Among the first group of historical figures in the Old Testament—as recorded in Genesis, the book in which the seeds of the divine truths are sown—on the negative side, besides the godless culture invented by Cain and his descendants, there are Nimrod and the tower of Babel.
Nimrod was a descendant of Ham, the cursed one among the three sons of Noah (Gen. 10:6-8). According to Nimrod’s genealogy, he was not a descendant of Cain, yet according to the way that he took, he did not follow his forefather Noah to take the way of God’s redemption and life; rather, he followed those who were in the genealogy of Cain to take the way of godlessness and death, a way in which everything is out of death, lies in death, and is unto death, and in which everything is without God and has nothing to do with God.
Ham, a son of Noah, received the curse by exposing his father’s shame and thereby rebelling against the God-established authority. God is a God of order and government. In His creation, everything is in good order, and this order is related to His government. Noah was God’s deputy authority on the earth at that time. By exposing the nakedness of his father, Noah, Ham violated God’s government. Hence, he and his descendants were cursed.
Since Nimrod was a descendant of Ham, who was cursed, and since he took Cain’s way of godlessness and death, according to his genealogy, Nimrod was cursed, and according to the godless way that he took, he deserved death and God’s destruction.
Nimrod was the first king and the first one to build a kingdom. He was on the way of death and was under the curse, yet he became a mighty one on the earth (Gen. 10:8). He was utilized by Satan, took the lead to abuse the authority given to man by God, set himself up as king, ruled over others, and built a kingdom. He built a kingdom beginning at Babel in the land of Shinar (Gen. 10:10), and he also built the city of Nineveh in the land of Asshur (Gen. 10:11-12). In giving man authority to rule over others, God did not intend for man to form nations; His intention was to maintain peace among men. However, Nimrod misused this authority, using it to raise up a kingdom on the earth.
Nimrod’s building of a kingdom resulted in division among Noah’s descendants. After the flood, God had only one deputy authority on the earth, and that was Noah, who represented God, the true Head. At that time, there was only one family, and there was only one head. They were absolutely one. However, after Nimrod took the lead to build a kingdom and to rule as king over others, the descendants of Noah were divided into many nations (Gen. 10:32) according to their generations, having many kings ruling and controlling them. The result was division.