Open your Bibles, please, to the book of Genesis. We want to notice together a portion of chapters 10 and 11. These chapters contain what we might call a genealogy of the nations. I would like for us to notice verse 32, the basic verse of chapter 10, so we may realize the purpose of the record presented to us:

Genesis 10:

This verse suggests that in this chapter we will find a record of all the nations of the world, of how all the earth was populated by the descendants of the three sons of Noah. As a matter of history, this is the most accurate ethnological record extant today, and it is so recognized even by Bible scholars who are not interested in whether or not the Bible is the inspired Word of God.

In chapter 10 we find that the nations of the world grew out of three groups of people…the descendants of Shem, the descendants of Ham, and the descendants of Japheth. If you will look at verse 5, you will recognize where the descendants of Japheth settled:

Genesis 10:

These were the descendants of Japheth, recognized as Gentiles today. In verse 21 you will find the other great division in the human family:

Genesis 10:

I have pointed out to you that Eber is another name for Hebrew . Shem was the father of all the Hebrew nations.

That gets out of the way two of the children of Noah and their descendants, but we might consider the descendants of the individual about whom our lesson revolves…Nimrod. Will you notice with me, please, verse 8:

Genesis 10:

The Tower of Babel

Skip with me to chapter 11, where we find a detailed discussion of the two verses we have just read:

Genesis 11:

If you will go back to the paragraph which begins with verse 6 of chapter 10, you will see that Nimrod was one of the descendants of Ham. We would remind you that Ham, who made a mock of sin, fathered one who lived in open rebellion against God and who led the race in rebellion against God. He established a type that exists down to this day and will exist until Jesus comes…a type of open rebellion against the plan, the purpose, and the revealed will of God.

Nimrod, A Mighty “Hunter”

Notice the background of this rebellion by noticing the man with whom it began. There is not too much told about Nimrod in the Word, yet there is quite a bit of information in these two verses that are before us. Glance again at verse 8:

Genesis 10:

If you will turn back to chapter 6, you will remember reading about another group of people who became mighty in the earth, and the sad result:

Genesis 6:

We are interested in this verse because of the word mighty …mighty men . We told you when we were considering this verse that it could better be translated giant men in the earth. Here we find, as we turn back to chapter 10 that this kind of people…that is, giant in stature and in rebellion against God…was beginning again after the flood. When we read in verse 8 of chapter 10 that Nimrod was a mighty man in the earth, we are reading that Nimrod was this kind of giant in the earth.

I do not think that the reference to Nimrod as a giant in the earth is related to a physical stature alone. I think it is related to his being head and shoulders above all other members of the human race in his plan and in his purposes. That will become evident, I think, if you will look at verse 9 of chapter 10:

Genesis 10:

The word translated hunter here is not a word that refers to a man who enjoys sports and likes hunting expeditions now and then. It refers rather to a man who is bent on subjugating everything in sight to his own will and to his own power. Here was a man, then, who was bent on dictatorship. Here was a man who was bent on ruling everything and everyone in sight.

You see something else about this man Nimrod. It is presented to us in verse 9 in the phrase, before the LORD . When we find this phrase, before the LORD , as it is written here, it is always a symbol of rebellion. The actual meaning of the language is that he was doing this in open opposition to the revealed will of God.

So we have accumulated a few facts about this man Nimrod. He was a giant. He subjugated everything in his sight to himself. And he was doing all this in open opposition to the revealed will of God. You will see in a few moments how this was true.

Notice in verse 10 that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel. Thus we learn something else, and it is that Nimrod was the founder of a kingdom which he hoped would control the whole world. What did not occur in his day, we will see by examining the Scripture, will occur before the earth is ended.

Going over to chapter 11, you will notice that after the flood the whole earth was of one language and one speech. I have often wondered what that one language and one speech was, but there is no indication as far as I know as to what it was. One language, one speech…everyone on earth spoke the same language. Notice in verse 2:

Genesis 11:

Immediately after the flood, when Noah and his family were settled and God gave them the command to multiply and replenish the earth, they began a nomadic existence, traveling toward the east. They came to the plain of Shinar, and the Scripture says they dwelt there, which means they decided they were not going to travel any farther. Here we find their first step in open disobedience to God, because you remember God had said they should multiply and replenish the whole earth. It was for this purpose that they were to scatter over the whole earth that they might replenish the earth at His command.

