Angelic Conflict part 110: Human history – Gen 11:1-9; Psa 2:1-6; Zec 5:5-11; Rev 18:21; Phi 3; Rom 8:31-39; Isa 55:6-13.

Title: Angelic Conflict part 110: Human history - GEN 11:1-9; PSA 2:1-6; ZEC 5:5-11; REV 18:21; Phi 3; ROM 8:31-39; ISA 55:6-13.

 

The Tower of Babel - GEN 11:1-9.

 

This passage follows the Law of Recurrence because it explains how the dispersion of chapter 10 took place.

 

The Law of Recurrence - when the Scripture repeats an event with greater or added detail. Gen 11 explains the dispersion of Gen 10.

 

For instance:

GEN 10:5 From these [sons of Japheth] the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

 

GEN 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.

 

GEN 11:7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

 

GEN 11:8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.

 

GEN 11:9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

 

So GEN 11:1-9 happened prior to GEN 10:5 and further explains the dispersion of the families of Noah’s sons.

 

Together a great many of the descendents of Noah with one speech decided to oppose God and create their own city based on idol worship and astrology. They were led by Nimrod.

 

God confused their language and dispersed them creating nationalism over internationalism. If the status of the people perpetuated, all the peoples would have been brought up in an idol worshipping, star worshipping, demon worshipping atmosphere with only this one religion being taught.

 

Think of a child brought up under communism where only atheism is taught and the Bible is forbidden or under radical Sharia law where only jihad is taught. Imagine if the entire world was like this and there were no nations that knew of and worshipped the one, true God.

 

GEN 11:1 Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words.

 

It is very possible that this language was Hebrew, since all names are Hebrew prior to this chapter and all the word plays only make sense in Hebrew.

 

They had the same tongue and the same vocabulary.

 

GEN 11:2 And it came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

 

“Plain” - good land for cultivation.

“Shinar” - Babylonia.

 

The families of Noah return to where life originated.

 

map

 

GEN 11:3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

 

GEN 11:4 And they said, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name; lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."

 

They rebel in two ways. First they burn bricks to make them hard and last a long time and bound them with pitch or tar, which both materials are abundant in this area, whereas stones are not.

 

Secondly they wish to build a city and a tower. This is the city of Babylon.

 

The desired tower has the goal being: whose top may reach unto heaven, or literally, “with its peak in the heavens.”

 

“Babel” [Heb] = the gate of God.

 

The purpose of this tower was likely for astrology or the signs of the zodiac. This marks the beginning of false religion and idolatry.

 

That is why REV 17:5 calls her:

 

Babylon is the mother of all religion:

 

REV 17:5

and upon her forehead a name was written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."

 

She is the mother of all false religious systems, therefore the first that gave birth to the rest. In religion, the creature plays the harlot with false gods, demons who mask themselves as angels of light.

 

The building of this tower expressed the people’s desire for a new religion and there was one man who was more than happy to give it to them, Nimrod.

 

First, the desire to stay together and live in Nimrod’s cities violated God’s command to disperse in the Noahic Covenant, GEN 9:1,7.

 

GEN 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.

 

GEN 9:7 "And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;

Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it."

 

Although Nimrod is not mentioned in chapter 11, he is prominently mentioned in chapter 10 as a strong opposer to God.

 

GEN 10:6 And the sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.

 

GEN 10:7 And the sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

 

GEN 10:8 Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth.

 

Nimrod - comes from the Hebrew word “to rebel.”

 

Therefore, this may be an assigned name given to him later in life. His name has yet to be found in archeology, though there are many convincing arguments by historians who identify him with known names of history.

 

The term mighty is used three times in vs. 8-9. He was a hunter of animals, but he was also a hunter of men as a recruiter for opposition to God as is seen in the next verse.

 

GEN 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord."

 

“He was a mighty hunter before the Lord;” the terminology implies antagonism against and in opposition to God.

 

The Septuagint uses “opposition” instead of “before” and with the meaning of his name and the place to which he goes - Shinar or Babylonia, it would seem clear that this mighty man opposed the God of his great grandfather Noah and returned to the birthplace of his great grandfather and while recruiting all the people to follow him he built a city, later to become Babylon, and a tower that would be used as an astrology temple of idol worship. It is possible that the constellation Orion is starry worship of Nimrod the mighty hunter.  

 

pic

 

The constellation is named in the Babylonian star catalogues of the late Bronze Age (1700 BC). [winter constellation in northern hemisphere]

 

He was popular enough that there was a known saying about him, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before/in the face of/opposed to the Lord.”

 

This goes to show the value of a reputation - it has none. How in the world could Nimrod, no matter how strong and skilled he is as hunter, even hope to oppose God? But whose thinking is this? “I will be like the Most High.” “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know.”

 

Constantly, satan is trying to depict God as not much higher than the creature, whose heights can be attained with enough skill and training.

 

I always think of Psa 2 in reference to points like this.

 

PSA 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar,

And the peoples devising a vain thing?

 

PSA 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand,

And the rulers take counsel together

Against the Lord and against His Anointed:

PSA 2:3 "Let us tear their fetters apart,

And cast away their cords from us!"

 

PSA 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs,

The Lord scoffs at them.

 

PSA 2:5 Then He will speak to them in His anger

And terrify them in His fury:

 

PSA 2:6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King

Upon Zion, My holy mountain."

