For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

Transcription

1 You shall be as God For as long as we have recorded history, mankind has been trying to reach into heaven and unlock the mysteries of life, death, creation and power. Just how long have we been trying? Since the day the serpent hissed this simple little phrase into the ear of the very first created woman. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5 From that moment on, as the prophet Led Zeppelin once wrote, She is buying a stairway to heaven. 1

2 Humanity throughout the ages has always stretched and tested the boundaries of our capabilities, and managed to accomplish extraordinary feats that never cease to amaze. Just when we think we have gone as far as we can go, someone takes an incredible leap forward and an entire new reality filled with promise, possibility and potential emerges. Most if not all advances we have made have served humanity well. The sciences of health & medicine, engineering and mechanics, physics and mathematics have served to prolong life, increase productivity, add comforts and pleasures we never imagined possible. Well, most of us never imagined it, but obviously somebody did. Thank God for those dreamers and visionaries huh? What would we do without them?!? Who now could live with out Smart phones, Facebook, microwaves, electricity, indoor plumbing or even TVs? And yet with every single advance we can think of, in every facet of society, there is one thing that has not advanced in the slightest not one iota. There have been times when God had to intervene, slow us down make us take a step back so that our hearts, minds and spirits could catch up and stay ahead of our accomplishments, not the other way around. For it seems that every wonderful, amazing and awesome thing we can conceive is eventually if not immediately used for evil purposes. Man has used violence since before the Flood to gain power, wealth and control. To lord it over humanity and enslave them, rape and plunder them, their children, and the land until they have it all, and there is nothing left. Corruption and greed. That has not changed one bit. Nothing is sacred. As we are about to see, we have been pushing the envelope with God since the beginning. Just because we have the ability to imagine and invent new things, does not mean we have the maturity and wisdom to handle all the foreseen, and especially unforeseen effects and consequences. Scripture Reading: Genesis 10 We will start our lesson with a little background on who was what and where in chapter 10. I know genealogies are very tedious and boring, but the are very important and provide a backdrop to what will be happening next. 2

3 In Chapter Ten we begin to see the dispersal of people after the flood, where God told them in Genesis 9: And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. Geographical information all over the earth has changed countless times, because man names and renames places over and over again. We have a solid account of people from these times, because the one thing that never changes is ancestral names. For instance, St. Petersburg in Russia has been changed to Petrograd, Leningrad and back to St. Petersburg. A lot of genealogy gets muddied by geography. This has caused a lot of confusion as to the true geography and ethnicity of a nation. Ham, Japheth & Shem The sons of Noah were Shem, Ham, and Japheth... these three sons of Noah represented the three great races of mankind. The above map shows a table of God's dispersion of the nation's after they migrated from the Tower at Babel. Ham (Africa) Ham (Heb. "hot" or "Black") was Noah's second oldest son and part of the family of eight who survived the great flood. Ham and his wife bore 4 sons who became the fathers of the nations of Africa. Ham's fourth son Canaan was prophetically cursed because he gazed at his fathers nakedness while he was drunk. This curse would mean later that Canaan would lose his land to the Hebrews and would be subservient to the descendants of Shem. The Hamites were known for their physical endurance. The Four Hamitic Nations: 1. Cush (The Ethiopians) settled in Ethiopia south of Egypt, also early in their history some of them migrated to an area north of the Persian Gulf (Gen. 10:8-10). 2. Mizraim (The Egyptians) the Bible name for Egypt, settled in northeastern Africa. His son Casluhim is the father of the Philistines, the enemies of King David. NOTE: in 140 AD, Romans got fed up with the Jews and their continual efforts to revolt. They realized that they could never rule Jerusalem with the Jews still habituating there. They leveled Jerusalem and built a capital there, and renamed the entire region Palestina, which is a corruption for the Latin word Philistine. This is what we call Palestine today. So the name was meant to deny a place for Israel in the land. 3. Phut (The Libyans) sometimes translated Libya, settled in northern Africa. 3

