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Genesis Chapter Ten
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
(Clicking on these links will move you down this web page) Genesis Chapter Ten | |
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Genesis 10:1 The Descendants of Noah
The three races of mankind Genesis 10:2 - 5 The sons of Japheth |
Genesis 10:6 - 20 The sons of Ham
Genesis 10:21 - 32 The sons of Shem General Jesus issued orders to disperse |
"Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth- and unto them were sons born after the flood"
A new beginning for mankind:
Are there any examples in God's Word where God gave somebody a second chance in life?
Yes, there are many but let me just mention a few.
God gave Moses a second chance after the rebellion of Moses against God because of God's
orders to him concerning circumcision
Noah's descendants are also listed in
Where did the three races of mankind come from? What color was Jesus?
Generally, the descendants of Japheth went to Europe, the descendants of Ham went to Africa, and descendants of Shem went to the near east and far east.
"Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations"
The sons of Japheth:
"Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 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. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. And the
border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations"
The sons of Ham:
"Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, and Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, and Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations. These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood"
The sons of Shem:
What is the relevance of knowing these three family groups? It is believed you and I
racially belong to one or more of these family groups. DNA appears to confirm that.
In spite of some physical differences in appearance, all of mankind is the same
internally. For example, all of mankind shares the same basic anatomy, the same blood types,
the same spiritual ability to accept Christ, the power to reason,
the same ability to procreate with another person of a different race, and other
similarities not mentioned here.
General Jesus ordered mankind to disperse and multiply:
God had ordered mankind to scatter over the earth and repopulate it. But mankind
rebelled and refused to obey God. Instead they settled together in Babylon.
And Satan found fertile ground there in the hearts of those people.
This sets the stage for us to progress to the next chapter in this amazing book of the bible.
The Descendants of Noah:
(Genesis 10:1).
God gave mankind a second chance in saving them on the ark because God was determined that His Plan of the Ages should
work. When we get saved, it is a new spiritual beginning for each of us.
God expects us to follow Him but sometimes our spiritual walk
is not perfect. We must keep trying to get it right. God anticipates skinned knees when
we are learning how to walk...
Not many folks are perfect at the start of their spiritual life because they are
babes in the faith and have to be fed the milk of the Word
(Hebrews 5:12-13; 1 Peter 2:2). When an individual is a spiritually mature Christian,
sometimes they can become shipwrecked on the deadly rocks of sin.
We must not forget that God is loving, merciful, and forgiving. He sometimes gives an individual or more a second chance who does not deserve it.
He gives second chances because of His grace. The definition of grace is unmerited favor.
(Exodus 4:24-26). God gave Samson a second chance after Samson's repentance
(Judges 16:28-30). Jesus gave Peter a second chance after Peter's denial of Him
(Luke 22:31-32). God gave Saul a second chance, saved him, and changed his name to
(the Apostle) Paul
(Acts 9:15-20). How is that relevant to you and I? God is the God of second chances. God gave Noah and his three sons,
as representatives of the fallen human race, a second chance to get it right.
So, maybe, some of us will get a second chance from Him if we really screw up the gift of
life He has blessed us with. His grace goes a long way after we bow the knee to Him and see things His way.
1 Chronicles chapter 1.
Just as God did not tell us what languages that he gave to those folks in ancient Babylon, so He never told us about the three major races of mankind upon the earth. Some folks think that because Noah had three sons, then each one may have had a different skin color. Or, some folks think that God changed the color of their skin at the same time that He changed their language so they would be more inclined to separate from one another and go in different directions to repopulate the world. What race and color was Jesus? Since Jesus did not have an earthly biological father, then He could have been any racial color that He wanted to be or any combination thereof. The yellow race thinks that Jesus was yellow, the black race thinks that Jesus was black, and the white race thinks that Jesus was white. The answer is simply that we do not know any of these answers. However, we do know that the bloodline of Jesus was through Shem.
(Genesis 10:2-5).
Japheth means "opened, enlarged, fair, or persuading." The sons of Japheth became heads of tribes that went to different parts of our earth. Mostly, the sons of Japheth spread north into Europe. It does not matter what color your skin is- it matters what color your spiritual heart is.
(Genesis 10:6-20).
Ham means "hot, heat, or brown." The sons of Ham became heads of tribes that went to Africa. Cush went to Ethiopia, Mizraim went to Egypt, and Canaan went to the land by the Mediterranean Sea. Extreme wickedness was found in this branch of Noah's family tree. "Eventually the territory of Canaan spread...to Sodom and Gomorrah." God reminds us here that, later, violence and sin found full expression in the descendants of Canaan in the 5 cities of the plain. They are listed here: Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Lasha. These 5 cities were totally destroyed by God
(Genesis chapter 19).
(Genesis 10:21-32).
Shem means "renown" or "name " and Peleg means "division." The sons of Shem became heads of tribes. Mostly, the sons of Shem spread to all parts of Asia. From Shem came Eber and from Eber came the Hebrews.
The blood line of Christ flowed from Shem through Arphaxad.
Jesus Christ is a man's Man and that is one reason He is titled the Son of Man.
It took a real Man to do what He did for us on the cross of Calvary- to hang there
bruised, bleeding, thirsty, being in agonizing pain from the wounds in His body,
suffering humiliation, feeling the sting of rejection, dying a slow death,
and so much more. He earned my respect and love for what He did for me that day.
But He was not just a Person of sacrifice for that time but is
a mighty military General of supreme importance- the Lord of Armies (hosts).
He is that because He is eternally existent. We do not see the military
side of Him very much in the gospels but we do see it in other sections of scripture
(Genesis 18:1; Joshua 5:13-15). Moses had been an Egyptian general before His spiritual conversion experience
(2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). At the burning bush, General Jesus ordered General Moses to Egypt on a
mission to free God's people held there in slavery
(Exodus 3:4). That makes General Jesus a General over generals or a general of generals.
Because He is supreme, other such titles are given to Him such as King of Kings and
Lord of lords
(Revelation 17:14, 19:16). My point is that the General Jesus and the other Members of the Holy Trinity gave
military orders to mankind to disperse.
But mankind ignored those orders. Therefore mankind was brought up on charges
of insubordination and punished. What was mankind's punishment? Mankind was separated
from itself. The one world language was changed into many languages to help
mankind disperse into all the world.
Teacher, would you mind explaining that further? Ok, God's will was clear to them,
"...God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them:
"Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth..."
(Genesis 9:1).
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As of April 1, 2013