Don't Be A Nimrod! Series

Intro:

1. Dictionary of American Slang, lists:

nimrod. a. a simpleton; a nerd. EX: Johnny is a total nimrod. He does such dumb things! *What stupid nimrod left the lid off the cottage cheese?

2. I think we would be wise to avoid being a nimrod!

3. Don't be a Nimrod!

Trans: Gen. 10-11

"All the people of the world have descended from Noah's 3 sons - Shem, his descendants became the Hebrews and Syrians. It is through Shem that the seed-line continues.

Ham's descendants are that of North Africa and the Far East.

Japheth's descendants the Indo-European people."

The Bible does not always present itself in chronological order. If often gives the broad picture and then goes back and fills in the details.

Chapter 10 gives the broad picture of Shem, Ham, and Japheth's descendants being scattered; Chapter 11 gives the details of why they were scattered.

I. FIRST, TO BE A NIMROD IS TO LIVE IN REBELLION AGAINST GOD.

8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD."

Nimrod comes from the verb marad meaning "to rebel". His name means "let us rebel". Nimrod was mentioned as a mighty hunter. History shows that he gained fame by subduing the horse and using the leopard to hunt wild beast.

Tame leopards are used even today in India for hunting wild game. The word Nimrod is formed by two words: Nimr which means a leopard and rada or rad which means to subdue.

before the LORD - Delitzch, "Nimrod was mighty in hunting, and that in opposition to Jehovah (ἐναντίον κυρίον, lxx); not before Jehovah in the sense of, according to the purpose and will of Jehovah, still less, like לֵאלֹהִים in Jonah 3:3, or τῷ Θεῷ in Acts 7:20, in a simply superlative sense. The last explanation is not allowed by the usage of the language, the second is irreconcilable with the context. The name itself, Nimrod from מָרַד, "we will revolt," points to some violent resistance to God."

Trans:A Nimrod lives in rebellion against God.

Joshua warned Israel:

"8 If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them." Numbers 14:8-9

Rebellion is always Satanic:

"22 So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king." 1 Samuel 15:22-23 (NKJV)

Rebellion is putting in anything or anybody in the place of God:

"7 Then I said to them, 'Each of you, throw away the abominations which are before his eyes, and do not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.' 8 But they rebelled against Me and would not obey Me. They did not all cast away the abominations which were before their eyes, nor did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Then I said, 'I will pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt.' Ezekiel 20:7-8 (NKJV)

Rebellion is refusing to follow God's Spirit.

"But they rebelled and grieved His Holy Spirit; So He turned Himself against them as an enemy, And He fought against them." Isaiah 63:10 (NKJV)

Rebellion is from the sin nature.

"Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Romans 8:7 (NKJV)

Trans:Truth is rebellion only hurts the rebel!

On the Fox River and Chain o' Lakes waterways of northern Illinois, officials annually face an expensive problem. Of the roughly 600 hundred buoys [boo-e's] on these waterways, not one is expected to last the entire season. Each year the attrition rate for the lighted plastic buoys [boo-e's] has been 125%.

What happens to them? Officials say they are willfully smashed to pieces by vandals.

But in so doing, boaters are only hurting themselves and others. Stephen Lee, "The buoys [boo-e's] are there to provide safety and direction for boaters, Some mark no-wake zones where power-boaters must go at slower speeds. They delineate shallow areas where boating could be dangerous, and show the way to mouths of channels."