ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 1

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1 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 1 Contents Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study Genesis 10 Series, Study 1 by Chris McCann, originally aired November 16, 2016 Good evening and welcome to ebible Fellowship s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #1 of Genesis, chapter 10 and we are going to read Genesis 10:1-7: Now these *are* the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. Gen And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. In this passage, we have a genealogy and it will continue for most of this chapter and we will get into a discussion of the Biblical calendar of history in the next chapter. Here, God is telling us of the sons of Japheth and Ham and God is not giving us a timeline as far as how long an individual lived, but in Genesis, chapter 11 God will pick up the Biblical calendar again, as we saw in Genesis 5, up to the point of the flood in 4990BC. We saw in the previous chapter that Noah lived 350 years after the flood. The Biblical calendar of history does not follow Noah during that 350 years, but it follows one of his sons and we will pick that up in the next chapter. In this passage and throughout most of chapter 10 God gives us information concerning some of the sons of Shem, Ham and Japheth. It is not easy reading and sometimes we may feel we are not learning much, but one thing we can see is that after the flood when Noah and his family came out of the ark and settled on dry ground they were obedient to God s command to multiply and replenish the earth. They began to reproduce and have children. This chapter is helpful because it allows us to see some of the historical background of certain nations in the Bible that we will read about, again, and again. For instance, there are references to nations that will be mentioned

2 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 2 hundreds of times in the Bible and we can track the beginning of these nations to Shem, Ham or Japheth. For example, it says in Genesis 10:2-3: The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. Where do we find those names in the Bible? We find some of these names in a very interesting place in the Book of Ezekiel. It says in Ezekiel 38:1-2: And the word of JEHOVAH came unto me, saying, Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, In verse 2 we see the land of Magog and we know that one of the sons of Japheth was Magog. Not only that, but it also mentions Tubal. Two of the nations that are identified with Gog and Magog relate back to Japheth. It goes on to say in Ezekiel 38:3: And say, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: Meshech is also mentioned in Genesis 10, verse 2, so now we have Magog, Tubal and Meshech, three of the sons of Japheth. Then it says in Ezekiel 38:5-6: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee. Gomer is also a son of Japheth and he is listed in Genesis 10, verse 2. Now we can see that Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Meshech all identify with Gog and Magog. One other thing I would like to mention about Genesis 10, verse 2 is Madai, another son of Japheth. It is Strong s #4074 and it the same Strong s number that is used for the word Medes, when we read of the Medes and the Persians. Madai is really the Medes. So, we do see that five out of the seven sons of Japheth listed in our verses have significant roles to play in the Scriptures. Most of them are negative roles because they identify with Gog and Magog. We learned of Gog and Magog in Revelation 20:7: And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom *is* as the sand of the sea. Once Satan was loosed at the beginning of the end of time on May 21, 1988, he began to rule the nations of the world in a greater way than ever before. The mention of the four quarters of the earth indicates it is a worldwide rule over all the unsaved in an unprecedented manner, so Magog is a picture of those ruled over by Satan and it identifies with the nations of the world. The same is true of Gomer, where it says in Genesis 10:3: And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. We saw in Ezekiel 38, verse 6 that Gomer and Togarmah were mentioned and now we understand why it says, Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee, because Gomer is the father of Togarmah.

