Genesis 11
The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel
1 The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary.
Chapter 10 recorded the dispersion of the 70 nations. Chapter 11 gives the details of this dispersion.
Since all of the genealogical names have meanings only in Hebrew, then Hebrew was the original language of mankind. Secular historians cannot explain away the Hebrew genealogies.
2 When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
Noah’s ark landed on Mount Ararat in Turkey. Noah’s family moved eastward to Shinar, which is Babylon. They found good land in Mesopotamia. The land reminded them so much of the Garden of Eden, that they named these two great rivers after the Tigris and Euphrates of the original Garden of Eden.
When the people decided to settle in Babylon, they were in rebellion of God’s command to “fill the earth and multiply” (Genesis 9:1,7). God’s design was to have many local governments spread throughout the earth (Genesis 9:5-6; Acts 17:26,27). However, Nimrod led a rebellion and established a one-world government in Babylon. When Shem’s son, Asshur, settled in a separate location, then according to Genesis 10:11, Nimrod quickly took it over (Genesis 10:11).
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.)
Nimrod led a post-flood council who looked at many ideas and then made a final decision. They decided to rebel against God and build a brick city. After the global flood, Mesopotamia was short in stone and timber, but the geography possessed much mud and asphalt. The mud and asphalt were packed and heated to make brick homes, buildings, temples, and walls.
4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth.”
Large cities existed before the flood. The sons of Noah possessed the technology to build an advanced city.
The tower was a ziggurat. It would be a place of astrology, where the post-flood people would worship the stars. This was the beginning of idolatry. This was the beginning of the Babylon Mystery Religion, or “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS,” which is mentioned in Revelation 17:5. Nimrod became Marduk, the chief God of the Babylonians. This ziggurat would also become the prototype of all great ziggurats, stepped towers, and pyramids of the world. These pyramids are found in every ancient nation and on every continent. Their existence today is evidence of the prototype ziggurat mentioned in this verse.
This tower was a great religious model. The top of the tower was filled with images of the heavens. According to Romans 1:23, man worshiped the creation rather than the Creator. Therefore, its walls were most likely filled with “man, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” The ceiling most likely portrayed the universal signs of the Zodiac. Zodiac means “the way to God.” The original zodiac was created by God. It showed the virgin-born Messiah defeating the Great Serpent. It began with Virgo, representing the virgin-born Messiah. It ended with the Lion of Judah, who would conquer the Serpent, which is Satan. The Babylonian Zodiac was perverted, now beginning with Aries and ending with Pisces. The perverted Zodiac became a tool of Nimrod and the occult.
Instead of serving God, they wanted to make a name for themselves. This was the beginning of humanism, an existence without God.
Instead of scattering and subduing the earth as God commanded, they disobeyed God and stayed in one place. This was an act of rebellion against God in violation of the Noahic Covenant in Genesis 9:1 and 9:7. According to rabbinic interpretation of this verse, the people said, “It does not rest with God to choose the celestial sphere for Himself and assign the earth for us. Let us, then, make war against Him.”
Satan now had everyone in one place and in one language. This gave his man Nimrod the power and influence to cause them to rebel against their Creator.
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building.
God was patient and long-suffering, waiting for this new post-flood culture to repent and change their attitude about God. After a while, He finally came down to earth to fix the problem. The author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, used anthropomorphic satire to describe the details of this historical situation. Puny man was rebelling against an omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient God. God came down to earth not for His sake, but for the sake of the observing angelic world and the future human readers of Scripture. God came down to earth to reveal a microscopic detail of man. God is not aloof like the pagan gods of mythology. He is deeply interested and involved in the affairs of man. He must also get involved in man in order to protect them from the influence of the evil one.
6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.
The people were unified in rebellion against God. They all possessed one language, making it easy for them to be controlled by one strong personality. The way to destroy this rebellious unity was to destroy their communication system.
Nimrod possessed direct access to demonic intelligence and satanic power. He would be invincible without divine intervention. Noah and the seed-son Shem were still alive, but they were helpless without divine aide. Satan would have used a unified Babylon to eliminate the seed-line, just as he had attempted to do before the Flood.
7 Come, let’s go down and confuse their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”
Nimrod met with his council on earth. Therefore, the Triune Creator God called His own counsel in heaven. The Triune Creator God conducted a divine counsel with Himself. The rabbi had to find a way to explain away this trinitarian passage. The rabbis interpreted this passage as God speaking to angels.
8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city.
