July 11, 2026

For a guy who’s only mentioned four times in the Bible, he sure has received a great deal of notoriety.

A fortress in northern Israel, a tower near Babylon, and both a volcano and mountain in Turkey all bear his name, for example.

Two times we read in the Bible that “Cush begot Nimrod” (Gen. 10:8; 1 Chron. 1:10), which in a straightforward reading of the text would make Nimrod the great-grandson of Noah. Now if Noah lived 350 years following the flood (Gen. 9:28), then it would follow seamlessly that Noah lived long enough to have held baby Nimrod in his arms.

According to the Bible, the land of Cush was located south of Egypt, leading naturally to the presumption that it was named for Nimrod’s papa who may have migrated there to raise his children in the dark, mineral-rich soil astride the Nile River (Job 28:19).

The Bible, however, associates Nimrod with the land of Assyria (Micah 5:6), a walking distance of approximately two thousand miles from Cush, so perhaps papa Cush left Mesopotamia (the ancient land of Assyria and Babylon) for Africa only after his children were grown and as head of one of the many groups that were scattered in the aftermath of the Tower of Babel. Or perhaps Cush is simply a variant spelling of Kish, an ancient Mesopotamian city, thus strengthening the view that Nimrod never left the region of Assyria for which he is biblically connected. Others posit that Nimrod grew up in modern Turkey, for that’s where his grandfather Ham and great-grandfather Noah first touched down after the flood. All this to explain why so many traditions variously connect Nimrod to Egypt, Turkey and Mesopotamia.

An index in the back of my red, duct-taped Bible (the one I bought during my freshman year at college and which has served as my everyday study Bible for decades) gives the meaning of Nimrod’s name as “valiant, strong.” Another solid source suggests that it means “to rebel” or “let us rebel” and yet another “to shine,” but in truth most highly respected Hebrew sources seem stubbornly uncertain about its meaning.

You’ll encounter various descriptions of Nimrod—he was an empire builder, despot, ancient king, warrior, conqueror, the one who led the rebellion at the Tower of Babel and even a cannibal—but here’s what we can say for sure. The Bible describes him as “the mighty hunter before the Lord” (Genesis 10:9). As a young man, I never spent much time parsing the meaning of that verse. I simply assumed that Nimrod was a good guy who liked to hunt. I pictured a Massachusetts pilgrim returning with a turkey for his Thanksgiving meal; Teddy Roosevelt on an African safari; or perhaps Legolas from the Lord of the Rings emptying his quiver into a pack of charging warg riders.

As it turns out, I wasn’t entirely wrong to think that, but let’s break it down a little more. Yes, Nimrod was “mighty,” and this is the same word used in that famous description of the coming Messiah in Isaiah 9:6, “Mighty God.” So, we’re safe to assume that Nimrod was a mighty leader, one known for strength or power. Nimrod is also called a hunter, and it’s the same word used for Esau who hunted wild game for his father (Gen. 25:27; 27:29), yet the context of Genesis 10 would suggest that something more is in view, perhaps something even sinister, for we are immediately told in the following two verses that “the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar” and “from that time he went to Assyria and built Nineveh.” Nimrod then is directly linked with Babel and with the unmistakable implication that he directed or at least assented to the construction of Babel, the ancient name of Babylon, a city and country that has been routinely associated in the Bible with rebellion against God.

But then there’s that little phrase back in Gen. 10:10 stating that Nimrod was a mighty hunter “before the Lord.” Does this point to a godly motive and a good heart? Not likely, for it can just as readily be understood as an idiom for “over all the earth” or “on the earth,” such as we see in v. 9 and in 1 Chron. 1:10.

The Bible, history and tradition thus slowly paint the picture of a mighty man who “hunted” power, conquest and fame. We’ll dig a little deeper into this next time.