3 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 3 It goes on to say in Genesis 10:4: And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. We recognize that the Bible refers to the ships of Tarshish and in the Book of Jonah, Jonah fled to Tarshish. It is a merchant city with merchant vessels and these ships identify with the corporate church. God speaks of destroying the ships of Tarshish, which refers to the judgment on the corporate church. Then it says in Genesis 10:5: By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. Here, the Lord is giving a look ahead to what will come in later passages concerning the division of the earth. At this point in history right after the flood, the land mass was still one enormous continent. There had been no breaking apart of the continents. The land was one land mass, surrounded by water. Of the days of Peleg, it says in Genesis 10:25: And 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. It was in the time of Peleg that God divided the continents. He caused ruptures that broke apart the land masses and they began to slide across the sea. Scientists speak of continental shift and we will talk more about that when we get to this verse and we read about the earth being divided. But, right now, God is giving us advance notice of this and it says in Genesis 10, verse 5: By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands, and this would be a good verse to prove that the isles are the continents. The continents are surrounded by water and they are really large islands. You can see that very well with the continent of Australia, but it is true of all the continents and God speaks of them as isles. The Hebrew word translated as Gentiles is the same Hebrew word translated as nations, so we could read this verse as saying, By these were the isles of the nations divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. In Genesis, chapter 11 we are going to read about the confusion of tongues, when God confounded man s language. It was the Lord s purpose to cause separation of men so mankind could not have one large community as was allowed by one continent. Why did God do this? We will discuss this in more detail when we get to chapter 11, but for now we understand that the purpose was to slow down man s progress in keeping with the timeline. It was at the time of the end that God sort of reversed the Tower of Babel and the language barrier and speed of communication become less of a problem. Instant communication and speedy modes of travel have done much to reverse the impact of the division of the continents. Mankind has come together in a way that they have not been able to do since there was one land mass and one language. The effects of the division of the continents and the division of the languages have been reversed as we have reached the time of the end. Again, it says in Genesis 10:5: By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations. In addition to being divided in their lands and in their tongues, it also adds, after their families, in their nations.

4 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 4 This is something we probably have not looked at or thought about all that much and that is the fact that when the Lord confounded the languages (which probably happened close to the time of the division of the continents), God did not cause the family members to speak different languages. God wanted a separation of language and his intent was that those that spoke a separate language would gather together and go off in the same direction. When the continents were divided, some might go toward Africa and others might have gone in the direction of what is now South America. There was a spreading out of humanity where mankind could not reach one another easily or communicate with one another. Of course, the Lord is very wise and He realized that if He divided the tongues of a husband and wife or a parent and child, the families would still stay together and learn the other language, so the Lord did not do that. It says that God divided them after their families, in their nations, so the Lord did not break apart the immediate family or the clan of near relatives and they would all speak the same language and, therefore, the family units could understand one another. This would make it much more likely that this separation would take place because it did not impact the communication within a family and they would have been much more willing to leave an area where there were people they had some dealings with in the past, but now they could not communicate with them. One family clan would gather together in one place and another family clan gathered together with those of like speech somewhere else. The separation that God intended was now in place and the Lord could divide the continents and God would bring them in their nations across the sea. We will talk more about the movement of the continents when we get to that chapter. For now, it is interesting and significant to realize that God very carefully separated mankind by peoples, making it difficult for mankind to advance and progress in the development of things and it also set the stage for nations to struggle against nations. After a while, you would have one nation in one location that spoke a particular language and another nation speaking another language, and so forth. When there is difficulty in communication, there can be disputes over territories and we see that in nations today as they very jealously guard their boundaries. This would lead to trouble and there would be warfare between nations that had previously been of one blood and one family. We all came from Shem, Ham and Japheth and we can trace our lineage back to them, as well as to Adam and Eve. This separation of land and language served to set one nation apart from another nation. One thing that disputes and wars have done is to hold back mankind from collectively progressing and advancing in certain areas. Again, God had His reasons and purposes for doing this to allow things to happen at set times. Everything has a