Notice that it was the Lord, not the angels, who scattered the people of Babel. Therefore, the divine counsel was trinitarian and not angelic. Angels do not counsel God.
The Lord spread these rebellious people all over the earth. This explains why Nimrod left Babylon. He later built Assyria, which would become one of Israel’s biggest enemies.
The tower was finished, but the city was not. Since everyone left, there was no reason to build the city. "So Yahweh scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.” (Genesis 11:8)
Moses recorded that all of the pre-flood people drowned in the Great Flood on the seventeenth day of the second month of the Jewish calendar, which is late October and early November. This date was recorded in the historical documents of Noah's sons and passed down either orally or in writing to the citizens of Babel. Nimrod celebrated this day as "the Day of the Dead," and this ritual continued throughout all the cultures of the world. If this scenario is true, then one would expect to find these traditions in other ancient cultures.
This is exactly what one finds in the ancient European cultures. (A warning: this evidence is for technical readers.)
In Egypt: "It has long been known that the ship of Isis and the chest or coffin of Osiris which floated on the waters for a year are confused Egyptian recollections of the Flood. Plutarch says the Osiris was shut up in his box and set afloat ‘...on the seventeenth day of the month Athyr, when nights were growing long and the days decreasing.’ [On Isis and Osiris -note that Athyr is a variant of Hathor the goddess who was guardian of the tombs of the dead]... In Plutarch’s time Athyr did, in fact, coincide with October-November.”
In Assyria and Babylon" "In ancient Assyria the ceremonies for the souls of the dead were in the month Arahsamna, which is Marcheswan [the month of Heshvan on the Jewish calendar, which is mid-October to mid-November]. In Arahsamna the Sun God became Lord of the Land of the Dead [S. Langdon: Babylonian Menologies and Semitic Calendars, London 1934 p.36]. The month was held sacred to the-rain-and-thunder-god, while in Babylon Marduk was called, in connection with this month, 'Lord of the Deep' and also 'Lord of Abundance who causes plenty of rain to fall'.”
In India: "The Hindu 'Durga'-festival of the dead-was originally connected with their New Year which commenced in November.”
In Iran: "The Persians commenced their New Year in November in a month which was named Mordad month, i.e. the month of the angel of death.”
Although these European nations spoke different languages, it seems as though the Day of the Dead was still practiced throughout ancient Europe at the end of October on the anniversary of the Flood.
Not only did the ancient nations of Europe celebrate this holiday with occult rituals, but so did many of the other ancient cultures throughout different parts of the world.
For example, the Aboriginal Australians at this time of the year painted white stripes on their legs and arms to resemble skeletons.
In the Society Islands of French Polynesia, the inhabitants pray for the spirits of departed ancestors at the end of their New Year celebration in November.
Across the ocean in Peru, the Inca New Year commenced in November. The festival Ayamarka contained a ritual of the carrying of a corpse. This festival concluded with inhabitants placing food and drink on the graves of their dead.
Even the Mexican Aztecs kept the Day of the Dead at this same time of the year, as did many of the other Indian groups.
These Indian groups probably migrated over ice bridges after the Great Flood caused by a mini-ice age. Even though their language was confused at the Tower of Babel by Jehovah Himself, they still contained the knowledge of the Day of the Dead rituals that were celebrated on "the seventeenth day of the second month," just as Moses had recorded over 3000 years ago in the Book of Genesis.
In Europe, "November 2 is All Souls' Day - the Day of the Dead. In France it is Le Jour des Morts - Christianized now for centuries but still at heart the old Day of the Dead when flowers are taken to the tombs... Early Anglo-Saxons called November Blood-Month....” Celtic inhabitants of Britain ..”.kept their New Year in November. The Manx mummers sang, 'Tonight is New Year's Night, Hogunnaa' - on Halloween, October 31. Further, November 1 (Old Style) was kept as New Year's Day in the Isle of Man until relatively recent times. Frazer sees the ancient Irish custom of kindling fires on Halloween, or the eve of Samhain as showing that November 1 was New Year's Day. The Celtic festival of Samhain or Samhagen held in November is connected with the Cornish New Year festival of Allantide and the Irish Geimredh (E. Sykes: Dictionary of Non-Classical Mythology London, 1961).