4 4. Canaan (The Canaanites) settled above Africa east of the Mediterranean (Later was given to the Hebrews). Israel s worst enemy. Son Sidon is the Phoenicians, Sinites are modern China. Japheth (Europe) Japheth (Heb. "God will Enlarge)") was Noah's third oldest son and part of the family of eight who survived the great flood. Japheth and Shem were both greatly blessed for respecting their father Noah. Noah's blessing on Japheth was far reaching for all of his descendants being the European (Caucasian) nations that were mentioned in Genesis 10. The Japhethites were known for their intellectual activity. The Seven Japhetic Nations: I. Gomer (The Cimmerians) settled north of the Black Sea, but afterwards his descendants probably occupied Germany, France, Spain and the British Isles. Sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, (Germans) Riphath and Togarmeh (Armenians) 2. Magog (The Scythians) lived north of the Caspian Sea. True Russians. 3. Madai (The Medes) settled south of the Caspian Sea. Modern Kurds. 4. Javan (The Ionians or Greeks) Javan is the Hebrew name for Greeks, they settled in Greece. Son Tarshish is modern Britain. 5. Tubal (The Turks) lived south of the Black Sea. 6. Meshech (The Slavs) lived between the Black and Caspian Seas, 7. Tiras (The Etruscans) located west of the Black Sea. Italy. Shem (Asia) Shem (Heb. "Name") was Noah's oldest son and part of Noah's family of eight who survived the great flood. Shem is the lineage we are most concerned with from a biblical perspective. Shem and his wife were childless before the flood, but after the flood Shem bore a son at 110 years of age. He was father to five sons who became the fathers of the five Semitic nations as shown below. Shem was actually the father of the nations of the ancient Near East including the Israelites and the Jewish religion, and therefore Judaism, Islam, and Christianity sprang from the line of Shem. The Semites were particularly known for their religious zeal. The Five Semitic Nations: 1. Elam (The Persians) settled northeast of the Persian Gulf. 2. Asshur (The Assyrians) the Biblical name for Assyria, settled between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers. 4

5 3. Arphaxad (The Babylonians) settled in Chaldea. 4. Lud (The Lydians) settled in Asia Minor, but some of them sailed across the Mediterranean and settled in northern Africa. 5. Aram (The Syrians) the Biblical name for Syria, located north and east of Israel. Main points to ponder from these Genealogies in Genesis 10: The appearance of Nimrod the Hunter, the first world dictator. The division of the people in the time of Peleg: introducing the episode at Babel. 70 nations disbursed from Noah, 70 nations went into Egypt under Jacob and Joseph. Genesis 46 God orchestrating this division. The dispersion of all the people, languages lands and nations was no accident, but purposefully and intentionally, with the boundaries set by God. Genesis 10:5, 20, 31, Deuteronomy 32:7-8, Acts 17:22-27 Chapters 10 & 11 are not Chronological. Scripture reading: Chapter 11 In Chapter ten we are introduced to Nimrod the Hunter: Just who was Nimrod? Genesis 10: The Bible states Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the Earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD. The centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar. Many consider this to be a positive, complimentary testimony about Nimrod but it is the exact opposite. The term before the Lord actually is better understood as, in defiance of YHWH The name Nimrod comes from the Hebrew verb marad, meaning rebel. The meaning then is The Rebel. Nimrod is a type, a representative, of a system that is epitomized in rebellion against the Creator, the one true God. Rebellion began soon after the Flood as civilizations were restored, some propose as early as 100 years! At that time Nimrod became very prominent. Since we learn that he established a kingdom, you would expect to find also, in the literature of the ancient Near East, a person who was a type, or example, for other people to follow. And there was. It is a well-known tale, common in Sumerian literature, of a man who fits the description. In addition to the Sumerians, the Babylonians wrote about this person; the Assyrians likewise; and the Hittites. 5

