While some folks work holding on to a dream of a better job they’d rather have, I’m fortunate in that I’m currently working in the general field I want to be in. Of course, I am working on my side-career writing mystery novels, but in general being in the ministry is where I want to be. Here’s part 2 of my three-part commentary on Noach.

Remind you of anyone?

HaSatan! Nimrod is perhaps one of the first in a long line of people who were possessed by the spirit of the false Messiah. And his manner and approach in this regard is no different than it was later in history, when the spirit of the false Messiah appeared in such figures and Haman, Antiochus Epiphanes, and, more recently, in Adolf Hitler, just to name a few. His nature is always the same; he seeks to replace God with himself. It is the same temptation that the serpent offered Adam and Haveh in the Garden. “You shall be like Gods.”

So what was Nimrod’s kingdom like? Well, according to Alfred Edersheim’s Bible History of the Old Testament:

Edersheim, Bible History of the Old Testement
Of the magnificence of Babel, the capital of the empire of Nimrod, “the mighty hunter,” it is difficult to convey an adequate conception, without entering into details foreign to our purpose. But some idea of it may be formed from its extent, which according to the lowest computation, covered no less than one hundred square miles, or about five times the size of London; while the highest computation would make it cover two hundred square miles, or ten times the extent of London!

Let’s take a look at an ancient depiction of a figure believed to be Nimrod:

Was this the man the Torah mentions so briefly? Let’s take a look at what the Jewish Encyclopedia teaches us.

JewishEncyclopedia.org:
Nimrod was not wicked in his youth. On the contrary, when a young man he used to sacrifice to haShem the animals which he caught while hunting … When the animals saw [Nimrod] clad in [Adam and Haveh’s clothing], they crouched before him so that he had no difficulty in catching them. The people, however, thought that these feats were due to his extraordinary strength, so that they made him their king.

Another entry offers more insight:

JewishEncyclopedia.org:
According to another account, when Nimrod was eighteen years old, war broke out between the Hamites, his kinsmen, and the Japhethites. The latter were at first victorious, but Nimrod, at the head of a small army of Cushites, attacked and defeated them, after which he was made king over all the people on earth, appointing Terah his minister. It was then, elated by so much glory, that Nimrod changed his behavior toward haShem and became the most flagrant idolater. When informed of Abraham’s birth he requested Terah to sell him the newborn child in order that he might kill it. Terah hid Abraham and in his stead brought to Nimrod the child of a slave, which Nimrod dashed to pieces. Nimrod is generally considered to have been the one who suggested building the Tower of Babel and who directed its construction. God said: “I made Nimrod great; but he built a tower in order that he might rebel against Me.”

So let’s focus on the Tower of Babel now. What was the world like prior to this episode? Well, according to:

Genesis 11:1
The whole earth used the same language, the same words.

Now, this never seemed like that bad a thing to me, as a young person. Wouldn’t it be a good thing if we were all able to communicate and speak the same language and understand each other?

Tags: Noach, Torah commentary, work holding