Dr. Joseph Speciale, Instructor A ministry of the Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church Lee Swor, Pastor
Psa 8:3-8 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; 8 The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas. Thou art this head of gold. THOU= Nebuchadnezzar= a KING The components (i.e.- the body parts and elements) of the image represent KINGS cf. (7:17) but also KINGDOMS (v. 39-42,44) cf. (7:23) THE HEAD OF GOLD= Nebuchadnezzar; the kingdom of BABYLON BABYLON= Heb. Babel= confound; confusion (by mixing or mingling) ; from the root word balal= to confuse; to confound; to mix; to mingle = appears 44x in Hebrew OT and is translated MINGLED 37x and CONFOUND 2x
BABYLON appears 286x= 2 x 13 (# of REBELLION; CURSE) x 11 (# of CONFUSION; JUDGMENT) The first appearance of BABYLON (2 Kin 17:24) is in the context of a CROSS- BREEDING program initiated by the king of Assyria (a type of the Antichrist) cf. (v.43) 2 Kin 17:24 And the king of Assyria brought men from Babylon, and from Cuthah, and from Ava, and from Hamath, and from Sepharvaim, and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. Five different forms of BABYLON and 7 related terms appear a total of 401x= 37 x 11 (# of CONFUSION; JUDGMENT) BABEL appears 2x (Gen 10:10; 11:9) BABYLON appears 286x= 13 (# of REBELLION) x 11 (# of CONFUSION) x 2 (# of UNION) (2 Kin 17:24; Matt 1:11) BABYLON S appears 8x (Jer 32:2; 34:7,21; 38:3,17-18,22; 39:13) BABYLONIANS appears 4x (Ezr 4:9; Eze 23:15,17,23) BABYLONISH appears 1x (Jos 7:21) CHALDEA appears 7x (Jer 50:10; 51:24,35; Eze 11:24; 16:29; 23:15-16)
CHALDEAN appears 2x= (Ezr 5:12; Dan 2:10) CHALDEANS appears 67x (Job 1:17; Jer 39:5; Acts 7:4) CHALDEES appears 14x (Gen 11:28,31; 15:7; 2 Kin 24:2; 25:4-5,10,13,24-26; 2 Chr 36:17; Neh 9:7; Isa 13:19) MESOPOTAMIA appears 7x (Gen 24:10; Deu 23:4; Jud 3:8,10; 1 Chr 19:6; Acts 2:9; 7:2) SHINAR appears 7x (Gen 10:10; 11:2; 14:1,9; Isa 11:11; Dan 1:2; Zec 5:11) SHESHACH appears 2x (Jer 25:26; 51:41) The first appearance of any form of Babylon is BABEL in Genesis 10:10 (10= # of the GENTILES), and it is associated with the first appearance of KINGDOM Gen 10:8-12 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. 11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
NIMROD was the first king and BABEL was the capital of his kingdom that extended throughout Mesopotamia- four BABYLONIAN cities IN the land of Shinar to the south and four ASSYRIAN cities OUT of the land of Shinar to the north Four Assyrian cities OUT of the land of Shinar (Gen 10:11) Four Babylonian cities IN the land of Shinar (Gen 10:10) Nimrod s Kingdom
The land of SHINAR is also called SUMER and is considered by historians to be the cradle of civilization, the site of the earliest known civilization Assyria S H I N A R Babylon Chaldea Elam
Babel was the capital of a global government (represented by the CITY) and religion (represented by the TOWER) formed under Nimrod in rebellion against God Gen 11:2,4,8-9 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 throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 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. The tower of Babel was a religious structure called a ziggurat, a pyramidal structure built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform and with a flat top that served as the prototype for pyramids and high places
Some believe the phrase, whose top MAY REACH unto heaven refers to a star gate or inter-dimensional portal situated at the top of the tower, especially since the word Babel means gate of God in Sumerian Babel means to confound because it was there that God brought judgment against man by confounding their language (Gen 11:9) Babel is the central point from which humanity spread throughout the earth after the Flood taking the Babylonian system of government, religion, and economics with them (i.e.- Babylon is the womb from which all human society was birthed; it is the mother world system) Note: The word Pergamos means married to the TOWER (Rev 2:12-15). Rev 2:12-15 12 And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges; 13 I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan s seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. 14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
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