6 Even in Israel, tablets have been found with this man's name on them. He was obviously the most popular hero in the Ancient Near East. Nimrod was the world s first dictator, tyrant, despot. (Same word in Genesis 6 for Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown. vs. 4, in connection with the Nephilim) His is the very first mention of a kingdom in the Bible. The Jewish Historian writes: Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah-a bold man, and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness. He also gradually changed the government into tyranny-seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence upon his own power. He also said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach! and that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers! Nimrod was not a hunter of animals or game, but of men! The Scripture says Nimrod was mighty in hunting, and that in opposition to God, not according to the will of God. Nimrod as a mighty hunter founded a powerful kingdom; and the founding of this kingdom is connected with hunting, which In most if not historians agreed was the actual hunting of men! The literal sense of the word hunter is a trapper of men by stratagem and force Hence Nimrod was the first tyrant. All the survivors of the Ark and their children headed east from the final resting place of the Ark, and although they were supposed to go forth and be fruitful and multiply across the entire earth, in disobedience to God they all decided to settle in the Land of Shinar. Shinar is significant because it is where the city of Babylon will eventually be built! Vs. 3 - They said to one another Notice there was no inquiry or asking after God s will about these plans? Why? Because they were in direct opposition to Him! Thoroughly there are only two reasons to bake brick extra hard: to make it stronger and to make it waterproof. What do you think they were communicating to God here? 6

7 First, the stronger the brick, the higher the structure can be built. Second, the harder the brick, the more water resistant it becomes. When man realizes what he is capable of, he begins to believe belief in God is no longer relevant, faith and obedience in God is no longer necessary, and there is nothing on this earth we cannot handle even another worldwide cataclysmic flood if God chooses to send one. They no longer valued God s word and promises never to flood the earth again. 4 They said, Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven Do not get all caught up in the Sunday school version of this event. Humans were not seriously trying to build a structure that would reach the moon. This tower was real. The ancient Greek historian Herodotus said the tower of Babel still stood in his day and he had seen it. They did what most of early humanity did in those days build structures that had a spiritual significance. When they speak of reaching into the heavens, they spoke of doing all that was humanly possibly to reach the gods, and then the gods would meet them the rest of the way. This is the basis for all other new age spiritualties and false man-made religions. We can get as close to God as possible based on our own efforts, and God would be obligated to go the rest of the way to reach us. This place is the root of all pagan superstitions, witchcraft and occult practices. The fountain of ALL idolatry! This structure would be called a ziggurat today. A stairway to heaven that would lead to a gateway to the gods. The believer would go up as far as they could on the structure, the gods would then meet them there and receive their human sacrifices and offerings, therefore granting knowledge, wisdom, prophecy, spiritual principles, hidden knowledge and power to be gods themselves. Most scholars believe that the signs of the Zodiac were the primary symbols drawn at the top of these structures. According to Herodotus, at the top of each ziggurat was a shrine, although none of these shrines have survived. One practical function of the ziggurats was a high place on which the priests could escape rising water that annually inundated lowlands and occasionally flooded for hundreds of miles. 7

8 Another practical function of the ziggurat was for security. Since the shrine was accessible only by way of three stairways, a small number of guards could prevent non-priests from spying on the rituals at the shrine on top of the ziggurat, such as cooking of sacrificial food and burning of carcasses of sacrificial animals. Keep in mind these we not primitive, mindless individuals and as we see from all the ruins and monuments built from early humanity on to today pyramids, ruins, temples, structures, Stonehenge etc. They had such unbelievable knowledge that we are still not able to duplicate it and many today propose the technology was actually extra-terrestrial! Many believed that these towers lead to inter-dimensional doorways, (think Stargate), time travelling, transporting from one place, time or reality to another. Many still do and have very successful followings! Websites, books, videos, conventions, workshops! etc! The Zodiac as we see it today originated from the Tower of Babel. The signs are not based on the stars arranged into shapes, but on the names of the stars in each constellation. Vs. 4 and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth. Isn t it interesting that the more we make a name for ourselves the less God has a hold of our lives? This again echoes Satan s intent to Eve in Genesis 3, but even before that to his own thoughts! Isaiah 14:7-8 We use this phrase today to talk about men and women who are trying to establish themselves and build an empire. God makes much of His name, and Jesus does also. In His name we: Matthew 7:22 prophesy and cast out demons, perform many miracles? Matthew 10:22 You will be hated by all Matthew 18:5 And whoever receives one such child Matthew 18:20 For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst. 8

