Genesis 10:1-32 "The Table of Nations"

Good evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Just a reminder that this Saturday is our Pro-Life Workshop… there is still time to register… just go to our events tab or Facebook page for details.

It’s this Sat. from 9-11am and the event is free.

Well, let’s open our Bibles to Genesis. Genesis 10… the entire chapter tonight.

Last time we finished Genesis 9 and closed out the life of Noah.

We mostly saw Noah as a man of faith, who followed and obeyed God.

Immediately upon exiting the Ark, Noah built and altar to sacrifice to God many burnt offerings of total consecration.

God then reiterated the covenant with Noah to never again flood the world… and He set His rainbow in the cloud as a perpetual reminder throughout the generations.

Noah story closed, however on a sour note… where Noah got drunk and became uncovered in his tent…

Drunkenness leads to many regrettable behaviors and tarnishes our witness.

Noah’s son Ham must of had some contempt… for some reason brewing in his heart… for when he found his father… disrespectfully he told his brothers of his father’s condition…

And, we don’t know if Ham simply mocked his father or was more devious…

But, in contrast Shem and Japheth covered their father and treated him with respect.

This led to Noah prophetically pronouncing blessings upon Shem and Japheth.

And, cursing the son of Ham (Canaan)… to be a servant of servants… and to his brethren.

Which all came to be in time.

Noah died at 950 years old and today we pick up looking at the descendants of Noah… in a chapter which is commonly known as “The Table of Nations”… which is our message title this evening.

Let’s Pray!

In reverence for God’s word, if you are able, please stand as I read our passage.

Genesis 10:1-32 this evening, but I’m just going to read the first verse as there are a number of names and cities ahead, which you can see if you glance ahead… and I’d rather mispronounce them just once.

So, 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.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

If you were to read and glance through Genesis 10, it may just appear as a list of mostly unfamiliar names, but if we take a moment to dig… there is a story of origins here in this chapter.

We see a panoramic view of all the nations on earth. This is all of our origin story.

William F. Albright… who lived from 1891 to 1971 and was a prominent archaeologist and biblical scholar… referred to the "Table of Nations," as an "astonishingly accurate document."

Genesis 10… maps out how post-flood humanity spread across the world… settling in various parts of the known earth… what we know today as the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Asia.

And, this Table of Nations… this record shows us the origins of various nations, tribes, clans… languages, and lands.

But what this is not emphasizing is skin color. The Bible is not a book that emphasizes and distinguishes people by skin color.

Dividing people by skin color is a human invention.

The greatest discriminating factor in the Bible is faithfulness to God.

The Bible consistently divides people based on their belief or unbelief in God… in their heart for or against His commands… whether they serve Him or false idols… whether they are of light or darkness…

The bible barely even mentions skin color, and when so it is not a moral or spiritual divider, but descriptive.

Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots?”

Which is just a rhetorical question, the answer was no… and it pointed to a bigger question highlighting how Judah could not reform herself.

Song of Solomon 1:5 “I am dark, but lovely...”

Dark skin here came from the working in the sun… and the woman-to-be-bride expresses self-doubt because of her working class appearance, but she knew her character… she was “lovely.”

So… these are not racist declarations. Racism is a human invention.

How God see people is He “… loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (Jn 3:16)

Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations...” (Matt 28:19)

Jesus promised the Holy Spirit’s baptism, so His disciples would be powerful witness to Him “… in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)

During the Tribulation, an Angel will fly around the Earth proclaiming the gospel to “every nation, tribe, tongue, and people...” (Rev 14:6)

God see’s people… and He distinguishes them by whether they believe in Jesus Christ or if they reject Jesus Christ as Savior. That’s the divide.

And, in the Book of Acts… the Gospel goes to the descendants of Noah…

First to the Jews at Pentecost (Acts 2)… who are descendants of Shem.

Then to the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)… who is a descendant of Ham.

Then to Cornelius, the Roman Centurion (Acts 10)… who is a descendant of Japheth.

So… understand that the Table of Nations… serves to highlight origins… but NOT to promote racism.

We are all one family… we all trace back to Noah… and then to one of his three sons… Shem, Ham, or Japheth.

So, in V1 we read “Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah.”

