Chapters1011a

GENESIS 10-11

Introduction

These verses describe the scattering of mankind over the earth and the separating of mankind into nations:

Genesis 11:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.

Genesis 11:9 ... from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Genesis 10:5 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.

Genesis 10:25 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.

Genesis 10:32 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.

Listen carefully - - Mankind was scattered and separated so that they might seek the Lord; they were driven away and divided so that God might draw them! That sounds inconsistent, but it's the commentary of the Apostle Paul in the New Testament:

Acts 17:26-28 "And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..."

God draws men to the knowledge of Himself and does not seek to evade them. He made man as one race; He intervenes to direct their lives throughout the course of history; He has determined where they will live and how long they will live there, as well as how long it should take for a nation or an empire to rise and then fall again. All of this is based upon their reaction to the one great reason for which human beings exist, which is, as Paul says, "in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him."

In order to seek and draw those who were scattered and divided, God established a new nation to bless all nations with the knowledge of Himself. They were the descendants of Shem through Eber - - a Semitic (Shem) people who would be called Hebrews (Eber). The genealogies in chapters ten through twelve follow this line until God says to Abram,

Genesis 12:2-3 "I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed."

God still seeks and draws those who are scattered and divided. To do so He has again established a new nation to bless all nations with the knowledge of Himself:

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

God is not through with the physical descendants of Abram. His promises to the Hebrews are unconditional and His plan for the human race still involves and revolves around the Jews. The Jews, though, as a nation rejected Jesus Christ, their Savior and the Savior of all mankind. So Jesus spoke of a new "nation" that would bless all nations with the knowledge of Him. You and I, those who are born-again by God the Holy Spirit, are that "nation" - - a spiritual nation called to proclaim His praises to all the nations of the world!

#1 God Made Abraham A New Nation To Bless All Nations With The Knowledge Of Himself

Chapters ten and eleven are not in chronological order. The incident at the Tower of Babel takes place prior to God's scattering and dividing of the human race. Notice in 11:1 "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech." Then, because of the rebellion at Babel, 11:9 says, "...and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth." What you read about in chapter ten comes after the first nine verses of chapter eleven.

Genesis 10:1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

If this is true, then the human race is truly a brotherhood, all descending from the same blood! Thus the Bible knows nothing of racism. The Jews, to whom this was originally written, are being commanded to see all men as brothers, to have compassion upon them and to proclaim the knowledge of the One true God to them that they might be saved.

Evolution, by the way, is inherently racist! The theory of evolution depends upon the long, slow development of each race by mutation and natural selection. If this were true there would be significant evolutionary differences between races. Each race would be in the process of evolving into a new species and, therefore, some races would be more advanced than others. This idea was widely held by the leading evolutionists of the last century. Thomas Huxley wrote,

"No rational man believes that the average negro is the equal, still less the superior of the white man....the highest places in the hierarchy of civilization will assuredly not be within the reach of our dusky cousins..."

Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.

Genesis 10:3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.

Genesis 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.

Genesis 10:5 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.

Historians can trace most of these names and recognize them as ancestors of the Indo-European peoples. Japheth is found in literature as Iapetos, the legendary father of the Greeks, and as Iyapeti, the reputed ancestor of the Aryans in India. Gomer is identified by ancient secular writers with the district of Cimmeria, north of the Black Sea, his name surviving in the present form Crimea. One branch of the descendants of Gomer eventually moved westward, with the name being preserved in both Germany and in Wales (known in earlier times as Cambria).

Ashkenaz - To this day, German Jews are called the Ashkenazi. Some believe that the names Scandia and Saxon are derived from Ashkenaz, as colonists from Germany made their way into Denmark and its northern islands.

Riphath - There is a possibility that the name Europe was originally a form of Riphath.

Togarmah - This son is the ancestor of the Armenians. Turkey and Turkestan also possibly derive from Togarmah.

Magog - This can mean "the place of Gog" and is probably a reference to Georgia, the region near the Black Sea still known by that name.

Meshech and Tubal - Moscow is derived from Meshech; Tubal gives the modern Russian city of Tobolsk its name.

Madai - The ancestor of the Medes who settled in what is now Persia.

Javan - It is well established that Javan is the original form of Ionia, which is the same as Greece.

Elishah - Hellas is another form of this name and came to be applied to Greece as a whole - Hellenists. The Iliad mentions the Eilesian people.

Tarshish - Identified with Tartessos in Spain and with Carthage in North Africa.

Kittim - Cyprus. The term "Ma-Kittim" means "the land of Kittim," from which we get the term Macedonia.

Dodanim - From this name we get the geographical name Dardanelles.

Tiras - The ancestor of the Thracians and, perhaps, the Etruscans of Italy.

Genesis 10:6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

Cush - Ethiopia.

Mizraim - The ancestor of the Egyptians and is the customary name for Egypt in the Bible.

Put - Libya, applied to the region of North Africa west of Egypt.

Canaan - The ancestor of the Canaanites who gave his name to the land of Canaan.

Genesis 10:7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

Seba - Migrated to what we call the Sudan.

Havilah, Sabtah, Sabtechah , and Havilah - All can be located in Arabia.

Genesis 10:8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth.

Genesis 10:9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD."

Genesis 10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.

Genesis 10:11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah,

Genesis 10:12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

Nimrod and his city, Babel, will be the subject of our study next week.

