In our last study, we discussed how the whole earth was overspread by the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. To the careful student, we can easily see how their offspring spread out and formed the various people groups we now see today. We were introduced to a guy named Nimrod, a son of Cush, who was one of the sons of Ham. His name means “we shall rebel,” and he was a mighty hunter against the Lord.
According to the historian Josephus, Nimrod said that 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 reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers.” Apparently, he did not pay attention to God’s covenant with Noah, and as we can see, Nimrod was in direct defiance to the Lord, and led the people to rebel against Him in various idolatrous practices.
Nimrod’s mother was named Semiramis, and it was her claim that Nimrod was born without an earthly father; in other words, he was miraculously conceived. One day while hunting, he was gored by a wild boar and died. He was supposedly dead for three days, and then came to life again. His supposed resurrection was celebrated by coloring eggs and various festivities in the spring, and his birthday was celebrated on December 25th by gift-giving, drunken orgies, and the placing of trees decorated with silver and gold in their homes. Any of this sounding familiar? Semiramis went by other names such as the queen of heaven and Astarte, and is where we get the word Easter.
This Babylonian religious system spread throughout that region, and eventually made its way to Rome. After Rome outlawed the persecution of Christianity under Constantine, the Church began compromising by mixing these idolatrous practices with Christianity rather than abandoning them. As a result, many of those same religious practices and rituals became a major part of the Catholic Church, and eventually the Protestant Church to some degree as well. The introduction of prayer to the saints, the worship of statues and other relics, and the deifying of Mary are all idolatrous practices that have their roots in the Babylonian religious system.
It is the opinion of some that the Babylonian religious system of the Catholic Church will be linked with the antichrist during the Tribulation, and the antichrist will use the church until it no longer serves his purposes. Throughout the Bible and the rest of history, Babylon has been man’s religion, and ultimately the devil’s counterfeit to God’s plan for mankind. All the other religions have their root in the Babylonian religious system in that they have rebelled against the Lord, and developed their own set of rules and religious rituals that can never please God. Babylon and its religious system will both one day come under the judgment of God (see Jeremiah 51-52 and Revelation 17-18). Back to Genesis 11.
At this point in history the earth was of one language. Because of the earlier record of Genesis in which the people had Hebrew names with Hebrew meanings, some scholars believe this one language was Hebrew. After the Flood, the people migrated westward and settled in the land of Shinar (a region in modern-day Iraq). It would later become the location of the Babylonian empire. It was here under the leadership of Nimrod that they decided to build a tower unto heaven. This tower they set out to build was to be a place of worship, an observatory to worship the heavenly bodies. There have been many such observatories discovered in archeological digs in that area. Ancient historians such as Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century B.C., affirm the existence of the tower of Babel. He said that it was still standing in his day, and that he had seen it.
So then, it was really the beginning of astrology. Astrology is a study of the heavenly bodies, and attempts to interpret their influence on human affairs. For example, using a horoscope to predict one’s future is directly linked to astrology. If we remember from Genesis 1, God made the sun, moon, and stars for man to mark times and seasons, but to worship them and use them to predict the future is strictly forbidden by the Scriptures. Moses told the children of Israel, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch. Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. 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.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12) The Lord uses the word abomination, which is the strongest language in the entire Bible to condemn these activities, and the Scriptures state that those who practice the occult will be burned up like stubble in the day of God’s judgment (Isaiah 47). It is also interesting to point out that in Isaiah 47 the Lord is pronouncing this judgment on Babylon, the place where all this started, for these activities.
Here in Genesis 11, they wanted to unite the world with a religion that was in direct defiance to the Lord. They wanted to make a name for themselves so that they would not be scattered around the world when God had told them to spread out over the earth (Genesis 9:1). They made bricks in the brick kiln and used asphalt for mortar to build their tower, which would have made it both strong and water proof. This lends credibility to Josephus’ account of Nimrod wanting to build a tower that would prevent God from destroying mankind again with a flood.
The world united to serve the Lord is a great and wonderful thing, but the world united to rebel against Him is a terrible thing. Unfortunately, the former is not possible until the Lord Jesus returns to reign on Earth, and the Lord had to intervene in order to slow down man’s rebellious efforts.