-Daniel McCabe

Trivia

Life in the Land: David’s Sling

Forgive me if you launched into this post expecting to encounter a young shepherd boy, a Philistine giant and five smooth stones, for this is not that sling. It is instead an Israel Defense Forces surface-to-air missile system used to intercept enemy drones, planes, missiles and rockets. It’s been operational since 2017 and can fire missiles defensively at speeds greater than one mile per second.

Only one part of Israel’s multi-tiered defense system, David’s Sling is designed for medium to long-range applications, whereas the Iron Dome, with which you may be more familiar, is designed for short-range air defense. Israel also utilizes a laser air-defense system known as the Iron Beam, which all brings back memories for me of my long-ago years as an engineer in Texas where I worked for a U.S. electronics and intelligence defense contractor, widely known for its cooperation with Israel on a Sinai early-warning defense technology.

David’s Sling has successfully neutralized rockets fired from Gaza toward Tel Aviv and Jerusalem; from southern Lebanon into northern Israel; and from Iran into Israel. Several Gulf States, Finland, Australia and Estonia have all expressed interest in acquiring this system.

-Daniel McCabe

Pneumatology—Our Baptism into the Body of Christ, part 4

Believers are baptized into the Holy Spirit by Jesus Christ and baptized into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit, which we see in 1 Corinthians 12:13. I’m a part of the body of Christ that is mentioned several times in Paul’s letters, and it’s the Holy Spirit who baptized me or dipped me into His body. When we are dipped in water as a public declaration of our faith, that’s an outward symbol of a spiritual reality, the reality that I’ve been baptized or dipped into the body of Christ. Water baptism by immersion at a church service, the actual going down into the water and coming back up, pictures Christ’s death, burial and resurrection and my immersion into the body of Christ at the moment of my salvation. One’s baptism in a church service might come days, weeks, months or sometimes years later, but the moment one professes faith in Christ, the Holy Spirit immerses him or her into the body of Christ.

To be clear, there’s nothing about the water that cleanses one from sin or saves us in any way, shape or form. It is merely a public declaration though admittedly there are some who do believe that you have to be water baptized in order to be saved. But the Bible teaches nothing of it. There is a verse in Acts 2:38 spoken by Peter on the day of Pentecost which is often cited to support the teaching that one must be baptized in order to be saved, but that’s not what he’s saying. Water baptism is not necessary for salvation. It is a symbol. It’s a command. We ought to do it. Christ wants us to be baptized, and it’s a great public declaration to say, “Hey, I’m with the Lord! I am in Christ, and here’s my way of declaring that to you.” But water baptism doesn’t save anyone. It only pictures the work of the Holy Spirit at salvation when He immerses the believer into the body of Christ.

-Adam Keim

The People and Religions of Israel—the Neo-Pagans

Over the last few years more and more Israelis have, as they like to say, “come out of the broom closet.” Although their numbers are still quite small, the true number of neo-paganists in Israel is hard to assess since many choose to remain in their broom closet, fearing that their beliefs will damage meaningful relationships with their Jewish families and friends who hold a strong aversion to idol worship and polytheism.

Neo-paganists worship nature and a wide variety of ancient gods and goddesses, rejecting Judaism in favor of Mesopotamian, Canaanite, Nordic, Celtic, Greek and Roman gods. Every individual chooses his own pantheon after attempting to contact the various gods and goddesses that they have learned about from reading mythology or history. Some follow Wicca, Druidism, Shamanism, New Age and Indian religions. Some erect personal altars in their homes or band together with others to perform community rituals.

It is heartbreaking for me to read about this new trend in Israel, and it’s a sad return to spiritual infidelity after all that the Lord has done for his people. But before I end this post, it is fair to turn the light upon our own spiritual condition. We may not be tempted to worship a tree or the moon; kneel in the corner of our apartment before a Canaanite god like Baal (pictured); or proudly drink coffee from a mug that reads, “Thank God I’m Jewitch,” but have you allowed your job, your thought life or your latest pastime to distract you from the worship of the “only true God and Jesus Christ” (John 17:3)?

-Daniel McCabe

Answer to the Trivia

B. Jordan River

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