time and season, in accord with God s timetable, so the Lord acted soon after the flood to make sure that mankind would not advance too quickly and get ahead of God s timetable. Genesis 10 Series, Study 2 by Chris McCann, originally aired November 17, 2016 Good evening and welcome to ebible Fellowship s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #2 of Genesis, chapter 10 and we are going to begin our study by reading Genesis 10:6-7: And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. I will stop reading there. As we are going through this chapter we have already seen that some of the names we read about here are familiar. We have read the names elsewhere in the Bible, but in a different form. For example, it said in verse 2: The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and the Hebrew word translated as Madai is the same word that is translated elsewhere as Medes, so we see that the Medes come from the line of Japheth. As we look at verse 6, we are going to find that some of the names are very familiar to us as we see them in another form in the Bible. Again, it says in Genesis 10:6: And the sons of Ham; Cush, and the name Cush is Strong s #3568 and we are more accustomed to seeing this word translated as Ethiopia or Ethiopian. For

5 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 5 instance, it says in Isaiah 20:1-5: In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it; At the same time spake JEHOVAH by Isaiah the son of Amoz, saying, Go and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and put off thy shoe from thy foot. And he did so, walking naked and barefoot. And JEHOVAH said, Like as my servant Isaiah hath walked naked and barefoot three years *for* a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia; So shall the king of Assyria lead away the Egyptians prisoners, and the Ethiopians captives, young and old, naked and barefoot, even with *their* buttocks uncovered, to the shame of Egypt. And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. The word Ethiopia is the same Hebrew word translated as Cush. When we read of the Ethiopians, we now have some background information and we know exactly where the line of descent for the people of Ethiopia originated; they were descendants of Cush and they can be traced back to his father Ham. First, we note that God speaks of the people of Ethiopia in a similar way to how He speaks about Egypt. We saw this in Isaiah 20:3: a sign and wonder upon Egypt and upon Ethiopia. We saw in Isaiah 20:5: And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory. Egypt and Ethiopia go hand in hand. In some places the Lord mentions Ethiopia, but not Egypt, and vice versa, but they carry the same spiritual picture and we have observed that truth as we have read the Bible, but now we have a better explanation for why this is the case. The genealogy in Genesis 10 helps us further because, as we read in Genesis 10, verse 6, And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, the Hebrew word translated as Mizraim is the same word that is translated elsewhere as Egypt or Egyptians. So, the Egyptians are a son of Ham, as well as the Ethiopians. Cush and Mizraim are brothers and, therefore, Ethiopia and Egypt are forever connected and they go hand in hand. Spiritually, they represent the same thing in the Bible and it can be traced back to the fact that their father was Ham, so we can now understand why God speaks of Egypt the way He does, in Psalm 105:23: Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham. Ham was the father of Mizraim and Mizraim is Egypt, and this is the way God views it. He was the father of the land that became Egypt and it is very helpful to us to have that background information and we can trace it back to this son of Noah named Ham as they disembarked from the ark and started civilization anew. One line was Egypt and one line was Ethiopia. If you look at a map of Africa, you will see the land of Egypt and right next to it is its neighbor Ethiopia. It makes sense that the two brothers would dwell close to each other in proximity because they are brothers. Then it tells us about the sons of Cush in verse 7 and we are given a list of individuals: Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah. Like Egypt, Ethiopia would identify with the world. The Bible uses Egypt as a type and figure of the world and it can be a type and figure of the church as it returned to bondage, but it is most often used as a figure of the world; and this is also true of Ethiopia. So, these four sons of Cush (Ethiopia) would identify with the universality of being sons of the world or unsaved mankind. Let us move on to verse 8 because there is something interesting there. It says in Genesis 10:8-9: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. I am not sure what the name Nimrod means. It was not clear to me when I looked it up. But, again, we know that Cush relates to Ethiopia and his brother Mizraim relates to Egypt and they both identify with the world. Cush also had a son, Nimrod, and there is no indicator of whether he was an immediate son, but he is in the line of

6 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 6 Cush, the son of Ham who was the son of Noah. But, Cush begat Nimrod who began to be a mighty one in the earth. The Hebrew word translated as mighty one is a word we have seen before. It is the same word we found when we went through Genesis, chapter 6. It said in Genesis 6:4: There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare *children* to them, the same *became* mighty men which *were* of old, men of renown. The term mighty men is the same Hebrew word as mighty one. When we looked at this word we saw that the sons of God were the line of believers and the daughters of men were women that were not from believing families and they intermarried with one another. The Bible does not care if people from other nations intermarry or if people from other races intermarry. The only Law of God that applies to a mixed marriage is that a child of God is not to marry someone who is not a child of God. A