To the Unknown God

 Please read Acts 17:16-31

Taking portions from Acts 17, verses 26 and 27, we see two things: First, that God made of one flesh every nation, and Second, that God did this so that perchance they might grope for Him and find Him.

These two things beg two questions: First, how could they have a statue or an altar to an unknown God, and second, how can God be unknown?

After all, God created the heavens and the Earth. Without him, nothing would exist. Nothing would even exist apart from God, and yet He is an unknown God?

Romans chapter 1, verses 19 through 22, explains why humanity does not know God.

Abraham - God’s Man

Abraham - God’s Man

Genesis 12:1-9  

Genesis 10 lists the descendants of Noah’s three sons and the nations that came from them. Genesis 11 doubles back in the account and provides the background behind why Noah’s family became many separate nations. In this account, we discover that mankind quickly abandoned the knowledge of God. The time between Noah’s family getting off the Ark and the Tower of Babel is amazingly short.  

After giving the account of Babel, Genesis 11 turns the focus to the descendants of Noah’s son Shem. There is nothing unusual about this family, but God focuses on them. As the generations progress, the family of Terah, descended from Shem, comes into focus. We meet Terah’s family in Genesis 11:27-28.

  

Babel: The Beginning of Nations

A brief history of the beginning of nations is given in Genesis 11:1-9.

Genesis 11:1-9 (NKJV) 1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people [are] one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

After the Flood, a few generations after Noah, Genesis 10 tells us of a man named Nimrod. Nimrod was the son of Cush, who was the son of Ham, Noah’s third son. Genesis 10 tells us more about Nimrod than about the other descendants of Noah that are listed. This is what we read of Nimrod. 

Genesis 10:8-12 (NKJV) 8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

Geographically, the land being spoken of is in the area of modern-day Iraq. The map below shows the area. The area around Babylon was known as “Shinar.” Notice the large size of the area where Nimrod established cities.

 

When Genesis 10 speaks of a “mighty hunter before the LORD,” one might think this man and God were friends, but nothing could be farther from the truth.

Here is what Strong’s Lexicon of the Hebrew language says about the name Nimrod: “Derived from the Hebrew root מָרַד (marad), meaning ‘to rebel.’”

Translation is a tricky business. When God moved Moses to write this, Moses wrote it in Hebrew. So, where our English translations say “before the Lord,” the Hebrew uses the word “face” and a word meaning “to” (as in the direction being toward). The commentaries of the ancient Hebrews took this to mean that Nimrod opposed God. In addition, they interpreted “mighty” as “giant.” 

The historian Josephus, writing in about 93AD, describes Nimrod as a ruler who sought to turn people away from God and establish himself as ruler. He also says that it was Nimrod who started construction of the Tower of Babel. (Josephus, Antiquities 1.4.2) His writings reflect the Jewish traditions of the day.

The Bible also suggests that Nimrod was the instigator of the Tower of Babel when it says, “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel.” (Genesis 10:10)

Nimrod was no ordinary man. The word translated as “mighty” is used in Genesis 6 to describe the “giants” who resulted from the intermingling of the sons of God with the daughters of men. Genesis 6:4 says:

Genesis 6:4 (NKJV) There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore [children] to them. Those were the mighty men who [were] of old, men of renown.

Although the Flood wiped out all the giants that were alive before the Flood, fallen angels (the devil and his helpers), with the cooperation of some people, tried the same trick again after the Flood. There are some who think that the myths of the Titans rebelling against the great god Zeus probably come from the actual events recorded in the Bible concerning the Tower of Babel. Additionally, there is some speculation that the Epic of Gilgamesh comes from the same time frame. The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient story of a warrior-king with divine connections. 

When Genesis 6:4 mentions giants “afterward,” and uses the same word for “giant” or “mighty,” along with the hints of hybrid “demigods” in history, it might suggest that Nimrod was one of these.

However, whatever one believes about Nimrod, he was no ordinary man. God made a point of introducing him in Genesis 10 and God also made a point of telling us that Babel was the beginning of his kingdom. From these facts, we can assume that Nimrod’s role in history is significant.

Genesis 11 introduces us to the largest, most impressive project of the kingdom of Babel, the Tower. This was a symbol of rebellion against God. This audacious stance was a declaration of war against God. Nimrod wanted to be THE RULER, and so he led humanity in declaring war against God.