As they were in building, the Lord came down to see the city and the tower. The phrase “the Lord came down” is similar language to when He said He would go down with two angels to visit Sodom and Gomorrah because of their sin Genesis 18:21) It is possible this was an Old Testament appearance of Jesus Christ, (a Christophany). He stated that if they were left alone with one language there would be nothing they could not do if they set their minds to it. Similar to the Lord not allowing man to live forever in a sinful state, the Lord could not allow mankind to stay in one area united in rebellion against Him. As a result, the Lord said, “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” (vs 7) It was then called Babel since it is where the Lord confused their languages and scattered them over the face of the earth. So, they left off building the city.
Many linguists believe that language is so unique that man could not have made it up. They exist as whole systems rather than small parts put together. Some like to attribute the different languages to some evolutionary process, but it was a super-natural event done by the Lord Himself.
It is here where we see the development of nations: God created nations and their boundaries for a specific purpose. The Scriptures state that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord.” (Acts 17:26-27) The Lord scattered the nations to thwart Satan’s efforts to establish his kingdom on earth, and to give man more opportunity to receive the Gospel. Historically, the United States has been one of the largest promoters of the Gospel throughout the world, and this attempt to erase our borders and unite with the rest of the world I’m convinced is Satan’s attempt to try and stop this. Any time you see the world try to unite as one, you can be sure that Satan is behind it. Modern transportation and technology have resulted in these divisions between people groups quickly coming together. It is much easier to travel to a foreign country or learn a foreign language, and we even have technology that will translate foreign languages for us. We know from Bible prophecy that the Devil will unfortunately succeed for a time in uniting the world under one government, only to be defeated and deposed by Jesus Christ when He returns. Another reason nations are good is that they provide a means of restraining evil. Imagine a world united under Adolf Hitler. If it were not for the United States and its allies, the world would have been a much different place today.
Next, Moses brings the focus back to the descendants of Shem. Shem had his first son Arphaxad when he was 100 years old, two years after the Flood. Shem then lived another 500 years after Arphaxad. If you study the chronologies, Shem would have been 199 when Peleg was born, 390 when Abram was born, 490 when Isaac was born, and 550 when Jacob and Esau were born. Although the life-span of man drastically decreased after the Flood, as we can see, oral history of Creation and the Flood still would have been easily passed down to Abraham and his descendants.
We see Peleg mentioned again, and if we remember from chapter 10, in his days the earth was divided. There are some who attribute this to the beginning of the splitting apart of the continents, but geologic activity of that magnitude would likely have been too catastrophic. It is more likely that this continental splitting happened during the time of the Flood. There is evidence that sea-levels were lower after the Flood, allowing for people and animals to migrate across the various continents. Peleg is mentioned both before and after the tower of Babel, so it seems more likely to attribute the division of the earth to God’s confusing the languages and subsequent scattering of the people into the various nations.
As we move on down from Peleg, we come to Abram. It is here where we see the author slow down and begin to focus on Abram and his descendants. Terah had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldees, and he had a son named Lot. Both Abram and Nahor took wives, Abram marrying Sarai, and Nahor marrying Milcah, Haran’s daughter. the Scriptures point out to us for the first time that Sarai was barren, a key fact that will play an important role in the next several chapters. So, Terah, Abram and his wife Sarai, and Lot left Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan. They stopped on the way and settled in Haran, a city in the southern part of modern-day Turkey near the Syrian border. It does not appear that Nahor went with them at this point, but he would follow them later. It is here that Abram’s father Terah dies.
Abram lived in Ur of the Chaldees, and as we learned, it was a place characterized by idol worship. Abram’s family, including his own father, worshiped idols (Joshua 24:2). It was here that the Lord appeared to Abram, and told him to get out of his country and from his relatives to go to a land that He would show him. The Lord knew that Abram would ultimately be obedient to this call, although it would appear He did not obey immediately.
In summary, within a relatively short time following the Flood, mankind was already corrupting themselves by rebelling against the Lord and participating in occultic practices. Again, the Lord could have just wiped them all out, but He did not. He had a bigger plan that would unfold throughout the ages, a plan that would begin with a man that would respond to the call of God by faith. This is how the Lord has always chosen to operate with man, and it is how He will continue to do so. We will pick up in the next chapter with them leaving Haran for the land of Canaan.
Additional Links
The Nine Forbidden Practices of the Occult
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