man from the United States can marry a woman from China or a woman from Africa can marry a man from Canada. The Bible does not have any difficulty with interracial marriage. Remember that Moses married an Ethiopian woman and some Hebrews spoke against it, but God did not have a problem with that; God even chastened some who spoke against Moses for that cause. We know that God is no respecter of persons. God looks upon the hearts of men and that is the area in which there should not be intermingling or intermarriage. Whenever it occurs, it brings the wrath of God. It brought the wrath of God upon the world leading up to the flood and it was the main reason God gave for bringing the flood. It also points to what occurred in the corporate church; there was much intermarriage as the wheat and tares intermingled. God s elect married people that may have been professed believers, but they were not true believers and it caused problems. Again, it says, of Nimrod that he began to be a mighty one in the earth. His lineage could be traced back to Noah, who was a child of God. Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and he was called a preacher of righteousness. He preached Christ and the true Gospel. But we have already seen that there were difficulties with his son Ham when Ham saw his father naked and did nothing about it. So, we see that in the line of Ham there was Cush (Ethiopia) and Cush begat Nimrod, a mighty man in the earth. That term mighty one identifies with those that should be true believers, but they were looking at the world and lusting after the things of the world or lusting after women of the world. These things bring about apostasy and apostasy brings the wrath of God. So, in verse 8 we are already given some insight into the character of Nimrod he is going the wrong way. Then it says in Genesis 10:9: He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. We wonder why God tells us that Nimrod was a mighty hunter and God even said it a second time so that we would not miss it, so we must investigate this to find out what it means. We do know that later in the Book of Genesis there is another man who is spoken of as a hunter. It says in Genesis 25:27: And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob *was* a plain man, dwelling in tents. There is a lot of information in this statement. First, Esau was a cunning hunter and notice that is says he was a man of the field. In the parable of Matthew 13, Christ describes the field as the world. Esau was a man of the world, while Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. God s elect are likened to sojourners that are just passing through and we have no permanent city here. Therefore, the people of God live in tents and it points to the temporal nature of our dwelling in this world. We know that Esau or Edom is a picture of the corporate church or those individuals within the corporate church that never became saved. God said, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Jacob was chosen by God before he was born, as we are told in Romans, chapter 9. God

7 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 7 made the choice before either twin was born and before either had done good or evil. Esau was a hunter, so we see a similarity between Esau as a cunning hunter and Nimrod, a mighty hunter. Now we must try to figure out what it means to be a mighty hunter, in the Bible. The word hunter is Strong s #6718. There is also a closely related word, Strong s #6719. Regarding Nimrod, it is Strong s #6718. There is another related word that conveys the same spiritual picture. Let us go to Proverbs 6:5: Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand *of the hunter*, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. What does the hunter want to do to the one he is hunting? What does he want to do to the prey? He wants to kill it or slay it. That is what a hunter does. Today, a hunter might shoot a gun or in the past he might shoot an arrow and it would kill the deer. The hunter kills his prey. It also says in Proverbs 6:26: For by means of a whorish woman *a man is brought* to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. This word translated as hunt is the related word, Strong s #6679. Notice how the word is being used here. The adulteress will hunt for the precious life. In the next chapter of Proverbs there is an adulteress woman, too. It says in Proverbs 7:7-10: And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding, Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. Then it says in Proverbs 7:18-19: Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves. For the goodman *is* not at home, he is gone a long journey: The goodman would be a picture of God. Remember that mankind is married to the Law and any transgression of the Law is spiritual adultery or spiritual fornication. Therefore, there is spiritual adultery in false gospels, as well as in sinful behavior that is against the Law of God. It is transgression against our husband, God Himself. So, the statement in Proverbs 6, verse 26 says: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. It said that this adulterous woman caught him and kissed him. She hunted for him and, finally, it says in Proverbs 7:21: With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. The word fair speech is the word for doctrine. With flattering words, it is like telling people what they want to hear from the Bible. Then it says in Proverbs 7:22-23: He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks; Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it *is* for his life. When we looked at Proverbs 6, verse 5, it said, Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. This young man was caught and he was like an ox to the slaughter or a bird to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

