Lesson 28
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Bible Study 1 - Genesis 9
Series: SIN’S PROGRESSION
Lesson 28: Genesis 10:8-10 & 11:1-9 THE RISE AND FALL OF BABYLON
Genesis 10:8-10, “8 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.”
Genesis 11:1-9, “1 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. 3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 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. 5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”
INTRODUCTION:
All the way through the book of Genesis we see in type, in picture, and in for-shadowing, all the great truth's that are found in the rest of the Bible. In this very first Book of the Bible we find a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. In this very first Book of the Bible we also find a picture of the anti-Christ. That is one of the reasons I am calling the chapters in this series “The Progression of Sin.” The Bible teaches us that in the last days there is coming a great world dictator who is called The Beast, The Man of Sin, The Anti-Christ. Just as there is a Christ there is also an Anti-Christ. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. The Anti-Christ is the son of Satan. The Christ is the seed of the woman. The Anti-Christ is the seed of the serpent. Jesus is the Son of God. Satan is the son of perdition. One is God's Lamb. The other is the Devil's beast. One has a Kingdom, The Kingdom of God. The other has a kingdom, The kingdom of evil. One will rule over a city The Holy City - Jerusalem. The other will rule over a city The hellish city - Babylon. So I have titled this True Story: THE RISE AND FALL OF BABYLON. Because we are going to learn something about that mighty city called Babylon which symbolically stands for THE CONSUMMATION OF ALL EVIL. This is not something that just happened in the dark, musty past. This is not something that is going to happen out in the future. This deals with realities that we're facing each and every day of our lives now. There are three things to consider about this wicked city of Babylon which was both the cradle and the grave of all false religions and the Devil's kingdom.
INTERPRETATION:
NOTICE THE RULER OF BABYLON.
Remember that I told you that we are going to see a picture of the coming Anti-Christ. In Genesis 10:8-10 I want you to notice a few things about this man named Nimrod that makes him a picture of the coming Anti-Christ.
LOOK AT HIS ARROGANCE.
Verse 8 "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. Verse 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD:" There are two things that are obvious concerning his arrogance.
THERE IS ARROGANCE IN HIS NAME.
Verse 8 "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth." The name Nimrod means "let us rebel." Nimrod was a rebel, and a leader of rebel's. The Bible calls the Anti-Christ, "The wicked one" or "the lawless one" which is a rebel against God. The Bibles tells us that he opposes everything that God stands for. That's the reason we call him "The Anti-Christ" because he is against God.
THERE IS ARROGANCE IN HIS NATURE.
Verse 9 "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD" That word "before the Lord" may also be translated, "against the Lord." Here was one who was against God with all of his might. Here was one who lived a life of arrogance against the Lord. So here, he reminds us of the coming Anti-Christ because of his arrogance. He was a rebel against the Lord.
LOOK AT HIS ABILITIES.
Verse 8 "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a [mighty] one in the earth. 9 He was a [mighty] hunter before the LORD:.. Even as Nimrod the [mighty] hunter before the LORD.” Three times, MIGHTY, MIGHTY, MIGHTY is mentioned concerning Nimrod. This man was a MIGHTY person in his abilities. He pre-pictures Satan's super man. The Bible pictures Satan coming in 2 Thess. 2:9-10 "...whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish;" This Anti-Christ is going to have unbelievable power. He is going to be charming, witty, forceful, and intelligent. He is going to have demonic power. The Devil is going to deliver unto the Anti-Christ, super-natural power.
LOOK AT HIS AUTHORITY.
Verse 9, He was a mighty [hunter] before the LORD. Don't get the idea that Nimrod was hunting deer and ducks. The ancient Rabbi's tell us that this refers to a person who was a hunter of the souls of men. Just as the Lord Jesus Christ is seeking the souls of men to save them, this man had a burning desire to seek and subdue the souls of men for evil. He was one who brought devastation and death to the world of his day by a combined force and falsehood. He has the ability to rule over people, he is a hunter of the souls of men.
LOOK AT HIS GREAT AMBITION.
Verse 10 "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, ..." His ambition was that he just wanted to rule. Up until this time we have not read anything about men having a kingdom and lording it over other men. However, Nimrod wanted to rule and be in authority. This has always been the Devil's desire. He said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God. I will be like the most High." The Devil has always wanted to rule this world. Do you remember what the Devil said to the Lord Jesus? He showed the Lord Jesus all of this world and said, "All of these I'll give you if you will bow down and worship me." And Jesus said, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and Him only shalt thou serve." Jesus wouldn't take that offer from the Devil, but there is another one coming someday who will and his name is The Beast and The Anti-Christ, and he may be alive and well today.