Building the City of Babel and Its Tower

Notice verse 3:

Genesis 11:

Here is why they wanted to go in the brick business:

Genesis 11:

You will find in this verse two rebellious acts of the human race after the flood. One of them was building a city. The purpose of their building a city, Babel, if you will notice in the last part of verse 4, was that they might not be scattered over the face of the whole earth, the very thing God had ordered for them. They said, “We are all going to build a city, and we are all going to live right here, and we are not going to do what God told us to do.”

The second thing is evident when we read in verse 4:

Genesis 11:

The rebellious act presented in these phrases is not as apparent in our English translation as it is in the original Hebrew. It is commonly accepted that this tower was a religious edifice. There is much in ancient writing as to the kind of tower it was…certain stories dedicated to certain gods. There is nothing in the Bible about that, but there is in ancient writing.

It may be true, It may not be true. This much we do know: Archeological discoveries in the vicinity of this city prove beyond a doubt that at this particular time there was organized the Society of Satan when men began to worship the Devil. That Society of Satan has continued down to this day. It is as old as Babylon itself. These are interesting sidelights, and there is evidence that this was a religious act. Though it is not evident in our translation, it is in the Hebrew.

Notice in verse 4, “Let us make us a name.” Look at the word name . The word for name is shem . Does that ring a familiar bell?

Let us go back to chapter 9 and notice verse 27:

Genesis 9:

The way this in constructed in the original suggests that it is God who shall dwell in the tents of Shem. That is, God has chosen Shem as His house. That becomes evident, I think, when you look at verse 26:

Genesis 9:

It would seem, as we turn back to chapter 11, that these people in Babel said, “Let us make a name for ourselves.” They were literally saying, “Let us make a house of Shem for ourselves. If God is going to dwell with the descendants of Shem, all right, let us forget God. Let us make a house of Shem of our very own.” That was the purpose of their building the tower. They were going to institute a religion of their own making.

I have suggested to you that no Scripture is of any private interpretation. That is, all the Word of God must be considered together. Before we are through, we will look at some other passages of Scripture which I think will bear out the statement I have just made. There in the city of Babel, or Babylon, as it became known later, the Devil saw to it that a religion of man began. It is still in existence today.

Man's Evil Plans Thwarted by God…The Confusion of Tongues

Notice the reaction of God to this. I have always been amused at the accuracy of this description, and amused at how very human it is. They said, “Let us make a tower that will reach unto Heaven. We are going to do something big!” The very next thing we read is verse 5:

Genesis 11:

It was so big that they said it was going to reach unto Heaven, but in God's sight it was so little that He had to leave Heaven in order to see it. He came down to see what they were doing. That is typical, isn't it? We are forever doing something so tremendous and so big, but often in God's sight it is pathetic.

Let us notice the attitude the Lord had toward this tower and this city which the children of men built:

Genesis 11:

“If they are using their having one language and being one people to do this thing, there is absolutely nothing that they won't do. We have got to stop it.”

Let us pause long enough to note, and we will verify this before we are through, that whenever man makes any effort to revert back to what God has changed, nothing but evil will result. Here in the land of Shinar in the city of Babel, they have one language. The efforts that are being put forth today to have a universal language, mark you, will result in no good. They will be but laying the foundation for the end of all things.

Here there was one universal religion, a man-made universal religion. Not the religion of Shem…that is God's religion…but the man-made religion of thought, the result of human effort. Mark what I tell you: All the efforts today in the so-called ecumenical movement to make one religion for the whole world will result in no good. They will result in nothing but evil.

From time to time we read in the newspapers about this group uniting with that group, and that group uniting with another group. Everyone is amazed that the Pope has deigned to issue an invitation to Protestants to sit down and talk things over about returning to the Mother Church . People are rejoicing with that thought in mind, “Oh, it is wonderful. All of these divisions are going to be settled!” Mark what I tell you: It will result in nothing but evil, because it is reverting back to Babel.

One other thing I would suggest to you. Here in the city of Babel, Nimrod had a plan. That plan was that his city was to be the capital of the whole world. All the nations of the world would be under one central jurisdiction. We are headed that way. We have right now in the city of New York a tower of Babel…the United Nations…that is heading us in that direction.

