From some sons to THE Son

Oct. 15

Deut. 32:7-9, Genesis 11:1-9

From some sons to THE Son

“Remember the days of old;

consider the years of many generations;

ask your father, and he will show you,

your elders, and they will tell you.

When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,

when he divided mankind,

he fixed the borders of the peoples

according to the number of the sons of God.

But the LORD'S portion is his people,

Jacob his allotted heritage.” - Deut. 32:7-9

When Moses was at the end of his life, he spoke the words of a song to the people of God. These were his final encouragements and exhortations to them before he died. Within the “lyrics” of Moses’ song is a stanza (our reading this morning) that talks about God’s actions at the tower of Babel. Here it says that the Most High God “divided mankind” and “fixed the borders according to the number of the sons of God.” (Deut. 32:8).

In the Old Testament, “sons of God” was a reference made about angelic beings that were a part of God’s heavenly kingdom. (cf. Gen. 6:1-8) The sad truth is that some of these heavenly beings actually reject God’s plan and purpose… they rebel… and in turn are cast out. (cf. Gen. 6, Rev. 12:1-6, Jude 1:6) These rebellious “angels” wage war against the Lord most High, and their goal is to deceive God’s creation (us) into doing the same. You and I probably would call these fallen angels “demons”. (Lucifer is the prime example.) It is fascinating to think that God divided mankind and fixed borders according to a certain number of spiritual beings called “the sons of God”… especially when we realize they are demons!

This dividing of mankind is what is taking place in the tower of Babel account that we have been reading the last few days. The people’s of the earth were being divided and assigned a “son of God”. What we know now is the way that these “sons of God” would eventually deceive the different groups of people God had split up. These demons would tempt and draw the peoples of the earth into worshipping them as if they were god… an outworking of their rebellion. When we look around the world and see all the different “gods” that people worship, we can see the downstream effects of this tower of Babel moment. The other false gods of this world are simply these demons… these cast out spiritual beings… that have been pushing their lies onto the people of the world since the beginning of human history. It is against this backdrop that we read the next line of this passage:

“But the LORD'S portion is his people…” 32:9

You see, God chose a people as his own! Let that sink in for a moment. God has called a people to himself… he has a people that are HIS. In the midst of all these other “tribes” and divided people groups (each with their own demons / false idols / “gods”), God has a people HE has chosen and called his “portion”. This truth makes it all the way to US today!

In Christ, we have been made the people of God. God chose us as his children. We worship the “only begotten SON” that is Jesus Christ. (John 3:16 etc.) God called a people out all those thousands of years ago and has been doing it ever since! There are so many things pretending to be gods in this world that humanity is tempted to worship. From the moment humanity was divided up there have been gods competing for the Lord’s glory.

God is still putting himself on display through his “portion”… his people here and now. All across the world today, God is calling people out from under these demons masquerading as gods and opening their eyes to HIM. You are his. He has chosen you and called you his own. We are the Lord’s portion… holding out his truth in the midst of a divided mankind. Jesus has broken the spell of those other gods and called us his own. This is the message, the hope and the light that we carry into this world as God’s chosen people. Love you guys! - JDP