=> From Gods point of view, there are only two kingdoms. In one kingdom, you ‘follow Jesus Christ’ and obey His will and ways. In the other kingdom, there is only ‘worship of self’, which is always in competition with God’s selfless ways.

At this time, it is important to adjust to the culture of the Kingdom of God and not make the mistake of thinking that Western ‘Christian’ culture and Kingdom culture are necessarily the same.

Highest Priority

As we move forward in these times, a monumental conflict is occurring between these two kingdoms as they contend for the souls of humankind.

The conflict in the form of rivalry originally arose in heaven when ‘Lucifer’ decided to stand against God in order to become first, or number one. This same combative spirit still exists in the world today, animating people or groups to compete with each other to try to get to the first place.

Rivalry in the form of competition is an integral part of life in Western cultures. It has been accepted and valued as a necessary condition for a successful life. However, competition is ultimately selfish and involves desire, which leads to envy and all kinds of strife and war.

The first earthly competition was between Cain and Abel. Cain had his own ideas about how to make offerings. However, when Abel’s offering was considered by God to be more acceptable than Cain’s, Cain became very angry and murdered his brother. Cain’s competition with Abel was ultimately his competition with God over who would be ‘number one’ (cf. Genesis 4:3-8).

Genesis 4:3-8:
3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord.
4 But Abel also brought an offering – fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favour on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favour. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast?
7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.’
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘Let’s go out to the field.’ While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

Similar behavior can be seen with king Nimrod, who built the original city and tower of Babylon. He was the great-grandson of Noah and rejected the faith of his fathers as well as made himself available to the occult. He was the first to organize a competition in his army to train and strengthen his troops. He lured and controlled men by using immorality, competition and sorcery.

Who was Nimrod?

 

“The son of Kush and founder of the four oldest cities in the world. These were Babel (Babylonia), Erech (Uruk), Akkad and Kalne (Nippur). They are all described in the Bible in Genesis 10:10 as the land of Shinar, a coded name for ancient Babylonia. Nimrod was not only the grandson of Ham, but also the great-grandson of Noah. Nimrod’s domain extended into Assyria, another ancient city and civilization that influenced and troubled the people of God. His name identifies him as a tyrannical warrior who ruled his country with cruelty and rebellion against the Most High God. Evidently, he was anxious to establish himself as ruler and to introduce religious forms and worship that displaced the LORD in the hearts of the people.

 

It seems that Nimrod’s martial prowess was unprecedented for his time, and he used it to control and conquer everything around him.

 

His military might and prowess were complemented by his industrial strength, political skill, and architectural and ecclesiastical ability. He was truly a man prepared for the calling of his life, which was to give the children of Adam, of the lineage of Cain, a culture and religion different from that which they had inherited from their father and his father’s Father.

 

Nimrod and his descendants were brash, violent, and proud of their independence from their Creator. Much like his surrogate father, the devil, he used his abilities, gifts and talents to turn against the Most High and make himself a god.

 

The name Merodach (Marduk) is synonymous with Nimrod, thus designating the fierce, ruthless hunter himself as a deity. The words for his story, as simply as the Bible presents them, refer to one who used violence to desecrate, defile and defile that which was sacred and consecrated. Nimrod did this by introducing the worship of Marduk and Ishtar, among many other deities of the Babylonian pantheon. He introduced ritual sexuality and idolatry in full measure to feed and entertain the people in barren times. His provisions would undoubtedly have quickly elevated him in the eyes of his community, eventually serving as a seductive maneuver to gain power over the land. His supplies must have been a powerful bargaining tool to raise an army and gain a following that grew with the gifts and favors he undoubtedly distributed diplomatically.

 

A major food supplier and undoubtedly brilliant entrepreneur, the man quickly became a voice in the country and an authority over the villages. Anyone who dared to oppose him was without the enormous political clout with which he conquered the territories he starved and destroyed. His tyrannical spirit ensured that those who wanted to succeed with him and his cunning submitted to him and went along with everything he wanted. Poor people, after giving away everything they owned for food, became slaves, and so the empire(s) grew. The Bible acknowledges that Nimrod’s abilities were not accidental, and says that he was ordained and confirmed before the LORD in everything he did.