Any effort to bring all the nations of the world under the jurisdiction of one nation or one individual will bring nothing but evil. We will see before we are through that that is what is going to happen. Yet, to be fore-warned is to be fore-armed, and Bible-taught believers ought not to have any part or lot with any effort along this line. God said, “If this is what they do, nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.” In verse 7, He said:

Genesis 11:

God ruined their plan by tangling their tongues. Men did not know what to do. If you have the time sometime, just sit down and think what pandemonium, what confusion must have resulted. Suddenly a man whom you had understood all your life would begin to say something, and you would have no idea what he was saying. He would look at you as if he expected an answer. Then you would say something, and he would not understand you!

In Babel, there was a milling around that was too momentous for us to imagine it. People went around trying to find someone to understand them. When they found someone who could understand, they gravitated together, and that was how the nations of the earth formed. Thus were the languages of the earth made. We speak in the language that we speak today because of what happened at the tower of Babel. God confused the languages of the world.

Babylon (Babel) Is the City of Satan

I said at the beginning of our discussion that what began here in the plain of Shinar is of much greater significance than a mere historical record of the tower of Babel and the confusion of tongues. Babylon is the source of the Devil's opposition to the children of God. From this point on through the Word of God, that is true. We will not have time to notice every single incident but will hit some of the highlights as we go through the Word of God.

You remember that the children of Israel went into the land of Canaan, and that was their real, overt victory for God. They were going along very well when suddenly everything fell down around their ears. Defeat on every side! Joshua was praying and saying, “God, why don't You bless us? You led us out of Egypt. You led us into Canaan. Now why don't You go ahead and give us the victory?”

God said, “Don't bother Me any more. You don't need to pray about this any more. What you need to do is to get things right. I am ready to bless, but things are wrong.”

Do you remember the story? A man by the name of Achan was the sore spot. Do you know what Achan's trouble was? It was a Babylonish garment, a garment from the city of Babylon, that he had stolen. The children of Israel never got away from the irritating influences of Babylon. When we follow the story all the way through the Word of God, what nation was it that completely subjugated the nation of Israel and carried off the gold vessels of the Temple?

Who carried off the loyal men of Israel and finally took the entire nation of Israel away captive? What nation was it? What kingdom was it? It was Babylon! Babylon was a sore spot all through the history of Israel.

Babylon is not dead. If we were to take the time to read chapters 50 and 51 of the book of Jeremiah, we would find that Babylon is to be rebuilt. It is to be brought into prominence again, world-wide prominence, if you please, and become the center of the world. The kingdom which Nimrod planned and which did not come into fulfillment in his day will become the center of the world's attention.

Turn with me so that you may see this, because it is more pertinent to us than the Babylon of Nimrod's day, to the book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18.

We said Nimrod's Babylon was a center of religious rebellion against God. In chapter 17 of the book of Revelation we have a prophetic description of the rebuilt city of Babylon as the center of world religion.

If I were to ask you to name the cities which are the centers of the world religion, almost automatically you would say, “Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Rome,” and if you were talking to certain people, Rome especially would be an answer because that is the Holy City . In the time about which the book of Revelation speaks, not too far future from us today, the center of religion for the world will not be Rome. It will not be Jerusalem. It will not be Bethlehem. It will be the city of Babylon.

On the plains of Shinar today there is a little village called Hilleah. On the outskirts of that little village there is the sound of bulldozers, tractors and shovels as the foundations are being laid for the modern city of Babylon. When the modern city of Babylon is rebuilt, the center of the world's religion will be moved there.

By that time the efforts of the Ecumenical Council will be successful, and everyone outwardly will be considered members of one church. If the Lord Jesus Christ tarries, and if you and I are still here, we may object to being counted as members of that church, but we will be counted whether we want to be or not. There will be that one church, and it will be the center of all religious activity.

The “Babylon” of the Book of Revelation

Notice in chapter 17 how it will come into being and what will actually happen to it:

Revelation 17:

Let us stop there for a moment. You recognize in the book of Revelation we run into many symbols and many signs. There are so many, in fact, that a great many people say, “You ought not to study the book of Revelation. You cannot understand it. You ought not to go past chapter 4. If you do, you bog down in a maze of mystical signs that no one in his right mind could possibly understand.”

I say when I am teaching the book of Revelation…and the statement cannot be refuted…that every sign and symbol in the book of Revelation which needs an explanation has its explanation in that book or somewhere else in the Word of God. Notice what I am saying: every sign and symbol that needs an explanation. There are signs and symbols in the book of Revelation that are there for scenery. They do not need any certain explanation. When an explanation is needed, the explanation is found in the Word of God.

