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Subject 6 : Heretics
[6-23] The Descendants of Ham, Mighty Soul-Hunters (Genesis 10:1-32)
“Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood. The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.’ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim). Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations. And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations. These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.”
Today’s Scripture passage describes the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. God says here that it’s from these three men that the entire human race sprang forth to spread around the world. In other words, every existing race or nation has all descended from Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. So the ancestry of the human race is traced back to Noah and his three sons. Today’s Scripture passage writes which tribes have stemmed from each of these three sons.
The Bible first describes the descendants of Japheth. It then describes the genealogy of Ham in the following terms in Genesis 10:6-20:
“The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, ‘Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.’ And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city). Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim). Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.”
Nimrod Was a Mighty Hunter before God
The man called Nimrod was a mighty hunter before God. It’s written, “The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan” (Genesis 10:6). The first thing to note here is that Ham is the forefather of the Canaanites. These Canaanites eventually turned into God’s enemies to torment the Israelites, who were Ham’s descendants and God’s chosen people. Cush, the first son of Ham, bore Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Dedan, and Nimrod. So Nimrod was Ham’s grandson. The Bible describes Nimrod the son of Cush as a mighty hunter. And it also says that Nimrod lived in Babel in the land of Shinar. Nimrod was an imposing man in his physical appearance, but spiritually speaking, this means that he was a mighty soul-hunter who was utterly evil. And as a mighty hunter, he came to stand against the righteousness of God. That’s because unlike ordinary hunters that pursue game, Nimrod hunted down and preyed upon people’s souls rather than animals. Like this, Ham’s descendants ended up turning into God’s enemies as written in the Bible.
Nimrod was a hunter preying upon people’s souls. In today’s Christian communities also, there are many soul-hunters like Nimrod. They prey upon people’s souls, and they are killing these souls by using their fabricated doctrines. The religions of the world are inciting people with lies and hunting for their souls, claiming that their sins would be remitted if they do many good deeds. Using the false doctrines of man’s own making, Christianity is also ensnaring the souls of its followers. This is Satan’s work. By working inside Christianity with fabricated doctrines, Satan is tying down Christians into a rigidly dogmatic framework and immobilizing them, thus ensuring their certain death.
When we look at Christianity around the world today, we can see that many of its leaders are actually strangling people’s souls with such Christian dogmas as the doctrine of prayers of repentance and the doctrine of incremental sanctification, thereby making it impossible for them to be freed from all their sins. Because these false prophets use some seemingly authoritative Christian doctrines, the souls of those ensnared by this trap cannot help but be spiritually imprisoned in their sins. Satan uses mighty hunters to make it impossible for people’s souls to escape from spiritual death. If someone tries to be freed from Christian dogmas, these soul-hunters prevent them from escaping from their clutches by ensnaring them with the trap of human bondage. As they are mighty hunters before God, they use the exact same method that the Devil uses to prey on people’s souls.
The spiritual descendants of Ham, that is Christian leaders, are hunting for people’s souls even now. These soul-hunters use Christian doctrines as the deadliest weapon to destroy people’s souls. They are preying upon the souls that believe in Jesus by using such Christian doctrines as the doctrine of incremental sanctification and the doctrine of prayers of repentance. The problem, however, is that their peculiar method of soul-hunting is viewed as nothing strange. It’s all because they have covered up their lies with Christian doctrines and disguised themselves as real shepherds. The religionists of the world are devouring countless souls by cloaking the religions of their own making to appear as good religions. Through such mighty hunters, Satan is deceiving so many people and destroying them so effortlessly. Their method of hunting is not shooting a game with an arrow, but it involves making up a false doctrine that promises to wash away people’s sins, and then exploiting their weaknesses to prey upon them.
So people who are ensnared by this peculiar method of hunting are perishing away spiritually, unable to be freed from their sins. As they are under the grip of the so-called “spiritual leaders” of Christianity today, they are completely immobilized in both body and spirit, and they are all dying in their sinful state. The leaders of Christianity, who are actually today’s mighty hunters, are leading countless souls to death by trapping them in false doctrines such as the doctrine of prayers of repentance or the doctrine of incremental sanctification. Christians who now find themselves in this desperate situation have already fallen into the deception of these false prophets from long ago, and so their souls are already as good as dead.
Those Whose Souls Are Being Hunted
When we look at the various religions that are in this world with our own eyes, they all look quite decent and good. Isn’t this true? In our eyes, the religions of the world all appear good. For instance, it’s so beautiful to see Christians worshipping God in their churches and they all look so holy that even non-Christians would envy them. Like this, when non-Christians see Christianity only in its outside appearance, they like what they see, and perhaps it’s only natural for the people of the world to feel this way when they see only the outside shell of Christianity. Today’s religionists are involved in so many charity works that they look as if they were angels. Given how these people are serving the poor and the needy so devotedly, there is no one who wouldn’t feel that every religion is good when he sees such pious people.
There are those in Christianity who seek the virtues of the flesh, and people have no idea that precisely such people are mighty hunters. Although these Christians look virtuous in their outside appearance pretending to serve others, in reality, they are just hiding their true colors with such outward manifestation of virtue, all the while preying upon people’s souls. Through the training camp called seminary, Satan trains mighty hunters to set the doctrinal traps that ensnare people’s souls, wait quietly for the prey, and pounce on the victims when they are ensnared by the traps and devour them (Proverbs 1:11-12). God has made it known to us that the Devil is still preying upon people’s souls in a peculiar way.
