One But Divided

Introduction

Play game with map and guessing countries.

Now the reason I played this game with you is because today’s passage talks about all these areas on the map, but obviously because the passage was written thousands of years ago, the country names and all their borders have changed a lot. Now when you read today’s passage, it can be kind of a boring passage. It’s a passage where it lists all the descendents of Noah’s three sons. It’s just name after name after name.

But if you actually read it carefully, it’s quite different to a regular genealogy. It’s got some little stories peppered throughout, and little extra comments, that you would not find in other kinds of genealogies. In fact, there’s nothing quite like this passage in ancient writings. It’s a very unique passage. So Bible scholars have given a very special name for this chapter - they call it the ‘table of nations’.

So let’s quickly read through this passage and see what God is telling us through it.

Read Genesis 10.

Unity

Now if you read this passage, we see many different people, many different nations, and many different languages. But one thing is really clear: everyone are the descendents of Noah.

Read Genesis 10:1 “1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.”

Read Genesis 10:32 “32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.”

This passage begins and ends, clearly stating that these are the ‘generations’ or the ‘clans’ of the sons of Noah. After the great flood, all of humanity started again in this one person, Noah. We essentially find a common unity, a common origin, an interconnectedness of everyone from our common descent from Noah. And that means the blessings and grace and love that God showed Noah, is passed onto us as well. That wonderful covenant of the rainbow that was given to Noah, is given to us as well.

And this unity that we have, this oneness that we have as a human race is important to remember. In this world, often there is a lot of emphasis placed on our differences. We notice a lot of differences between us including things like:

Race

Gender

Language

Nationality

Religion

Even when we make friends, we notice differences between us, like personality, age, what school they are from, what job they have, what subjects they are doing, and we choose our friends based on these criteria.

By dividing ourselves based on these differences, we create an ‘us vs. them’ mentality, we draw a line in our minds about certain people. We become tribalistic. And this tribalism fuels much of the conflict and war that we see today. The us vs. them of Ukraine vs. Russia, USA vs. China, Democracy vs. Communism, left wing vs. right wing. But this tribalism fuels conflict and discord on a smaller and more personal scale as well. Even as we sit here in team 3, I notice that there are already certain groups of friends. And beyond those groups, you may not talk to many other people in team 3 - I’m sure there are some people in team 3 you have never spoken to. Not many of you are willing to break out of your comfort zones and become friends with people who you have deemed in your minds as too different to you.

But what today’s passage shows us is we are not all that different. Sure, there are very real differences between us - but fundmentally, we are united, we are one people, because we are all the one people descended from Noah. And even more importantly, we are human beings created in the image of God.

So I challenge you this week to change your mindset. Stop seeing the differences in other people, stop separating yourself from others, stop seeing the distance between you and others, but rather see the closeness, the unity, see how we are all the one people under God. And because we are one, we need to act as though we are one: being united in love and harmony. Step out your comfort zone, say hi to someone who you are not close to, invite someone new to your friend circle. This is not always easy, but this is something we need to do, because all of us are one, as we are created in the image of God.

(Other points of unity: the totality of mankind depicted in repeated numbers of 7, and also 10 -> ie, all mankind are before God, all people derive their existence from the life-giving power of God, all are under the sovereign rule of God).

Division

However, it is not just unity that we see in this passage. We also see division. In this passage, we see 3 distinct lines of humanity, one from each of the sons of Noah: the descendents ofJapheth, the descendents of Ham, and the descendents of Shem. And the differences between them are made really clear, because at the end of listing all the descendents of each of the sons, we see this repeated comment made:

Read Genesis 10:5 “5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.”

Read Genesis 10:20 “20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”

Read Genesis 10:31 “31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.”

We see this repeated emphasis, of different clans, different languages, different lands, different nations.

And this passage ends with this final verse, which shows how divided humanity is, and as a result, how all these different divisions of mankind had spread all over the earth - read Genesis 10:32 “32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.”

Now we will see how this division and spread of mankind came about in next week’s passage with the tower of Babel story. But in short, this division and spread of mankind across the earth into different nations and languages is an act of judgement from God. It is the outcome of the sin of mankind. It is not the kind of mankind of the original Adam and Eve in the garden, in perfect relationship with each other and with God.

And the most obvious place where we can see this division is in verse 25. Read Genesis 10:25 “25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan.”

We see Peleg is a descendent of Eber, who is the great grandson of Shem, the chosen blessed line. But even the name Peleg means ‘division’, and the verse even makes a comment, ‘for in his days the earth was divided.’

But who is the descendent of Peleg? Later we see Abraham is a descendent of Peleg, and we will read later on Abraham is the one who God has planned to bless all humanity. Even though humanity is sinful, judged, and divided, and spread all over the earth, God has a great plan to bless everyone - despite the division - through Abraham. God actually uses the division, to choose a select line of humanity, and through that separated and chosen line of humanity, God will bring together and bless the nations again, breaking down all the barriers and the divisive effectsof sin. And the way God does this is through that chosen line of Shem, Peleg, and then Abraham, God brings His Son in to the world Jesus Christ, in who we all become one new humanity.

And as believers in Jesus, we are now part of that chosen, blessed, line that started in Noah. This line is no longer by physical birth, or by race or language, but by faith in Christ. We are one new humanity by faith in Christ.

But it doesn’t just stop with us. God has this great plan for the entire world.

Read Isaiah 49:6 “6 he says: “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.””

And just like how God brings his blessings to the entire world through Noah, Shem, and Abraham, God now brings His blessings to the world through us. Read Matthew 28:19 “19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

We are now commanded to tell others about Christ, about the gospel, as that is the way God will bless and unite humanity again. God uses us to break down the barriers and divisions of humanity, and creates a new single united humanity, united in Christ.

Conclusion

So as Christians, our efforts to become one, to love one another, to step out of our comfort zones, saying hi to people we haven’t spoken to before - all these things are not just for the sake of peace and happiness. There is a greater mission at work - the very mission of God, that began at the very start of humanity. We are taking part in the very mission of God himself, to bring about his blessings to the entire earth, to all people’s, to break down all divisions, to remove the effects of sin, so that we can all be one people, children of God, praising and glorifying Him together. This is why we love others, this is why we include others, this is why we tell others about the gospel. So in all that you do, always remember that we are not the main characters of the stories of our lives - we are just very small characters, taking part in a larger big story at work from the beginning of time, which is God’s story and his unending love for His people.

Study questions:

Who are the kinds of people you can easily become friends with?

Who are the kinds of people who you find difficult to become friends with?

Do I regularly step outside my comfort zone, and make an effort to love and be friends with others?

What is the greater importance of us telling the gospel to others and being united with others?