The Evolutionist believe man sprang from the beast, but man is headed toward the beast. The history of man began with the sin of man, the history of man will end with the man of sin. We are headed toward the Anti-Christ. That's what the human history, the time of the Gentiles is going to be like. Of course, the Lord Himself will ultimately rule, so history will be ruled with Jesus Christ on the throne. But here is a wicked man, a rebel, a powerful man, a hunter of the souls of man, who wanted a kingdom over which he was going to rule. Nimrod is put in the Bible to help us understand what we read in Genesis 3:15 about the seed of the Serpent. There is coming a man who will one day be the Devil incarnate just as Jesus Christ is God incarnate. Well does all of this mean and what does it have to do with us? What is “The Progression of Sin” here and how does it relate to us today and in the future?
EXPLANATION:
NOTICE THE RISE OF BABYLON.
When we talk about Babel, as we see this city/state beginning, we need to remember that it is the inception or the commencement of the city and nation of Babylon and the concept of Babylon that we see all through the Scriptures. Over and over again, we read about Babylon in the Scriptures beginning in Genesis 10 right on through Revelation 18. Now if the Bible has that much to say about Babylon we need to understand why. Remember that the one from whom this foul thing was derived was Nimrod, a type of the Anti-Christ. Chapter 11 and verses 1 and 2 says, "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 FIRST THING I SEE IS THEY WERE DISOBEDIENT.
But how did they disobey God? "...they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there." That was not God's plan for them at all. God said that they were to spread out over all of the earth and replenish the earth. Now remember, this was after the flood and the world was destroyed and now civilization has grown up again. God said to those who came out of the Ark, "I don't want you to stay in one place, but I want you to re-populate the earth. So spread out all over the earth." Gen 9:1 "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth."
The reason God did not want them to just congregate in one spot was because God knew the dangers of a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT! That is exactly what Anti-Christ wants to set up. That is exactly what we are headed for in our day. What is wrong with a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT? What was wrong with all the people of the world coming to the plain of Shinar and dwelling there in a city/state? It was a CENTRALIZATION OF POWER. The thing that is wrong with A CENTRALIZATION OF POWER is that wicked people must not be given too much power. Have you ever heard the statement that "Power corrupts and total power corrupts totally?” When the Anti-Christ gets total power he is going to have total corruption over the face of this earth. That is exactly what Nimrod wanted in type, he wanted to totally control the world. So he said to these people, "Let's gather together here and unify this world."
We have some humanist, some atheist, and some other Godless people in the world today that believe in a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. That is one of the reasons there is so much evil taking place in the Middle East. Many people think that just started in the past few years but it has been going on for thousands of years and will continue until the end of the world. There are some Americans who hold high offices in America today who have a running romance with the idea of a ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT or a ONE WORLD POWER and that is one of the reasons we are in some of the trouble we are in. We need to understand that our freedom is related to the size of the Government in reverse proportion. The greater the size of the Government, the less freedom we have. We only need enough Government to keep us strong, to keep us safe. We also need the Government to keep its hands out of our personal lives and business. But we are seeing a growth of Federalism, and big Government and it seems to have it's finger tips on everything and the humanist love it. In the 1920's, one out of every one hundred persons worked for the Government. In the 1990's, one out of every six people work for the Government and I’m not sure what it is today but it is more than double that. Government keeps growing and growing every year and the rulers of our country keep getting more and more control and with it there will eventually be this CENTRALIZATION OF POWER. What those in the highest ranking positions want to do is not only FEDERALIZE OUR GOVERNMENT to a greater and greater extent but then they want to move our Government into A SOCIETY OF THE WORLD NATIONS. What the Anti-Christ would like to do is to have a great big ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT. That is exactly what old Nimrod wanted so long ago. Rather than spreading out all over the world and replenishing the earth, the Bible says, "they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there."
THE SECOND THING I SEE IS THEY WERE DEPRAVED.
Verse 3-4 "And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 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." I call this their depravity because of this tower they wanted to build. They said, "let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven." These people were not trying to build a staircase to the stars, they did not think they could pile brick upon brick until they could step into heaven. In the King James Version there are certain words that are italicized. "...let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven." The words "may reach" is italicized because it is put there by the translators to make it read more smoothly but it is not a part of the original and the translators wanted you to know it by putting it there in the italics. What they originally said was, "let us build us a tower, whose top unto heaven." On the top of this tower was a pagan temple that was dedicated unto the heavens and it was an astrological observatory where they would observe the stars.