9 Mark 9:41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because of your name as followers of Christ, 5 The LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. Interesting how they were building a tower to reach the gods and God made the effort to come down to them. I guess it worked! This was the very first instance of: DON T MAKE ME COME DOWN THERE! When we reach into the heavens, or try to contact by the countless ways mankind has tried to communicate with what we think is god or gods, extraterrestrials, inter-dimensional spirit beings, avatars, guides, family, friends or any loved ones, we open a doorway and we have absolutely no control over what makes contact with us. And, you have no control over the gateway anymore either. So there is absolutely no telling what you have summoned, how many or for how long. And we wonder why God HAD to step in and put a stop to this?!? 6 The LORD said, Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. What a testament to God s creative handiwork and expectation for humanity not only to be able to imagine and dream, but then to make it into a reality! This was not the problem. The problem was putting all this potential for ingenuity and creativity into pursuits that explicitly go against God and even challenge God s power, sovereignty and person! We use it to hunt men down, crush their spirit, kill their bodies and subjugate and enslave! God was not going to allow the entire human race to accomplish the ultimate evil, like He was not going to allow Adam & Eve to eat of the tree of life, therefore remaining confirmed in their sinful condition forever. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another s speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. This was the birth of the construction permit, that has been causing confusion and chaos, along with stunting building construction ever since! ; ) 9

10 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth. Side note on Shinar, Babel, Babylon! While Vegas, the City of Sin may have the most notorious reputation for sin and indulgence, it seemed like a church social compared to the city of Babylon the great. If Jerusalem is God s Holy City, then Babylon is Satan s profane counterpart. Throughout the Scriptures, the city of Babylon seems to be the physical personification of the being and nature of Satan. Every sin of idolatry; whether the worship of demons or of self, the origin of all things occult and dark, every sinful indulgence and taboo seems to claim their roots here. Here is where Satan s philosophies and teachings are practiced lived. Where we see the reality of Satan s work in and through humanity, and perhaps an insight as to why God allows Satan to roam free? Is he still under God s control and ultimately fulfilling God s plan and purpose? Why do I say this? Babylon is the only city in the Scriptures cursed by God with such fierceness and devastation, if there was a place on the earth Satan could call his throne or base of operations, Babylon was it! And yet God allows it s existence and prominence for a time. It was the most powerful kingdom on the earth. God allows his people to be enslaved by its kings. God used it as a rod for correction, judgment and testing for His people and others (King of Tyre). Is this Satan s role in the ultimate scheme of things? Let s look at what the Bible says about Babylon Jeremiah 51:9 We would have healed Babylon, but she cannot be healed; let us leave her and each go to our own land, for her judgment reaches to the skies, it rises as high as the heavens. Jeremiah 51:37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives. Jeremiah 51:47 For the time will surely come when I will punish the idols of Babylon; her whole land will be disgraced and her slain will all lie fallen within her. And in the New Testament we see an even more brutal destiny for Babylon 10

11 Revelation 14:8 A second angel followed and said, Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great, which made all the nations drink the maddening wine of her adulteries. Revelation 17:5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery: BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. Revelation 18:2 With a mighty voice he shouted: Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable animal. So we can now see why God reacted the way He did in this situation, and what was to come. By God s sovereign will, the peoples of the land had to be scattered to populate the entire earth, and fulfill His purposes By God s permissive will, he allowed man to enjoy the freedom to chose and come back to Babylon in heart, mind and body if they so choose. That is also why Jesus makes such a big deal about the kingdom of Heaven. We each have a choice and can decide to live as citizens of His kingdom starting the moment you placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, or we can continue to make a name for ourselves, and instead of an Ark of testimony and salvation, we can build a monument to me, myself and I out of our lives and leave a legacy that may last a heartbeat in the eternal scheme of things. Man attempts the most unbelievable things to keep from being scattered. Monuments don t stay afloat long! The whole account of what happened at Babel with its anti-god dictator, its organized rebellion against God, and its direct distrust of God s promise shows man hasn t gotten any better since the flood. Time, progress, government, and organization have made man better off, but not better. Now God will begin to make man better, and He will start as He always starts: with a man who will do His will, even if he does not do His will perfectly. Next we will learn about God s new way of dealing with mankind, by using human beings to live out, communicate and demonstrate His character and nature to the world. Next Lesson: Abraham: the Friend of God. 11