 

At that time, the LORD was still respected as the source of powerful and excellent things in the world, even though he was not worshipped for them. In this environment, it is very likely that Nimrod's acumen also exploited this circumstance in his favor by declaring that he was in power because he was the chosen one. All of this contributes to his benefit in creating the impression of representing himself as God.” (The in ‘ ” ” ’ is based on an explanation of Nimrod from the ‘Prophet’s Dictionary’ by Paula A. Price, Ph. D.; pages 358-360)

 

Babylonian culture gave rise to Greek civilization, which gave rise to the Roman Empire, which in turn laid the foundation for today’s Western civilization.

 

Competition is respected as valuable in Western culture because it balances greed and promotes quality service, as businesses must compete with each other to survive. Similarly, it can motivate individuals to perform better. Competition is also generally viewed by many as increasing production, and in the short run it can stimulate production among individuals and groups. However, in the long run and in the larger context, competition decreases production and efficiency, due to the resulting inevitability of disputes and war. <= (Note: The text set in ‘=>’ is taken from the message ‘The Clash of Kingdoms – The Kingdom of Self and the Kingdom of God’ by Jeff Beacham, ✝ 2013, published on 04’th of October 2019 at CRAZYCHRISTIANS.)

The Value of Family and Governmental Dominion

=> Based on the creation mandate (cf. Genesis 1:28), God, on the other hand, places His value on two areas, namely the family (‘be fruitful and multiply’) and the rule over the earth (‘subdue and rule’).

The family and by extension, all relationships is under constant attack because relationships are a reflection of God. Likewise, the command to rule is constantly challenged and discredited by abuse of power. Too often authority is exercised not in a servant attitude, but dictatorially and oppressively.

Building a city is part of our command to reign. On the sixth day, creation was finished, but it is still not finished; only the method has changed. From then on, God appointed man as a co-worker and called him to fill and subdue the earth together with Him. Therefore, it could be that parts of creation, especially those that we have formed in cooperation with God, will survive the fire of judgment.

Cain built the first city and named it after his son Enoch (cf. Genesis 4:13-17). This city is more than a simple fulfillment of the commandment of creation. It was built after the Fall and is thus itself ‘sinful’, and yet it is more than ‘simply sinful’: it was built away from God, which is perhaps a sign that Cain continued to despise God’s ways. He gives the city the name of his son and seems to want to make an eternal monument to himself. This city represents an alternative to fellowship with God – this is an attempt to feel secure and significant even without God.
False fellowship in the absence of God is always the tendency of a city, unless it is kept in check by the obedience of God’s people.

The second founder of cities is Nimrod (cf. Genesis 10:8-12). This warlike king founded cities as centers of military power and therefore his cities become symbols of oppression. Both city foundations testify to the striving for independence from God and the desire for identity and power.

From then on, much of biblical historycenters on cities: Babylon and Nineveh, Sodom and Gomorrah, Tyre and Sidon, Rome and Jerusalem, Damascus, Antioch, Ephesus and many more.

The City of Babel and Rebellion

The most famous of the early cities is Babel, where people come together with the desire to make a name for themselves and stay together (cf. Genesis 11:4).

Babel remains unfinished, symbolizing that no city built by humans can fully achieve its goal, for nothing can replace the lost presence of God or fulfill humanity’s desire for community and meaning.

Babel is not only unfinished, but also thoroughly rebellious. It doesn’t submit to the God who condescends to mankind, but is also symbolic of the futile attempt to storm heaven through self-earned meaning. The city thus becomes the expression and symbol of rebellion par excellence, the rebellion that refuses to submit to God and live in submission.

This leads us once again to the thought that the Fall caused a threefold rebellion:

1. individual rebellion,
2. communal rebellion of the cities of the fallen structures,
3. satanic rebellion.

Every city (or institution) will have within it this Babylonian that wants to come forth and make itself great. This is true to such an extent that even Jerusalem, which was supposed to be the ‘city of Shalom’, that is, the city of peace, itself becomes Babylonian (see the condemning commentary on earthly Jerusalem in Revelation 11:8). The great prophetic city becomes the city that kills the prophets (cf. Luke 13:34).

