Tower of Babel & The Birth of Paganism

- Cancel Culture

Have we all heard of what is happening in California?

They have been suffering this past week and currently still are from what science calls an Atmospheric River?

This is a result of extreme moisture being accumulated, and then basically dumped on vulnerable areas causing all kinds of havoc, including landslides, mudslides, sink-holes, and of course, floods.

But as I am sure you can all imagine, the floods that California are dealing with at the moment don’t even compare to the flood of Noah’s time that changed the world.

Anyone alive today can agree that we live in a Cancel-Culture.

Meaning, if you don’t like or agree with something said, you can try to have it canceled.

Perhaps, even myself preaching this message today, or similar messages have been grounds for being canceled by this modern Culture.

We are reminded by King Solomon that there is nothing new under the sun.

This present WOKE culture, or Cancel-Culture, wasn’t invented by man.

It was invented by God.

Thats right.

When God saw that his creation wasn’t saying or doing things that He liked or agreed with,

What does the Bible say He did?

He wiped it out.

He canceled it, didn’t He?

In Scripture we are told that He canceled it out with a Global Flood in Noah’s day.

The Bible tells us that this Flood destroyed everything, except eight people.

Noah, his wife, and his three sons, Shem, Ham, & Japheth, along with their wives.

We pick up this narrative of history, after the Flood.

When Noah and his Sons, Shem, Ham & Japheth, begin to repopulate the earth.

Genesis Chapter 10 lists the genealogies of all the nations of the earth that were generated by Noahs Three Sons.

- Table of Nations

When the people begin to refill the earth, and we pick it up right here in

Genesis 10:1 (CSB)

1 These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the flood.

It goes on from here to list in detail who was born and to which of the three sons they were born too.

This new generations after the flood became known as the Table of Nations.

Anyone alive today, or who have ever lived after the flood are descendants from one of these three sons.

Although today, we are all known by our nationalities, or by the region we were born.

Back then people were known by their tribes and familial backgrounds.

So, from these we have all the nations and people groups in the entire world.

Hence, The Table of Nations.

For an in-depth presentation of where certain peoples or nations came into being, and spread out across the globe,

I suggest that you do a personal study on this chapter and familiarize yourself with the names and regions they settled.

Slide # of Table of Nations

For instance, the infamous Canaanite people that occupied the promised land, the land of Canaan.

Or, the Philistines, the Amorites, the Hivites, the Hittites, Elamites, (Which are the Iranians, or the Persians) etc.

- Nimrod

But for todays focus, we will hone in on a certain infamous persona non-other than Nimrod, who Scripture tells us was fathered by Cush, the son of Ham, whom we presume to be the youngest son of Noah.

Slide #

Genesis 10:6–12 (CSB)

6 Ham’s sons: Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush fathered Nimrod, who began to be powerful in the land.

Now, the reason we single out Nimrod is because many of the things found wrong with today’s modern culture, and all that violates God’s will, find their origins, or Genesis in this person of Nimrod.

The name Nimrod according to traditional Hebraic sources means= Rebel, or Rebellious.

Verse nine says

Slide #

9 He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.”

The Hebrew word translated Powerful Hunter is “Gib-ŪR” and usually means by violent means or violent.

It is important to understand that this isn’t just referring to this Nimrod character being a good hunter,

Like “I mean, whats the big deal?”

No, it is signifying that this Nimrod became the first person who wielded real human social powers, or like a tyrannical dictator,

Someone bent on creating a City, or cities in his case, not only building but ruling over then with an iron clad fist

He became feared, dreaded and respected and encased in power among men.

Verse 10 says,

Slide #

10 His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12 and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

The name of Babylon is mentioned over 200 times in scripture, and most of you all have heard it many times.

Babylon to this day continues to be an place of interest to the world, especially Christians.

Now, it doesn’t specifically say this, but, personally I can imagine that he probably had forced labor, or even slaves.

I can’t imagine this Mighty / Powerful hunter taking time out of his years, to getting his personal hands dirty by building a city.

Least of all cities that lasted through the millenium like, Babylon, and Nineveh.

Regardless of how he accomplished it, the Bible assures us he did.

Chapter ten ends with this

Genesis 10:32 (CSB)

32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.

Slide #

So, here we are.

At this point in history, we understand how all the nations of the earth got their names, and where they came from.

To which, they began to spread out and cover the land before them.

Genesis 11 (CSB)

1 The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.

This verse tells us, that at this point in history, there was only one language, and only one vocabulary.

- Tower Of Babel

Everyone spoke the exact same language, every word had the same meaning to everyone.

2 As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.) 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

This famous tower is known of even today as the Tower of Babel.

Slide # Picture of Ziggurat

5 Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.

Slide #

Before we begin to unravel this, we should understand this important point,

Because of location, and timing, it is assumed that it was this infamous Nimrod that spearheaded this construction.

We aren’t sure, but it is logical to assume, that because of the location of Nimrod’s cities, and him being listed among the dispersion of the Table of Nations, that he was the one who united these early nations to build this tower.

In the plain of Shinar, which is modern day lower Iraq, is where this construction happened in the scripture.

God didn’t come down and scatter them and change their languages because they thought they could reach heaven.

He didn’t come down and scatter them because they thought if it flooded again, they would be high enough to be spared.

No,

He did it because of what it really was, The birth place of Paganism.

- Birthplace of Paganism

Every pagan religion and practice can trace their roots all the way back to this city.

The city of Babylon.

After the Babylonians, the Persians controlled it, then the Greeks under Alexander the Great who made it his capital until his death, then ultimately the romans.

The Bible mentions this city multiple times in prophecies, so it is extremely beneficial to be familiar with it.

