A Lamp Unto My Feet Bible Study Website
GENESIS 11:1-9
Lesson #22
THE SPREAD OF PAGAN IDOLATRY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
- Memory verse: 2Thessalonians 2:3
- Read Gen 11:1-9
- From the time of Noah’s flood to the tower of Babel was about 166 years.
- A kingdom principle: (1,6)
- The law of unity
- They had one language and one purpose but all for an evil purpose.
- Unity is a powerful force that can be used for either good or evil.
- Here it is used for evil.
- God wants man to use the principle of unity for good.
- Read Joh 17:11,21-23
- The look and shape of the tower of Babel was what archaeologists have called a “ziggurat”.
- It consisted of successively receding stories giving the appearance of terraces. Archaeologists have discovered “ziggurat” towers like that described at Babel. (3)
- The use of brick:
- Babylon had no natural stone. Instead of importing stone, they made brick with their own hands.
- This was not pleasing to God.
- Altars made to God must be made out of stones, not carved by human hands. Stone is a symbol of Christ. (1Cor 10:4)
- What command of God did Nimrod and his people violate?
- They were told in the Noahic Covenant to go into all the earth and replenish it. (Gen 9:1)
- Instead, they have settled in one place.
- Therefore, God pronounces judgment and miraculously disperses them by the use of language.
- What was Nimrod’s greatest sin?
- The sin was pride.
- This is the same sin that caused the angel Lucifer to fall from heaven and become Satan on the earth.
- This is the same sin that Eve fell for in the Garden of Eden. Satan said to eat of the forbidden tree, and it would make them like God.
- This is the same sin Cain indulged in when he offered a sacrifice outside of the pattern that God had established.
- This is the same sin that caused mankind before the flood to laugh at Noah and God.
- How do we know this was Nimrod’s sin?
- Notice the phrasing of verse 4:
- “let us“, “build us“, “let us“, “make us“,”lest we“.
- These statements indicate pride.
- The purpose was to defy God so they would not be scattered.
- Notice the phrasing of verse 4:
- God and the consequences of the sin of pride:
- Psa 10:4 Pro 8:13 Pro 11:2 Pro 16:18 Pro 29:23
- Notice that they are not called the children of God but the children of men because they were ungodly. (5)
- The sin was pride.
- An indication of the presence of the Holy Trinity of God. (7) “let us come down...”
- “Babel” (9)
- The name of the city means “gate of God”. Nimrod thought that if they built the tower high enough it would reach to heaven, and he could sit up in the temple on the top and rule the world like a God.
- Other ziggurat temple towers in the area were named “the house of the mountain”, “the house of the seven guides of heaven and earth”, “the house of the link between heaven and earth”.
- The name Babel finally comes to mean = “confusion” because of the confusion of languages. It is actually a play on Hebrew words: Babel, meaning gate of God; and Balal, meaning confusion.
- Consequences:
- Remember that this is the age of self-government. Self-government taken to extreme produces a dictator like Nimrod.
- God’s judgment is one of a social curse–the multiplicity of languages.
- Not specifically specified is the judgment of a shorter life span.
- The age of self-government ends here. The life span is shortened from a maximum of 600 years in the age of self-government to 100-200 years in the next age.
- The redemption of this curse:
- The judgment on society by the confusion of languages was temporarily reversed on the day of Pentecost when 120 disciples of Jesus were gathered in the upper room 50 days after the crucifixion of Christ. (Act 2:1-21)
- God will permanently reverse the curse in the millennium (the 1000 year reign of Christ on earth that is yet to come). (Zep 3:9)
- There will be one language.
- Many think it will be Hebrew.
- Remember that this is the age of self-government. Self-government taken to extreme produces a dictator like Nimrod.
- An expanded look at Nimrod:
- Nimrod was an evil man, obsessed with pride. He wanted to be ruler of the world.
- He was the first hero to be worshipped; the first world dictator.
- The Bible says he was a mighty hunter (rebel) (Gen 10:8)
- The reason for the use of the word “hunter” is because he hunted human beings in opposition to the Noahic Covenant that prohibited the taking of a life, and therefore he rebelled against God.
- [The chaldee paraphrase of Gen 10:8-9 says, “Cush begat Nimrod who began to prevail in wickedness for he slew innocent blood and rebelled against Jehovah.”]
- This is the beginning of human sacrifice.
- Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel, the forerunner of the kingdom of Babylon.
- Nimrod began the practice of idolatry. This is, therefore, the beginning of Satan’s church and its subtle deception.
- This is the time and location of the beginning of astrology and the worship of the sun god.
- Later, the prophet, Jeremiah, condemned Isreal for worshiping Semiramis, the queen of heaven. (Jer 7:18 Jer 44:15-30)
- The prophet, Ezekiel, spoke about the Jews who worshipped Tammuz. (Eze 8:14-15)
- Nimrod’s spiritual name was Baal:
- Tradition says that Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis. She was the founder of the Babylon “mystery cults” and the first high priestess of idolatry. Her spiritual names are Ashtoreth, Diana, Venus, etc. She was called the queen of heaven.