8 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 8 Then it says in Provers 7:26-27: For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong *men* have been slain by her. Her house *is* the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. This is what is in view when the adulteress hunts for the precious life. It is seeking to kill or slay the prey. We do not have time in this study, but the word hunter or hunted comes up in some very interesting places. In our next study, Lord willing, we will continue to look at some other passages where we find this word. I think it will give us a good understanding of why God tells us that Nimrod was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. Genesis 10 Series, Study 3 by Chris McCann, originally aired November 18, 2016 Good evening and welcome to ebible Fellowship s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #3 of Genesis, chapter 10 and we are going to begin our study by reading Genesis 10:8-10: And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. I will stop reading there. In our last study, we saw that Nimrod was said to be a mighty one or a mighty man in the earth. We saw how that fit together with Genesis 6, verse 4 regarding the mighty men of renown, which identified with the sons of God or the people of God that intermarried with the daughters of men. God s wrath fell upon the world because of this sin. We are told that Nimrod was a mighty man in the earth and he came from the line of Noah, a preacher of righteousness and a man of God. Noah s son Ham begat Cush and Cush begat Nimrod. We learned last time that the word for Cush is the same word that can be translated as Ethiopia, so this lineage should be faithful men. There is never any excuse or justification for going away from God. Ham had no excuse his father Noah was a preacher of righteousness. It would be hard to find a more faithful man in the Bible than Noah. However, Ham did go astray because man s heart is desperately wicked and unless God acts to change the heart, man will go astray. It is good to have faithful parents that raise their children in the fear and nurture of the Lord, but man follows his heart. And if a man s heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things, it will eventually show. We saw in Genesis, chapter 9 that there was an indication that Ham may not be right with God because he did not cover his father s nakedness, so it is not surprising to find that his sons Cush and Mizraim identified with nations (Ethiopia and Egypt) that are in opposition to the kingdom of God. Now we are a couple of generations removed from Noah and things are going to get worse. Cush begat Nimrod and Nimrod is a mighty man. He has descended from a son of God, but now it is perverted. While Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Nimrod is going on a completely different path away from God. It says in Genesis 10:9: He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. We began to look at the word hunter and some of the related Hebrew words. We looked at three different Hebrew words, but they were all pointing to the same truth. For instance, we saw in Proverbs that the adulteress hunts for the precious life and that principal is seen in many places in the Bible. The enemies of God hunt for the elect or the precious life. They hunt God s people as though they were prey. It is why we

9 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 9 read this language in Ezekiel 34, where God condemns the shepherds of Israel (the pastors in the churches), in Ezekiel 34:2-3: Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH unto the shepherds; Woe *be* to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: *but* ye feed not the flock. God goes on to condemn them for failing to protect and feed the flock of God, which would be the elect. It says in Ezekiel 34:7-8: Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of JEHOVAH; *As* I live, saith the Lord JEHOVAH, surely because my flock became a prey Here is that word prey, which is spelled with an e and it is a word that indicates something that is hunted. It goes on to say in Ezekiel 34:8: and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because *there was* no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Then God caused them to cease from feeding the flock at the end of the church age. That is also the picture in Ezekiel, chapter 13 where those that developed false gospels do harm to the children of God. It says in Ezekiel 13:17-18: Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, And say, Thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Woe to the *women* that sew pillows to all armholes Let me just stop for a minute and say that we are not going to try to explain all this language like, sew pillows to all armholes. It is very difficult language, but this passage explains who is being addressed. Those that prophesy out of their own hearts are being prophesied against by God. If you prophesy out of your own heart, you are a false prophet because you are not giving truth. It goes on to say in Ezekiel 13:18-19: and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive *that come* unto you? And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear *your* lies? Here, we are seeing this word hunt, and they are hunting souls. Nimrod was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. Esau was a hunter. He hunted venison to give to his father. In Proverbs, it said to deliver thyself from the hand of the hunter and avoid the snare of the fowler. There are these that are hunting the souls of God s elect. Notice it said Ezekiel 13:19: to slay the souls that should not die. Who are the ones that should not die? They are God s elect that God chose from the foundation of the world and predestinated them unto salvation. The elect are not to die, but the false gospels lied to God s people, as it says in Ezekiel 13:19, by your lying to my people that hear your lies, and the false gospels lie to God s elect and they seek to spare the lives of the wicked with their lies. The enemies of the true Gospel seek to hunt and slay the hearers when they speak contrary to the Bible. Let us go on to Ezekiel 13:20-21:

