Tower of Babel

1. Tower of Babel Contrary to God's plan of naturaland gradual occupation of all the earth, the descendants of Noah determined to settle down and make a name for themselves. They decided they did not need the God of Noah but a permanent headquarters with a great tower that would reach the heavens.

2. Genesis 11:1,2 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. The earliest known inhabitants of Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, whom the Bible refers to as the people of the "land of Shinar" (Gen 10:10). Sargon, from one of the Sumerian cities, united the people of Babylonia under his rule about 2300 B.C.. Many scholars believe that Sargon might have been the same person as Nimrod (Gen 10:8). Babylonia was situated in the area known as Mesopotamia (Greek for "between the rivers"). Mesopotamia was in the Near East in roughly the same geographical position as modern Iraq. Two great rivers flowed through this land: the Tigris and the Euphrates. Along these two rivers were many great trading cities such as Ur and Babylon on the Euphrates. Shinar was the name given, in the earliest hebrew records, to Babylonia, or the land of Babel, later called Chaldea by the Greeks. This is the same land Daniel was taken captive to later and today would be modern Iraq around the Euphrates river. This is the same land that will be part of Antichrist’s empire before the rapture and Christ’s visible return to defeat Antichrist.

3. Gen 11:3,4And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. "Let us, let us, let us” sounded just like the echo of Lucifer's " I will, I will, I will," recorded in Isaiah 14:12-16 Isaiah 14:12How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount fifth of the congregation, in the sides of the north:

4. Genesis 10:8-118 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, InGenesis 10:10, Shinar is thedistrict where in lay Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh, cities which made up the nucleus of Nimrod’s Kingdom. In Genesis 10 (sometimes called "the table of the nations"), we find a brief record of the above mentioned Nimrod and the beginning of his kingdom. We read that Nimrod was the mighty hunter of men, that is, he was a great conqueror expanding his kingdom wherever he went. Early writers say he was the first one to wear a crown. Following is a transcript of part of Ray C. Stedman (http://ldolphin.org/) on his documentary onGenesis 10 which is very informative. He writes: The four sons of Hamare relatively easy to trace in history.

5. Cush is associated with the peoples of Southern Arabia and Ethiopia. Ethiopians still trace their ancestry back to Cush. Egypt (or Mizraim, in Hebrew-an ancient name for Egypt) became the father of the Egyptian Empire, settling in the Nile Valley. Put is associated with Lydia, on the west of Egypt in North Africa. Canaan centered largely in and around Palestine, though the Canaanites later became much more widespread. The account zooms in on an individual named Nimrod, who is called a great hunter. He is a rather mysterious figure of great importance in ancient history. He is the founder of both Babylon and Nineveh, the two great cities of antiquity which became, ultimately, enemies of Israel. The prominent thing that is said about him here is that he was a mighty man, a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now, it was the work of kings in those ancient days to be hunters. This was a time when civilization was sparse and wild animals were a constant threat to the people. Kings, having nothing much else to do, organized hunting parties and acted as the protectors of their people by killing wild animals. Nimrod evidently gained a great reputation as such a hunter, but he was more than a hunter of wild animals. The Jewish Talmud helps us here, for it says that he was "a hunter of the souls of men." By the

6. founding of Babylon and Nineveh we have a hint given of the nature of this man. We are told here that he was "the first mighty man on earth," i.e., after the flood. That phrase, "mighty man," takes us back to Genesis 6 where, in that strange story of the invasion of the "sons of God" into the human race, there resulted a race of giants called Nephilim. We are told that "these were the mighty men that were of old, the men of renown." This demonic invasion of the race, with sexual overtones, brought into being a race of giants that were morally degraded. These also appear later on in the Canaanite tribes. We have found this suggestive line of thought running through the Scriptural account up to this point. Nimrod apparently was one of these "mighty men," and therefore introduced a perverted, degraded form of religion into the world. It began at Babylon, spread to Nineveh, and can be traced in history as it subsequently spread throughout the whole of the earth. Thus, in this man Nimrod, we have the seed of idolatry and false religion coming in again after the flood.If you drop the first consonant of Nimrod's name and take the others M, R, D you will have the basic root of the god of Babylon, whose name was Marduk, and whom most scholars identify with Nimrod. In the Babylonian religion,

7. Nimrod (or Marduk) held a unique place. His wife was Semiramis. (In Cairo, Egypt, the Semiramis Hotel is named after this woman.) Marduk and Semiramis were the ancient god and goddess of Babylon. They had a son whom Semiramis claimed was virgin-born, and they founded the mother and child cult. This was the central character of the religion of ancient Babylon, the worship of a mother and child, supposedly virgin-born. You can see in this a clever attempt on the part of Satan to anticipate the genuine virgin birth and thus to cast disrepute upon the story when the Lord Jesus would later be born into history.At the tower of Babel Godconfounded their languages and they spread out across the land taking with them their false idolatry and religion. There was not a nation that was not corrupted. The final evolution of this great city of Babylon will be under Antichrist before it is destroyed as part of Christ’s return. Babylon in her long history will have certainly lived up to its name as the city that gave birth to all the false idolatries and religions that have spread throughout the whole world against the true God. Rev 17:5 says of Babylon Rev 17:5And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS

8. AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. With all the nations corrupted by Nimrod's Babylonian religion, God looked throughout the earth for someone he could raise up and be the father of a Godly nation. That man was Abram whose name God changed to Abraham. Between time of flood till Abram the Bible gives us this genealogy. Genesis 11:10These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: It was in the days of Peleg that God confounded the languages and they left of from building the tower of Babel and separated by language. This is confirmed in Genesis 10:25.

9. Genesis 10:25And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. Genesis 11 continued 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.