Since the Flood there were many generations born, no doubt by this time, the practices of sacrificial worship had been either blurred, distorted or over wise abandoned,

I say this because we aren’t told of anyone doing it.

To the contrary, however we are given this account of Nimrod, who’s name means rebel.

Who is he rebelling against? God.

So, he “Becomes this might hunter, powerful man, and he builds multiple cities.

Why?

To make a name for themselves, and so they could all congregate their and marvel at themselves.

4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

By this time they had lost their understating of the one True God, Yaweh, and corrupted themselves again, by creating for themselves their own God.

Or their own access to God, on their terms.

If God don’t come down, we’ll come up by building a tower up to the sky.

Obviously they knew they could never reach heaven, but they could build a temple that god or the gods, in their case, could use it as medium to go back and fourth from heaven and earth.

That is Paganism.

“Oh no, thats not true pastor,” Oh no? What about all the practices that still exist today?

- Modern Paganism

Even among Christians?

When they don’t get the answers from the Lord they want, they start incorporating exterior help, like candles, dried herbs, or even crystals etc.

Many began to believe that one God wasn’t enough for the burdens of humankind etc.

and went on to create religions that have over 330 million gods. Hindu

Some have even made human beings like god, = Buddha

Others actually made humans God, = Mariology

It all started here, in Babylon, and this tower, was the first, symbol or man-made effect of worship.

Some suspect that the actual remains of the very same Tower of Babel is the sight of Etemenanki in Babylon.

Slide #

Etemenanki means = “Temple of the foundation of heaven and earth”

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etemenanki)

According to Nebuchadnezzar himself the temple known as Etemenanki was already in Babylon for hundreds of years before them, but was, get this, never completed.

(https://ancientmesopotamia.org/structures/etemenanki)

Nebuchadnezzar completed it but it began needing repairs after several hundred years, was the Alexander the Great that gave up and broke it down to the ruins that stand today.

(https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=123)

Now, that is not Biblical scripture, I just added this bit of secular speculation.

Nebuchadnezzar tried to repair it, so did others, but it was the Alexander the Great that gave up and broke it down to the ruins that stand today.

God changed their languages and caused them to scatter because The Tower of Babel demonstrated that not only had man-kind been corrupted by sin, but now with the Tower, they had corrupted their view of God the Creator

Mankind had turned complete now,

being corrupt

corrupting the very image and place of God.

Hence, they had now lost any realistic sense of who God is.

Let me insert a quote to summarize my point.

Sin makes us inclined toward paganism, Babel institutionalized it.”

(The NIV Application Commentary, John H. Walton, Zondervan, Pg. 382.)

Think about it, we are still influenced by it today.

Astrology market report for last year 2023 was $12.8 Billion and expected to reach $22 Billion in ten years.

Wonder where that came from, evidence suggests that the Zodiac, (Astrology characters, like Leo, Capricorn etc.), was developed in Babylon.

What about the, I’ll do this for you God, if you do that for me?

There are many of us who have our faith shaken to the core, some even leave the faith because they feel, God didn’t fulfill His part of the deal.

Some people today leave offering to the gods in the form of whiskey, cigars, grain, food, etc.

All of this has creeped into all cultures, and it all started in Babylon and the Tower of Babel.

Here is another quote to further illustrate this point.

Slide #

One of the manifestations of this day is in the scam of media preachers who convince millions that prosperity is simply a form of “divine payola.” This extension of the Babel Syndrome says God can be bought. Give money to this ministry and claim the promises of God for limitless prosperity. Another example is in those who see depression, ulcers, gallstones, and any other physical ailment up to cancer and AIDS, as indications of a lack of faith or of divine judgment. Additionally, when we rail at God for the suffering in the world and turn angrily away from him at the death of a loved one we show that we continue to struggle with a seriously deficient view of God. These are the legacies of Babel.

(The NIV Application Commentary, John H. Walton, Zondervan, Pg. 383.)

So we see the effect of the building of the Tower of Babel, and the birth place of Paganism on our lives

even still to this day.

Rebelling against the commands of God,

He told them to scatter and fill the earth,

They decided to suit themselves best by staying put instead and building a house for whatever God

- Separating of Languages

But, why, did God separate the languages and scatter the people all over the earth?

Because, mankind began corrupting the (Imago Dei), Image of God.

He had to Reclaim His rightful place and reveal Himself again as the Alpha & Omega.

The Tower of Babel set the stage for the building of a new nation, a new people group,

One that was going to be different from the groups around them in that day,

Worshipping the sun, moon, stars, etc.

So, God in His divine wisdom, decided to separate the specific tool they needed,

Communication.

He was right, had man been permitted to continue all in the same accord, the world would have witnessed another global catastrophe.

But, he separated the world by language.

Back in the previous Chapter of Genesis we are told

Genesis 10:25 (CSB)

25 Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

The name Eber being the source of the word, Hebrew. Hebrew meant from the people of Eber, son of Shem from where the word Semite comes from.

When you hear someone is Anti-Semitic, it means anti-Jew or Israel

But notice, it says this strange event that happened during the time of Peleg.

The earth was divided,

Most assume it is referring to the separation of languages.

So, in closing,

God had to separate the nations by languages so they would scatter, because He had to Reclaim and Reassert His Claim and presence in the World.

- New Plan

To do this, He would have to reveal Himself again as the Alpha & Omega, and to re-establish His Name in the World as

Elohim, (God)

Yaweh, (Lord Jehovah)

He did this all because He already had His eye of one people group that didn’t even exist yet prepared in His mind,

To which He does, by appearing to Abram and making an everlasting covenant with not only him, but his people.

God’s People, Israel.