THE PEOPLE IN THE BEGINNING: NIMROD

The tenth chapter of Genesis includes the genealogy of Noah and his three sons: “Shem, Ham, and Japheth” (Genesis 10:1). Remember, we can all, “red and yellow, black, and white,” trace our origins to the eight survivors of the great flood.

Noah’s second son, Ham, had a son named Cush (Genesis 10:6). Noah’s grandson, Cush, had a son named Nimrod (Genesis 10:8).

Nimrod, whose personal name meant “we shall rebel” was “a powerful hunter” (Genesis 10:9) credited with establishing the kingdom of “Babylon … in the land of Shinar” (Genesis 10:10).

Shinar is important because “as people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.’ (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.) 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’ ” (Genesis 11:2-4). Shinar was the location of the tower of Babel.

God had commanded, “be fruitful and multiply; spread out over the earth and multiply on it” (Genesis 9:7). But mankind rebelled!

I think that there is sufficient evidence to point a finger at Nimrod. He was the ringleader, the empire builder, the rebel-in-chief. He thumbed his nose at God and said, “We’re not going to spread out, we’re going to stay put, and were going to build a monument to our greatness!”

Just three short generations after Noah, Nimrod rebelled. Nimrod’s grandfather and great grandfather had built the ark. They had witnessed God’s great judgment, and they had been the recipients of God’s saving grace. Surely Nimrod knew the stories, but …

How quickly we forget.

“… think on these things” (Philippians 4:8, KJV).