Welcome to EBible Fellowship’s Bible study in the Book of Genesis. This is study #4 of Genesis, chapter 10 and we are continuing to look at Genesis 10:8-10:

And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before JEHOVAH: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before JEHOVAH. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

We have been discussing Nimrod and why God said twice in verse 9 that he was a “mighty hunter” before JEHOVAH. Historically, we know that the man Nimrod was a hunter, just as Esau was a hunter. He would have gone out to hunt animals, but God is using that activity as a picture to teach about those people that come with other gospels under the power of Satan. Satan “hunts” God’s people as prey.

In our last study, we went to 1Peter 3:8:

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

Satan seeks not just any men, but he seeks after those people that are closely identified with the Word of God, the Bible, to devour them. He hunts them to kill them. We saw in Ezekiel, chapter 13 where God relates those that prophesy out of their own hearts and teach lies to “hunting” the souls of His people to slay them. We also see this picture in Micah 7:2:

The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net.

Here, we see the word “hunt” and it is not referring to “good” men because the “good man is perished out of the earth,” but it is the wicked man that will “hunt every man his brother with a net.”

In 1Samuel, chapter 24 we see David addressing King Saul and it says in 1Samuel 24:9-11:

David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men's words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that JEHOVAH had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is JEHOVAH'S anointed. Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it.

Again, we have the word “huntest,” and when we read that someone is “following after” a person, it is the same word as “persecute.” Saul was following after David to kill him; Saul had his reasons, but none of them were righteous or true reasons. He followed after David and he literally hunted after him. When Saul and his men heard that David was in a certain place, they would pursue after him to kill him. David was the prey of King Saul. King Saul was a picture of the corporate church and David, a type and figure of the Lord Jesus Christ, is a picture of the body of true believers. The apostate corporate church pursued the people of God to kill them. They hunted after the people of God and we this, again, and again.

So, it is not a good thing or a positive thing when we read that Nimrod was a “mighty man,” which has negative connotations and then the Lord tells us twice that Nimrod was a “mighty hunter.” When we search it out, we see that it is the nature of Satan to seek and pursue God’s people with the intent to kill them. Nimrod is a picture of an apostate church as it brings another gospel or a picture of Satan himself.

Then it goes on to say in Genesis 10:10:

And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

The spelling of this word “Babel” is only found two times in the Bible. It is found here and it is found in the next chapter, in Genesis 11:9:

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because JEHOVAH did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did JEHOVAH scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

In both cases the word “Babel” is Strong’s #894 and, yet, it is the same word that is translated dozens of times as “Babylon” or “Babylonian.” So, we could read the verse this way: “And the beginning of his kingdom as Babylon.” God pictures the kingdom of Babylon as a representation of the kingdom of Satan or the kingdom of this world, the world that Satan won through right of conquest when he deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This is further evidence that we have understood “Nimrod” correctly. When it says, “the beginning of his kingdom,” it is using the masculine pronoun “his” that refers to Nimrod – the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon.

Notice that it refers to it as a “kingdom,” but since this was early in the repopulation of the earth, it was nothing compared to kingdoms that would exist later in history. It was probably a little town with very few people and that is why it says that the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon. This strengthens the idea that Nimrod was a type and figure of Satan because the Bible portrays the King of Babylon as Satan. Since God is referring to it as the beginning of his kingdom, then he (Nimrod) was the king of the kingdom and Babylon and the King of Babylon is a picture of the kingdom of Satan and the Devil himself.

Again, it says, “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh.” The word “Erech” means “to prolong” and the word “Accad” is only used here and there are no related words that I could find, so I am unsure of its meaning. The word “Calneh” is Strong’s #3641 and it is used in a couple of places. However, there are four places that are mentioned and the number “four” points to the universality or the furthest extent of whatever is in view. What is in view here? It is Babylon, primarily, but all four places were found “in the land of Shinar,” so it was the furthest extent of his kingdom in the land of Shinar.

The word “Shinar” is found in Genesis 11:1-2:

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 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.

Babylon was in the land of Shinar and, shortly, the people would build the tower and the city called Babel in the land of Shinar, so we can see how Babylon and Shinar are closely related. We also see here that there was one language and one speech at that time.

It is interesting that at the time of the Great Tribulation in 1988, it was the beginning of the time of the end of the world when Satan was loosed out of the bottomless pit and entered in to the churches to rule as the man of sin. Another picture is painted in Revelation, chapter 13 where God speaks of Satan as the beast that came up out of the sea. It is the same picture as Satan coming up out of the bottomless pit. Let us read about that in Revelation 13:3:

And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

Notice that it says that all the world worshipped the beast. Then it says in Revelation 13:4-8:

And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

It was a worldwide event. It had a universal impact upon every unsaved person in the world. Therefore, we read in Genesis 11:1: “And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.” The “language” of the world at the time Satan was loosed was the language of “Satan” or the language of lies and deceit. The world began to “come together” in agreement in a way not seen since the time of Babel before God confounded man’s language and divided the continents. It was in the land of Shinar (or Babylon) that man had been of one language, one speech and one earth. Then at the time of the end, the wicked of the world came together again.