10 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 10 Wherefore thus saith the Lord JEHOVAH; Behold, I *am* against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make *them* fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, *even* the souls that ye hunt to make *them* fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I *am* JEHOVAH. This passage agrees with Ezekiel 34 where God s flock became a prey and God delivered them from the useless shepherds. They are worse than useless, because they do damage to the one they should have been protecting, so God caused them to cease from feeding the flock. Here, God says He will deliver His people out of the hand of those that are speaking lies and that hunt the souls of the children of God. These hunters are going after God s elect and, of course, Satan would be stirring up these hunters because he always wants to seek and destroy the elect. It tells us in 1Peter 5:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: What does a lion do in the jungle as he walks about? Lions are very large animals and they are very hungry. They see the prey, like a zebra, and they very carefully walk about and sneak up on their prey because they are seeking to devour it. That is the picture of Satan in 1Peter, chapter 5. Satan is a hunter. He is going about, looking to devour his prey. We will shortly see that Nimrod was the founder of Babel or Babylon, which represents the kingdom of Satan. He is a picture of those that bring false gospels to destroy. He is a picture of the apostate church that left the right way and transgressed the ancient boundaries. They have gone beyond the limits of God s Word, the Bible, as they have added to it (or subtracted from it) and they have allowed for tongues and dreams and visions. They have become a false gospel that does harm to people. They seek to destroy the elect in the sense that they are seeking to kill the elect spiritually as they drive them out of the churches. In John 16, the Lord likens being driven out of the synagogue to being killed, so these pastors, elders and deacons were under the power of Satan during the 23-year Great Tribulation period and they were hunting the souls of God s elect that God had determined should not die. It reminds us of Balak, the king of Moab, who saw the multitude of Israel when they came out of Egypt and he sought to destroy them. When he tried to curse Israel, God turned it to a blessing and that is a good picture of what has happened throughout history. Satan has kept trying to destroy God s people by raising up emissaries that try to destroy and cause spiritual harm to the elect, but he always fails because God always turns it to a blessing. So, Satan is the ultimate hunter that seeks to devour God s elect. If only he could destroy even one individual that God had chosen from the foundation of the world and for whom Christ had died. Satan s goal was to destroy even one elect person before they could hear the Word of God and God could have applied the blood of Christ to that individual. If Satan could have thwarted the salvation of even one person it would have been a terrible injustice for that person that had their sins paid for at the foundation of the world, but salvation had not been applied to them in their lifetime that person would have died in their sins, even as others. God would have been at fault and it would have been a great injustice, so Satan wanted to destroy just one of God s elect anywhere and, therefore, he attacked God s people on a thousand different fronts. It was always for the purpose of devouring and destroying one of God s elect. He filled the churches with his emissaries and in church after church they taught their lies and half-truths and they perverted the Gospel of grace into a gospel of works. Actually, it was more than a thousand fronts, but it was in the millions of fronts, as Satan sought to destroy in thousands of congregations where God s elect were present before God issued the command to His people to come out of the midst. God s people were suffering and grievously afflicted. They were being hunted and they were the target of all these hunters and, yet, God delivered every one of them. For the good of His people,

11 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 11 He called them out of the churches and He made sure every one of the elect were drawn away from the churches before He shut the door on May 21, Going back to Ezekiel 13:22: Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life: You can see how it applies to virtually every corporate church that was out there. They have works gospels in church, after church and they will tell you how you can get yourself saved. Yes, there may be a tiny remnant of Reformed churches that claim to have the truth and they do speak about election, but at some point, in the pastor s sermon or in their literature or in their teachings from some great theologian of the past, they will very quietly or very slyly insert some work an individual must do: Yes, God saves by election and predestination, but we have to exercise our belief. Then if we exercise our belief, then we know that God had predestinated us. They have confused the truth and confounded the congregation into thinking they are very faithful to God s Word and, yet, they are not. There is truth mixed with error and there is just the least bit of work, but the Bible warns against this and the Bible likens salvation to resting only in Christ and His works. The Old Testament seventh day Sabbath witnessed, week after week, to the fact that a person could not do any work of salvation, whatsoever. If you went 99% of the day without working and you worked only 1%, you would be guilty. You could avoid working in the field or working with your animals all day and then you could go out and pick up a few sticks on the Sabbath Day. What did God say when Moses asked Him what they should do with a man that was found picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath? The answer from God was to stone him to death. He was to die as a historical reminder to us all. It was a true, historical occurrence. That man literally died in the wilderness because he picked up a few sticks. Yes, he died because he