Early Bible Lands and People

I. Mesopotamia

After the flood, the mass of humanity remained closely together and did not spread out through the earth. This was in direct disobedience to God’s command: be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. (Gen. 9:1)

Noah’s Descendants Gen. 9:1—And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. Gen. 10:1—Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.

Gen. 10:8—And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Nimrod was a city builder,(11-14) but his birthplace and his father and mother is not Known.

We find that the goal of this particular settlement was not to fulfill God’s command but to defy God and His Word. From the very beginning, the Babylonians goal was to resist any further scattering of the people over the earth and instead to create a city where the achievement of a united, integrated people that would be centralized and more readily be controlled.

IV. After the flood

Gen 11:1—And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2—And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

Shinar (also translated as Babylonia) Located between the two rivers in Mesopotamia. It had rich agriculture land. The Land of Shinar became known as the world’s first civilization with a network of cities built up of mud brick and stones, it was dominated by approx. 30 Ziggurats made to honor their gods.

V. Description Tower of Babel

In the Bible a spiral shape tower built with brick for stone and slime for mortar, located in the plain of Shinar whose top may reach unto heaven. A tower people started to build to make a name for themselves, causing God to show his anger by making them speak different languages, which led to the collapse of the project and ultimately to the scattering of people across the world. Gen. 11:7—Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8—So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. The purpose for the Tower of Babel was to make a name for them and keep everyone together for a one-world government and one-world false Religion.

If a world-wide god-less empire was allowed to rule the world than God could not raise up a godly people through whom He could send the Promise seed, the savior of the world . In confusing the language and scattering the people, God stopped man’s godless purpose, effort and works and then raised up a Godly people through Abram, by calling him out of Mesopotamia.

Symbol of one-world Government and One-world Religion The land of Shinar was a geographical term for what is today, Iraq known in ancient times as Mesopotamia. Nimrod founded the kingdoms of the land of Shinar. Babylon was the mother of false religions.

Sometime after the flood, Noah’s descendants travelled south-west and congregated in the fertile plain between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers above the Persian Gulf. Genesis calls this the “land of Shinar” or “Babylonia” which is located in southern Mesopotamia. This area would be populated with mud brick structures (especially ziggurats to honor their false gods) and a network of cities. The land of Shinar is modern day Iraq.

Genesis 11:1,2—And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

II. Tower of Babel

Led by Nimrod, the people built a tower attempting to reach the heavens. This tower was made of mud for brick and slime for mortar. The purpose of this building was for a symbol of the unity of humanity. It was the earliest attempt at a “one-world government and religion.” Their foolish plans were brought to a complete halt by the intervention of God. God took the language of the world that was one and confounded or mixed it into many languages and scattered the people throughout the earth.

III. Early Nations of the World

Read Genesis 10:1.

Shem		Ham		Japheth
Hebrews	Genesis 40:15	Canaanites	Gen. 10:19	Greeks	Acts 14:1
Chaldeans	Isa. 23:13	Egyptians	Ex. 6:13	Scythians	Col. 3:11
Assyrians	Jer. 50:18	Philistines	I Sam. 17:4	Europeans
Persians	Esther 1:19	Hittites	Neh. 9:8
Syrians	I Chr. 19:12	Amorites	Ex. 3:17

Shem’s descendants were called Semites. Abraham, David, and Jesus descended from Shem. Ham’s descendants eventually settled in Canaan and Africa. Japheth’s descendants eventually settled mostly in Europe and Asia Minor.

IV. The Fertile Crescent

The great arc of fertile land stretching from the Nile delta in Lower Egypt north through Palestine and then south and east to the Persian Gulf is called the Fertile Crescent. The intrinsic fertility of this arc of land has made it highly prized among both nomadic and settled agricultural settlers. This same arc represents the major trade routes of the ancient world. It is also along this route that Abraham made his great journey.