Sometime around 2,000 BC Abram came out of Ur of the Chaldeans with his wife and father and cousin, and from there they went to Haran (Gen 11:31). The tutelary god both of Ur and of Haran was Sin, the moon god, also known as Nunna. Most images of that pagan god have the crescent moon over them. Nowadays we see the same crescent moon over mosques, as a symbol of Islam.
Eyes of darkness
It is relevant to understand that our word ‘tutelary’ implies guardianship, protection and wise direction. People believed themselves to be in the keeping of gods who guided every aspect of their lives. People of faith today still recognise the spiritual influence of the god they worship. And whatever spirit is effectively worshipped will certainly guide the thinking and behaviour of the people who belong to the relevant culture.
In ancient times the various characters of spiritual powers of this world, as perceived by people, were given the names of gods. Similar deities were to be found all over the world; but they received different names in different places. Thus, Sin or Nunna has strong resemblances to Baal, to Osiris in Egypt, to Bacchus in ancient Greece and Rome, to the Scandinavian Odin, to the Mexican Wodan, and to Nimrod, the founder of Nineveh and Babylon (Gen 10:8-12). Sin is also acknowledged as the founder of a violent culture opposed to God’s blessing on the descendants of Abram.
whatever spirit is effectively worshipped will certainly guide the thinking and behaviour of the people who belong to the relevant culture.
Nimrod was a great grandson of Noah via Noah’s youngest son Ham, who did not have Noah’s blessing (Gen 9:20-27), so Nimrod was probably a decade or two older than Abram. Nimrod was believed to have received a fatal wound in battle and to have been resurrected as Tammuz. This has relevance for Revelation 13:3 and 12 in which one of the seven heads of the beast “seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed.” The wife of Nimrod was Semiramis, whose attributes readily associate her with the whore of Babylon.
The spirit of extreme violence and debauchery that is associated with the legend of Nimrod is similar to the evil and wickedness found on earth before the flood (Gen 6:1-8). From the very beginning of history, it has flared up periodically in powerful opposition to significant events in God’s dealings with His chosen people. The same spirit has been seen in many others besides Nimrod.
Seven heads of Revelation
Most recently it has been seen in the horrific actions by Islamic extremists against Israel on October 7th 2023. If we look for ‘kings’ who have violently blasphemed against Israel we can discover ten, each of whom could be one of the seven heads described in Revelation 12:3, 13:1, and 17:10, namely Nimrod, Pharaoh, Amalek, Sennacherib, Antiochus Epiphanes, Nero, and Muhammad [who was still to come (Rev 17:10]). The eighth will be Antichrist. In order to discover the identity of the ten horns with ten royal crowns, however, it seems we should wait a little longer. This should tell us to expect Jesus to return soon to His brothers in Israel according to Scripture.
In order to discover the identity of the ten horns with ten royal crowns, however, it seems we should wait a little longer. This should tell us to expect Jesus to return soon to His brothers in Israel according to Scripture.
On the frieze around the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem can be seen the following declaration of Islamic faith from Surah 4:169 in the Koran, here translated from the ancient Arabic: “O ye people of the Book overstep not bounds in your religion and of God. Speak only truth. The Messiah Jesus, Son of Mary, is only an apostle of God and his word, which is conveyed into Mary and a spirit proceeding from himself. Believe therefore in God and his apostles and say not that there is a trinity, for then it will be better for you. God is only one God and far be it from his glory that he should have a son. His is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth and God is sufficient guardian.” Opposition to Jesus as the Son of God is thus basic to Islam.
God’s chosen people
It was the Almighty God, Adonai Elohim, immanent and transcendent, who moved Abram away from Ur and Haran to the land He would show him. When Abram got to the land that is now Israel he built an altar near Bethel, calling on the name of the Creator of the heavens and the earth. He received revelation from Almighty God, that this land was given to him, and that God would make his offspring into a great nation there.
Almighty God promised that Abram would be blessed and that Abram’s offspring would be a blessing to all the families of the earth, and whoever cursed them Almighty God would curse and whoever blessed them Almighty God would bless (Gen 12:1-9). The blessing of Abram was distinctly continued through Isaac and Jacob, both in Holy Scripture and in fact.
Proverbs 17:24 tells us, “Wisdom is before the person of understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.” (Tree of Life Version). The understanding of Abraham enabled him in all his dealings to receive wisdom from God. Abram was descended from Seth, who had been born to Adam in Adam’s image. Before the fall, Adam had been close to God, doing His bidding in the Garden of Eden (Gen 5:3). Seth had been born in place of Adam’s son Abel (Gen 4:25), who was killed at the hands of his elder brother Cain because Cain was jealous of the favour which God had shown to Abel on account of Abel’s blood sacrifices (Gen 4:5-8). Seth was the ancestor of Enoch, who had walked with God (Gen 5:22) and the ancestor of Noah who survived the flood (Gen 5).
That same inheritance is found in the patriarchs and prophets of Israel and it has enabled the people of Israel to be taught by the Lord God whether they like it or not.
The eldest son of Noah was Shem, who did not bring upon himself the shame of seeing his father’s nakedness when Noah got drunk, so God blessed Shem (Gen 9:28). Shem was the father of Eber, from whom the Hebrews are named (Gen 10:21). Abram’s direct descent from Shem is described in Genesis 11:10-26. Thus a spiritual inheritance from Adam had come to Abram which gave him an understanding of the wisdom of God and a willing heart to obey Him. That same inheritance is found in the patriarchs and prophets of Israel and it has enabled the people of Israel to be taught by the Lord God whether they like it or not (Isa 54:13).
Inherited Blessing
Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, who came to Israel to fulfil Torah, says, “Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me” (John 6:45). Thus Jesus opened the blessing inherited from Abram to everyone who truly believes in Jesus, including Gentiles. Through personally accepting redemption from their sin through Jesus’ death and resurrection, they can be grafted into the spiritual root of Israel (Rom 11).
God is working His purposes out, and the word of God in the Bible tells us how to defend ourselves against opposition. We overcome Satan by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony and by not loving our lives so much as to shrink from death (Rev 12:11). The word of our testimony will be: “I am redeemed because my sin is forgiven. The blood of Jesus Christ has washed me clean, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace lavished upon me with all wisdom and understanding.” (from Eph 1:7-8 and 1 John 1:7-9).
... we can use the authority God gives us to bind and to loose in the name of Jesus (Matt 18:18) according to the worldly limits of our spiritual authority.
This enables us to love the Lord our God wholeheartedly and to love our neighbours as ourselves even if they are enemies (Matt 5:43-44). Praising God can silence our enemies (Ps 8:2). And we can use the authority God gives us to bind and to loose in the name of Jesus (Matt 18:18) according to the worldly limits of our spiritual authority.
The devil will know whether you mean it or not and whether you are right with God. If you are righteous and mean it, the devil (being a legalist) knows that you are in the keeping of Almighty God and that he has no rights over you.
John Gordon was formerly a GP, a psychiatrist and a psychoanalyst. He is now a licensed minister in The Order of Jacob’s Well.