The electronic medium has been a wonderful source in delivering the truths of the Bible. God raised up the electronic medium to reach the far corners of the earth as the churches became apostate. God used Family Radio to reach all the earth at the time of the end through radio, internet, and so forth. However, the electronic medium has also served to further the wickedness of man. I will use the United States as the example because we have had the greatest influence upon the electronic medium. When we started delivering information to the world regarding gay marriage, we soon saw other nations being influenced by this. Or, if American men start wearing earrings and dying their hair purple, it was not long before this cultural message was picked up in other nations all around the world. The speeding up of communication has also served to increase the world’s wickedness as it brings the world together in one “wicked mindset,” as they join in unison in declaring their wickedness. In a way, it is a “return to Babel” and the original kingdom of Babylon, so God emphasizes that at the end of time Babylon is the nation we read about, again, and again, in the Book of Revelation and in other places in the Bible.

The land of Shinar is that land where Babylon was located. It says in Isaiah 11:11:

And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people…

The time that the Lord set His hand the second time to recover His remnant was in the Jubilee Year of 1994AD. That was the time of the “jubilee” to set the captives free. It was the second outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The first outpouring was in 33AD when the church age began and during that time the firstfruits were brought in. When the church age ended in 1988, it was the end of a fruitful season and there was a time of famine of 2,300 “evening mornings” when there was no rain. So, for six years and almost four months there was no Gospel season and it was a time of spiritual famine. Then on September 7, 1994, the Lord stretched forth His hand a second time to recover the remnant of His people as He saved the great multitude that came out of Great Tribulation. That is what is in view here in Isaiah, chapter 11, as it goes on to say in Isaiah 11:11:

… which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.

This is indicating that God will recover His elect from all over the earth, from the four corners of the earth. Babylon represents Satan’s kingdom of this world and Babylon is in Shinar, so Shinar is mentioned here. Remember, the picture in Jeremiah of God’s people coming out of the churches and going out into the world was said to be to go into captivity to Babylon (Shinar). God speaks of the daughter of Zion in Micah 4:10:

Be in pain, and labour to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail: for now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon; there shalt thou be delivered; there JEHOVAH shall redeem thee from the hand of thine enemies.

The elect would be brought forth out of the world in that little season of the Latter Rain.

It also says in Daniel, chapter 1 we read of Shinar. It says in Daniel 1:1-2:

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with part of the vessels of the house of God: which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the vessels into the treasure house of his god.

This is another connection between Babylon and Shinar and it was a time when Nebuchadnezzar was assaulting Judah, taking captives and bringing them into Babylon. Again, we know that God uses that imagery to represent judgment upon the New Testament corporate church and He issued the command to His people to come out of the churches.

We will look at one more place where the world “Shinar” is used, in Zechariah 5:1-3:

Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a flying roll. And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth thereof ten cubits. Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.

The “flying roll” is a picture of the Scriptures. In ancient times the Word of God was written on rolls or scrolls. Notice it said, “This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.” Stealing and swearing falsely are transgressions of the Law of God. There are two sides, just as the Word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. It is the Word of God that is written on “two sides” and it can destroy as it brings judgment.

It goes on to say in Zechariah 5:4:

I will bring it forth, saith JEHOVAH of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name…

We can already see that this refers to the “house of God” or the corporate church. We learned in 1Peter, chapter 3 that judgment began at the house of God. The Word of God brings the judgment and it is that which cuts off those that steal and that swear falsely. People swear falsely when they claim to be a child of God, but they pervert His Word. Also, they “steal” and that is why it refers to the “house of the thief.” The Lord tells us in Jeremiah 7:8-11:

Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith JEHOVAH.

Here, the house called by God’s name has become a “den of robbers” and that is where you would find thieves that steal. It is “the house of the thief” because they are not dealing honestly or faithfully in the Bible. They are conducting themselves as thieves. They are not going through the door, which is Christ, but they are climbing up another way, like thieves. When a gospel declares that people can just walk down the aisle and accept Christ to become saved, they are acting as a den of robbers. They are trying to climb up to heaven another way rather than the way, the truth and the life, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven.

I will finish reading Zechariah 5:4:

… and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

This would refer to the destruction of the house of God when there would not be one stone upon another. We do not have time to finish this, but next time we will pick up our study here in Zechariah, chapter 5 and we will see how “Shinar” fits with this picture.