What is the significance of the land of Shinar in the Bible?

Ancient name of the plain lying in the south between the Euphrates and the Tigris. It was where Nimrod established his kingdom, and where the tower of Babel was built. Amraphel, king of Shinar, was one of the four kings who fought against the five kings when Lot was taken prisoner. In later times it was known as Chaldea, or Babylonia (as in the LXX of Isa. 11:11), and thither some of the captives from Judah were carried. Gen. 10:10; Gen. 11:2; Gen. 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; Zech. 5:11.

Perhaps the most outstanding feature of this world-system is its opposition to God, and its challenge to His glory. This is what Shinar signifies. The plain of Shinar is the seat of idolatry, whilst we see from Zechariah 5 that "wickedness" finds its home there. Genesis 10 and 11 show its intimate connection with Babel, that system of idolatrous confusion the features of which have persisted throughout the ages, and will persist in opposition to God until finally judged and overthrown (Revelation 17). Idolatry alienates man from God; this is plainly seen in Romans 1, and as thus separated in affection from God he becomes engulfed in moral darkness and every depravity.

God is not without an adequate answer to Shinar's challenge, and so we find Him asserting His own glory in calling Abraham out from that system of idolatry (Joshua 24:2). "The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham … Then cane he out" (Acts 7:2-4).

The word 'Babel' occurs but twice: in Gen. 10:10 it is the name of the first place mentioned as the beginning of the kingdom of Nimrod; and in Gen. 11:9 the tower and city are called 'Babel,' because there the language of man was confounded so that they did not understand one another. The tower was to be very high 'unto heaven,' not with any thought of reaching heaven, but it declared the lofty imagination of man's heart in the desire to make them a name, and to form a gathering point, which would prevent their being scattered. God would not suffer this, for man no sooner has power than he begins to abuse it. He could not therefore let them as one family exalt their own name, for the Lord's name alone is to be exalted. As the result of God's judgement they were scattered and formed into nations according to their tongues and families.

By the terms of the divine mandate men were to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth" (Gen. 9:1). To be obedient to this, they must scatter, for how else could the replenishing of "the earth" be accomplished? But against this command of God the will of men rose up rebelliously. They would concentrate, and so consolidate their power and importance. A city and a tower were appointed as the centre and expression of their unity. The site chosen for these was the plain of Shinar, for many succeeding centuries one of Satan's chief distributing points, and possibly to be so again before "man's day" closes.

Zechariah enquires, "Whither do these bear the ephah? And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it" (the house) "shall be established, and set there upon her own base." (vv. 10, 11) This answer of the angel reveals the whole truth of the vision and of the ephah. The ephah, as we have seen, represents a Jewish form of wickedness, an organized system of evil, but retaining the outward forms of Judaism. This produces, develops, the twin sisters of evil, superstition and infidelity; and these now lead on to full apostasy, and hence they are seen bearing the ephah to the land of Shinar, the place and the home of avowed opposition to God (see Genesis 11:2), where this incarnation of wickedness should have a house established, and be set upon her own base. The Jewish nation — that is to say, that which is publicly owned as such, although there will be a true remnant which will have this place before God — will become openly apostate, and will then be seen in its real Babylonish character. The fulfilment of all this will take place during the sway of the anti-christ, who will be an apostate Jew (Daniel 11:37) as well as the. denier of the Father and the Son. (1 John 2)

Before going farther, let me call your attention to a few more points in the chapter, without anticipating that which will come before us in a future lecture. "In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people." What is the force of this "second time," if you turn aside the stream of prophecy from Israel? Give it its plain, unadulterated meaning, and what can be clearer? Jehovah had once redeemed His people from Egypt: He will deliver them a second time. This is not the only reference to His bringing the people out of a house of bondage. The close of the chapter repeats the allusion. "He shall set his hand the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah." Where and when has there been any approach to a fulfilment of this prophecy? "The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim." Thus it will not only be a national restoration in the fullest sense (the ten tribes as well as the two tribes, or "all Israel" according to the doctrinal statement of the New Testament), but, besides, there will be a great spiritual action upon souls; there will be the removal by the grace of God of all strife, rivalry, vexation, and envy between the different portions of Israel. It will be a work in every part of it worthy of the mighty transforming goodness of God Himself. But, further, it is said that "Jehovah shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dryshod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt." No just principle of interpretation can be applied to this chapter without confessing the plain meaning of a future restoration of Israel as such by the power of God in the latter day. That which would here sanction its application to Christianity, if carried out fully elsewhere, would shake to the very foundations the whole truth of God as revealed in the Bible. Neither verses 6-9 nor verse 14 can be regarded as serious difficulties by those who look for a vast relief for the lower creation under the last Adam, and the re-appearing of ancient races, when Israel's restoration becomes the question once more.

The defection of king Hezekiah (Isaiah 39) resulted in the pronouncement by God that Judah would be carried away, with their possessions, into Babylon, and here we find the fulfilment of that word. Sadly we read "part of the vessels of the house of God … carried … into the land of Shinar" (Daniel 1:2). Precious vessels, hallowed for the service of God's house, now found in the house of a pagan's god! Shinar is introduced in Scripture (see Genesis 10, 11 and 14) as marked by rebellion; man seeking to challenge the rights of God and make a name for himself; and a kingdom of war and conflict. This is the character of the scene which, in God's governmental dealings, His people were found in. Do we not find similar conditions surrounding us today?

The second part of this vision reveals what had to take place in view of this curse. An ephah was the common measure of trade and commerce, and a woman is several times used in Scripture as a symbol of a system; and systemized idolatry, linked with profitable business had lain at the root of the evils that had led to the captivity out of which the remnant had come; and the land of Shinar, where Babylon was situated, had been the original home and hotbed of all idolatry. It was this that had brought the curse upon the forefathers of the people. The whole system of this idolatrous evil had to be deported to its own base.

Shinar is first mentioned in Scripture in Genesis 10:10 as the home of Nimrod, and it was in that country that Babel (Greek-Babylon) was built. Babel was the place where man's speech was confounded, because of his impious attempt to be independent of God. Tracing Babel, or Babylon, through Scripture, we find it connected with two evils—idolatry and infidelity. These two are often connected, as witness the slavish idolatry of the Roman Catholic system, and its infidelity. These, then, will mark the Jew in the last days. There will be the Anti-christ, who will be infidel, that is, refusing God; and idolatrous, as setting up himself, and the image of the beast, to be worshipped.

Wherever Shinar is mentioned, it is viewed as a challenging glory to the glory of God, but the remarkable thing about it is that when it appears God indicates a generation who will have nothing to do with it. The tower of Babel is Shinar and was a challenge to the glory of God. The God of glory indicated that He would call out a generation who would respond to His call and so Abram came out of it. Again in Joshua where the Babylonish garment is mentioned, calling attention to a man who is conspicuous in this world, God calls attention to Joshua, a man who was conspicuous in heaven, for the sun stood still at his word. Again in the book of Daniel, where we get some of the vessels of God carried into Shinar, we have brought to light three men who will go into the fire rather than dishonour God. The reference in Zechariah is the only other place where it is mentioned, and there it is seen as judged of God.