ANIMATED BIBLE - Tower Of BabelSample

Empire Builder

He was a direct descendant of Noah – his great-grandson. But family lineage was no guarantor of faith. Nimrod denied the faith that Noah so strongly exhibited in God. That was old-time religion and the great-grandson Nimrod was ready to move into the modern era with the religion of Self. Self could achieve. Self did not need a distant, silent God. Self could do anything – including building a stairway to heaven.

Nimrod had the swagger. And why not? The Bible calls Nimrod “a mighty hunter before the Lord.”  He built a great kingdom of several cities (Genesis 10:9-10) and even extended it into Assyria where he constructed even more cities (Genesis 10:11-12). A skilled man with iron will, he was an empire builder. The Scripture (Genesis 10:8) also infers he had great physical strength, which would make him an even greater force to be reckoned with.

Some speculate that he built the Tower of Babel as a ziggurat to worship the stars and planets. Some project they wanted the tower as a monument to their abilities. According to the ancient historian Josephus, Nimrod “said he would be revenged on God, if he should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to reach. And that he would avenge himself on God for destroying their forefathers” (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 1, Chapter 4). Josephus also wrote that the purpose of the tower was to protect humanity against another flood, which was because of humanity’s wickedness and rebellion (Genesis 6:5–6), from which humanity refused to repent. Josephus said Nimrod in his rebellion, “persuaded his subjects not to ascribe [their strength] to God, as if it were through his means they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness.”

Whatever the reason, Nimrod and his followers were in rebellion and showing in word and action they did not need God. Their own abilities were all they needed - their stated philosophy was like the title of a modern book Unlimited Power: The New Science of Personal Achievement.  They needed no divine leader, they could achieve destiny and greatness all on their own. 

But as we will see tomorrow, “Not so fast Nimrod.”

Instead, our thinking should be more in line with another great ruler who loved God and had a much better perspective (Psalm 5:5).