Right here we have a record of the beginning of the study and worship of the stars and the paganism, idolatry and devil worship of astrology. This is the reason I am talking about their depravity. Astrology began right here in Genesis 11, and if you are a follower of astrology you need to buckle your seat belts. Astrology is one of the Devil's tools to keep people away from God. It's amazing what they called this city - BABEL - that literally means THE GATE TO GOD! "El" is the Hebrew name for God - Elohem - the mighty God. Jacob worshiped the Lord at Beth-el – “Beth-el” means "The house of God." Jesus' name is called Emanu-el - "God with us." Whenever you see "El" attached to something it speaks of God. “Bab-el” means "The gate to God." Really, it was just simply the Devil's means to corrupt people and keep people away from Jesus who is "The Gate to God."
Later on the word "Babel" came to mean "confusion." So on one hand it means "The gate to God," and on the other hand it means "Confusion." If you put these two meanings together you have exactly what it was all about, it was “confusion about the way to God.” That is exactly what the Devil is all about today and it is all based in demonic religion, in apostasy, in witch-craft, in falsehood, in astrology, and everything that is confusion about the way to God. I believe all astrology, all apostasy, all false worship that is in the organized form as we know it today has it's beginning right here in Babylon. Have you been reading your horoscope lately? Probably most people do not even know what it is or where it originated or even that it is astrology.
I want us to focus our attention on Isa 47:12-15 for a few moments and we will see that from the very inception of Satan's masterpiece they were using sorceries and enchantments. "Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail." (What he is doing is mocking them and telling them that their enchantment and their sorceries are going to do them no good.) Isa 47:13 “Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee.” Verse 14 “Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it.” Verse 15 “Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast labored, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander everyone to his quarter; none shall save thee.” This is God's judgment upon Babylon. However, I want you to notice that God says they were in the business of astrology from their youth. Let me tell you what is wrong with astrology. It is idolatry, the stars are not put there to discover the destiny of man but they were put there to give glory to God. When you look into the Word of the Stars rather into the Word of God, that is rebellion against God.
In Deut. 18:9-12 we find out that the reason God destroyed the entire Canaanite civilization was because of the demon worship that began at the tower of Babel. Verse 9 says, "When thou art come into the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations.” If you want to find out what the abominations are we see it in verse 10 “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire,” (In their wickedness they were murdering their little babies - and America is doing the same thing today.) “or that useth divination”, (that is a fortune teller) “or an observer of times,” (that is an astrologer) “or an enchanter, or a witch,” Verse 11 “Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.” (That is someone who tries to contact the dead through a séance) Verse 12 “For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD: and because of these abominations the LORD thy God doth drive them out from before thee." You see, God says, "If you dabble in this business of astrology you are an abomination to God." No doubt there is someone studying this who has recently, if not today, checked your horoscope. There are some who have belt buckles with the Zodiac on them. There are some who have ear rings and little pieces of jewelry with Astrology signs on them. I had people to get very angry with me and say, "There's nothing bad about that!" My reply is “Maybe not to you, but the Bible says, it is an abomination to God!" I have had some say to me, "Well I'm not serious about that stuff, I don't take any of that seriously." My response is, “If you wouldn't dabble in adultery or murder you ought not to dabble in astrology either because it is all an abomination to God!” It had its beginning in the tower of Babel. All organized false religion has come from what happened here in Genesis 11.
In Rev 17:5 John saw a beautiful woman and she is riding upon a beast which has 7 heads and 10 horns but John says, "And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." In the Bible "Harlotry" is "False Religion." You see, Jesus is our bridegroom and the church is the bride, and anytime we are not true to the Lord Jesus, that is Spiritual adultery. All Spiritual adultery, and all false religion, all apostasy had its beginning in Babylon. So in Revelation 17:5 the Bible calls it, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." These people were very wicked and they raised up what they called “the gates to God” but really it was “the mouth of hell.”
There are some who are religious, in the occult, or in some liberal Christ denying organization, who have not come to God through the Lord Jesus Christ who are caught up in this Babylonian system. Some of them don't even realize it because they think they are doing something good and wonderful but they are disobedient and depraved.
