United States of America. Their down to earth principled style teaching has endeared them to audiences far and near. To invite Olu and Kay Taiwo to your conference, seminar, or event http://www.VisionForLifeMinistries.org

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• Answering The Call Of God By Olu Taiwo, BSc., DPh.

“For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
Romans 11:29 KJV

“For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]
Romans 11:29 Amplified
Have you received God’s mandate for your life? If so, are you walking in it? In every generation God raises men and women to champion His cause. He arrests their attention and then charges them with a mandate. A mandate is simply ” an authoritative command; an authorization to act given to a representative….” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

Some have been used to convict the Church to holiness. Many others were used by God to voice the power of God to heal the sick. They brought a strong awareness of the realities of the Kingdom of God. Yet others inspired the Church to be expressions of the Wisdom of God in government and in the realm of business. In the midst of many echoes God always has a voice. In other words, the one with the mandate becomes a voice that can not be ignored. When God calls you, He does not ask for your opinion or advice. He calls you and you must respond!

God called Smith Wigglesworth (who was an uneducated plumber) to charge people to an ever-increasing faith in God. He was one of the many people God used in the early part of the 20th century to set the tone for the revival in the Pentecostal movement. He had a faith in God that defied explanation. Many notable miracles were documented in his ministry. There are even confirmed reports of the dead being raised to life.

Smith Wigglesworth repeatedly said: “If you leave people as you found them, God is not speaking by you. If you are not making people mad or glad, there is something amiss with your ministry…”

When God calls a person He usually does not give prior notice. He simply invades the individual’s existence and summons them to be His voice.

Such was the case with the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah was minding his business when he got this summons:

“Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

“before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:4-5 KJV).

Paul had his own agenda on the road to Damascus when he encountered the living Savior. God called him and redirected his steps. Paul obeyed that call and the Church has been blessed throughout the centuries by his writings.

Esther answered the call that saved a whole nation. Mary answered the call that brought the Savior into the world.

The list goes on. The only reason we can mention these distinguished persons is that they answered the call of God on their lives.

Isaiah heard God ask a question that triggered a response from his heart:

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me” (Isaiah 6:8).

You will only be remembered by God for your answer to His call. You will only be rewarded for your response to God’s call.

Every man who answers the call of God becomes a marked man. God blesses him and satan takes note.

Bible Study tools Kay Taiwo

Characteristics of God’s Mandate

1. It is a Holy calling.

2. It is usually bigger than the individual heeding it.

3. It will depend on 100% obedience.

4. It reveals God’s plan for the individual He calls.

5. It is redemptive in nature.

6. It will require total surrender.

7. It is accompanied by God’s favor.

8. Some other person’s destiny will be positively affected by it.
It is time for the people of God to answer the call of God and be the voice that cannot be ignored!

Olu Taiwo
Vision For Life

Identical twins, Olu and Kay Taiwo are international speakers, ministers, consultants, featured authors, and licensed Pharmacists. With over 20 years of speaking experience, their ministry has impacted audiences in the Ukraine, Nigeria, England, Canada, Philippines, Zimbabwe, South Africa, and across the United States of America. Their down to earth principled style teaching has endeared them to audiences far and near. To invite Olu and Kay Taiwo to your conference, seminar, or event click here: http://www.vflm.org

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