A Type
of the Antichrist
by Sandy
Simpson, Apologetics Coordination Team,
May 2006
Nimrod
and his kingdom of Babel, rather than hosting the genesis of cultures that took
the worship of the true God to the ends of the earth, is one of the clearest
Old Testament Biblical types for the Antichrist and the coming world government
and apostate world church. The parallels are quite amazing. There are a number
of other types of the Antichrist and his kingdom in the Bible which would
include people like Cain, The Pharaoh of Exodus (Ex. Ch. 5-12), Saul,
Goliath (1 Sam.17), Sennacherib (2 Kings 18:13-19:36. 2 Chr.
32:1-22) and Herod (Matt. 2). During Biblical times we also had Nero,
Antiochus Epiphanesand King Antiochus IV of Assyria. To study
these other types of Antichrist, I refer you to an article dealing with that
subject called “The Antichrist”.1
In
this article we will look exclusively at Nimrod and his kingdom, Babel. We will
compare what the Bible teaches about him and what it teaches about the coming
Antichrist.
|
ANTICHRIST |
|
Nimrod
was son of Cush, son of Ham (Gen. 10:6-7) who was son of Noah, son of Adam, son
of God. |
Lucifer
and all angels were created by God (Heb. 1:1-13, Col. 1:17). They are
called “sons of God” (Gen. 6:2, Job 1:6), though not The SON of God (1 John
5:20). |
|
Ham
and his descendants were cursed by God (Gen. 9:25) for Ham having
looked at the nakedness of Noah (Gen. 9:22). |
Satan,
the “father” of the
Antichrist (Rev. 13:2, 4) was cursed by God (Is 14:15) for having
compared himself to God saying “I will
ascend”, etc. (Is. 14:12-15). |
|
Ham
was one third of the sons of Noah (Gen. 5:32). |
Because
of Lucifer’s rebellion, God threw one third
of the angels down to the earth in judgment (Rev. 12:4, 9) and some were put
in chains until the Great White Throne judgment (Jude 1:6). |
|
Nimrod
“began to be a mighty one in the
earth” (Gen. 10:8) |
Nimrod
prefigured him “whose coming
is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying
wonders” (2 Thess. 2:9). It is interesting to
note that Nimrod “began to be
mighty”, which suggests that he struggled for
the pre-eminence among those after the Flood and obtained his kingdom of
Babel by force of will. This seems to correspond with the Man of Sin first
appearing as “the little
horn” (Dan. 8:9)
and by force of conquest he gains the position of ruler of the global
government (Rev. 13:8, 17:7-13). |
|
Nimrod
is also called “mighty
hunter” (Gen 10:9; 1 Chr. 1:10). Hunter
is tsayid in Hebrew, meaning venison, hunter, victuals,
provision, hunting, catch, food (Strongs). This means Nimrod pursued,
hunted and pushed his designs in brazen defiance of his Maker. The words “mighty hunter before the Lord”are found twice in Gen. 10:9. Repetition in any short
narrative of Scripture is always highly significant. If we compare the
expression with a similar one in Gen. 6:11, - “The earth also (in the days of Noah) was
corrupt before God” - the
impression conveyed is that this “Rebel” Nimrod pursued his impious designs in open defiance of
the Almighty, hunting what he wanted and catching men in the process. The
contents of Gen. 11 abundantly confirm this interpretation. |
In
like manner, of the Antichrist it is written, “And the King shall do according to his
will, and he shall exalt himself and magnify himself above every god
(ruler), and shall speak marvelous things against the God of gods” (Dan. 11:36). The devil, who
possesses the Antichrist, “walks about
like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Pet. 5:8) |
|
Nimrod
was called a “Man of Blood”. In 1 Chron. 1:10 - “And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to be mighty
upon the earth”. The Chaldea
paraphrase of this verse says, “Cush begat
Nimrod who began to prevail in wickedness for he slew innocent blood
and rebelled against Jehovah”.2This,
coupled with the expression “a mighty
Hunter before the Lord”, suggests
that he relentlessly sought out and slew God's people. |
Nimrod
accurately portrayed the bloody and deceitful Man (Psa. 5:6), the
violent Man (Psa. 140:1) the Antichrist to come. |
|
Nimrod
was a King - “the
beginning of his kingdom was Babel” (Gen. 10:10. In the verses which
follow in Gen. 10 we read, “He went out
into Assyria and buildedNinevah, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah”, etc. (Gen. 10:11). From these statements it
is evident that Nimrod's ambition was to establish a world empire. |
Nimrod
was King of Babylon, which is also one of the many titles of
the Antichrist (Isa. 14:4). The ambition of the Antichrist is also to establish
a world empire (1 John 5:19, Rev. 13:8, 16:14). |
|
Nimrod
obviously had an inordinate desire for fame, which is also consistent with
archeological finds bearing his image. His consuming desire was to make
for himself a name.
