In a distant past, there lived a man named Nimrod. He was the son of Cush.
Thousands of years after Nimrod, another son was born, named Jesus.
Jesus is the son of “I Am”.
Both sons reveal something about your identity.
By studying and contrasting Nimrod and Jesus and their fathers, we uncover profound truths about light and darkness, about the two trees in the Garden of Eden, about bearing fruit, and the true source of joy and eternal life.
The name Nimrod (נִמְרוֹד) means “rebellion”.
This rebel was fathered by Cush.
Genesis 10:8 (NKJ)
Cush begot Nimrod.
So Cush is the father of Nimrod.
Cush (כושׁ) means “darkness.”
So Darkness is the father of rebellion.
The fruit of darkness is rebellion.
When we contrast this with Jesus, an extraordinary contrast emerges.
Jesus / Yehoshua (יהושׁוע) means “JHWH brings salvation” (Jehovah brings salvation).
JHWH (Jehovah) is the Father of Jesus.
John 20:31 (NKJ)
…Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
JHWH means “I Am.”
So I Am is the father of salvation.
The fruit of I Am is salvation.
Here we see two different fathers, each bringing forth different fruit.
The sons, in turn, also bring forth fruit.
The fruit of Nimrod rises from the earth and the fruit of Jesus descends from Heaven.
What exactly that fruit is, we will discover shortly.
One father is Cush, which means darkness.
The other father is God, and…
1 John 1:5 (NKJ)
God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all.
Light in the Bible is always a symbol of insight.
That is why in Ephesians 1:18 Paul speaks of “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened”.
Light is the insight into the knowledge you have about something.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (BSB)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made His light shine in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
To give us the insight into the knowledge of the glory of God.
Light is the insight into knowledge you have about something.
The fruit that light brings forth is peace.
The fruit that darkness brings forth is rebellion.
Do you see that?
When you have knowledge of the glory of God, but you lack insight into it, you do not understand what it means, then you rebel against it.
There is no peace in your heart.
As a father or mother, you always pass your identity on to your child.
It happens naturally because you are like a mirror for your child.
Your child initially knows nothing and absorbs all that you say and all that you do.
The same applies to Nimrod and Jesus.
Jesus even says this literally:
John 5:19 (NKJ)
The son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do;
for whatever the Father does, the son also does in like manner.
Nimrod was born of darkness and has no insight into who he truly is.
Therefore, he rebels and grows up as a rebel, becoming a violent man.
1 Chronicles 1:10 (NIV)
Nimrod became a mighty warrior on earth.
Jesus is born of “I Am.”
He knows exactly who he is!
Hebrews 1:3 (BSB)
He is the radiance of God’s glory.
Therefore, the glory of God is visible in him.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (BSB)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made His light shine in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
He is exactly like his father!
Colossians 1:15 + 2:9 (BSB)
He is the image of the invisible God.
For in Him all the fullness of the Deity dwells in bodily form.
You too are made in the image of God, for He is your father, He made you.
However, we have not adopted the image of God, our father, as our identity; instead, we have crafted our own distinct identity.
And that identity we pass on to our children.
Adam started with this, and we do exactly the same.
Genesis 5:1+3 (BSB)
1. On the day that God created Adam, He made him in the likeness of God.
For God is his father and like a mirror to him.
Adam had knowledge of the glory of God, but he lacked insight into it.
Therefore, he eats from another knowledge, the knowledge of good and evil, earthly knowledge, hoping to gain wisdom from it (Genesis 3:6).
He adopted this earthly knowledge as a new identity and raised his children from that identity. Because:
3. Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and fathered a son in his likeness, after his image.
The identity that Adam passed on to his children, Paul calls “the tradition of men” and “the basic principles of the world.”
Therefore, he warns us with:
Colossians 2:8 (NKJ)
Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit,
according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world,
and not according to Christ.
The Pharisees also lacked insight into the knowledge of the glory of God and therefore sought their identity in the world.
Jesus thus says to them:
John 8:44+47 (GNT)
You are the children of your father, the Devil, and you want to follow your father’s desires.
He who is of God hears God’s words.