Genesis 10:13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim,

Genesis 10:14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

Genesis 10:15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth;

Not all of these names have been properly traced. Ancient monuments record the name of the Heth's ancestors as "Khittae," from which we get the word Cathay as applied to the Far East.

Genesis 10:16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite;

Genesis 10:17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite;

Genesis 10:18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed.

Genesis 10:19 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 nine sons of Canaan were the ancestors of the Canaanite tribes that occupied the Promised Land when the Hebrews arrived. Verse nineteen contain boundaries of the Promised Land.

The Sinites are interesting. Many Bible names are derived from them - - The Wilderness of Sin, Mount Sinai. Isaiah 49:12 mentions a people in the Far East named Sinim, as does secular history. It is significant that the Chinese people have always been identified by the prefix "Sino-," such as the Sino-Soviet border. The name Sin is often encountered in Chinese names in the form "Siang."

Genesis 10:20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

Could all of the world's nations really have developed from the three sons of Noah? How can you account for the physical differences between peoples if we are really related?

Dr. Henry Morris:

"It is known genetically that...isolation and inbreeding ...are required for rapid production of individual varieties from a given species. Assuming that all the many genetic factors for all aspects of man's physical structure were present in Adam at creation - and many of them...in the six people from whom the world was to be repopulated after the flood - then different groups of such characters would soon become more or less permanently established in the individual inbreeding family groups and soon each would become a distinctive tribe or nation."

Dr. Morris' comments are based on the "founder principle" in genetics, discovered by Dobzhansky in his studies of the fruit fly.

The conclusion you arrive at, scientifically, is this:

"...the enforced segregation of mankind into small inbreeding tribal units would generate a rapid development of the distinctive physical characteristics associated with each tribe...it is very doubtful that any other explanation is feasible at all."

The genealogy of Shem is next.

Genesis 10:21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.

We will only point out a few of the interesting details in the genealogy of Shem.

From Shem we get our word Semitic, such as Anti-Semitism. Eber is where we derive Hebrew from.

Genesis 10:22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

Aram - Father of the Arameans, the people we know as Syrians. Their language, Aramaic, was adopted by the leading nations of the world up until the time of Jesus Christ.

Genesis 10:23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.

Genesis 10:24 Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber.

Genesis 10:25 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.

We're told of Peleg that "in his days the earth was divided." This certainly refers to the geographic division of mankind resulting from the confusion of their language. It might refer to a literal division of the earth's crust into the various continents we know today - - with a rapid movement at first slowing to the gradual continental drift scientists observe today.

Genesis 10:26 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,

Genesis 10:27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,

Genesis 10:28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

Genesis 10:29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

Genesis 10:30 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east.

Genesis 10:31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

Genesis 10:32 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.

The genealogy of Shem is continued and completed in chapter eleven, verses ten through 32. The descendants of Shem's son, Arphaxad, are traced until you get to Abram. We will return to this in later studies. The point is to establish the genealogy of Abram from Shem through Eber. It is Abram of whom God said,

It was God's stated intention to bless all of the peoples He had divided and scattered. Though the Jews in large measure failed in their missionary efforts, this does not overthrow the purpose of God. Paul said that God's purpose in scattering men was that they might seek Him; His purpose in dividing them was that He might draw them. Even when the Jews failed, Acts 14:16-17 says,

"[God]...in bygone generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."

While the Jews failed, God remained faithful. Rahab and the Gibeonites fell upon the mercy of God and were saved; the Assyrians in Nineveh repented and sought the Lord and He spared them.

What is true of God's dealings with these nations is true of His dealings with you!

God saw you scattered and sought after you:

Matthew 9:36-38 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, "The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."

God scatters you to seek others:

Acts 8:1, 4 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles...Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word.

God draws you to the knowledge of Himself and does not seek to evade you. He intervenes to direct your life; He has determined where you will live and how long you will live there. All of this is based upon your reaction to the one great reason for which you exist, which is, as Paul says, "in the hope that [you] might grope for Him and find Him."

When you do...

#2 God Makes You A New Nation To Bless All Nations With The Knowledge Of Himself

God is not through with the Jews. The nation of Israel is the key to the prophetic events of the Last Days preceding the return of Jesus Christ. God will judge the nations of the world in light of how they treated Israel, just as He promised Abram that He would.

The Church, comprised of all born-again believers, is not Israel! The Church is a mystery - - a truth never before taught in the Old Testament, but revealed to us in the New Testament. When Israel rejected Jesus, Jesus began to speak of a new nation of people - - His Church. Since Jesus was rejected by Israel in His First Coming, He will return again. The time between those comings is the Church Age in which you and I live.

During this time, we are a new "nation" called upon to make the Gospel known to everyone:

We are a new nation:

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light...

As God's new nation, we are to harbor no racial prejudices or distinctions:

Colossians 3:11 ...there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

We are called upon to reach others who are scattered around the earth with the knowledge of the Gospel:

Matthew 28:19-20 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Conclusion

Since all men spring from one blood, the blood of One Man can save them all!

Romans 5:18 Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.

Since Genesis is true, all men everywhere have a universal need for salvation. They are all born sinners, and they all sin. Since God is true, all men everywhere can be saved at the Cross of Jesus Christ.

The Jews in large measure failed to make God known to their brothers and sisters from other nations. God, though, remained and remains faithful - - both to Israel and to the other nations of the world!

Is the Church failing in the missionary work we are called to do? Only you can answer that question for yourself. Answer it, though, in this context: God remains faithful, both to the nations of the world and to you!

God's Word will not fail...And you need not fail!