THE THIRD THING I SEE IS THEY WERE DEFIANT.
Genesis 11:3-4 "And [they] said one to another, Go to, let [us] make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And [they] had brick for stone, and slime had [they] for mortar. 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." Over and over we hear them use words like "We" "Us" and "They" and there is no mention of God. This is humanism, this is the kingdom of Anti-Christ. These people have left God out of their plans, and they had made themselves the center and circumference of their plans.
We have people today who are living in open defiance of God who are ego-maniacs who are just strutting to hell, thinking they are too good to be damned. What we saw over there "in seed form" in Genesis we are going to find "in fruit form" in the last days. There will be that coming kingdom of Anti-Christ and it will be based in A ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT, A ONE WORLD CHURCH, and it will be based in MAN'S ARROGANCE as he tries to HUMANIZE GOD and DEIFY MAN.
APPLICATION:
NOTICE THE RUIN OF BABYLON.
We can see this as we continue to look in verses Gen 11:6-7, "And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7 Go to, let [us] go down..."
THERE WAS THE COMING OF THE SAVIOR.
The Triune God said "let [us] go down." Man says, "[We're going to build up toward heaven]," God says, "[I'm going to come down to earth]." It is suggestive to me of that time when Anti-Christ is at the height of his arrogance, when he thinks he has his kingdom built just right and he's ready to put on the cap-stone. Then there will be a voice heard in heaven as the Triune God - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit says, "[Let us go down]." Dear friends, that's the time we are waiting for, when God steps out of the heavens, and I don't believe it's going to be very long. I believe the Anti-Christ is about to put the final touches on his kingdom. I believe the Anti-Christ could very well be alive and living today. Nevertheless, The Bible teaches that the Church is going to be taken out in the Rapture and then the Anti-Christ is going to build his kingdom. Then at the close of a seven year period of tribulation our Great God is going to say "[Let us go down]."
THERE WAS THE CONFUSION OF THE SPEECH.
We see that when we look again at verse 7. "Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." Not only was there THE COMING OF THE SAVIOR , but there was THE COMING OF THE LORD. The reason the Lord came down and confounded their speech was because he wanted to show them they were not as mighty as they thought they were. These were brilliant people, they really thought they knew what they were doing, they thought they had it all together. But God says, "They have never thanked me for the ability to communicate. They are not using their speech to praise me, to love me, or to worship me. So I'm going to take one little ingredient out." So God confounded their speech and gave them all different languages. God was showing them what they thought was unity was not unity at all. They had a false unity that was in their words and in their work but it was not a true unity. True unity is only in God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one Lord, one God, one faith, one baptism, one Father over us all! When our Lord steps out of Glory, He is going to turn the kingdoms of Anti-Christ into total confusion.
THERE WAS THE COLLAPSE OF THEIR SYSTEM.
We notice that beginning at Verse 8 "So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Verse 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth." That is, the whole thing collapsed, and it was left in ruins. It reminds us of what the Bible says, "Except the Lord the house they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchmen waketh but in vain." In the last days it may look like the Anti-Christ is getting the upper hand. It may look like there is a gathering storm. It may look like the forces of evil are getting powerfully entrenched as THE WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES come together, as THE UN takes charge of the nations of the world, as the power of the occult dominates the lives of people, as the devil and demonism is found everywhere. Right now it looks like the time is almost right for Anti-Christ, and indeed it is, but I promise you that all who follow the way of Babylon are going to sit and weep among the fallen and crumbled ruins of the city of sin.
CONCLUSION:
I want us to notice the final prophecy in the Bible concerning Babylon in Revelation 18:1-4 "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. (I believe this angel coming down is the picture of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who is called the angel of Jehovah.) 2. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. (This cage of demons, this demonic religion, is destined to fall.) 3. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. 4. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
Just as this ancient tower crumbled so long ago, we find that the final full blown Babylon is going to come crashing down. You may have never realized this, but the first time the word "Alleluia" is used in all the New Testament is after Babylon falls. Rev 19:1 says, “And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God:” Rev 19:2 “For true and righteous are his judgments: for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. Rev 19:3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up forever and ever. Rev 19:6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth.” If you think we have reason to say "Alleluia" today, you aint’ seen nothing yet. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. This tower of blunder the devil has built will come crashing down to be a tower of rubble. Babylon is going to fall! There is Christ and there is Anti-Christ. There is the city of God and there is the city of sin. People had better choose sides very carefully!
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