NIMROD BIBLE STUDY

At this point in the Bible, many people get bored with reading it. They suffer through a chapter or two and then figure they made a valiant effort to read it through, but maybe they'll try again next year.

Let's review what has happened in the previous chapters a little bit before we go on with this story. After the great flood and Noah's Ark saving 8 souls, we have the earth being populated by the descendants of Noah's three sons. They all speak the same language and they're starting to spread out on the earth.

Then we read about Noah's son Ham starting some trouble, so to speak. Well, it looks like trouble is running in the family, because Ham had a grandson named Nimrod. Nimrod was a hunter. He was strong so people followed him, and he started a kingdom called Babel.

Being the King of Babel, Nimrod and the people decided to build a city and a tower that could reach up to Heaven. They wanted to make a name for themselves, so they wouldn't be all scattered out and a bunch of nobodies. This is a picture of what the Tower of Babel may have looked like.

There are many sources that suggest that Nimrod and these rebellious people would shoot arrows from the tower into the clouds. They claimed the arrows would return to earth dripping with the blood of angels. This of course isn't in the Bible, but sometimes it's a good idea to know what is and what isn't so that you're prepared when and if you're ever confronted about a certain topic.

God came down to see the tower. And God said, If the people do things like this because they all speak one language, what will stop them from doing more bad things? There goes God, talking to His Holy Spirit again. Well, it didn't take long for Him to figure out the answer. He made them speak different languages so they couldn't understand each other, that way they couldn't finish the tower or gain their fame that they wanted. You've got to admit, God has a fantastic sense of humor. Can you imagine them all, one minute, just chattering away and the next minute not being able to understand a word their friends and families were saying. No wonder it was called the tower of Babel, which was in Babylon, also known today as Iraq.

Then God scattered those people around the earth, just like He planned in the first place. And that's why people in different countries speak different languages.