The word “genealogy” in V1 is Heb. “toledot”… which is translated elsewhere in Genesis as “generations” or “history”…

And this Heb word “toledot” is repeated 13x in Genesis… and some use this word to form an outline of the major transitions in the book of Genesis.

Gen 10 -11:9 being the fourth major toledot section.

So, as we read this word… we can also understand this as the narrative of Genesis moving forward.

The chapters on Noah have come to a close.

Chapter 10 is a transition chapter focusing on the nations who came from Noah’s sons.

Which leads into Chapter 11… where we look at the Tower of Babel. In rebellion to God… God scatters these nations… and divides languages.

Chapter 1-11 of Genesis give us the account of “Primeval History”…

Which are foundational chapters for the rest of the Bible as they tell of the origins of all creation, humanity, sin, and the diversity of nations.

Genesis chapters 12-50 give us the account of “Patriarchal History” focusing on Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the formation of Israel… from whom would come our Messiah.

So, we are on the cusp of a major narrative shift upon entering Genesis 12.

But, back to the Table of Nations…

Noah’s sons had son’s after the flood. Of course daughters as well, but in a Patriarchal society… nations were tracked through male lineage, but no doubt… daughters were born as well.

From these three brothers, we will read that Japheth has 7 sons… 7 grandsons… and historians are able to track roughly 14 nations from his descendants.

Ham has 4 sons and 25 grandsons and some 30 nations come from his descendants.

Shem has 5 sons and 5 grandsons and some 28 nations come from his descendants.

Over all approximately 70 nations are thought to trace back to this chapter.

Which is a representative list and 70 is a repeated number in the bible representing “completeness.”

70 Nations… 70 descendants of Jacob go to Egypt… 70 elders appointed by Moses… 70 years in a lifespan (Ps 90:10)… 70 years of Babylonian captivity… 70 weeks prophesied in Daniel 9:24… 70 disciples sent out by Jesus.

Good side study…

But… in our text tonight… here we go… time to butcher some names… vv 2-5 “The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 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.”

So, from the Mountains of Ararat, in Eastern Turkey (where the Ark settled after the flood)…

Japheth and his sons… and his son’s sons… migrate north, east and west of Ararat.

Let’s pull up our Table of Nations slide to remind you… generally… where Noah’s sons settled.

So, Japheth’s sons settle from Western Europe to India.

In Greek literature, Japheth’s name is found as “Iapetos”… the legendary “father of the Greeks”… and “Iyapeti” “the ancestor of the Aryans in India.

His son “Javan” in V2 is also linked to the Greeks… his name is the original form of “Ionia” which was the same as Greece.

In V4, you see Javan’s son Elishah… and a form of his name is “Hellas” and a person who spoke Greek and saw the world through a Grecian outlook, but was not Greek, was called a “Hellenist.”

Three times in Acts we read of Hellenists (Acts 6:1, 9:29, 11:20)… and these are often associated with Jews who spoke Greek.

In V4… Javan’s sons are named… of note… Tarshish which is thought to be Spain (possibly also North Africa… specifically Carthage)…

And Tarshish is mentioned 22x in a number of OT books… often linked to the “ships of Tarshish”…

… and sea-faring ways are described in V5 noted by the words “coastland peoples” or “in some translations “seafaring peoples.”

Also… linked to Tarshish… is the account of Jonah… He fled to away from Ninevah to Tarshish…

Tarshish was the clear opposite direction from where the LORD told Jonah to go.

And, in that all three sons of Noah are also featured.

Jonah (a descendant of Shem)… is called to prophecy to Ninevah (descendants of Ham… through Cush and Nimrod who founded Ninevah as we read in V11)…

But, in disobedience to God’s command, Jonah runs to Tarshish (descendants of Japheth).

I’m not trying to make a symbolic connection here… but in Jonah and I’m sure many other places… (like Acts as mentioned before)… these nations are intertwined throughout history.

Other sons of Javan in V4… Kittim is associated with the Island of Cyprus… and Dodanim or in other translations “Rodanim” with Rhodes in Greece.

Ancient writers associate Gomer with the area of Cimmeria (present Crimea)… north of the Black Sea…

From this line Germanic peoples… and then other European nations descend.

