Tonight Bible Timeline: Nimrod and The Tower of Babel Genesis Chapters 10 and 11
House notes/rules… 1. The Zoom Meeting Logon information is the same every week: Zoom ID: 861 1782 2081 Password: 406952 2. The notes/recaps from our meetings are posted on our Catholic Catacombs Light website https://catholiccatacombs.wixsite.com/website/blog, usually within a day. 3. See The Chosen. Knowing Jesus Christ means being able to better relate to God. Check it out: The Chosen at https://thechosen.link/1Y1R7. 4. Member relations. Of course we will discuss differences between religions and even between Christian denominations, but we agree to use respectful words and tones in doing so. Specifically, Protestants are our friends and brothers in Christ (I owe a part of my return to the faith to them). 5. No politics. It would be easy for us to self-destruct; however, that’s not our goal. Our goal is to learn the Bible, explain the Catholic faith – what it means and especially its origins in Scripture and Jesus Christ – and helping people develop a closer relationship with Jesus Christ in their daily lives. 6. Questions encouraged. If you have questions about anything, you can email the group via Meetup, or me directly at ron@hallagan.net.
Bible Study Format
Week 1: Nov 5 – Gospel Readings: Mary and Martha * Jesus and Be-elzebub * The Return of the Demons
Week 2: Nov 16 – Bible Narrative Exegesis from Genesis to Revelations: Tower of Babel (Gen 11) and The Call of Abraham (Gen 12)
Week 3: Nov 23 – Topic of Choice – Jesus’ Great Parables: Luke 16: Parable of the Dishonest Steward, 17:1-2 millstone, Eye of the Needle 18:24-27. Workers in the Vineyard? Lost Sheep/Coin 15:1-10. (Then Comes Hell)
Week 4: Nov 30 – Open Mic – What are your faith obstacles, either in your personal or work life? Send other questions to Ron.
Bible Topics Survey Results 1. Jesus’ Greatest Parables 2. Hell, Purgatory, Heaven 3. Christian Comparisons 4. Great Women in the Bible 5. Why is there suffering in the world 6. Compare World Religions 7. Revelations
Upcoming Catholic Holy Days
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe November 21 First Sunday of Advent November 28, 2021
Upcoming Jewish Holy Days (the Jewish faith was the faith of Jesus and so Jewish history is part of Christianity’s history)
Hanukkah (also Chanukah) – Nov 28 through Dec 6, from the book of Maccabees
10 Minute Journeys through the Mass: “The Source and Summit of Christian Life” – CCC #1324-27 7:10-7:20
The entire Mass is based on Jesus Christ; it is based in Scripture; and it is part of recorded history beginning in the New Testament. The Mass will be 2000 years old in 2033.
Order of the Mass
1) The Sign of the Cross – we invite the Holy Trinity into ourselves and into our gathered community.
2) The Lord Be With You, And With Your Spirit – Jesus and the Holy Spirit are invited into, and interacting with us in the Mass.
3) Confiteor – in our preparation for our encounter with God, we confess our sins to Him and to each other.
4) The Gloria
You may recall that the Gloria starts out with “Gloria to God in the Highest and peace to his people on Earth.”
Q: Does anyone recall where in scripture this quote comes from?
These are the words sung by the angels over the fields of Bethlehem announcing to the shepherds the “good news” of Christ’s birth (Luke 2:24).
Mass roots and our destiny
Remember, we were created in the image and likeness of God, but we lost much of the likeness in The Fall. We still have God’s image that He breathed into us (Gen 2:7), which is why we have these lofty ideas not found or explained by our material existence – justice, fairness, happiness, charity, forgiveness, truth, good & evil, order, free will, etc. Notice these concepts are not only understood intrinsically by humans but they define our humanity. They are actually the characteristics of God that He passed on to us. We desire them and seek to have or accomplish them, but we can only attain them fleetingly, which is the part of us that struggles to be “like” God once again. We are all aware that we fall short of them all the time. Sometimes, it seems the harder we pursue them, the more elusive they become.
