NIMROD THE ASSYRIAN
It is interesting that the exploits of Nimrod are
presented in the Bible immediately preceding the calling of Abram (Abraham)
from an area around the Babel (Babylon) area.
Just prior to Abraham’s calling by God, the inhabitants of Babylon
underwent a transformation of their single language into 70 different
languages. The Lord God then assigned
each of the various language groups the governance of one of 70 angels
comprising the Divine Council. Some of
these governing angels were mentioned in the book of Daniel: the prince of Persia and the prince of
Greece.
Genesis 10:8 first mentions Nimrod as the son of
Cush. Verse 10 lists the cities of his kingdom, in the land of Shinar. Immediately after Nimrod’s cities, Verse 11
speaks of Asshur and his building of cities in the Assyrian area. A son of Shem, named Asshur, is not mentioned
until verse 22. The Asshur of verse 11
is considered to be another name for Nimrod.
Peter Goodgame comments that names such as Asshur were commonly
duplicated in family lines. He states
that Asshur is the name given to Nimrod when he traveled to Assyria and founded
cities. It is generally accepted that
Nimrod founded Ninevah and Calah, which is now known as Nimrud. Archaeologists have discovered a stele of
Asshur (Nimrod) holding a flail and a club in excavations around old Nimrud.
Out of that land went forth
Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, And Resen
between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. (Genesis 10:11-12 KJV)
Micah 5:6 appears to connect Nimrod with Assyria
And they shall waste the land of
Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus
shall he deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when
he treadeth within our borders.
(Micah 5:6 KJV)
Abraham was promised the land of Israel and several years
later, the Hebrew people were taken from Egypt and placed in the land of
Canaan. In a type of prophetic parallel,
after the wrath of God, the Israelites will once again be gathered from the
areas of the world and brought again to the land of Israel perhaps from the
areas listed in the scriptures below.
At that time the sovereign
master will again lift his hand to reclaim the remnant of his people from
Assyria, Egypt, Pathros, Cush, Elam, Shinar, Hamath, and the seacoasts. (Isaiah 11:11 NET)
At that time the nation of Judah
and the nation of Israel will be reunited. Together they will come back from a land
in the north to the land that I gave to your ancestors as a permanent
possession. (Jeremiah 3:18 NET)
Arthur Pink, a pastor and writer, states that one like
Nimrod will arise and fill the picture outlined by the life of Nimrod. The name of Nimrod means “the rebel” similar
to a name of the antichrist that is “the lawless one” who “shall oppose and
exalt himself above all that is called God.”
Scripture states he “began to be a mighty one in the earth” meaning he
obtained this might by force. In like
manner the little horn of Daniel subdues three horns with the remaining seven
ascending to his will and authority. The
Biblical phrase “the mighty hunter before the Lord” means he pursued his
dictatorship in defiance of God when he built a city to contain the inhabitants
rather than allowing them to inhabit the earth.
The purpose of the tower was to design a type of star gate to permit an
avenue for additional Watchers to inhabit earth and to allow the deluded Nimrod
to ascend to the heavenly dimension and do battle with God. Nimrod’s purpose was to become the new god of
the earthly humans as the antichrist will magnify himself above every deity and
god and will declare himself to be “god”.
"Then the king will do as
he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every deity and he will
utter presumptuous things against the God of gods. He will succeed until the
time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must occur. (Daniel 11:36 NET)
Chronicles 1:10 says “And Cush begat Nimrod; he began to
be a mighty warrior on the earth.” A document
termed the Chaldean Paraphrase is a targum written in Aramaic of the Hebrew
Bible. The paraphrase of the Chronicles
1:10 scripture according to Arthur Pink is:
“Cush begat Nimrod who began to
prevail in wickedness for he slew innocent blood and rebelled against Jehovah.”
