Genesis: Nimrod in the face of Yahweh.

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Part 1 Shalom and welcome to Light of the Hill Ministries, in today's study we will continue in Genesis. If you want to follow along I will be posting this in the comment box below. And now onto the teaching: And this is the genealogy of the sons of Noach: Shem, Cham, and Yapheth. And sons were born to them after the flood. The sons of Yapheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yawan, and Tubal, and Meshek, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Yawan: Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Donaniym. From these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their nations. And the sons of Cham: Kush, and Mitsrayim, and Put, and Kena'an. And the sons of Kush: Seba, and Chawilah, and Sabtah, and Ra'mah, and Sabteka. And the sons of Ra'mah: Sheba and Dedan. And Kush brought forth Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter and was in the face of Yahweh, therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter in the face of Yahweh.” (Genesis 10:1-9) Most people commonly skip over Genesis chapter 10 and the reason for this is usually that the content is about as exciting as reading a dictionary, a dictionary full of difficult names that seemingly have little impact on our lives today. However, what we have to keep in mind is that family lines are always important to Yahweh. And it would be good to learn the family tree in order to not make the same mistakes as they did. Now we have already seen Yahweh divide, select, and separate; this was a big element of Noach's blessing of his three sons, because the blessings caused division. We see this principle established early on when Yahweh separated light from darkness and good from evil. We saw it when He split humanity into male and female. We saw it when Sheth was in the righteous line and his brother Qayin was in the wicked line. We can see it now, with Shem being the good line, Cham becoming the evil line, and Yepheth becoming the fruitful line. And, if we follow this pattern all the way to the New Covenant, we find Messiah as the "seed of the woman," who had to come from a separate familial line from all others. Let us keep in mind that these are the paths through which the "seed of the woman," Chawah, would finally arrive. Understanding Yahweh's ways and patterns requires knowing this information regarding family lineages. And with the statement, "And this is the genealogy of the sons of Noach," we follow Yapheth's line for a little while, Cham's line for a little while, and then when we get to Shem's line, we continue to follow Shem's generation because Abraham will come from Shem. Abraham will be the father of many nations, as Yahweh promises him: As for Me, look, My covenant is with you, and you shall become a father of many nations. And no longer is your name called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, because I shall make you a father of many nations. (Genesis 17:4-5) It is from Abraham that the seed, the Messiah, will come: And Yahweh appeared to Abram and said, “To your seed I give this land.” And he built there a slaughter-place to Yahweh, who had appeared to him. (Genesis 12:7) And in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice. (Genesis 22:18) But the promises were spoken to Abraham, and to his Seed. He does not say, “And to seeds,” as of many, but as of one, “And to your Seed,”who is Messiah. (Galatians 3:16) The geneaologies will form ethnic groupings of their own. We won't be following the other lines in the Scripture as closely as Shem's since it's really all about Abraham's line, which is where Messiah will finally be born. And with that, we get to Yapheth, the first geneaology mentioned: The sons of Yapheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Yawan, and Tuval, and Meshek, and Tiras. (Genesis 10:2) Gomer was more or less the father of the ancient Sumerians. Magog was the Scythians, the area of Russia. And Madai was the father of the Medes. Yawan, the Greeks. They believe Tuval and Meshek are the ancient Moskobi, or modern-day Moscow. And Tuval, Tubal or Thobel, the Thobelians in his time were called Iberians, a people in Asia, that dwelt near the Black sea; and in Albania was a place called Thabilaca. And Tiras or Thiras, which the Greeks call Thracians, and in Thrace was a river called Atyras which was a man's name Odrysus who is the same as Tiras. And so we see that, basically, you’re getting into the Asian European nations as descendants of Yapheth. And the sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Yawan: Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodaniym. (Genesis 10:3-4) Togarmah is assumed to