Holy Scripture introduces Nimrod in Genesis chapter ten, immediately after the Great Flood. He was of the lineage of Ham, the son of Noah. Nimrod is described as a “mighty hunter before the Lord.” (verse 9) Some Bible scholars feel that this phrase says “a mighty hunter in the face of the Lord.” Considering the life of Nimrod, it is entirely possible that what he accomplished was done in the face of the Lord as with a rebellious child.

For those of you who find numbers interesting, in the lineage of Ham, including Ham, Nimrod is the thirteenth person listed. (verses 6-8) Thirteen is the number of rebellion. Nimrod was a rebel. His rebellion included the establishment of the first kingdom on earth. The first time “kingdom” appears in the Bible is in verse 10. The Lord’s plan did not include kingdoms. His plan was a system of families under the father, a patriarch. In the description of the Millennial Kingdom found in Micah the Lord says, “But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make [them] afraid.” (Micah 4:4)

Genesis 10:10-12 lists the cities Nimrod built and the countries he controlled. It is believed that “Asshur” in verse eleven refers to the people, and not a person. The Land of Shinar included in the list later became known as Babylon. Today, we know it as Iraq.

Genesis 10:8 says that Nimrod “began to be a mighty one in the earth.” The Hebrew word for “mighty one” is ghibbowr (Strong’s H1368). This is the same word used to describe the giants in Genesis 6:4. “The same [became] mighty men which [were] of old, men of renown.” Some Bible scholars believe that Genesis 10:8 indicates that Nimrod, through demonic influence, began to be changed to one of these “mighty men of renown.”

This also fits with several other names by which Nimrod appeared in mythological history; Marduk, associated with Mars, the god of war, or Baal (Bel), as found in the Bible, and the Greeks associated Nimrod with Hercules.

Brother Peter Goodgame offers the theory that Nimrod, being the first mighty king, is one of the seven kings noted in the Revelation chapter 17:10-11. “And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, [and] the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.”

Goodgame lists these kings as Nimrod, Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Darius of the Mede-Persians and Alexander the Great of Greece as the five that are fallen. He believes that the Roman Empire was the king that “is” at that time, and the revived Roman Empire will be the seventh. Therefore, Nimrod (the anti-Christ?) will be the eighth and is one of the seven.

The rebellion of Nimrod reached its apex when he attempted to build the Tower of Babel in Babylon. The purpose was that they might “make a name (for themselves)” (Genesis 11:4), not to praise or honor the Lord of all creation. The result of this rebellion was the dispersal of the subjects of Nimrod across the earth.

The wife of Nimrod was Semiramis and their relation became the foundation for what is known as the Babylonian Mystery Religions with which we are afflicted even today. We will study this affliction next. The conclusion of all this is described in the Revelation chapters seventeen and eighteen. The Word of God is symmetric. What began in Genesis is culminated in the Revelation. Praise the Lord for His Holy Word!