The Beast
The Revelation names the last world empire empowered by
the dragon as the beast. The name
“beast” will also be applied to the last world emperor, who most likely will be
Apollo/Osiris/Nimrod who ascends from the bottomless pit. Regardless of the empire or antichrist’s
original identity, let’s look at the word “beast” which is the word therion in transliterated Greek.
thērion
Thayer Definition: 1) an
animal
2) a wild animal, wild beast, beast 3) metaphorically a brutal,
bestial man, savage, ferocious
As can be seen in the Thayer Greek Dictionary a beast is
any animal and specifically a wild animal.
Metaphorically, it is a person with bestial, savage, and ferocious
attributes. Several exegetes have
surmised, based on extra-Biblical texts, that pre-flood Watchers and human
cohorts experimented with animal-human DNA cloning. This could account for so-called mythological
entities as: satyrs; minotaurs;
centaurs; griffins; unicorns; and many others.
Satyrs, unicorns, cockatrices, and lion men are mentioned in the Bible.
Is there a possibility that Nimrod contained animal
DNA? Was he part animal? Thomas Horn suggests that a genetic splice of
animal DNA may be initially applied to the antichrist and later become a part
of the mark of the beast. After all, the
giants or Nephilim were partially non-human and thus did not have the spirit of
God. Upon their death the non-human
spirits which they contained were left to roam the earth as evil spirits or
demons.
Isaiah 10:5 NLT "What sorrow awaits Assyria, the rod of
My anger. I use it as a club to express My anger.
Nimrod As The
Assyrian
Micah 5:1-6 KJV Now gather thyself in troops, O daughter of
troops: he hath laid siege against us: they shall smite the judge of Israel
with a rod upon the cheek.
(2) But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be
little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto
me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old,
from everlasting. (3) Therefore will he give them up, until the
time that she which travaileth hath brought forth: then the remnant of his
brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. (4)
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty
of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be
great unto the ends of the earth.
(5) And this man shall be the peace, when the
Assyrian shall come into our land: and when he shall tread in our palaces, then
shall we raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
(6) And they shall waste the land of Assyria with
the sword, and the land of Nimrod in the entrances thereof: thus shall he
deliver us from the Assyrian, when he cometh into our land, and when he
treadeth within our borders.
Micah begins with a siege against Jerusalem by someone
referred to as “he”. Verse 2 is a well-known
Messianic prophecy found in Matthew 2:6.
When Herod was visited by the wise men, he inquired of the religious
leaders concerning the child in question.
One of them quoted the scripture of Micah 5:2.
"'But you, Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of
you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'" (Matthew 2:6 NIV)
The last sentence of the passage for not quoted by the
religious leader, “whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” This indicates the Messiah Jesus is
eternal. V3 The Lord will temporarily be distant from the people of
Israel. I view this period as the 70th
week of Daniel when Israel (and the world) will be engulfed by the beast. After the wrath of God, the remnant of Israel
will be gathered into the land of Israel.
V4 appears to be descriptive of the Millennium rest.
Verse 5 states
the “man of peace” or the Lord Jesus will establish peace when the Assyrian
comes into the land which is most likely referring to the Armageddon
non-battle. The Hebrew for the Assyrian
does not contain the definite article “the” and the Septuagint translates the
word as Asshur which agrees with the
Hebrew dictionaries.
And he shall have peace when Assur shall come into your land, and
when he shall come up upon your country; and there shall be raised up against
him seven shepherds, and eight attacks of men. (Micah 5:5 Brenton)
Peter Goodgame made
the comment in his book The Second Coming of the Antichrist that interpreters
may have had a problem with the Hebrew word “ashshûr” without knowledge or the
understanding of Assyrian history or mythology so they just translated it as “the
Assyrian”. This particular translation
of “the Assyrian” has caused some confusion in recent eschatology. Asshur is the name of the chief Assyrian god
who was originally called Nimrod in the Bible.
Micah 5:5 could read as, “The Messiah, Jesus will
establish peace when Nimrod, known as Asshur, comes into your land.” Daniel 11:45 indicates the antichrist will
place his palace and headquarters around Jerusalem. The antichrist is the one who comes into the
land and Peter Goodgame, Rob Skiba, Gary Stearman, and others claim that his
name is Nimrod also known as Asshur.
