Types in the Flood - Lesson 5-

Type and Contrast in the Tower of Babel

I. The Mighty Hunter - Nimrod a type of the coming Antichrist.

A. Nimrod sought to create a world confederacy that would rebel against God and His ways. - The Antichrist will also strive to rule the world, and bring its kingdoms into rebellion against God.

B. Nimrod failed in his mission - As will the Antichrist

C. Nimrod made his headquarters in Babylon - The place from which the Antichrist will rule for the first 3 1/2 years of his reign.

D. Nimrod founded the religious system of Babylon, with which the Antichrist will be associated in the last days.

E. Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, played a prominent role as

he sought to build a world empire:

Genesis 10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.

Genesis 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.

Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

F. First Leader of Human Apostasy -

1. Nimrod became the first leader to lead an open rebellion against God since Lucifer.

2. Virtually all religious systems have an underlying unity of character that points to their common origin in Babylon and to Nimrod.

a. Archeologists have identified Nimrod with Bacchus, Tammuz, and Adonis.

b. Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod, has been linked to the nature goddess Rhea, Cybele, Aphodite of Greece, and Venus of Rome.

c. Nimrod was thought of as a noble friend of society. After the Flood, people had a fear of the Lord - Nimrod did much to tear this down.

1. The mighty hunter killed many of the wild beasts that threatened the people of Babylon

2. He built walls to provide them with further protection from the wild beasts.

d. Nimrod was torn to pieces by a wild boar - His death was defied by the people.

1. Semiramis blasphemously proclaimed that her husband had been the promised seed of Genesis 3:15.

2. Because Re-incarnation was a belief of the Chaldeans,

it was accepted that Nimrod had reappeared as the supernaturally born son of his widow!

e. The worship of Nimrod, under various names, developed into the Mystery religions of ancient Babylon.

f. It was not long until the worship of Nimrod had been replaced by the worship of mother and child.

g. This continued down through the ages as Isis and Horus in Egypt, Aphodite and Eros in Greece, Venus and Cupid in Italy, and culminated in the veneration of the Virgin Mary and her Son in Roman Catholicism. Whereas Semiramis been called the "Queen of Heaven", Mary became known as the Mother of God!

h. Many of the modern rituals of the Catholic church has there roots in ancient Babylon, such as the rosary, the order of monks and nuns, holy water, and purgatory after death.

II. Tower of Babel

A. Actually an attempt to thwart God's plan for man to replenish and populate the whole earth.

Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower,

whose top [may reach] unto heaven; and let us make us a name,

lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

B. The Building of the tower did not get the attention of God as much as the reason. When God saw their motives the entire Trinity had a conference:

Genesis 11:5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which

the children of men builded.

Genesis 11:6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

Genesis 11:7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

C. Initially, God the Father came down to view that which was being done against His will. After reporting what He saw, the Godhead came down to pronounce judgment. After the confusion, universal communication was impossible to the

inhabitants of the earth. Those that spoke one language, sought out others of the same dialect, and they settled in various parts of the world, as God had originally planned.

III. When Does the Confusion of Tongues End?

A. The confusion of tongues was to last until God once again came down through the person of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost. Isaiah prophesied it:

Isaiah 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak

to this people.

Isaiah 28:12 To whom he said, This [is] the rest [wherewith] ye may cause the weary to rest; and this [is] the refreshing: yet they would not hear.

B. The Holy Spirit enabled the 120 in the Upper Room to proclaim the message of God's grace in languages that could be understood by the listeners. God's mercy broke through the barrier of man's pride and folly that caused the tower to be built and the judgment - now every man might hear and understand the salvation message.

IV. God's Purpose - What was God's purpose in talking through individuals in other tongues?

A. It was to give man, in reality one language, one hope, one purpose, one object, and one life.

B. It was to gather men in such a way that they never should be scattered or confounded again!

C. It was to give men a name and a place that would endure forever.

D. It was to build for them a tower and a city that would not only reach to heaven, but have its very foundation in heaven.

E. This Baptism in the holy Spirit gathered them around the person of a risen and highly exalted Christ,

F. This Baptism in the Holy Spirit, united them all in one grand chorus of magnifying and adoring Christ. In the Book of Revelation, John summed it up with his description of what he saw:

Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no

man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

Revelation 7:10 And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.

V. Division of Continents

A. The confusion of languages at the Tower of babel occurred before God may have split the earth into continents and islands. The book of Genesis speaks of during the days of Peleg:

Genesis 10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name [was] Joktan.

B. Before this, the whole human race was of one language and was centralized on one place on the earth. In speaking about the generations of Noah's sons, the book of Genesis states:

Genesis 10:32 These [are] the families of the sons of Noah, after their

generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

Genesis 11:1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

C. Following the scattering of the various language groups, the continents were probably divided. This explains the different races that we have today on the earth.

VI. Contrast Between Babel and Pentecost

Babel	Pentecost
Babel Ended In Confusion	Pentecost continues in glory
Babel was empowered by the spirit of fallen man	Pentecost is endued with the power of the Holy Ghost
Babel was the result of man exalting man	Pentecost continues to result in man exalting Christ