By accepting and following Jesus Christ, we enter onto the path of becoming “like” God once again. Moreover, Jesus came to fill in all the gaps where we come up short. This is the path to heaven. It is a path of transformation.
The Mass not only embodies this entire story, it gives us added forgiveness and grace to stay on the path. The Eucharist – Jesus Christ – is the Trinitarian food of our spiritual transformation.
This is why the Mass is called the Source and Summit of Christian life.
Bible Timeline so far…
Gen 1 – Creation #1 – 7 days
Gen 2 – Creation #2 – focus on Man
Gen 3 – Fall of Man
Gen 4 – Cain & Able
Gen 5 – Generations/geneology
Gen 6 – Wickedness spreads
Gen 7-8 – Noah and the Flood
Gen 9 – Conclusion of Noah
V.20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. But when he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took the cloak, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said: “Cursed be Canaan, A servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.”
Then Noah said, “May the LORD, the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant!
After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.
Gen 10 – Decendents of Noah – this chapter lists the decendants of Shem, Ham, and Japeth. We will return to this shortly because there will be a connection to Ham’s lineage.
Q: In salvation history, what is the significance between Adam and Noah, and Shem and Ham/Canaan?
Let’s refer to Genesis 3:15 while The Fall is happening. God responds to the serpent: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall crush your head and you shall strike His heel.” “He” refers to the seed of the woman (Mary à Jesus Christ). Why does it say the serpent strikes her seed? A serpent striking a human heel is usually thought to being death. Alas, the serpent does strike Jesus – on the cross; but death does not win this time.
Adam & Eve’s “promised seed” is carried by their next son, Seth, which eventually leads to Noah. Similarly, the “seed of the serpent” was in Cain, who murdered his brother Abel and went on to build cities and spread violence across the land.
Noah’s promised seed is passed on to Shem, which will eventually lead to Abraham. Like Cain, the serpent’s seed will be carried by Ham, which will eventually lead to the Canaanites and Sodom & Gomorrah.
Therefor, after Ham deceives/humilitiates his father, Noah, evil soon spreads everywhere and, several centuries later, we arrive at the story of the Tower of Babel.
Gen 11 – Tower of Babel
The whole world had one language and a common speech.
As the people moved eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
Then they said, “Come, let us make bricks and harden them with fire.” They used brick for stone, and tar for mortar.
Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the earth.”
Now the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the children of Adam were building.
The LORD said: If now, while they are one people with the same language, they have started to do this, then nothing will restrain them, which they have imagined to do.
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that no one will understand the speech of another.
This isn’t a long story, but I found that I had to look back to Chapter 10 to find the clue that brought Babel about. It was in verses 6 and 8:
“The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.”
Let’s focus for a moment on Nimrod. In verse 9, it repeats, “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
If we look up the Hebrew words, we find that “mighty” is also “tyrant.”
If we look up “before Yahweh” we also find “in the face of Yahweh,” or “in defiance of the Lord.” That’s very interesting. It turns out this Nimrod fellow cuts quite a figure. “Great hunter” was only the beginning. Nimrod was a great warrior king who was opposed to God.
V.10-12 His kingdom began in Babylon, Erech, Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From there he went forth into Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen… Later (V.18), the Canaanites extend their borders to Sodom and Gomorrah!
Nimrod was a tyrant who appears to have unified the people against God. The Jewish Mishnah talks about Nimrod’s rebellion against God and how he enticed and swayed his followers to follow his cause. Nimrod’s word was intentionally opposed to God’s word. As their sense of “independence” became augmented by his technological progress, they believed that by their own powers of planning and constructing they could even build a bridge to heaven, make heaven accessible to themselves by their own efforts. Basically, it’s the Tree of Knowledge all over again.
Q: The 2nd verse says they came to the land of Shinar? Where was Shinar?
