The Divine Right of Kings: its origin

Article #40

“And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.” -Genesis 10:8-10

Kingship was not invented by God but by men, notably by Nimrod/Gilgamesh. There may have been kings before the Flood, but Nimrod was the first king after the Flood. Before Nimrod, families were govern by patriarchs, such as Shem, Arphaxad, Salah, and Eber. Something happened toward the end of the first century after the Flood. Whether or not kingship existed before the Flood, its origin is ultimately diabolic. Kingship is a satanic conspiracy that extends beyond the lives of individual men and will only end with Jesus Christ returning to take his rightful place on his throne as King of kings.

Christians believe that Satan exists. We sometimes imagine that he is literally next to us to tempt us. But Satan is not God, so he is not omnipresent. He is only present at one place in the universe at a time, ideally at the location where he can push people to exert the most power over others. Satan wants power. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 calls Satan “the god of this world”. In Luke 4:5,6, the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and offered to give him all their power and glory, because he was the one in control of them.

Satan is particularly identified with the king of Tyre in Ezekiel 28, and there we can see his real nature. He was originally “the anointed cherub that covereth” (vs. 14), “perfect in all [his] ways” (vs. 15), and present in “Eden the garden of God” (vs. 13). But “iniquity was found in” him (vs. 15), his heart was lifted up (vs. 2), and he declared himself to be God (vs. 2). This passage refers to Satan and the king of Tyre as the same, which makes us think that the king was possessed by Satan, even as Judas Iscariot was (Luke 22:3, John 13:27). It was from this region of Tyre and Sidon that Jezebel came, who corrupted the kingdoms of Israel and Judah and caused their downfall. And all this began with Nimrod.

Kingship was a concept of epic proportion. It essentially involved one human controlling the lives of other humans, but the actual implementation was much more complex. It included the idea that God condoned and endorsed this abuse of power. Furthermore, it was solidified by the dynastic system, i.e., the transfer of power to the king’s descendants. Let me restate these points:

1. A supreme military ruler (king, lugal, sargon) makes decisions for those under his control.
2. A religious leader makes an ostentatious show of conferring God’s authority on the king.
3. The kingship is only passed down to the king’s family, the dynasty.
4. People and families are given a place within a fixed hierarchical class system.

All this began at Babel and will continue until our Lord’s return.

The Sumerian King List, one of the oldest documents in the world, refers to the time at Babel when Nimrod received a plan, power, and authority from Satan to establish the first kingdom. The earliest copies are from more than two centuries after Babel, so the text has been embellished to exaggerate the dynasties, but the basic facts agree with the Bible. There was a Flood, unusually long lifespans, a first king, authority from heaven, and the transfer of supreme authority from one king to another and from one city to another. This is a remarkable document, as long as we realize that it was created as a promotional device for the satanic dynastic system rather than for historical accuracy.

The SKL begins with 8 kings who ruled from 5 cities before the Flood. Then the Flood swept over the earth. The kings before the Flood reigned 5, 8, 10, or 12 “sars”, which is the Sumerian number 3,600. While this is usually interpreted as years, if we interpret it as the number of months, the SKL antediluvian kings show an interesting relationship to the patriarchs from Adam to Noah. Of course, the SKL dates are rounded off to sars and ners and less accurate that the Biblical dates. It is interesting to note that only one SKL king is given a description, which is “the shepherd”. Dumuzid corresponds to the time of Enoch, who walked with God and was translated. The book of Jude also mentions the Book of Enoch, which further emphasizes a significantly godly person. Is this just a coincidence?

The rest of the SKL mentions 19 successive dynasties, ending with the dynasty of the city of Isin, in the Middle Bronze Age, when Israel was in Egypt. The dynasty of Isin seems to have fabricated the list to justify its kingship. Most of the dynasties are probably contemporary but were listed sequentially to promote the throne. Many of the kings and reign lengths are exaggerated. Entire dynasties are questionable. People certainly believed in the transfer of world supremacy, but in reality, it didn’t happen. Here are the dynasties:

1. Kish I (23 kings)
2. Uruk I (12 kings)
3. Ur I (4 kings)
4. Awan (3 kings)
5. Kish II (8 kings)
6. Hamazi (1 king)
7. Uruk II (3 kings)
8. Ur II (2 kings)
9. Adab (1 king)
10. Mari (6 kings)
11. Kish III (1 king)
12. Akshak (6 kings)
13. Kish IV (8 kings)
14. Uruk III (1 king)
15. Akkad (8 kings)
16. Uruk IV (5 kings)
17. Gutian rule (19 kings)
18. Uruk V (1 king)
19. Ur III (5 kings)
20. Isin (15 kings)

The last six dynasties are fairly well known from monuments and other writings, while the first 14 cannot be historically confirmed. Some of the cities have been identified, but few of the kings have. The SKL certainly shows a strong belief in the legacy of the divine right of kings, which did not begin with the Middle Ages or Caesar. Two statements stand out above all others.

In the very beginning, before the first 8 kings, we read,
“After the kingship descended from heaven, the kingship was in Eridug [Eridu].”
After the first 8 kings, we read,
“After the flood had swept over, and the kinship had descended from heaven, the kingship was in Kish.”

So was the first kingdom in Eridu or in Kish? Although Kish was religiously important at a later date, it was not large or influential at the time that Eridu was. Archeology confirms this. It’s clear to me that the SKL recognizes Eridu as the first dynasty and the beginning of kingship. It places it before the Flood to promote kingship. Was Adam a king? I don’t think so. Kingship began after the Flood, and it began at Eridu.

The divine right of kings began at Eridu.