Here we have two signs in this first verse. The first is a great whore, a great harlot. The reason we know that the whore is a symbol is that when we read the rest of the chapter, we know it is not talking about an individual. We realize immediately that a whore, a harlot, used symbolically in the Word of God, is always a symbol of false religion. It is always a symbol of a departure from the true faith. That can be verified in the Word, although we will not take the time to do it now.

This whore is sitting on many waters. You realize that that is a figure of speech. It could not possibly be literal. So we say to ourselves, “What are these many waters upon which the whore sits?” We turn to verse 15 of this chapter, and we have our answer.

Revelation 17:

You see, it is simple, isn't it? If people do not understand the book of Revelation, they do not take the time to understand it. They just do not read far enough. What are we to understand then, from this first verse? There will arise at the end of time a great false religion which will rule over many people and tongues and nations. Look now at verse 2:

Revelation 17:

The verse of Scripture symbolically tells us two things. The first is that this great false religion gains its power and its influence by permission of the political powers of the day. It is the equivalent of a state church on a world wide basis, a state-supported institution. We hear a great deal of discussion in our day and time about the separation of church and state. We are so anxious to make the line definite that we are about to lose everything that we ought to be holding dear. At the end of the age, it spite of all the efforts for the separation of church and state, there will be a world church supported by the political authorities of the world.

The second thing you will notice in this verse is that this church has made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication. This is just another way of saying that she has completely deceived, and held in the darkness of spiritual slavery, the people over whom she rules.

Look at verse 3. John is speaking:

Revelation 17:

John, you will remember, was invited by the angel to see this great false church. He was taken away into the wilderness, and the word wilderness here stands for peoples as well. His eyes were opened and his attention was drawn to a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast.

You say, “A scarlet colored beast? I wonder what it was?” You read farther, and you read that it was full of names of blasphemy, and that it had seven heads and ten horns, and you know immediately it is not any beast that is in view today. You thus recognize it must be a symbol instead of a literal thing, and you say, “What does it mean anyway?” Look at verse 9 and you have your explanation:

Revelation 17:

This woman is now supported by this beast with seven heads. This beast with seven heads… what did the Word say they represent? They stand for seven mountains upon which the woman sits. We look down to see what seven mountains they could be, and we read in verse 18:

Revelation 17:

Remember that John was writing this, and he was saying, “It is a city which in my time is reigning over all the kings of the earth.” A glance at history reveals what city that was. It was the city of Rome. That is exactly what is going to happen.

Many Bible scholars, when they read chapter 17 of the book of Revelation, see nothing but the Roman Catholic Church. I beg you, as you examine this further, to see more than just the Roman Catholic Church. You can see a world church, which comes into being within the framework of the Roman Catholic Church itself.

Let us look at verse 10:

Revelation 17:

What does all that mean? These seven heads not only stand as a reference to the city, but they stand for seven outstanding kings of history. John, looking at it from his vantage point in history, says, “Five of these emperors have already come and gone. One of them is reigning in my day, and one more is yet to come. When he comes, he will continue for a short space, and then something will happen to him.”

What will happen we learn by comparing Scripture with Scripture. He is killed and brought back to life, and the seventh king becomes the eighth. This seventh or last king is the individual who is known elsewhere in the book of Revelation as the Antichrist.

Thus, things are beginning to shape up. This great false religion at the end of the age will be supported not only by the kings of the earth, but will be supported by the Antichrist himself. Immediately, if we are interested in the chronological aspects of this story, we know when this will occur.

We are living in what we know as the Church Age, the Age of Grace. As I have suggested to you, the age will come to a close when the Lord Jesus Christ comes and catches His Church up to be with Himself. That is an event which could occur at any moment. There is no prophecy yet to be fulfilled before that could coccur. The Lord Jesus Christ could come before I am through with this Bible lesson. There is nothing to keep Him from coming…only His longsuffering, patience, and tender mercy.

When He takes the Church out of this world, there will begin on the earth a period of time of seven years' duration known as the Tribulation. Right in the middle of that Tribulation, the Antichrist will make it apparent what he is. At the beginning of the Tribulation, everyone except God's own will love him. He will be the most marvelous man this world has ever seen. People will go hog-wild over him, and he will get everyone to do exactly what He wants done. Then right in the middle of this seven-year period, he will show himself for what he is.

