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Teaching And Research By: M. E. Arbaugh
Genesis
Chapter Eleven
V 1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one accent and mode of expression.
V 2. And as they journeyed eastward they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
V 3. And they said one to another, come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly, so they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.
V 4. And they said, come, let us build us a city, and a tower whose top reaches into the sky; and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.
When Noah came out of the ark, the Lord said, be fruitful and spread out over the earth. Since the fall of man, he has had the desire to do things his own way. Instead of accepting God's plan, man wants to devise his own. I think it interesting that what man will not do at the command of God, they will do for financial gain. The Chinese forded the treacherous Yellow river not to spread out, but for the purpose of selling silk. Matthew 6:24
The phrase let us make a name for ourselves indicates a great pride in their own talents, pride of this sort is the kind that usually goes before a fall. Proverbs 16:18. We need to remember that humility comes before honor. Proverbs 15:33. Haughtiness comes before disaster humility before honor. Proverbs 18:12.
Nimrod (means, let us rebel) was resentful of the curse placed on his family and jealous of the name (or honor) placed upon the family of Shem. Since he was named by his father, it is probable that his father taught him rebellion, either by his actions or words. Rebellion is defined as an open defiance of any authority. It is also likely, that others had been looking down on the family of Ham for a long time. Nimrod took advantage of God's promise not to destroy the earth with flood and defied God.
Nimrod is the equivalent of the man of sin in the book of Revelation. He had (within) the same spirit that will occupy the anti Christ.
The people were under the plan of Satan. Satan's plan was and is, one world government, one world language and one world religion, that will honor and worship him.
V 5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built.
The word used for Lord here, is Elohim (meaning more than one). The God of power and might, the triune God.
It is thought that the tower was dedicated to astrology. Astronomy and astrology are not the same things. Astronomy is a study of the stars and universe. Astrology is an attempt to guide life and fore tell the future by the stars. We do not know how long the Lord waited before coming down to look the situation over. Perhaps He looked and listened and said,
Psalms 2:1-4 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Earthly kingship came initially into the earth through the Hamitic people, from whence the Babylonian emperors of the third millennium B.C. took their titles of "kings of the world."
V 6. And the Lord said, behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible to them.
This is still true, if we can imagine it, we can do it. God created us to be big thinkers. We imagine that a man can walk on the moon, and sure enough, it happens.
Ephesians 3:20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
V 7. Come, let us go down, and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
Never think the Lord does not have a sense of humor. Can you imagine the look on the faces of the brick layers, when one turned to another and asked for a brick? The unity of speech was broken.
V 8. So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth; and they gave up building the city.
People have always believed that there is strength in numbers. In the world system, that may sometimes be true, but real strength is found in one person, truly united with God.
The thing that they feared, came upon them. This a principle that still happens. It is mentioned in Job.
Job 3:25 For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.
When we fear, our minds imagine in great detail, what is going to happen. We literally think and speak that which we fear into existence.
V 9. Therefore the name of it was called Babel because the Lord there confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Babel has two meanings,
1. Gate to God, from the intention of the people to build their
way into heaven. The tower was made in block form, the first level being the
largest, the second, smaller, etc.
2. In Hebrew, Babel means confusion, based upon what happened there.
V 10. These are the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
V 11. And Shem lived after Arpachshad was born 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 12. Arpachshad lived 35 years, and became the father of Shelah;
V 13. Arpachshad lived after Shelah was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 14. When Shelah had lived 30 years he became the father of Eber;
V 15. Shelah lived after Eber was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 16. When Eber had lived 34 years he became the father of Peleg;
V 17. And Eber lived after Peleg was born 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 18. When Peleg had lived 30 years he became the father of Reu;
V 19. And Peleg lived after the birth of Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 20. When Reu had lived 32 years he became the father of Serug;
V 21. And Reu lived after the birth of Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 22. When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor;
V 23. And Serugh lived after Nahor was born 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
V 24. When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah;
V 25. And Nahor lived after the birth of Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
There is a gradual decrease in the length of lives. Shem lives 600 years, the next three came short of 500; the next three did not reach to 300; after that, except for Terah, none reached 200 years. The longest living man (after Noah) was Shem from whom the Hebrews descended.
The generations of Shem continue the generations of Adam, listed in
chapter 5. Adam's line was traced to Noah and his three sons, Shem, Ham and
Japheth. From Shem we are led through a group of men That form a period of
general history leading to the history of the Hebrew.
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Special attention is given to the family of Terah, in order to prepare the way to Abraham.
V 26. After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of [at different times], Abram and Nahor and Haran [his first born].
V 27. Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
V 28. Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldees.
Death does not follow the rules of seniority. We experience great pain when parents must bury their children. We feel the disruption of what we consider the norm, children are supposed to bury parents.
Children cannot be certain that they will outlive their parents. Parents cannot be certain that they will die before their children. We must, introduce our young children to Jesus, the giver of eternal life. Only then can we know that they are safe.
V 29. And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.
Apparently Sarai was the daughter of Abram’s father, but not the daughter of his mother. Sarai was 10 years younger that Abram.
V 30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
V 31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth to go together from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
Terah's name means delay. The time spent in Haran, (means parched) was five years.
V 32. And Terah lived 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
With the closing of the fourth dispensation (Human Government) there is a turning point in the record of God's dealing with man. Up to this time, the history has been of the whole human race. Now, God selects a man, and through him, a nation. This nation is to be his witness on the earth.
The nation will be entrusted with the guardianship of ancient truths and future hopes. Out of it is to come the promised Savior. Mighty empires and other great nations will be forgotten for a while. We now concern ourselves with the history of the nation through which all the nations of the earth are to be blessed.
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Teaching And Research By: M. E. Arbaugh
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January 1, 2007
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