In Wales and Scotland early November is the time for ghosts to be remembered. Samhain is connected in legend with Avalon, the Kingdom of the Dead, to which Arthur was taken across the waters of a lake.” [As late as 1818 G.S.Faber cited Davies' Mythology of the British Druids saying, 'Bardic songs are yet extant in which is celebrated the return of the mythological Arthur with his seven companions from their voyage over a boundless ocean, beneath the waves of which all the rest of mankind had been overwhelmed.'" (Filby p.125)] {Presumably the name of Arthur replaced the name of the original hero of the story}.
9 That is why its name was called Babel – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.
The Hebrew for Babel was originally Balal, meaning “the gate of God.” It was changed to Babel, meaning “confusion.”
God miraculously altered the brain/nerve/speech system of the Babylonian family tribes. He divided these rebellious tribes into seventy different language groups, which was one language group for each of the seventy descendants of Israel. Each family was given supernaturally its own distinctive vocabulary/phonology complex. Although their language was changed, they still possessed the same basic thought processes, the same moral character, the same knowledge of the flood, the same advanced knowledge of the pre-flood civilization, the same knowledge of the ziggurat construction, the same knowledge of the perverted zodiac, and the same knowledge of the Babylon religious system.
Since every family now had a different language, they would no longer be able to communicate with other families. They would no longer be able to cooperate or unify. They would have to divide and scatter throughout the earth, creating different cultures, cities, and nations. The strongest tribes would take the best geographical regions, such as the River Valleys of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China. The weaker tribes would be forced into the wilderness areas, becoming more nomadic. As the tribes traveled into their new homes, they would have to temporarily live in caves until they reached their new destination. These would be the so-called cave-men, who are improperly identified by Christ-rejecting scientists today.
Since the Flood was caused by the cold ice of the heavenly canopy that collapsed during the Flood, these post-division tribes would have to start a civilization during a mini-ice age. There was no long ice-age, as many Christ-rejecting scientists claim.
These seventy families would still contain the advanced knowledge of the pre-flood civilization. They were all familiar with the arts of agriculture, animal husbandry, ceramics, metallurgy, construction, navigation, medicine, etc. They all had possessed a written language before the flood, but now they would have to create a new alphabet and a new written language with a completely new speech. Within a few generations, all of these attributes of civilization would re-surface all over the world. As populations grew, some of these tribes would eventually travel over land bridges into distant continents. The Bering Strait and Malaysian Strait could have been ice bridges that existed for a thousand years or so during the post-flood mini-ice age. Some civilizations, such as the Phoenicians, established colonies through sea exploration. All of these tribes carried essentially the same Babylonian culture and religious system with them. This is why Babylon is called “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:5). They also carried some remembrance of the one true God and His promises, especially remembering the divine judgment of the global Flood. They perverted the image of God into evolutionary pantheism, astrology, spiritism, polytheism and atheistic materialism.
Baby dinosaurs would still exist with man at this time, but they would have a tough time surviving in the mini-ice age. Many of these dinosaurs would become the food supply of the seventy families. After the dinosaurs died out, the seventy families would have to hunt for smaller game. Many of these dinosaur sightings would become the dragon legends of ancient literature. Many of the antediluvians would become the myths, legends, gods, and titans of the literature of the seventy nations.
Probably, all of the families (except Nimrod) were dispersed from Babel. Nimrod’s family probably became the Sumerians. The others scattered into various regions of the world, as already described in Genesis 10. This eye-witness account could have originally been written by Shem (Genesis 11:10).
Ur is known as the first city state. There is a tablet that was excavated at Ur that contains distorted legends and origins of other nations.
In addition to the Babel tablet, there is an inscription made by Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar was a Babylon king who lived 1600 years after Nimrod. He built a tower in Borsippa. It is interesting to note that Borsippa is a Greek word, meaning “tongue-tower.” On the base of the remains of a tower, he claimed that he was rebuilding the base of the ancient tower of Babel.
Christ-rejecting evolutionary scientists have a difficult time explaining the origin of the many different languages. If everyone evolved from some sub-human species, then all of the languages should be very similar. However, all languages have different vocabularies and alphabets. Some are written right to left, while others are written left to right. Some are written up and down.
The Bible would possess the only true divine documented history of ancient civilizations. Other surrounding histories and literature would become a mixture of truth and error. Whenever secular history disagrees with Biblical history, then it is the Biblical history which is divinely accurate and the secular history which is humanly inaccurate. Satan has deceived most of today’s modern culture into accepting secular history but rejecting Biblical history. He has censored Biblical teaching in most educational systems throughout the world and replaced it with godless secular teaching.
Man was therefore forced to obey God’s earlier command to scatter abroad and to fill the earth with different nations and governmental units. If Babel had not been scattered, then Nimrod could have eliminated the Messianic seed-line.