Jewish people from Germany are often called Ashkenazi Jews… and we read in V3 a son of Gomer named “Ashkenaz.”

Form Togarmah came the Armenians…

NOT to be confused with Theological Armenians… who believe in “free-will”… they are named after a theologian named “Jacobus Arminius.”

Turkey and Turkestan also may connect to Togarmah.

Other sons of Japheth in V2 were “Magog, Tubal and Meshech” from whom far North and Russian people descend.

Possibly also the Scythians from Magog… according to Josephus.

These nations are mentioned being part of a coalition of Nations who attack Israel in the Ezk 38 prophecy.

From Madai in v2 comes the ancient Medes. You may recall that the coalition of the Medes and Persians conquered the Babylonians… as prophesied in Daniel 5:28, and literally fulfilled.

These are the nations that form modern Iran, Iraq and India.

And, the last son of Japheth listed in V2 is Tiras… who is the ancestor of the Thracians… a nation that bordered to the North of Greece… and some Italian nations may have sprouted from this line.

So, those are some of the highlights from the sons of Japheth… who most of us descend from.

Next… vv 6-20 “The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.

So this his Ham… who in the previous chapter was disrespectful to his father Noah…

From Ham, comes Cush…

Cush is the same as “Ethiopia” in the Bible. And, of note infamously in this family is Nimrod who becomes a founder founders of Babylon and Ninevah.

Quite later in history… after Solomon… Israel is divided.

Israel becomes ten tribes in the North who would be conquered ultimately by Assyria (who’s capital city is Ninevah)… in 722 B.C.

And Judah (the 2 tribes in the south) would be later conquered in waves by Babylon… from 597-587 B.C.

Mizraim is the ancestors of the Egyptians who were saved as a Nation by Joseph at the end of Genesis…

Who would turn around and enslave Israel for 400 years.

Some think Ham accompanied Mizraim to Egypt because in 3 Psalms we read of Egypt being referred to as the “land of Ham” (which is NOT a reference to bacon).

Most explicit is Psalm 105:23 “Israel also came into Egypt, And Jacob dwelt in the land of Ham.” (c.f. Ps 105:27 & 106:22)

Put is the same as Libya… North Africa… lands west of Egypt.

And, most notable is Canaan… who in Ham’s disrespect to Noah in the previous chapter… it was prophesied that Canaan would be a servant to Shem and Japheth.

Canaan’s name means “subdued, humbled, or servant” and he would live out all of these..

We read about “the land of Canaan” 66x in the Bible… this becomes what is known as the “Promised Land”… the land God promised to Abram in Gen 12:1.

Abram was told by God to leave the land of the Chaldeans (ancient Babylon… the pagan nation he was from)… and go "to a land that I will show you.”

Hebrews 11:8–10 reads, “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9 By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

And, we see in the OT that Canaan becomes Israel in three phases:

The Promise Phase… where God promises the land as a future inheritance to Abraham… from who’s loins is birthed the nation of Israel. (Gen 12-35)

Then the Conquest Phase… where the Israelites are used to judge the evil nations of Canaan and take the land that becomes Israel. (Josh 1-11)

After the Exodus from Egypt Israel was led to the Land of Canaan…

Canaan was a land flowing with milk and honey (Exo 3:8; Num 13:27)…

And God delivered that land to Israel 1) Per His covenant with Abraham… and 2) in judgment to the nations who were steeped in evil paganism.

Paul recounted this in Acts 13:19 “And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land to them by allotment.”

As promised to Abraham by God.

Finally the Settlement Phase… where the land is called “Israel” reflecting Israel’s dominance… as seen in texts like 1 Sam and Ezekiel.

And, still to this day… it’s the most disputed over land in the whole earth… which is not about real estate… it’s an age old battle by and influenced by Satan… against God’s chosen people.

And, in the end… Satan will be thrown into the Lake of Fire, by Jesus will reign in Jerusalem during the Millennium… and then in Eternity there will be the “New Jerusalem.”

Israel will forever remain Gods… and her enemies will be thwarted.

So, while we see growing anti-Semitism today… and wrong theology about Israel… the word of God is clear that there is a future plan for Israel… and just like the Canaanites couldn’t see how a small nation would conquer her…

It was foretold and it came to be.