Among Christians around the whole world, there are many who believe in Jesus as their Savior without understanding the gospel of the water and the Spirit yet, nor knowing the righteousness of God. In reality, they are leading their lives of faith while trapped by the mighty hunters shown in the Bible. But what is truly tragic is that they don’t even realize this. As today’s Christians do not know Jesus Christ who came by the water and the Spirit, they believe in Him in vain and they are praying in vain. Trying to wash away their sins, they pray to God futilely, blindly asking Him, “Lord, I’ve done wrong. Please forgive me.” None other than such people are those trapped by the mighty hunters, but they themselves do not even realize this and are instead too busy with their own devotion. Even though they are now ensnared by the traps set by the mighty hunters they are completely oblivious to this and are devoting themselves even more and falling even deeper into the traps. It’s all because they believe in the false doctrines of Christianity. This means that false Christian doctrines are the very instruments used by the mighty hunters. You should grasp here that the more those trapped by the mighty hunters try to escape, the more religious doctrines the mighty hunters use to try to destroy them.
The mighty hunters keep a close watch over the souls of their followers to maintain their authority and satisfy their greed. They ensure the cohesiveness of their organization by handing out as many church offices as possible to their followers. Since the ministers working under such leaders keep each other under constant surveillance, no one can escape from the grips of the prevailing dogma once he becomes a member of the organization called Christianity. As the organization of Christianity is vertically integrated to resemble a pyramid, its structure of command and control is unassailably airtight. So just by assigning a few people to keep a watchful eye, all information can be collected and routed up through the channels to the top right away. That’s how the leader at the very top can keep constant surveillance over everyone else and control his followers. Like this, the mighty hunters are preying on people with the religious doctrines of their own making and false beliefs.
To these liars, I raise the following question: “Is it God’s work to prey on people’s souls, even as you claim to believe in Jesus Christ who came to this earth incarnated in the flesh of man as your Savior?” Today, there are those who say that faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit is wrong. They claim to have received the remission of sin even without believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and they are actually attacking those who believe in this true gospel. When they are asked, “By what faith then is one saved from sin?” they say, “One is saved just by believing in the blood of the Cross, even if he doesn’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.” It is precisely these people who are mighty soul-hunters before God.
The righteous believe that the true remission of sin is received only when one believes in the baptism Jesus received from John the Baptist and the blood He shed on the Cross. In contrast, today’s mighty hunters say, “No, that’s not true. All that you have to do is just believe in the blood of the Cross. Doesn’t the Bible say that Abraham was justified for believing in the Word of God? So of the Word of God, if you just believe in the blood of the Cross alone, then you are made righteous.” But their words and their faith are all in vain. We can see that they are actually partaking in the Devil’s work that is destroying people’s souls. Those who have been born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit have spiritual discernment, and so they can distinguish the true gospel from the false ones.
You must realize that when the mighty hunters approach the people they are aiming at, they always approach with false Christian doctrines. Armed with these fallacious doctrines, they are working hard to bring spiritual death to Christians. The false leaders in today’s Christian communities blindly insist, “Believe in Jesus; you will then be saved from sin.” In contrast, those who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God, say, “Anyone who claims to abide by Christianity but does not believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit with the heart is like the mighty hunter shown in the Bible.” The false leaders of Christianity have turned into the mighty hunters preying upon the sons of God.
Right now, we have faith in the gospel of the water and the Spirit Jesus has given us. This faith is the true faith. In our hearts as the believers in the righteousness of God, there is faith, in the virgin birth of Jesus Christ and His baptism received from John the Baptist, His blood shed at the Cross, and His resurrection. And we also believe in the ascension of Jesus, His second coming, the Millennial Kingdom to come, and the everlasting Kin gdom of Heaven. Those who truthfully believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit cannot help but thank God. We have been born again by believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, and we believe in Jesus’ everything― from His birth to the baptism He received, the suffering He endured on the Cross as well as His death, resurrection, ascension, and return.
However, those who don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit argue that salvation is reached by believing in only the blood He shed at the Cross, thus disregarding the baptism He received. Yet we can see that when one tries to be saved and receive the Holy Spirit according to their teachings, an exorbitant amount of work is demanded of him. Today’s heretics believe in completely groundless Christian doctrines so ardently that they are verging on fanaticism. It’s so spiritually frustrating to see how Christianity today cannot help but emphasize the need for man’s own work to attain salvation.
Today’s mighty hunters are those who don’t believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which is the righteousness of God, and are instead standing against it. Ham had attacked his own father’s shortcomings and stood against the will of God, and as his spiritual descendants still remain in this world, they are now tormenting the righteous who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit. Such soul-hunters will continue to exist until our Lord returns.
Satan is preventing those in this world who have not been born again from believing in the gospel of the water and the Spirit, the righteousness of God. He is destroying everyone’s soul with false Christian doctrines. However, Satan is ultimately unable to overcome the people of God who believe in the gospel of the water and the Spirit.
As such, rather than struggling in vain trapped in Christian doctrines sown by Satan only to perish away, you should realize the righteousness of God and believe in it, and thus be freed from the clutches of the mighty soul-hunters to become God’s own people standing against them and glorifying God.
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