The Genealogy of Shem
10 This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood.
This is the fifth תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת (toldoth) of Genesis. It recorded the genealogy and history of the messianic seed-line after the Flood. Shem means “the name.” He was the oldest son of Noah and the carrier of the messianic seed.
By now, man has been tested three times. He failed his tests in Eden, in the pre-flood world, and at the Tower of Babel. Therefore, God is going to move from universal history to a national history of one family line and one land.
The name of Arphaxad is unknown. He would become the next seed-son.
11And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
The life span of man was beginning to dwindle.
12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
The name of Shelah means “sent one.” He became the next seed-son.
13And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
Life began to dwindle even more.
14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
Eber becomes the next seed-son.
15And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
The name of Eber means “to cross-over.” This is the origin of the word “Hebrew.”
16When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
Peleg means “division.” During his lifetime, the division of nations took place at the Tower of Babel. According to normal population growths, the population during the dispersion would have been at least 1000 mature adults.
17And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
The life span of man continues to dwindle.
18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
Reu means “friend” or “neighbor.” He became the next seed-son.
19And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
The life span of man dwindles even more.
20When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
Serug becomes the next seed-son. The meaning of his name is not clear.
21And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
There was a large gap of life span drop after the Tower of Babel dispersion. This could have been caused by the traumatic changes in living conditions caused by the confusion of tongues and the resultant migrations and struggles. There was also close inbreeding after the Flood, which was aggravated further by the Dispersion. This new and harsh life style began to diminish the life span of man.
22When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.
Nahor becomes the next seed-son. His name means “river.”
23And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
The life span of man continued to dwindle even more.
24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
Terah becomes the next seed-son. Terah means “moon.” He lived in Ur, which is the first city state in history. The citizens at Ur worshiped the moon god Sin, meaning that the seed-line had been corrupted into paganism.
25And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
The life span of man continued to dwindle even more.
26When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah had three sons. Abram means “exalted father.” Nahor means “river.” Haran means “mountaineer.” These names could have been idolatrous names of pagan gods. Abram will become the seed-son, but he is living in a family of idolatry.
The Record of Terah
27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
This is the sixth תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת (toldoth) of Genesis. Noah lived even until the life span of Terah. Shem died when Isaac or Jacob was 48 years old. Therefore, Noah or Shem could have passed the tablets to Terah, Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob. There was a lot of overlap in these genealogies, so there is no problem with the documentation and transition of this ancient history being passed from one generation to the next. This תּוֹלְדֹ֣ת (toldoth) recorded the results of Terah’s genealogy, which was the birth of Abram (Abraham). Abram (Abraham) will not only become the seed-son, but he will become the father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. (later Abram is changed to Abraham).
Lot was the nephew of Abram (Abraham). The birth of Lot was mentioned, because it will be important in later chapters.
28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive.
Haran was the son of Terah, the brother of Abram, and the father of Lot. Haran died in the city of Ur. It is unusual for a son to die before the death of his father. When Haran died, Lot was left without a father. Therefore, Abram inherited Lot into his own family.
Many historians formally taught that no writing existed at the time of Moses, meaning that Moses could not have written the first five books of the Bible. Then, archaeologists excavated a great library at Ur which yielded thousands of clay tablets. Contrary to the false teachings of cultural education, practically everyone knew how to read and write long before Abram’s day.
29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah.
Sarai means “queen, beautiful or argumentative.” (Argumentative is more of the liberal view. Princess is more of the conservative view). This was the Akkadian translation of the Sumarian name of Ningal, the wife of the moon god Sin. Milcah means “princess.” This was the title of Ishtar, the daughter of the moon god Sin. Laban means “white.” This was a Sumerian poetic term for the full moon. These names all show the influence of the worship of the moon god. Joshua 24:2 recorded that Terah was an idolater.
Nahor married his niece. Sarai was Abram’s half-sister (Genesis 20:12), a daughter of Terah by another of his wives. Close marriages were not yet genetically dangerous. Incest was not prohibited until the Mosaic Law was established.
30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.
Sarai was the half-sister of Abram. Sarai’s barrenness prepared history for the supernatural birth of Isaac.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there.
Sarai is not only the daugher-in-law of Terah, but she is also his daughter. The details of this migration will be given in the next chapter.
32The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran.