was a sinner, but God had commanded that on His Sabbath Day men were to do no work and he did some work and, therefore, he died for that sin and for many others. However, God used his sin of picking up a few sticks on the Sabbath to teach people that read the Bible how serious God is regarding His salvation program God gets all the glory; Christ did all the work and we are saved by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ and not by our own faith. Exercising our faith would be a work. Even if some corporate church had held to the teaching of election and predestination, how did they stand on saving faith? Whose faith saves us? You will not find a corporate church out there that will say it is the faith of Christ. You will not find a church anywhere in the world that will say that faith is a work. They have a lack of understanding because they have rejected the end time opening of the Scriptures that the Lord accomplished in the time of the Great Tribulation. They have rejected truth, after truth, after truth, so they also reject that faith is a work. That truth finally came to light at the time of the end of the world. The Bible says, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and they house. Then those in the churches say, OK, I will believe. However, they cannot be saved that way because they have placed themselves under the Law. When you try to believe, you try to get right with God through the keeping of the Law. When you try to keep the Law, you are obligated to keep the whole Law perfectly, to be righteous and to go to heaven. However, the Bible says that none are righteous, and if we offend in one point, we are guilty of all. The churches bring their congregations under the penalty of the Law because they have taught their congregations that they must perform a work. It is just a small little work, but it is a work nonetheless and it bring the condemnation and wrath of God. They have hunted the souls of God s people, but God has delivered His people out of the hands of the hunters and out of the hands of the fowlers. Genesis 10 Series, Study 4 by Chris McCann, originally aired November 21, 2016 Good evening and welcome to ebible Fellowship s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #4 of Genesis, chapter 10 and we are continuing to look at Genesis 10:8-10:

12 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 12 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. We have been discussing Nimrod and why God said twice in verse 9 that he was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. Historically, we know that the man Nimrod was a hunter, just as Esau was a hunter. He would have gone out to hunt animals, but God is using that activity as a picture to teach about those people that come with other gospels under the power of Satan. Satan hunts God s people as prey. In our last study, we went to 1Peter 3:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Satan seeks not just any men, but he seeks after those people that are closely identified with the Word of God, the Bible, to devour them. He hunts them to kill them. We saw in Ezekiel, chapter 13 where God relates those that prophesy out of their own hearts and teach lies to hunting the souls of His people to slay them. We also see this picture in Micah 7:2: The good man is perished out of the earth: and *there is* none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. Here, we see the word hunt and it is not referring to good men because the good man is perished out of the earth, but it is the wicked man that will hunt every man his brother with a net. In 1Samuel, chapter 24 we see David addressing King Saul and it says in 1Samuel 24:9-11: David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that JEHOVAH had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and *some* bade *me* kill thee: but *mine eye* spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he *is* JEHOVAH'S anointed. Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that *there is* neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. Again, we have the word huntest, and when we read that someone is following after a person, it is the same word as persecute. Saul was following after David to kill him; Saul had his reasons, but none of them were righteous or true reasons. He followed after David and he literally hunted after him. When Saul and his men heard that David was in a certain place, they would pursue after him to kill him. David was the prey of King Saul. King Saul was a picture of the corporate church and David, a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a picture of the body of true believers. The apostate corporate church pursued the people of God to kill them. They hunted after the people of God and we this, again, and again. So, it is not a good thing or a positive thing when we read that Nimrod was a mighty man, which has negative connotations and then the Lord tells us twice that Nimrod was a mighty hunter. When we search it out, we see that it is the nature of Satan to seek and pursue God s people with the intent to kill them. Nimrod is a picture of an apostate church as it brings another gospel or a picture of Satan himself. Then it goes on to say in Genesis 10:10:

