by Nathan Schwepler

Created on: June 30, 2009   Last Updated: July 02, 2009

A nimrod is a person who is silly, foolish, or stupid, so if you are not allowed to call your brother stupid, you are not allowed to call him a nimrod either. As far as I know there has never been a person named Stupid, but there was a guy named Nimrod. He was one of Noah's great-grandsons. Noah lived for so long that Nimrod was 200 before Noah died. They might have known each other. If they did, Nimrod did not learn from the great example of Noah. Nimrod did not learn to trust in God. He learned to trust himself.

Nimrod was "a mighty hunter before the Lord." (Genesis 10:9) That doesn't sound bad, but most really smart guys who study the Bible see Nimrod as a bad guy. "Mighty hunter" means that he hunted goats and lions, but it also means that he hunted people, and God did not like that. Nimrod did not care about God. The words, "before the Lord" mean in the face of the Lord. "In Your Face!" is NOT a smart thing to say to God. Nimrod knew about God. He knew the ways of God, and he ignored them. Nimrod worshipped other gods, but he also worshipped himself. He wanted power. He wanted to be great. And he did a lot of big things. So many people followed him that he started at least five cities. The most famous city that he started is called both Babel and Babylon. Since Nimrod started it, most people think he was running things when the people of the city built the Tower of Babel to make a name FOR THEMSELVES.

Our world is changing quickly. The 32gb iPhone 3 GS is the best new thing on the market. In Nimrod's day the best new thing was bitumen. It didn't use bits to send movies through the air. It was sticky stuff like tar that sent bricks higher into the air than ever before. The people of Babel built a huge tower, but God didn't like it. It was not that God was against tar or towers. God was against pride. God was against the man, Nimrod who wanted to make himself great. God was against a city that wanted to make a name for itself, so He stepped down from heaven. He made the people speak a lot of different languages and He scattered them all over the earth.

God knows that when His children are proud they cannot worship Him. Proud kids can't act the right way to other people or to God. Here are just a few of the things God said about the proud:

Psalm 138:6 Though the LORD is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Proverbs 16:5 The LORD detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. Romans 12:16 Live

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