For the first three and one-half years, he will be a very religious man. He will encourage everyone to come into this great world church. He will talk about power, strength, union, and unity. He will convince everyone that if we would just all forget about our denominational barriers, and forget all our convictions, and water down this and water down that, and develop a religion that is acceptable to everyone, this world will be our doormat. We can do anything to the world that we want to do. Everyone will fall for that very thing.

Will you go back to verse 3 and read it again, because we can get too far afield if we are not careful:

Revelation 17:

We know what the seven heads are. What are the ten horns? Look at verse 12:

Revelation 17:

The beast is another word for the Antichrist. What does this say? It says that at the time we are talking about, the world will be divided among ten powers. We talk now about the Big 3, the Big 4, the Big 5. Well, the newspapers will be running headlines in that day about the Big 10. They will all be reigning at the time of the Antichrist.

They will have a summit meeting, and they will decide that they are not capable of handling the problems of the world. They will all vote, according to verse 12, to give their power to the Antichrist. The Antichrist will immediately become a world dictator. When he is thoroughly settled on his throne and there is absolutely no question about his power, or anything he does or wants to do, he will say, “I have had enough of this church. I have had enough of these Arch Bishops, Bishops, and Popes. I am through with the whole business.” What happens? In verse 16:

Revelation 17:

When Nimrod began the city of Babylon way back yonder in the book of Genesis, God came down and looked at it. He said, “We will not let this go very far.” He confused the tongues of the people so it could not. However, the Devil never takes anything lying down, so he kept on and keeps on working until at the end of time there will be a city of Babylon with a tower reaching into Heaven which is the center of the vilest false religion you can possibly imagine. God will bring an end to it by turning the Antichrist and all his armies against it. The city of Babylon, or shall we say tower of the city of Babylon, will crumble.

Chapter 18 of the book of Revelation takes up the other phase of this thing that will occur in the city of Babylon. They were going to build a city, and it was to be the center of the whole world. Everything was to gravitate toward that city and go out from that city.

At the end of the age…as I mentioned a moment ago, preparation is already being made for it…the city of Babylon will be rebuilt. The United Nations, which a lot of people wish were not in New York City, will be moved to the city of Babylon. That will be the center of the United Nations of the world.

As you see, if you read chapter 18 carefully, there are not so many signs and symbols in it. When God reaches the place where He has had enough, He will bring sudden destruction upon the city of Babylon:

Revelation 18:

All the evil that Babylon has done against the saints of God is avenged in the destruction of this city in the end time.

Revelation 18:

We have covered a lot of territory. If you are not familiar with this passage of Scripture, it may have been somewhat confusing to you. Now, by was of tying the loose ends together, there are several things to keep in mind.

God Is Sovereign

First of all, God never tolerates rebellion in the faintest degree. If He says to multiply and replenish the earth, scatter and replenish the earth, that is what He wants done, even though you might build a beautiful city in place of doing it. God does not want beautiful cities when He gives a command to scatter.

The thing we need to keep in mind is that if we have information such as this, we should recognize the plan, the purpose, and the program of God. Though we may not be able to thwart the Evil One, though we may not be able to stop any of his program, we can keep our skirts clean and refuse to have anything at all to do with it.

For example, before you lend any oral or monetary support through your church to the present ecumenical movement, you ought to be very, very careful what you are doing. You ought to be sure you are not playing into the hands or into the system of Babylon.

Before you swallow everything that is put out by the United Nations and the proponents of the United Nations, you need to be very, very sure that you are not falling into the hands of a Babylonian system. You ought not to dismiss lightly, for instance, any suggestion that our army and our navy be put under the control of the United Nations. You ought to be concerned about it. Here you have in the Word of God the very definite statement that such maneuvering is inconsistent with His revealed will, His plan, and His purpose, and will eventually end in destruction in the end time.

What can we do about it? Well, to be perfectly frank, and I do not want to be discouraging, I do not think there is anything we can do about it, because I believe that history is marching on according to the program of God.

However, you can certainly maintain your convictions. You can vote your convictions, and in voting your convictions, perhaps stem a tide a little bit longer, because one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; the Lord is not slack concerning His promise, but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:8,9).

If God has withheld this thing as long as He has that people may come to know Christ, if you pray, if you work, if you vote, if you speak, if you use your money wisely, you may even be able to hold it off a little longer until more people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. A well informed Bible student is not carried about with every wind of doctrine that is abroad in our land today (Ephesians 4:14).

Keep those things in mind and take your stand for God, not on the basis of your politics, not on the basis of your church doctrine, but on the basis of the Word of God.

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