Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 10
Schoolmaster to Christ
GENESIS CHAPTER 10
Scripture Reading: Genesis 10 (KJV)
This section records the generations of Noah's three sons, especially Nimrod, the founder of the kingdom of Babel or Babylon, a name that occupies a prominent place on the page of inspiration. Babylon is a well-known name; a well known influence. From Genesis 10 to Revelation 18, Babylon appears again and again as something decidedly hostile to God’s people. When Israel entered the wars of Canaan "a Babylonish garment" brought defilement and sorrow, defeat and confusion. This is the earliest record of Babylon's pernicious influence on the people of God; but every student of Scripture is aware of Babylon’s place throughout the history of Israel.
This is not the place to detail the various passages in which this city is introduced. We only suggest that whenever God has a corporate witness on earth, Satan has a Babylon to mar and corrupt that witness. When God connects His name with a city on earth, then Babylon takes the form of a city; and when God connects His name with the Church, then Babylon takes the form of a corrupt religious system, called "the great whore," "the mother of abominations," etc. In other words, Satan's Babylon is always seen as an instrument molded and fashioned by his hand, for the purpose of counteracting God’s operations, whether in Israel of old, or the Church today. Throughout the Old Testament, Israel and Babylon are seen as opposites: when Israel is up, Babylon is down; and when Babylon is up, Israel is down. Thus, when Israel failed as Jehovah's witness "the king of Babylon broke his bones" and swallowed him up. The vessels of the house of God, which should have remained in the city of Jerusalem, were carried away to the city of Babylon. But in his sublime prophecy, Isaiah leads us to the opposite of all this, presenting a picture in which Israel's star is in the ascendant, and Babylon entirely sunk. ‘And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased. the golden city ceased! . . . since thou art laid down, no hewer is come up against us’ (Is. 14:3-8).
Regarding the Babylon of Revelation, we turn to Revelation 17 and 18 to see her character and end. She is presented in marked contrast with the bride, the Lamb's wife; and her end comes when she is cast as a great millstone into the sea; after which we have the marriage of the Lamb – with all its accompanying bliss and glory.
We do not here attempt to pursue this most interesting subject here, but merely glance at it in connection with the name of Nimrod. However, any trouble one may experience in the close examination of all those Scriptures, in which the name of Babylon is introduced, will be amply repaid. We now return to our chapter. ‘And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.’
Here we have the character of the founder of Babylon. He was "a mighty one in the earth" – "a mighty hunter before the Lord." Such was the origin of Babylon; and throughout the entire book of God, its character remarkably corresponds therewith. It is always seen as a mighty influence in the earth, acting in positive antagonism to everything that owes its origin to heaven. It is not until this Babylon has been totally abolished, that the cry is heard amid the hosts above, "Alleluia; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth." Then, whether it be its hunting of wild beasts to subdue them; or its hunting of souls to destroy them, all Babylon's mighty hunting will be over forever. All its might and glory, all its pomp and pride, its wealth and luxury, its light and joy, its glitter and glare, its powerful attractions and wide-spread influence, shall then pass away forever. She shall be swept with the besom of destruction, and plunged in the darkness, the horror and desolation, of an everlasting night.