- Semiramis gave birth to a son who was supposed to have been conceived miraculously by a sunbeam. The son, Tammuz, was considered a savior of his people. His name means “true son”. Tammuz was killed by a wild beast and miraculously brought back to life. Semiramis travelled to Hades to bring Tammuz back to life in the spring so he is the god of vegetation and new life. The sign of the cross was a symbol of Tammuz’s life-giving power, and this symbol was sacred to believers in Tammuz.
- Idols of Semiramis and Tammuz as mother and child were worshipped throughout the world by various names, all having halos and sun bursts as a symbol of sun worship and Semiramis as queen of heaven.
- When people were scattered at the tower of Babel, this religion was scattered over the earth.
- Jezebel became its high priestess in 1Kin 16:30-33.
- In anthropology these religions are all called the “mother/child cults”, or the “mystery cults”.
- Nimrod’s Babylon can be traced by evidence from archaeology and history to the present day:
History of mystery babylon
| Location: | Father | Mother | Child |
| Babel
Gen 10-11 |
Nimrod | Semiramis | Tammuz |
| Phoenicia | Nimrod | Ashtoreth | Tammuz |
| Egypt | Seb
Osiris |
Isis | Horus |
| Assyria | Ishtar | Nana
Beltis Bacchus |
|
| Babylon | Mylitta | Baal
Bel (1Kin 18) |
|
| Medo- persia | Nanacea
Anaea Anaitas Tanata |
||
| Greece | Zeus | Artemis
Aphrodite |
Eros
Diana (Act 19:23-28) |
| Rome | Jupiter | Venus | Cupid |
| India | Isi | Iswara | |
| Asia | Cybele | Deoius |
-
- During the rule of the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine turned to Christianity and made Christianity the state religion.
- People were given the choice to convert or die. As a result there were many converts that were not born again.
- In order to appease the people, Constantine permitted a blending of the old religious systems with the new Christianity.
- The Romans made Julius Caesar the “supreme pontiff” (high priest) of the Babylonian religion in 63 BC.
- Therefore, Rome became the successor to Babylon.
- Other emperors took the title also.
- Some religious practices incorporated from the worship of Tammuz to Christianity:
- The adoration of the mother with child in her arms and a halo around their heads.
- The use of the letters “ihs” with a sun burst around the letters which stand for Isis and Horus and Seb.
- The celebration of Easter which comes from the name “Ishtar”.
- Sunrise Easter service in the worship of Ishtar.
- In the future:
- Nimrod’s pagan religion still exists today.
- The Bible says it will exist in the future during the tribulation period. (Rev 12 ,17)
- During the rule of the Roman Empire, Emperor Constantine turned to Christianity and made Christianity the state religion.
| Satan | The harlot | The Antichrist | |
| The New Revived Roman Empire | The Dragon | “Mystery Babylon” world false religion | The Antichrist |
- Background on Satan’s church:
- Read Rev 17:1-18.
- In historical chronology, in the 7 year tribulation period before the second coming of Jesus Christ, the world will see the rise of the Antichrist in a revived Roman Empire. The Antichrist, possessed by Satan, will use this ancient religion to deceive the world. Therefore, Nimrod is a prefigure of the Antichrist to come.
- Nimrod, a prefigure of the Antichrist
- Read Rev 17:1-18.
| Nimrod | The Antichrist |
| A mighty rebel | The lawless one. 2The 2:8-9 |
| A brazen defiance of God | He shall do according to his own will.
Dan 11:36-37 |
| A hunter of men | He will hunt down Christians and Jews |
| The king of an evil kingdom | The king of an evil kingdom. Psa 5:6 Dan 11:36 Isa 14:4 |
| His kingdom was in Babylon | He will be connected with mystery Babylon.
Rev 17:3-5 |
| He desired to make himself a name | He exalts himself above all
2The 2:4 |
Homework
Genesis 11:10-32
- Application of Gen 11:1-9
- Examine your own heart and life. List what evidence you find in yourself that points to pride. (We all have some somewhere).
- Pray and ask the Lord’s forgiveness. Remember that the opposite of trust in God is pride in yourself. Ask the Lord to help you trust Him rather your own self.
- Preparation of Gen 11:10-32
- Read Gen 11:10-32
- At which name in the genealogy does the life span dramatically decrease?
- Do you remember why?
- What was Abraham’s family background like?
- Read Jos 24:2 Act 7:1-5 Heb 11:8-10
- Why do you think Abraham and his family left their home town of Ur?
- Why do you think their names were changed later from Abram to Abraham, and from Sarai to Sarah?
- What was added to each of their names? Can you think why?
- At which name in the genealogy does the life span dramatically decrease?
- Read Gen 11:10-32
- Memory verse: Galatians 3:6