God’s response to this declaration of war was to delay the inevitable outcome by confusing the languages of the people. This war is still going on and the Bible tells us how it will end.

The fact that everyone spoke the same language facilitated Nimrod’s quest for dominance. Genesis 11:1 tells us:

Genesis 11:1 (NKJV) Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.

Before the Flood, the people also had only one language, and the unity of language and absence of nations or “race” did not keep the earth from being filled with violence. So, humanity cannot say that one language and one speech for everyone would bring understanding and peace. Nimrod’s plan was to unite all of humanity under him. Perhaps he convinced people to follow him by promising peace and prosperity. Whatever he used to convince others, under Nimrod, ambition and arrogance found full expression. So, God blocked Nimrod’s ambition to be ruler of the entire world. God did this by confusing language, thus spreading humanity around the globe. 

When people suddenly found themselves speaking different languages, they were immediately divided according to families, resulting in the many nations that have characterized humanity throughout the ages. God could have instantly wiped out the whole crowd, but He chose to call out a people for Himself instead. The Bible tells us that God is patient and wants everyone to repent; in other words, lay down the weapons of their warfare against Him. He did not and does not destroy all humanity because He is calling out a people for Himself.

However, and this is a very important, foundational fact, the kingdom that Nimrod started has never ceased to exist. Nimrod’s descendants are still at war with God. Babel became known as Babylon. In 605 BC, Babylon defeated Egypt and her allies at the Battle of Cachemesh and Babylon became the dominate world power, until the Medes and Persians conquered it, and it became the Persian Empire. The Persians expanded the Empire and eventually fell to the Greeks when Alexander the Great took over. Alexander the Great expanded the Empire and established the foundations that became the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire expanded the Empire and established the foundation of what has become our modern world.

All of this history was foretold in the book of Daniel, who was an official in the Babylonian Empire. The king of Babylon at the time, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream, and in that dream, he saw a huge statue. Daniel was able to explain that dream to Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel’s explanation foretold the Persian, Greek, and Roman Empires. It also foretells the kingdom that Jesus will set up when He returns. As one goes through the Bible, it becomes clear that Babylon is the devil’s kingdom. Ephesians 2:2 says:

Ephesians 2:2 (NKJV) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

In the context of this verse, “prince” means ruler or king. Throughout the Bible, Babylon is used to reference the world system. In Isaiah 14, the king of Babylon is equated with Satan. In Revelation, Satan is spoken of as the dragon (serpent), and it is Satan who empowers the Beast. The fall of the kingdom of the Antichrist is announced as “The kingdom of Babylon has fallen!”

It is essential that we not forget that as part of God’s kingdom, people are not our enemy. Ephesians 6 tells us:

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

The problem is that the devil has deceived billions of people into following him. Being under the control of the evil one, they become tools to do his bidding. As Christians we have been entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation. 2 Corinthians 5:18ff explains that on behalf of Jesus Christ, we plead with people to be reconciled to God.

When a person is reconciled to God, God gives that person His Holy Spirit and that person is changed. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says:

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone [is] in Christ, [he is] a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The kingdom of Babylon that Nimrod established to oppose God is still in operation; it is the system that the world operates under. The world opposes God. This is why, in the book of James, the Scriptures says:

James 4:4 (NKJV) Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

From ancient Hebrew writings, it appears that demons empowered Nimrod. We also know that this world lies under the power of the evil one, and that, in the last days, the Antichrist, also known as “the Beast,” will be demonically empowered. 

As followers of Christ and citizens of His kingdom, we must not forget that the spirit of antichrist is already in the world. 1 John 4:3 says:

1 John 4:3 (NKJV) and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.

God includes Nimrod and Babel in the account of Genesis because understanding what happened at that time is essential in understanding the world as it operates today. Much of the Bible is devoted to prophecy and the history of Nimrod and Babel are crucial in understanding the Bible’s prophecies. 

There are two kingdoms at war. God’s kingdom and the devil’s kingdom. When Jesus returns, He will destroy the devil’s kingdom (The Kingdom of Babylon) and establish His kingdom.