be the Armenians, but Ashkenaz is actually the Germanic people. So you're heading into the European area, Scandinavia, and eventually England, with all the ancestors. Yapheth is the ancestor of the Caucasian people. And the countries' coastland peoples were split into their own regions from these: From these the coastland peoples of the nations were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their clans, into their nations. (Genesis 10:5) Now the second geneaology, the sons of Cham: And the sons of Cham: Kush, and Mitsrayim, and Put, and Kena'an. And the sons of Kush: Seba, and Chawilah, and Sabtah, and Ra'mah, and Sabteka. And the sons of Ra'mah: Sheba and Dedan. (Genesis 10:6-7) Some of Cham's descendants migrated south to Africa, while others migrated east to the region of Kena'an. A portion of them, the Phoenicians, created the city of Sidon and also the city of Tyre, which is located on the Mediterranean's northern coast. And finally, Yisra'el would be the one to inherit the land they occupied. Now the narrative comes to a halt for a few verses to focus on Nimrod, a crucial figure in Cham's lineage: And Kush brought forth Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter and was in the face of Yahweh, therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter in the face of Yahweh.” And the beginning of his reign was Babel, and Erek, and Akkad, and Kalneh, in the land of Shin'ar. From that land he went to Ashshur and built Nineweh, and Rechovoth Ir, and Kelach, and Resen between Nineweh and Kelach, the great city. (Genesis 10:8-12) The Hebrew root word that is used here for began is the root word Chalal Strong’s H2490 which means, profane, bore to pieces, kill, wound, defile, pollute, violate, to run into or through as with a pointed weapon or tool; pierce a hole through. Alternate Translations: begin, in the sense of pressing in. Nimrod was a profaner rather than a worshipper of Yahweh. He was pressing in to kill, wound, defile, pollute, violate and to run a weapon through the things of Yahweh. So that he could claim himself to be a mighty one amongst people. And it says in some translations that, “he was a mighty hunter before Yahweh”, which is not a good saying, as some believe. Why? Because at the time, people were putting Nimrod ahead of Yahweh.

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Part 2 The Hebrew word that is translated as hunter is tsayid Strong’s H6718 which means, hunter, hunting, game, prey, and is also translated in Scripture as ‘venison’ which speaks of wild game. Interestingly, we find that this word is also used in reference to Esaw: And the boys grew up. And Esaw became a man knowing how to hunt, a man of the field, while Ya'aqob was a complete man, dwelling in tents. And Yitschaq loved Esaw because he ate of his wild game (tsayid), but Rivqah loved Ya'aqob. (Genesis 25:27-28) Nimrod and Esaw both picture for us those who run after the flesh and seek their own provision and will not submit to the rulership of Yahweh but desire to establish their own kingdom and rulership. The Hebrew word for before is panyim Strong's H6440 meaning face, presence, person. before and behind, toward, in front of, forward, formerly, from beforetime, to the front of, in the presence of, in the face of, at the face or front of, from the presence of, from before, from before the face of. In other words, Nimrod was in Yahweh's face. Now think about that for a moment. When you get in someone’s face, you are not their friend, but rather you are the hostile one. And Nimrod was challenging the power of Yahweh and became the first self-appointed king. And because of that, Nimrod set up many of the ancient major cities, such as Babylon and Nineweh. Nimrod in being against Yahweh ran after the flesh and sought his own provision and he never submitted to the rulership of Yahweh. Now, there are people who have Nimrod's attitude or spirit, and we can distinguish them because, like Nimrod, they run after the flesh and seek their own provisions and refuse to submit to Yahweh's authority. Let's take a look at some ways that we can avoid the attitude or spirit of Nimrod. And the first attitude that we should avoid is that they run after the flesh. And it might be surprising to some but the answer to running after the flesh is to be still in Yahweh as the Psalmist says: Be still, and know that I am Elohiym; I am exalted among nations, I am exalted in the earth! (Psalms 46:10) This psalm demonstrates that people have been concerned about world affairs throughout history. Despite the fact that the world condition as reported by 24-hour news appears to be bad and out of control, this psalm reminds us that Yahweh is in command of everything. Yahweh is with us and