12/31/07: Genesis 10,11
Chapter 10:
The Bible called Nimrod a hunter, but he founded cities. Was that common practice for hunters of the time?
Ted: Good questions, and I don't really know the answer.
But hunter does describe him accurately, meaning hunter of...animals?
Ted: Yes, i would say so.
Chapter 11:
Ted: Abram in Genesis 11:26-31 is one of the most important people in human history. God later named him Abraham. It just mentioned him there, but you will see later that there are many chapters about him in Genesis. Abraham is the "father" of the Jews and of the Arabs. He later had two sons, and God promised and eternal inheritance (including land) to the one who would be the ancestors of the Jews. Today's Arabs want that land and want all the Jews to be destroyed. Todays problems in the middle east all go back to Abraham.
Why did God want to thwart man's progress in Babel?
Ted: Well, back in Genesis 3, Satan had told Eve that she (and Adam) could "be as God." So the people in Nimrod's time, all infected with the sin nature, felt that they could build a tower "to the heavens" (and be as God). They probably would have been successful in being able to build a gigantically tall tower, had they all been able to communicate and agree together as one. So i think to prevent those people from advancing far beyond their means so quickly in human history, God confounded their speech, so that they had a hard time understanding each other, and were not as "one" anymore. Basically, I think God had a dual purpose: 1) letting them know that they could not be as God and 2) slowing down the progression of human technology.
Ted: The Israelites/Jews are descendants of Shem, one of Noah's sons. Jesus, the Messiah (the future appearance of whom most of the old testament is written) was a Jew (Shemite). Nimrod and his people were from ham, another of Noah's sons Satan's primary goal was to make sure that Jesus never appeared as a man, because that would be the beginning of Satan's downfall. So, had God not confused the language of Nimrod and his people, Satan probably could have made them so powerful that they would have wiped out the Shemites, thus eliminating the genealogy of Jesus. That's another possibility.
The Bible called Nimrod a hunter, but he founded cities. Was that common practice for hunters of the time?
Ted: Good questions, and I don't really know the answer.
But hunter does describe him accurately, meaning hunter of...animals?
Ted: Yes, i would say so.
Chapter 11:
Why did God want to thwart man's progress in Babel?
Ted: Well, back in Genesis 3, Satan had told Eve that she (and Adam) could "be as God." So the people in Nimrod's time, all infected with the sin nature, felt that they could build a tower "to the heavens" (and be as God). They probably would have been successful in being able to build a gigantically tall tower, had they all been able to communicate and agree together as one. So i think to prevent those people from advancing far beyond their means so quickly in human history, God confounded their speech, so that they had a hard time understanding each other, and were not as "one" anymore. Basically, I think God had a dual purpose: 1) letting them know that they could not be as God and 2) slowing down the progression of human technology.
Ted: The Israelites/Jews are descendants of Shem, one of Noah's sons. Jesus, the Messiah (the future appearance of whom most of the old testament is written) was a Jew (Shemite). Nimrod and his people were from ham, another of Noah's sons Satan's primary goal was to make sure that Jesus never appeared as a man, because that would be the beginning of Satan's downfall. So, had God not confused the language of Nimrod and his people, Satan probably could have made them so powerful that they would have wiped out the Shemites, thus eliminating the genealogy of Jesus. That's another possibility.