Noah was at Mt. Ararat after the Flood. The pink line leading to Shinar is the Euphrates River.
Q: While they were building the the Tower, God changed their languages so they couldn’t communicate. What is the meaning or significance of God confusing their language?
Language is the key to communicating with God and with each other – starting in Genesis. Language (communication) is the key to man’s knowledge and advancement. Without language, man would be on his own.
Language is the means by which man expresses his desires, and therefore advances his free will; for it is by language that we learn how to convince others of our desires, be that for good (creating/building) or for bad (control/domination/destruction). Therefore, language is similar to power or money because, by themselves, they aren’t good or bad. It is how humans use them that makes them so.
In the story of the Tower of Babel, God confuses their language to stop their arrogant, selfish use of this gift, while attemtping to remind them of the reason they have language.
Q: What did this have in common with the Fall of Man?
The tree was called the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil because it represented the false notion that if they ate from this tree, they would be like God/gods, but without God, meaning the possessor takes control of deciding what is good and evil, not God.
Of course, that’s a false notion because all knowledge comes from God, but the human ego will believe anything about itself if it’s presented well.
“Knowledge is power” isn’t a new concept. Humans have always known it. Our desire for it is insatiable, because we believe…what? Knowledge is power. It’s true in science, business, and relationships.
All prideful use of knowledge is an act of distancing oneself from God, who by default is considered no longer necessary. The great paradox in all human failure is that in pursuing self-or-worldly greatness, we cut ourselves off from the source of all greatness.
Q: What might this have to do with the Pentecost?
After the arrival of the HS, Peter spoke to the people in Jerusalem, and they all heard him in their own tongue. Whereas the Tower of Babel divided humans, the Gospel is meant to unite humanity.
The Apostles spoke and the crowds all understood them in their own tongue. – Acts 2:6-7
After each human disaster, God finds another good man to start again. After the Tower of Babel, it is Abraham, the greatest of the Patriarchs.
Commentary
We are kind of like these ancient builders in our own modern times. We have been trying for several centuries now to rebuild the Tower of Babel to ourselves. Humans no longer seem to need God – not even any public reference to Him.
It can’t be done, of course, though it will seem like we can, at least temporarily. God is the foundation of all knowledge and truth about everything, including our own human nature. We can pretend to own it or steal it but won’t mean anything. As the American Founders knew, if human dignity didn’t come from the Creator, then there isn’t any such thing.
Does the Babel story tell us anything about how Tower ended? The tower does not crumble so much as people crumble – from unity to division and conflict. Their speech grows confused, which is no different than talking past one another. When people can no longer agree on any truth, then the next step is simply to claim that there is no such thing as truth. Sound familiar?
Fortunately, there are still many believers on Earth. But we must do what we can: love, help, understand, forgive, be grateful, be “like” God.
Sumerian and Assyrian parallels There is a Sumerian myth similar to that of the Tower of Babel, called Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta, where Enmerkar of Uruk is building a massive ziggurat in Eridu and demands a tribute of precious materials from Aratta for its construction, at one point reciting an incantation imploring the god Enki to restore (or in Kramer's translation, to disrupt) the linguistic unity of the inhabited regions-named as Shubar, Hamazi, Sumer, Uri-ki (Akkad), and the Martu (Akkad), Hamazi, Sumer, and the Martu land, "the whole universe, the well-guarded people-may they all address Enlil together in a single language!"
In addition, a further Assyrian myth, dating from the 8th century BC during the Neo-Assyrian Empire (911-605 BC), bears a number of similarities to the Biblical story.
Next: The Call of Abraham
Closing Prayer
Lord, we thank you for the blessing of reading your word together. We ask that these words of life, truth and hope would continue to impact us in the week ahead. May your love and grace follow each of us as we return to our daily lives, refreshed and blessed by you. We ask all this in your name.
And as you taught us to pray, Our Father…
The Lord’s Prayer
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who have trespassed against us.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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