THE CREATION OF NATIONS
Genesis 10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city.
Genesis 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Within a couple of chapters of each other, within the first part of the Book of Genesis, we have the accounts of the beginnings of two great and opposing nations. These shall be literal nations, but also continue to the very last book in the scriptures as symbolic of the spiritual warfare between the forces of evil and those of goodness. They are each begun by the characters of two men – Nimrod and Abram. And they begin to form both Babylon and Israel. Nimrod and his nation were both rulers by force! But Abram and his nation came to be rulers by faith!
Nimrod is said to be a mighty hunter before the LORD. That is, he began to be a “warrior” and a “tyrant,” as Strong’s Concordance states. And this became a proverb that he did so even in the face of the LORD! And you will notice that he and his nation are brought into our awareness through the listing of the genealogies and his physical birth among men.
A careful reading of Daniel 7:1-3 will reveal that the Gentile nations that had world wide rule came forth from the sea. And that is where the history of the creation of the natural man originates in Genesis 1:1-3, 2:7. For the bringing forth of the nations, as well as that of the human being comes from the sea of the human masses, which the sea represents. Revelation 17:15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
But the spiritual man having been born naturally from physical parents, must then have the second birth from the Holy Spirit! John 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.
And since the sinner is said to be dead in trespasses and sin, this second birth by the Spirit is the first resurrection! For it renders on blessed and holy. Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
Abram’s name was later changed to Abraham. (See Genesis 17:5) For the Lord would have him known as “a father of many nations.” And in contrast to Nimrod, Abram is here seen to come on the scene by the specific call of the LORD, with the stipulation of coming out from the affairs of his physical kindred and his father’s house. And this is one of the main understandings that this same God gives to all his professors down through the ages! Matthew 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. 36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
The nation of Nimrod was Babylon, which came to represent THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS. Revelation 17:5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. But the other, by her capital city, Jerusalem, becomes spiritually to represent the mother of all the redeemed. Galatians 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children. 26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For the born again body of believers – the true church – is God’s holy nation! 1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Abraham, unlike these religionists in our day, although claiming to be his spiritual descendants, did not look for earthy real estate, but for a spiritual residence with God Himself! Hebrews 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.
He sought not for the natural Israel, but for “the Israel of God.” Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. 16 And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.
As you can see, both these nations were begun through God’s usage of one man. And they both were begun in the awareness of Almighty God. For even Nimrod is said to have acted out his tyranny before the LORD. And both nations also came to be seen spiritually as procreating females. We have already seen Babylon described as “THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS” in Revelation 17:5. Now in Revelation 21:2 we read, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 9 And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, And this city-bride did descend out of heaven on Pentecost! (Recall Galatians 4:26, listed in column two of this article. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.)
One of the important things concerning nations is that this is the segment of the human population, brought forth at a particular time and in a particular location, for the advancement of the gospel kingdom of Christ. Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
For the Lord God would have his explorers go forth (Columbus, Magellan, Francis Drake, Da Gama, Marco Polo, etc..) discovering new lands for the gospel to follow around the globe. Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
This is exactly what happened as Saul of Tarsus, (later to become Paul, the Apostle), raised up fiery persecution in Jerusalem at the time of the stoning to death of Stephen. The gospel then actually went from Jerusalem to Samaria! Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. 3 As for Saul, he made havock of the church, entering into every house, and haling men and women committed them to prison. 4 ¶ Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word. 5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
And from there, due to this same persecution, we have clear record of it’s going on over as far as Antioch. Acts 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only. 20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
(Amazingly, then later the persecutor Saul, now become the Apostle Paul, made his first missionary journey over to the other Antioch (Pisidian), in Turkey. See Acts 13:14.)
The Lord God would always have another place for his persecuted believers to flee until they come down to the very end. Matthew 10:23 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. The Lord Jesus told Israel’s leaders that their nation would lose the privilege of the gospel, and that It would be sent on to another people. Matthew 21:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
It was for this very same religious persecution that our forefathers came to America’s shores! And it will be by the completed advancement of the gospel throughout every nation by which the end of time will be brought forth. Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb were cleansed as individuals; but as individuals residing in nations! Revelation 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
And at the end all nations shall be brought forth to be judged. Psalm 9:17 The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.20 Put them in fear, O LORD: that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah.
Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
And every individual shall have brought to light those hidden things of his heart. And that shall determine whether he shall have a resurrection of life, or of damnation. 1 Corinthians 4:5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God. John 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
When the Lord God would make known through the Prophet Daniel his purpose for the raising up of nations, we first see him revealing this through the image of a man. (Daniel chapter two.) But upon the second manifestation of these events to Daniel in chapter seven, it is upon the revelation of these nations as wild beasts. For as the history of mankind proceeds, apart from the intervening grace and redemption of Christ, mankind becomes, as the Apostle Peter states, as natural brute beasts! 2 Peter 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
But those who receive redemption through the grace and mercy of God come to be even more glorious than man before the fall! 1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Pastor Gene Breed
January 12, 2018