 

Nimrod doesn’t just build one city but an empire.

 

GEN 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

 

Moses mentions the building of four cities. Babel is Babylon on the Euphrates, thus planting the seeds of the future Babylonian captivity of the Jews into this empire.

 

However, Nimrod later goes to Assyria, about 200 miles north of Babylon, which chapter 10 doesn’t tell us why, but chapter 11 does. The confusion of the languages and the resultant dispersion pushed Nimrod north, and interestingly, he builds another empire that will also capture the Jews, the Assyrian Empire with its capital, Nineveh.

 

Nimrod builds Babylon - Jewish (Judah) captivity 586 BC.

Nimrod builds Assyria - Jewish (Israel) captivity 721 BC.

 

GEN 10:11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah,

 

GEN 10:12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

 

Assyria captured the northern kingdom as she went through the fifth cycle of discipline in 721 BC. Babylon did the same to the southern kingdom, Judah, and for the same reason, in 586 BC. Both empires were destroyed and Babylon the great will be rebuilt for the Tribulation but will be thoroughly destroyed at the end of the Tribulation.

 

Babylon does not exist today, but she is to be rebuilt and will become the Antichrist’s political and economic capital of the world.

 

Babylon will be rebuilt, ZEC 5:5-11.

 

ZEC 5:5 Then the angel who was speaking with me went out, and said to me, "Lift up now your eyes, and see what this is, going forth."

 

ZEC 5:6 And I said, "What is it?" And he said, "This is the ephah going forth." Again he said," This is their appearance in all the land

 

ZEC 5:7 (and behold, a lead cover was lifted up); and this is a woman sitting inside the ephah."

 

Ephah - standard of measure of weight and it became the symbol for the economy. Lead - false measure = corrupt economy.

 

ZEC 5:8 Then he said, "This is Wickedness!" And he threw her down into the middle of the ephah and cast the lead weight on its opening.

 

The corruption will become a source of discipline from God as He will crush this city at the second coming of Christ.

 

ZEC 5:9 Then I lifted up my eyes and looked, and there two women were coming out with the wind in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heavens.

 

ZEC 5:10 And I said to the angel who was speaking with me, "Where are they taking the ephah?"

 

ZEC 5:11 Then he said to me, "To build a temple for her in the land of Shinar [Babylon]; and when it is prepared, she will be set there on her own pedestal."

 

Babylon will meet its final destruction:

 

ISA 13:19

And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

Jeremiah also prophesizes about this destruction extensively and in great detail. Its final end is realized in Rev 18.

 

REV 18:21

And a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.

 

And yet, thousands and thousands of years earlier we have the one who greatly opposed God, Nimrod, who made himself out to be greater than God, begin to build this city and its iconic tower.

 

Nimrod, the mighty opposer of God and recruiter of men, is the actual leader of the revolt of the Tower of Babel, the first leader of organized religion, idol worship, and astrology, and he is satanically influenced.

 

Royal family, live in grace. Be thankful, grateful, appreciative, and receiving of all that God has done, knowing that you have not nor cannot add one iota to what He has done. Just receive in grace and let God’s Spirit and word produce fruit in you. Relax and enjoy it, Rejoice, I say again Rejoice, for our Lord has conquered all enemies and has won back all that we have lost and then added to that a hundred fold.

 

PHI 3:1 Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

 

PHI 3:2 Beware of the dogs, beware of the evil workers, beware of the false circumcision;

 

PHI 3:3 for we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh,

 

PHI 3:4 although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

 

PHI 3:5 circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee;

 

PHI 3:6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

 

PHI 3:7 But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

 

PHI 3:8 More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,

 

PHI 3:9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith,

 

PHI 3:10 that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;

 

PHI 3:11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

 

PHI 3:12 Not that I have already obtained it, or have already become perfect, but I press on in order that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.

 

PHI 3:13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,

 

PHI 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

 

PHI 3:15 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you;

 

PHI 3:16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained.

 

Grace is to freely receive from God all His blessings and provisions despite being a sinner. It takes humility to receive tremendous blessings without an ounce of earning or deserving.

 

ROM 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

 

ROM 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

 

ROM 8:33 Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies;

 

ROM 8:34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.

 

ROM 8:35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

 

ROM 8:36 Just as it is written,

"For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long;

We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

 

ROM 8:37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.

 

ROM 8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,

 

ROM 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

God has given the children of Noah instructions, spread out, multiply, and fill the earth. One would do so by faith, like Abraham, not knowing where they were going, but so what, God commanded it, would not He make it good? But they disobeyed, in other words, they had more faith in Nimrod’s plan than God’s and so they went the way of religion, idol worship, astrology worship, which all can be summed up in creature worship.

 

God’s ways are not man’s ways. Reject worldly, secular nonsense and do things God’s way, ISA 55:6-13.

 

ISA 55:6 Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near.

 

ISA 55:7 Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the Lord, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.

 

ISA 55:8 "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.

 

ISA 55:9 "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

 

ISA 55:10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;

 

ISA 55:11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

 

ISA 55:12 "For you will go out with joy, And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

 

ISA 55:13 "Instead of the thorn bush the cypress will come up; And instead of the nettle the myrtle will come up; And it will be a memorial to the Lord, For an everlasting sign which will not be cut off."