On the West Terrace of Mount Nimrod (or NemrutDagi), sunset light falls on a 40-ton head of Greek god “Zeus” (Nimrod according to Turkish people) capped with a Persian tiara. |
Nimrod
corresponds with the type of the Man of Sin who will expressly
dominate as “King over
all the children of pride” (Job 41:34).
More of the Nemrut (Turkey) stone heads of Nimrod. |
|
What
is recorded in Gen. 10 about Nimrod supplies the key to the first half of
Gen. 11 which tells of the building of the Tower of Babel. Gen. 10:10
informs us that the beginning of Nimrod's kingdom was Babel. The Greek
form of the Hebrew word bavelor Babel is closely allied and
probably derived from the Akkadianbabiluor “gate of God.” Afterwards, because of the judgment which the Lord there
inflicted, Babel came to mean “confusion
(by mixing)”. That at
the time Nimrod founded Babel this word signified “the gate (the figure of official position) of
God”, intimates that he not only organized
an imperial government over which he presided as king, but that he also instituted
a new and idolatrous system of worship. Nimrod demanded and received
Divine honors. In all probability, it was at this point that idolatry was introduced.3 |
The
Lawless One will yet establish a government of idolatrous worship of
himself (Rev. 13:15). |
|
The
tower of Babel was a high place of worship. There is a definite connection
between the worship of Nimrod and the later worship of the “supreme being” of Babylon, Marduk.
“After their deaths, Nimrod and his
wife Semiramis (the ancient “queen of
heaven”) were confirmed by their priests
as gods and given homage as Marduk and Astarte.”4 |
The
Lord forbade the Jews to build high watchtowers for the purposes of worship
(2 Kings 17:9). The Antichrist will force people to worship his
image in the rebuilt temple situated on the high place of the temple
mount in Jerusalem, likely next to the abomination of the Dome of the Rock
mosque (Rev. 13:15, 2 Thes. 2:4). This third rebuilt temple is contrary
to the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ (though there will be a fourth
temple built in the Millennium) because in this era He has said He does not dwell
in temples made by human hands, but dwells in the spirit of men who have
believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and are baptized in the Holy Spirit, and in
their midst when they meet as the Church. (Acts 7:48, 1 Cor. 6:19). The
Antichrist will “magnify
himself above every god” (Dan.
11:36). |
|
Nimrod’s ambition was to establish a world empire. To
accomplish this, two things were necessary. First, a center of unity, a
city headquarters; and second, a motive for the encouragement and
inspiration of his followers. This latter was supplied in the “let us make us a name.” (Gen. 11:4) It was an inordinate desire for fame. Nimrod’s aim was to keep mankind all together under his own
leadership “lest we be scattered.” (Gen. 11:4) The idea of the “tower” (considered in the light of its
setting) seems to be that of strength—a stronghold—rather than eminence. |
The
Antichrist is described as giving his worship to a “god of forces” (Dan. 11:38 KJV) or “god of
fortresses” (Dan 11:38
NKJV). The word for forces or fortresses in Hebrew is ma‘owzmeaning strength, strong, fortress,
hold, forces, fort, rock, strengthen. (Strongs) It is
possible that this god of the Antichrist (though actually Satan) will be
Nimrod/Marduk that Babylon worshipped as a god of fortresses. This would mean
that the Antichrist is worshipping himself in a preexistent type. This would
be consistent with the character of Satan. No one yet knows these things but
the Nimrod typology seems consistent with this “god of fortresses”. |
2—E.W.Bullinger, The
Companion Bible, Appendix 28, pg. 29
3—http://www.religion-cults.com/antichrist/types.htm
4—http://www.ldolphin.org/Nimrod.html