For each of us, it is crucial that we choose which side we are on. It is also urgent that we make our choice now. The things given to us by God in the Bible VERY CLEARLY indicate that the end of Nimrod’s kingdom is near and this time God has promised He will not use a flood. 

The Covenants of God

 

The Covenants of God

Genesis 9:1-17

Each person chooses what he trusts. One person places her confidence in her ability to remember and reason. Another person places his confidence in the wealth he has in his name.

Dementia happens, time and events consume wealth, and the things we trust are vulnerable.  We build our lives on the foundation of our confidence. If we trust in our health and strength, we will build our lives on the assumption that our strength will be able to provide. 

For many who grew up in the United States, we have known only prosperity and a nation that is the most powerful on earth. We build our retirements on the confidence that the stock market will continue to grow and that the dollar will continue to be able to buy all that we need. When we see our country or economy threatened by events, we feel vulnerable, and many become anxious and afraid.

Nothing on this earth is free from the ravages of time. Life's truly changeless, incorruptible things are not of this earth; they are supernatural. Only one thing is truly unchanging; that “thing” is a person, God. In Malachi 3:6, God says, “For I am the LORD, I do not change.” 

God does not change, and He does not lie. Therefore, we can trust God’s promises. Truly, God’s promises are the only thing we can trust. God has given us covenants to formalize His promises and establish these promises as treaties or formal agreements between God and us.

We do not have a record of any covenant before the Flood. God speaks of what was to come in Genesis 3 when He tells the serpent that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head, but although this refers to a covenant that was to come, it is not the covenant.  

However, after the Flood, God made a covenant with all living things: birds, beasts, fish, and people. God uses the word “covenant” when He establishes His promise in Genesis 9. He says:

Genesis 9:9-10 (NKJV) “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth.”

When God made this covenant, it marked a change in His relationship with the people He had created. God did not change. However, what He did changed things for the people of Earth. God was not (and is not) learning. He was (and is) teaching. Since the very beginning, God has been revealing Himself to His creation, not just to humanity but also to heavenly beings, angels, and demons.

By the time Israel became a nation, God was known as a “Covenant God.” However, at the time of the post-flood covenant, God was known as the creator and the One who had destroyed the world with a flood. We now know that God can and will destroy the world (no one knew this before the flood). And we have His promise that the next time He destroys the world, He will not use water. 

The promise of this covenant was, and still is:

Genesis 9:11 (NKJV) “Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

This promise does not say anything about local floods or about cutting off all flesh by fire or some other means. God is specific in saying that there will not be another worldwide flood. 

For the anarchist who says that we would be better off without laws, we have an answer. Consider the world before the Flood. They had no laws—none, zilch, zippo—and look at what happened. The world was so corrupt and filled with violence that it became unlivable, and God destroyed it.

Since we had proved to ourselves and heavenly beings, angels, and demons that we could not live without rules, God gave rules that accompanied His covenant with all living things. 

Every covenant (treaty) includes a signature or some form of ratification. For example, our covenant of marriage includes a ceremony and a marriage license. Our covenant with our nation is the Constitution. Even though you and I were not there when the agreement that we call the Constitution was signed, we are obligated to live by it because we are the descendants of those who signed it. We “inherited” their obligations. In the case of the post-flood (Noahic) covenant, God’s signature is the rainbow. Noah showed his agreement with the covenant when he sacrificed animals on the altar after leaving the Ark. So, by birth, his descendants (that is us) are also bound by this covenant. 

The requirements (rules) we are bound by are found in the following verses from Genesis 9.

Genesis 9:1-7 (NKJV) 1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move [on] the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 “Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, [that is,] its blood. 5 “Surely for your lifeblood I will demand [a reckoning;] from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. 7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”

The conditions are:

• Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.
• Every moving thing that lives on the earth is food as well as plants.
• Do not eat flesh with its blood.
• God requires a reckoning from anything or anyone who kills a person.
• Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.

These covenant requirements are still in effect.

