Genesis 11: If You See a Tough Childhood, Then Something Must Be Up

(upbeat music) - Welcome to chapter by chapter four year journey through the greatest book given to the human race, the word of God, it's the Bible. And we get to go through it chapter by chapter, seven minutes a day and seven days a week. Join us each day and share it with others so they can join this journey that will be life changing. We'll stop at unexpected places on the journey and be challenged. Some verses will even create awe and wonder. We'll have chapters that will be instructive and in others we'll find joy and comfort. We will occasionally be convicted and wanna change, but all in all, the journey's gonna be worth it. And once in a while, we may even take a detour on the journey and hear from some of God's servants on their favorite passages from a chapter and let them give you their insight. Every journey needs a small detour occasionally. The best way to get the most from this podcast is read the chapter we're discussing before after. It's his word that transforms. You will find more and seem more than I can ever articulate. Welcome to chapter by chapter and today's chapter is Genesis 11. I read an article recently entitled, "Where are the happiest kids?" Where do the happiest kids in the world live? A study released in 2012 titled, "The New Definition of Childhood, "produced by an agency headquartered in Chicago "found that the happiest kids in the world live in Mexico. "Despite its many social ills and widespread poverty, "the study asked 4,000 children ages six to 12 "in 12 countries what it's like to grow up today." According to the first ever global kids happiness index, kids in Mexico were the happiest in the world. Followed by Spain, Brazil, and Germany. American kids scored fifth. Across almost all the countries, the most important source of happiness for kids was a close family and friends. The solution to nearly all of our social ills always seems to come back to relationships with the most important people in our life. In Genesis 11, I can tell you for sure that the ancient city of Er was not on that list. Childhood was tough and especially for one of the most iconic figures in all the Bible. His family and friend network was going to be shaken. What a tough childhood for a young man that would be greatly used by God. The young man's name is Abram, who will soon be called Abraham. He will be the iconic figure of the Old Testament, the father of the faith, the charter member of the Jewish people. I never thought of Abraham's childhood until I read Genesis 11. It's full of tragedy. The story is here at the end of Genesis 11, 27 through 32. Now these are the records of the generations of Tara. Tara became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Iran. And Iran became the father of Lot. Iran died in the presence of his father, Tara, and in the land of his birth in the ear of the Caldeans. Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai. The name of Nahor's wife was Milka, the daughter of Iran, the father of Milka and Iska. Sarai was barren and she had no child. Tara took Abram, his son, Lot, the son of Iran, his grandson and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, his son, Abram's wife, and they went out together from the ear of the Caldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan. And they went as far as Iran and settled there. The days of Tara were 205 years and Tara died in Iran. Just stop and think about all that Abram faces before he starts his journey of faith. His brother dies right before the father's eyes. And this untimely death left a young man behind that needed to be taken care of. His father takes his grandson and raises him as his own. What's interesting is the surviving brothers, each have a wife, but not for the brother that passes. No wife has even mentioned. It may be that this boy is out of wetlocked, just a thought. It's odd that brothers and their wives are mentioned, but not for the deceased. The father doesn't take the boy and the mother, but only the mention of the orphan boy. Then Abram finds out that his wife is barren. There's such a blemish on a woman and a stigma to carry into the community. And then the father moves the family out of the homeland of Urb. Tara the father, Abram and his barren wife, Lot, the orphan, and they move to a new place called Iran. They're planning on going to Canaan and don't even make it. Seems like a crushed dream. All your tickets say Canaan and you end up in Iran. Then after uprooting the family, your father dies in the new place, leaving them no support structure to help them get through grief. It's no stretch to say that it was a rocky start for one of God's chosen vessels. And according to the global children happiness study, both the family and the friend criteria got severely damaged. I heard it said as God is not committed to my happiness but to my holiness. If this adages true, it really is true in Abram's life. What is happening when these kind of things are happening? All I can see is when you see a rough childhood, keep an eye on that child. God is not far. God is developing and maturing faster than even a normal child. He's got plans for that child. In a rural city called Northfield, Massachusetts, his life was marked by hardship and poverty. His father died when he was only four, leaving his mother with nine children to raise. They were a massive debt, no means to pay it. The young man had to leave school at fifth grade to work on a farm to help contribute. This young man would never finish school, attend college and his lack of education would be evident every time he opened up his mouth. He left home seven years later at age 17 to work in his uncle's Boston shoe store. Like Abram, this young man lost his family and friends just to survive. Once again, God was doing something in this young man. The uneducated tragic life of deal moody would be considered one of the greatest American evangelists started out like Abram. No one would have thought that he would be speaking to a lot of people. Sources from the Christian History Institute, Christianity Today and the CS Lewis Institute confirmed that moody presented his message to an estimated 100 million people by voice or pen. It was said that he could not speak or write without massive grammatical errors. How does this happen? God usually has a massive plan for those who have faced massive disappointment in their upbringing. Just an encouragement to young people today. Think for a moment of the absentee father, the strungling, single mom, the financial woes and debt, the disappointments on every level from where you lived to what you had to face. And would you, could you just take a moment and say something different than you've been saying? Instead of asking questions like, why me? Why did this happen to me? How about we make faith statements like this? Okay, God, I got precedence. I got moody, I got Abraham and a bunch of others with childhood disappointments. You must be up to something. When you put us in life's classroom, that young, you got something massive on the other side. I can't wait to see what you're up to. Turn your questions into faith statements. Thank you for joining chapter by chapter. Every chapter from the greatest book, the Bible, the word of God. Seven minutes a day, seven days a week. We'll see you tomorrow.