He who has God as father has insight into the knowledge of the glory of God.
The hope of this glory for you is Christ in you.
Colossians 1:27 (NKJ)
Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Christ is your identity!
You are the image and exact likeness of your father; JHWH (Jehovah).
Do you have that identity, or have you adopted the identity according to the tradition of men?
Who do you have as father?
Cush fathered Nimrod.
Darkness fathered rebellion.
The fruit of darkness, thus the fruit of lacking insight into your true identity, is rebellion.
JHWH (Jehovah) fathered Jesus.
The light fathered salvation.
The fruit of light, that is, the fruit of having full insight into who you really are, is salvation.
Luke 6:43-44 (NKJ)
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For a good tree does not bear bad fruit,
nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.
The tree of life has Jesus as its fruit.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil has Nimrod as its fruit.
A fruit is essentially a seed.
When you plant the fruit of a tree in the ground, the same type of tree grows from it.
The tree from which you eat the fruit plants its seeds in you, and thus you become exactly like that tree and you bear exactly the same fruit as the tree you ate from.
When you eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you become a tree of knowledge of good and evil yourself.
When you eat from the tree of life, you yourself become a tree of life.
And where is this tree of life located?
In the new Jerusalem (Revelation 22:2).
The new Jerusalem is the fruit that Jesus brings forth.
Jesus is the fruit of the light; he only ate from the tree of life.
The fruit he himself brings forth is the new Jerusalem.
1 Corinthians 3:11 (NKJ)
For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Jesus laid this foundation in his 12 apostles.
Revelation 21:14 (NKJ)
The wall of the new Jerusalem has twelve foundations,
and on them are the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The fruit that Jesus brings forth is the new Jerusalem; the city of peace.
Light brings forth salvation, and salvation brings forth peace.
The fruit that Nimrod bears, however, is confusion
Nimrod builds the city of Babel (Genesis 10:10).
Babel means confusion.
Darkness brings forth rebellion, and rebellion brings forth confusion.
When you have light as your Father, you eat of His fruits of life.
Thus you grow into a tree of life yourself.
And where is this tree?
Revelation 22:2 (NKJ)
In the middle of the street of the new Jerusalem,
and on either side of the river, was the tree of life.
You stand deeply rooted in peace and drink the water of life that flows through the river.
This water is the truth of the word of God that reveals to you your true identity; Christ.
That is who you are!
Jesus as the first, and when you eat from his fruit, you are the next.
1 John 4:17 (NKJ)
Because as He is, so are we in this world.
We can already read about the river of living water in the New Jerusalem in Genesis 2.
Genesis 2:10-14 (NIV)
A river watering the garden flowed from Eden
from there it was separated into four headwaters.
The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah.
The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.
The name of the third river is the Tigris and the fourth river is the Euphrates.
Babel, the fruit of Nimrod, lies precisely between the Tigris and the Euphrates.
The banks of the Tigris and the banks of the Euphrates touch the city.
The Gihon flows through the whole land of darkness; Cush.
And the Pishon flows through the whole land of Havilah, another son of Cush, so Nimrod’s brother.
The water in the river originates from the kingdom of God.
The water is the truth of the word of God that brings light into the darkness and gives peace where confusion has arisen.
The water is the truth of the word of God that reveals to you your true identity and flows across the earth to bring salvation and peace.
James 1:17-18 (NKJ)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights.
Of His own will He brought us forth HOW? ➡️ by the word of truth.
By drinking the word of truth from the river of life, we are born of God.
God is then your Father.
This Father of light shines in your heart to give insight into the knowledge of the glory of God.
2 Corinthians 4:6 (BSB)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”
made His light shine in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ.
This insight allows you to grow to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
This insight shows you your true identity: Christ.
2 Corinthians 3:18 (HSV)
We all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed into that same image
from glory to glory.
until you have full insight into the glory of God and you yourself have grown to the fullness of that glory.
Christ in you is the hope of that glory; Christ is your identity.
Who is your mirror?
Do you look into a mirror of darkness, where you cannot see your true identity?
Or do you look into the mirror of light, to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God?