13 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 13 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. The spelling of this word Babel is only found two times in the Bible. It is found here and it is found in the next chapter, in Genesis 11:9: Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because JEHOVAH did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did JEHOVAH scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. In both cases the word Babel is Strong s #894 and, yet, it is the same word that is translated dozens of times as Babylon or Babylonian. So, we could read the verse this way: And the beginning of his kingdom as Babylon. God pictures the kingdom of Babylon as a representation of the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of this world, the world that Satan won through right of conquest when he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is further evidence that we have understood Nimrod correctly. When it says, the beginning of his kingdom, it is using the masculine pronoun his that refers to Nimrod the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon. Notice that it refers to it as a kingdom, but since this was early in the repopulation of the earth, it was nothing compared to kingdoms that would exist later in history. It was probably a little town with very few people and that is why it says that the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon. This strengthens the idea that Nimrod was a type and figure of Satan because the Bible portrays the King of Babylon as Satan. Since God is referring to it as the beginning of his kingdom, then he (Nimrod) was the king of the kingdom and Babylon and the King of Babylon is a picture of the kingdom of Satan and the Devil himself. Again, it says, And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh. The word Erech means to prolong and the word Accad is only used here and there are no related words that I could find, so I am unsure of its meaning. The word Calneh is Strong s #3641 and it is used in a couple of places. However, there are four places that are mentioned and the number four points to the universality or the furthest extent of whatever is in view. What is in view here? It is Babylon, primarily, but all four places were found in the land of Shinar, so it was the furthest extent of his kingdom in the land of Shinar. The word Shinar is found in Genesis 11:1-2: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 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. Babylon was in the land of Shinar and, shortly, the people would build the tower and the city called Babel in the land of Shinar, so we can see how Babylon and Shinar are closely related. We also see here that there was one language and one speech at that time. It is interesting that at the time of the Great Tribulation in 1988, it was the beginning of the time of the end of the world when Satan was loosed out of the bottomless pit and entered in to the churches to rule as the man of sin. Another picture is painted in Revelation, chapter 13 where God speaks of Satan as the beast that came up out of the sea. It is the same picture as Satan coming up out of the bottomless pit. Let us read about that in Revelation 13:3: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. Notice that it says that all the world worshipped the beast. Then it says in Revelation 13:4-8:

14 ebible Fellowship Genesis 10 Series Page 14 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty *and* two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It was a worldwide event. It had a universal impact upon every unsaved person in the world. Therefore, we read in Genesis 11:1: And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. The language of the world at the time Satan was loosed was the language of Satan or the language of lies and deceit. The world began to come together in agreement in a way not seen since the time of Babel before God confounded man s language and divided the continents. It was in the land of Shinar (or Babylon) that man had been of one language, one speech and one earth. Then at the time of the end, the wicked of the world came together again. The electronic medium has been a wonderful source in delivering the truths of the Bible. God raised up the electronic medium to reach the far corners of the earth as the churches became apostate. God used Family Radio to reach all the earth at the time of the end through radio, internet, and so forth. However, the electronic medium has also served to further the wickedness of man. I will use the United States as the example because we have had the greatest influence upon the electronic medium. When we started delivering information to the world regarding gay marriage, we soon saw other nations being influenced by this. Or, if American men start wearing earrings and dying their hair purple, it was not long before this cultural message was picked up in other nations all around the world. The speeding up of communication has also served to increase the world s wickedness as it brings the world together in one wicked mindset, as they join in unison in declaring their wickedness. In a way, it is a return to Babel and the original kingdom of Babylon, so God emphasizes that at the end of time Babylon is the nation we read about, again, and again, in the Book of Revelation and in other places in the Bible. The land of Shinar is that land where Babylon was located. It says in Isaiah 11:11: And it shall come to pass in that day, *that* the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people The time that the Lord set His hand the second time to recover His remnant was in the Jubilee Year of 1994AD. That was the time of the jubilee to set the captives free. It was the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The first outpouring was in 33AD when the church age began and during that time the firstfruits were brought in. When the church age ended in 1988, it was the end of a fruitful season and there was a time of famine of 2,300 evening mornings when there was no rain. So, for six years and almost four months there was no Gospel season and it was a time of spiritual famine. Then on September 7, 1994, the Lord stretched forth His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people as He saved the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation. That is what is in view here in Isaiah, chapter 11, as it goes on to say in Isaiah 11:11: which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. This is indicating that God will recover His elect from all over the earth, from the four corners of the earth. Babylon represents Satan s kingdom of this world and Babylon is in Shinar, so Shinar is mentioned here. Remember, the picture in Jeremiah of God s people coming out of the churches and going out into the world was said to be to go into captivity to Babylon (Shinar). God speaks of the daughter of Zion in Micah 4:10: