"He That Hath Understanding, Let Him Calculate the Number of the Beast" (continued)
Then, the Holy Spirit goes on to list the generations of the sons of Noah; however, we do not want to look at this list as a way to determine how the different nations of the world came about or were populated. This is not what the Holy Spirit had in mind, for in Genesis ten we have the list of the world who comes under the dominion and oppression of satan, "the prince of this world," until they are redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb: all three of Noah's sons an their generations are included in this list.
Also, the Holy Spirit has taken special care to make Nimrod, who is a descendant of Ham, the most prominent character in this record of Noah's sons' descendants. And He has done this to call our attention to the first mention of satan's kingdom, a kingdom in which the antichrist spirit of satan rules through man: "And the beginning of his (Nimrod's) kingdom was Babel," etc. Hence, among Ham's descendants are those whom satan actually uses as his agents against Christ, among Ham's descendants are those in whom the antichrist spirit of satan has full sway; for instance: -
Cush begat Nimrod: through Nimrod satan established his religious Babylonian kingdom, which is man's own way of saving himself, man's own way of reaching God, man's own way of perfecting himself and worshiping God. This evil kingdom also includes whatever religiousity satan has injected into Christianity through the natural man of those who have not truly been saved, and even through the natural man of Christians who have not allowed the work of the Cross in their lives.
Canaan begat the Canaanites: the Canaanites inhabited the land God gave to His people for an inheritance, they represent those who would rob God's people of their full inheritance in Christ.
Mizraim and Phut begat Egypt: Egypt which represents the world spirit that attempts to hold, and enslave, the chosen of God in bondage to the world.
And out of Mizraim also came the Philistines: those who make every attempt to usurp themselves into the Holy things of God.
Noah's natural man gave ground and the enemy moved. No wonder we are told in Ephesians 4:27: "Neither give place to the devil." In Ephesians 4:19-27, we are told to put off the old man: "...lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and ... be renewed in the spirit of your mind (in the habitual way we thing or act), and put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness ... neither give place to the devil, do not give the devil an opportunity."
When the Holy Spirit ends His account of the generations of the sons of Noah, He immediately describes Nimrod's kingdom building, which ends with the Lord scattering all these people upon the face of the earth. Oh, satan has kept building his religious kingdoms, but remember a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, and great will be the ultimate fall of this whorish Babylonian kingdom (Revelation, chapters 14-19).
However, the Holy Spirit does not choose to leave the descendants of Noah in such darkness; for in Genesis 11, we find that he had not yet listed all of Noah's descendants. He does not record all of Shem's descendants in chapter ten, He does not include the descendants of Peleg (10:25) in that record of darkness. No! The Holy Spirit records Peleg's descendants separately in Genesis 11; and that is because out of the descendants of Peleg, the descendant of Shem, the son of Noah, came the highway of the Messiah. For in these descendants we find a man named Abram (Abraham), and "the God of Glory" appeared unto Abraham (Acts 7:2): - and out of Abraham came Isaac, and out of Isaac came Jacob, and out of Jacob came Judah, and out of Judah came the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the King of kings, Jesus Christ our Lord.
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 40 - "Neither Give Place to the devil")
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