June 7, 2015
Tower of Babel: The Society of Satan
Babel's rebellion of autonomous man-centred religion is present with us today, but, in Christ, God is establishing an everlasting kingdom which will shatter all kingdoms of men.
Scripture: Genesis 11:1-9
Sermon Notes:
- The years after the flood were like a new creation as people multiplied and a new civilization was established.
- Nimrod is identified as a priest-king by historians, and was an empire-builder who worshiped a fertility goddess based on a deified Eve.
- Nimrod founded mighty cities, established state-worship and paganism which included human sacrifice, etc.
- Nimrod was deified as a father of the gods and was given the title of emancipator or deliverer of mankind.
- Rebelling against the authority of heaven, men worshipped pagan deities.
- The name Zoroaster means "seed of the woman." This is an allusion to Genesis 3:15 in this ancient religion.
- Much of pagan mythology traces its historical origin back to Genesis 11, Babel, and Nimrod.
- In rebellious pagan religion, man's idea becomes the standard of truth. Man decides to be his own deliverer, deifies himself, and seeks to restore paradise through empire building.
- Nimrod is not only a founder of empire building and rebellion, but he also founded false worship in a one-world religious culture.
- This paganism is active in modern culture and is even creeping into the Christian church.
- Today we see everywhere psychological religion promoting a deified humanity and the belief that there is a spiritual force behind everything.
- These ideas are among the dumb idols of Psalm 115:2-8 which conveniently cannot hold men accountable.
- Paul describes the pagan worship of the creation in Romans 1:22-25.
- Modern Babel worship is an ideal of peace, unity, and brotherhood which mimics God and where man makes his own route to God, usurping the prerogatives of divinity.
- Babel worship is manifest in the pluralistic faith of the deified state.
- Following Nimrod, our society worships man’s autonomy; we project upon "god" our own inner psychology.
- Today it is considered a serious offense to challenge another person's inner psychology.
- As it was at Babel, there is an alliance between mystery pagan religion and the vision of a statist society.
- Christ alone, the promised Seed of the woman, is the true priest-king, the man of obedience.
- In Christ, God is establishing an everlasting kingdom which will shatter all kingdoms of men (Isa. 9:6-7; Isa. 2:2; 1 Tim. 6:15; Dan. 2:44-45; 7:27).
Application Questions:
- Describe the influence and legacy of Nimrod.
- What are the characteristics of modern paganism?
- How has paganism infiltrated today’s church?
- What biblical doctrines need to be taught and emphasized to counter pagan ideas?
- What are the characteristics of God’s kingdom reign under the true priest-king, Jesus Christ?
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