Only the New Jerusalem, coming down from God’s throne, can defeat the Babylonian nature in this city and bring it back to its destiny (cf. Revelation 21:1). This is not unique to Jerusalem – God desires to descend upon every city and change the city so that it comes into its God-ordained destiny. At the same time, there is a growing Babylonian element inherent in every city.

The progress of transformation toward what God has planned will occur in partial steps. Before the ‘parousia’ we will certainly not reach perfection, nevertheless our prayers must aim at a fundamental transformation of our city, so that God will be given space and will gladly dwell with us with His glory. And in this sense, every city is a mixture of Babylon and the New Jerusalem. <= (Note: The text set in ‘=>’ is taken from the message ‘Transformation Challenge, Part 2’ by Martin Scott, 3 Generations, published on July 14, 2009 on CRAZYCHRISTIANS.)

The Spirit of Nimrod and Folly

Since, as described earlier, Nimrod was a hunter and his folly was to exalt himself above God like Satan before his fall, we would like to explain the meaning of the Hebrew word for ‘folly’.
The Hebrew word for ‘folly’ is ‘kesil’ and means ‘foolish, fool, ponderous, sluggish, stupid’ and is derived from a root word that means ‘thick, fat’.

Folly means a change into complacency and self-righteousness.

The Hebrew word ‘kesil’ is also used for the constellation ‘Orion’ (Note: winter constellation- symbolically winter in this context stands for a time of cold or darkness/not seeing clearly) and in ancient Greek means ‘the hunter’.

‘Kesil’ is also a southern city in Judah (cf. Joshua 15:30), but it is also called ‘Bethuel’, which means ‘man or house of God’.

These explanations reveal to us that there is a way to maintain the structure of an honorable house or temple of God, despite adverse circumstances or situations, by moving forward in relationship with the Heavenly Father and in humility but also in His anointing, the Holy Spirit in order to make divine ‘spoil’.

Thus, the spirit of Nimrod which means ‘to be indignant’ can be described as a ‘hunter of folly’ who possessed ‘Babel’ which means ‘confusion’ as an initial allotted territory and managed this region (cf. Genesis 10:8-10).

Genesis 10:8-10:
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, ‘Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.’
10 The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. (Note: means ‘two-tailed land or lion country’)

Nimrod was a man who was driven by anger and wrath and built his own kingdom with a warlike influence in order to implement his approach of trade there to elevate himself.
On the basis of this, the same approach that the prophet Ezekiel described about the fall of the king of Babylon becomes clear (cf. Ezekiel 28:16-17).

Ezekiel 28:16-17:
16 Through your widespread trade you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God, and I expelled you, guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings.

Moreover, Nimrod was a man who moved forward with the influence of the ‘false lion’ (cf. 1 Peter 5:8).

1 Peter 5:8:
8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

The Danger of Self-Righteousness and Self-Indulgence and God’s protection

God, the Heavenly Father knows that people, when things are going well for them, tend to get into danger of being influenced by the ‘spirit of Nimrod’, which is why He had a warning written down for His people to encourage us to never forget God as our LORD (cf. Deuteronomy 8:7-20).

Deuteronomy 8:7-20:
7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land – a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; 8 a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig-trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; 9 a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills.
10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day.
12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock.
16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you.
17 You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’
18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.
19 If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed.
20 Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God.

It is man’s corrupt nature that sets in motion when we live in self-righteousness and self-indulgence, which comes from looking down wrongly on others and even on the things God has allowed us to establish on earth by His grace (cf. Proverbs 16:17-18; Proverbs 18:12 i.c.w. Daniel 4:28-31).

Proverbs 16:17-18:
17 The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.
18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 18:12:
12 Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honour.

Daniel 4:28-31:
28 All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar.
29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon,
30 he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’
31 Even as the words were on his lips, a voice came from heaven, ‘This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: your royal authority has been taken from you.

From this context it becomes evident to us how we can spiritually discern and apply in intercession current developments in the nations and especially in relation to conflict in order to resist and stop this spiritual influence of Nimrod. We, as God’s people, need to recall the grace we have experienced in the past in order to remain in the thanksgiving of repentance from transgressions of boundaries and war in our historical past and to save the next generations from the effects of destructive complacency within our nation.

Amen and Amen.

In His Wisdom,

Daniel Glimm