will deliver His people in the midst of all the chaos. Yes, battles continue to rage, and injustice necessitates speaking up and taking action. However, when we are anxious it is helpful to remember what Yahweh has done. We may then see Yahweh's works, which helps us in being still. We can also agree with the psalmist when he writes: The heavens are proclaiming the splendor of El; And the expanse is declaring the work of His hand. (Psalms 19:1) Every day, every night, Yahweh is speaking to you through the world, the universe that He has created. The heavens proclaim Yahweh's splendor, magnificence, and magnitude, while the earth demonstrates His unfathomable wisdom. This can only be observed if we remain still in our daily lives. Nimrod wasn't still and chose to run after his flesh and ignore Yahweh's creation in favor of creating a world for himself in order to be exalted. This leads to the second aspect of not having Nimrod's attitude, which is not seeking our own provision. Of course, this does not imply that we should not provide for our own needs. No, this suggests that we should not give in to our fleshly desires: but put on the Master Yahushua Messiah, and make no provision for the lusts of the flesh. (Romans 13:14) And the lusts of the flesh comes in all sizes and shapes and one in particular is invading the minds of all peoples, no matter what age or gender they are and that is pornography. It is an evil spirit and it has the same power that takes people captive as drugs do. People are drawn to it, attracted to it. And when it takes a hold on someone's life, it makes them a slave to the evil spirit's power. And the more you try to get away, the more the evil spirit seems to tighten its grip. Its talon sinks in deeper and deeper until the person gives in. Many marriages are being destroyed today because of pornography. And it is tragic to see a person that is a casualty of these things. This is the work of Satan and we must put on the Master Yahushua Messiah through prayer. This is the only power against it and can put a stop to it. We have authority over all principalities and powers in Yahushua's name because they are subject to Him. And when we come against them in His authority, they must yield. And thus, through the authority of Yahushua, we can set people free from the captivity of Satan. We can set them free from that binding force that he is exercising over them, that blinding influence that he has. As Paulos has stated elsewhere: For the weapons we fight with are not fleshly but mighty in Elohiym for overthrowing strongholds, overthrowing reasonings and every high matter that exalts itself against the knowledge of Elohiym, taking captive every thought to make it obedient to the Messiah, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) This is how we put on Messiah, and that is taking every thought and making it obedient to Yahushua and His ways. So when the flesh invades you, you simply take that thought and turn it over to the Messiah and surrender it to Him. It is then that we submit to His authority instead of Satan. And this leads us to the next thing of not having the attitude of Nimrod, which is to be submissive to the authority of Yahweh. And submitting to Yahweh's authority is simply obeying His voice: And it shall be, if you diligently obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohiym, to guard to do all His commands which I command you today, that Yahweh your Elohiym shall set you high above all nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:1) Submission to Yahweh's authority leads to freedom. For those who have found Messiah, it establishes order and direction in their daily lives. What follows is an unbelievable blessing for those who are willing to obey. And for those who rebel against Yahweh's authority, there are consequences as Mosheh tells us: And it shall be, if you do not obey the voice of Yahweh your Elohiym, to guard to do all His commands and His laws which I command you today, that all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you: (Deuteronomy 28:15) Such as is the case of those who follow after the attitude of Nimrod and we would do well do avoid them if we want to enter in the Kingdom of Yahweh. To summarize, we should remain still and know Yahweh, put on the Messiah and make no provision of the flesh, and ultimately submit to Yahweh's authority by obeying His voice and keeping His laws. If we take these actions, we will have done the exact opposite of Nimrod and will be blessed in the end. HalleluYah! If you like this teaching, please comment, like, share and subscribe to the channel, and click on the notification button to be notified of the next teaching. Yahweh bless and shalom to your homes.