Haran was the original homeland of Terah. He did not want to go to Canaan, so he died there. Abram left Haran sixty years before his father died. God was going to make a new nation out of Abraham that would usher in the Messiah.
In conclusion, the human viewpoint of the satanic world system teaches that all religions evolved from man attempting to control the forces of nature.
The divine viewpoint of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God teaches that all religions evolved from the Mystery Babylon system before the confusion of languages. This would include the rituals of Catholicism and Halloween.
Human viewpoint teaches that Catholicism evolved from Christianity.
Divine viewpoint teaches that Catholicism evolved from the Mystery Babylon system.
Human viewpoint teaches that Halloween evolved from paganism.
Divine viewpoint teaches that Halloween evolved from the Mystery Babylon system.
Appendix #1
Archaeology Support for the Tower of Babel
The Sumerian epic entitled “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta” contains a reference to one speech.
Once upon a time there was no snake, there was no scorpion,
There was no hyena, there was no lion,
There was no wild dog, no wolf,
There was no fear, no terror,
Man had no rival.
In those days, the lands of Subur (and) Hamazi,
Harmony-tongued Sumer, the great land of the decrees of princeship,
Uri, the land having all that is appropriate,
The land Martu, resting in security,
The whole universe, the people in unison
To Enlil in one tongue [spoke].
…
(Then) Enki, the lord of abundance (whose) commands are trustworthy,
The lord of wisdom, who understands the land,
The leader of the gods,
Endowed with wisdom, the lord of Eridu
Changed the speech in their mouths, [brought] contention into it,
Into the speech of man that (until then) had been one.
Appendix #2
The Origin of Halloween
It seems that the historical chronology of Noah's flood went something like this:
1. The flood came on "the seventeenth day of the second month" on Noah's calendar, killing everyone except Noah and his family of eight.
2. As soon as Noah left the ark, he sacrificed a clean animal to God (probably a lamb), as a picture of the Coming Messiah who would one day be sacrificed as "the Lamb of God who would die for the sins of the world."
3. Noah recorded the flood on stone tablets, and gave them to his three sons--Shem, Ham, and Japeth. (Genesis 10:1) Later, it was passed on to Shem (Genesis 11:10) and then Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc.
4. God blessed Noah and his sons, and commanded them to "be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." (Genesis 9:1)
5. Instead, the descendants of Noah rebelled against God's command and they stayed in one location, Shinar. They built a city and a tower "whose top may reach unto heaven." They tried to make a name for themselves so they would not "be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth." Knowing the exact date of the flood, they lamented the death of these pre-flood people, whom Bible Scholars call the antediluvians.
6. These rebels had knowledge of both the flood and the sacrifice of a lamb as a picture of a future Messiah. They also had a one-world leader, the architecture knowledge to build ziggaruts and pyramids, knowledge of astrology, etc.
7. God confused their language at the Tower of Babel.
8. They could no longer understand each other, so they scattered out all over the world. The strongest tribes took the best land. The weakest tribes migrated, some staying in caves, until they could find land to raise their families. (Cave men are not really descended from monkeys as evolutionists claim, but they are simply the weaker migrating tribes from the Tower of Babel)
9. These tribes took knowledge of this ancient Babylon religious system and probably did all of the following:
a. built pyramids all over the earth, such as those in the Middle East, Egypt, Africa, the Americas, etc.
b. carried knowledge of astrology to all corners of the globe.
c. carried the polytheistic religious rituals to all corners of the globe.
d. perverted the original sacrifice of a lamb "dying for the sins of the world" to the rituals of humans being sacrificed to appease their gods.
e. perverted the original flood story to the 200 ancient flood stories of today.
f. continued the observance to the Day of the Dead.
10. The Day of the Dead was changed into the many customs, traditions, and celebrations of modern Halloween.
11. Since everyone's languages were confused and they were scattered all over the world, none of these tribes could get together to discuss these issues until centuries later.
12. The Book of Genesis is the only historical document which records the origin of these events.
13. Jesus is alive, and we should worship Him, so there is no need for us to celebrate a "day of the dead."
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1. SAQ--What is the theme of Genesis 11/
2. Explain the rebellion of Nimrod.
3. Explain the political and religious relationship between Shem and Nimrod.
4. Explain the biblical view of pyramids.
5. Explain the biblical view of zodiacs.
6. Explain the biblical origins of humanism.
7. Explain the biblical view of Halloween.
8. Explain the biblical view of the mini-ice age.
9. Explain the biblical view of dragon legends.
10. What is the Greek meaning of "Borsipa"?