Along with the rainbow, God left a monument to remind all generations of His covenant. The monument for the covenant with all living creatures is the earth itself. The Flood reshaped the planet, leaving lasting evidence in the form of fossils, fossil fuels, stratified rock layers, and other geological features. (There is a lot of information available on this view scientifically at https://answersingenesis.org)

Despite having seen God destroy the world with the Flood, humanity rebelled in a relatively short time. Somewhere between 100 to 400 years after leaving the Ark, the people decided to ignore one of God’s covenant requirements. God’s requirement was “Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth.” However, the people decided it would be better to stay in one place and consolidate power, so they began building a tower that would serve to keep them from spreading out. This was the opposite of “filling the earth.” God did not choose to destroy them as He did the pre-flood world, but neither did He let this go on very long. At what we know as the “Tower of Babel,” God confused their languages and caused people to spread out around the earth. This is the start of differing nations. From that time on, God deals with people as “nations.”

The nations we know of from those days were vile. They worshiped idols. These idols represent what to these people were “gods” but in reality were demons, spiritual beings. God chose to deal with this situation by making a covenant with a single man. Then God used this man to form a nation. We find this covenant in Genesis 12:

Genesis 12:2-3 (NKJV) “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you; and in you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

The sign of God’s covenant with Abraham was and is circumcision. Abraham agreed to this covenant when he circumcised himself. As Abraham’s decedents circumcise themselves they form a monument that reminds the world of this covenant with Abraham.

As the number of Abraham’s descendants grew, God established them as a nation and made a covenant with them. The nation was and is Israel, and the covenant was made at Mt. Sinai when Moses gave the Law. This covenant gave us the Ten Commandments. The covenant at Sinai was not a new covenant as much as it was an “addition” to the covenant with Abraham that was already in effect. The details of this covenant are spelled out in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. This covenant is generally known as the Mosaic covenant. 

As a reminder and a signature to this covenant, God established the Sabbath. To violate the Sabbath, was to risk being cast out of the nation. At the same time, the Sabbath was a blessing to the people in that they were guaranteed at least one day of rest out of seven, and at the same time, every week they were reminded that they were a people set apart for and by God. The existence of the nation of Israel and Judaism as a religion are monuments that remind the world of this covenant.

As God’s stated purpose in establishing the covenant with Abraham was to bless the whole world, the covenant with Israel was an unfolding of God’s plan for accomplishing the blessing. God did not change any of the terms of the established covenant, but rather He filled in more details. God’s promises are eternal; none of them can expire or be replaced. 

As the centuries passed, God continued to reveal more of His purpose. A result of this was the Davidic covenant. God promised David that his throne would last forever and that his descendent would sit on his throne and rule the nations, forever. The descendent of David who will sit on David’s throne is Jesus.

Once again, this covenant did not do away with God’s covenant with Abraham but continued to expand our understanding of it.

We see this covenant being worked out in the New Testament, and John 3:16 summarizes it beautifully:

John 3:16 (NKJV) “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

In Jesus Christ, the nations are included in the promises of God’s covenant with Abraham. The covenants with Israel and David are still in effect as is the covenant with all living creatures. However, with the Church, God revealed how through Abraham “all the families of the earth” would be blessed. The signatures of agreement with this covenant are baptism and communion, and the monument to this covenant that reminds the world of God’s promises is the Church.

Every aspect of geography, language, politics, and history has been shaped by God’s covenants. These treaties with God provide the framework for understanding Scripture, history, and even present-day events. God’s covenants and promises explain much of what we see in the news today. 

Our enemy, the devil, opposes all God’s works, and so many things that should be in the news are deliberately ignored or misrepresented. The Bible tells us that because people refuse to acknowledge the truth, God will allow them to fall under great deception. They will believe lies because they refuse the truth. We see this very much in the world today. 

However, God has many, many people who are His and are partakers in His covenants. These people are marked by trusting in God’s promises and building their lives on that foundation.

We must understand one crucial truth: God’s covenants are absolute. They are reliable. They are unbreakable. They are more certain than the sunrise. To build one’s life on anything else is foolish. Jesus compared trusting in anything other than God’s promises to building a house without a foundation.

Along these lines, at the beginning of His ministry, Jesus said:

Matthew 5:17-18 (NKJV) “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”

At the end of His ministry, Jesus reaffirmed this truth by saying:

Matthew 24:35 (NKJV) “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”

What are you trusting In?

 It is urgent that we trust in God and His Word alone.

Seek answers in God’s Word for the things you do not understand. His promises are everlasting, and He will never fail.