And, God’s future prophetic revelations regarding Israel will also come to be.

God spoke it… it was written… and it will be.

Continuing to V7 “The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.”

Five Sons of Cush… From Seba will come the Sabeans (Isa 45:14) who are know in Sudan Africa and in Arabia. And, most of these sons and grandsons are associated with Arabia.

Sheba and Dedan may sound familiar. We see them mentioned in Ezk 38:13 along with the merchants of Tarshish… protesting attacks on Israel, but not intervening themselves.

vv 8-9 “Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.”

Nimrod’s name means “rebel” or “We will rebel!”

One theory is Ham’s oldest son Cush, resented the curse upon his brother Canaan… and for their line to be servants… and this resentment manifests itself in Cush’s son, Nimrod.

In some ways this reminds me of Cain’s rebellion…

After Cain killed Abel, God prophesied that Cain would be a “fugitive and vagabond” in Gen 4…

And, then Cain dwells in the land of Nod, built a city… and named it Enoch… whose name means “dedicated.”

And, it would seem that this city was dedicated to anything but God.

So often, people fight God… and fight His prophetic word… which is foolish.

We read in V10 that the beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom was Babel… and we’ll see next time… that the plans of the people to make a name for themselves and to not be scattered over the face of the earth…

Well it doesn’t work out. God told Noah “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.”

They were to go out and fill the earth… not just settle in one place.

Even in the New Testament, Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1:8 to “… be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

But, they were kind of comfortable in Jerusalem until Acts 8:1 when “… a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

God has a way of getting His will to be done.

Hello Jonah and the great fish! You know what I mean?

It’s foolish to shake your fist against God in rebellion… or delay in your obedience… or run the other way.

It’s foolish to fight against God. WHICH is what the slang meaning of Nimrod has become in modern English.

Don’t be a Nimrod!

Nimrod was said to be a “mighty one on the earth” and a “mighty hunter before the LORD.”

What does this mean? These are not compliments.

He was a “mighty one” as in he was industrious to build and found cities, but not to God’s glory.

And, was a “mighty hunter” in the sense that he hunted or searched out and persuaded people to obey his will.

He was not a hunter of beasts, but of men.

Thus he became a “mighty tyrant as observed by Yahweh.”

The Jerusalem Targum (a paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible) reads, “He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, “Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!” Therefore is it said: “As Nimrod the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord.”

So, through Nimrod’s ability to hunt men… he fought and killed and ruled ruthlessly… and in this was able to establish his kingdom over the Euphrates valley…

And, in vv 10-12, we see the cities established by Nimrod.

vv 10-12 “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).”

Babel means “confusion’ and Genesis 11:9 reads, “Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.”

Erech (also known as Uruk) was about 100 miles south of Babylon… home to Gilgamesh… the hero of the Babylonian flood epic.

Accad just North of Babylon gave birth to the Akkadian empire which was also known as the Sumerian empirie.

Calneh is unknown, but all are part of the land of Shinar… which is mentioned in Dan 1:2 and understood all to be Babylonia.

Then, Nimrod built Ninevah in Assyria.

It would seem that Nimrod invaded Assyria as it was originally Asshur who was a son of Shem… and the original founder of Assyria.

On the next Map, you can see red arrows pointing to Babylonia and Assyria… to help with the geography of these cities.

It’s wild to think about Biblical History… I think it’s wild at least… as to the fact that some of these nations rose and became dominant superpowers of the known world…

Ancient Egypt, Israel (under David and Solomon), Assyria, Babylon, the Medes and Persians, Greece (in the 400 silent years), Rome (in the time of Christ).

And here in Gen 10… we are looking at the formation of many of these nations in this Table of Nations.

I also find it fascinating that if you fast forward to today… since the 20th Century… we live in THE country… the USA… which is the dominant super power of the globe.

And, we have a responsibility to bring her back into reverence to God. Because the nation has drifted.

And all of these countries had a time stamp. They all fell at one point out of dominance… and often… as you read through the Bible… because the hand of God was against them due to their wickedness… especially their idolatry of pagan gods.

Even for Israel and Judah…

We should not take this lightly… for the sake of the Gospel… for the sake of our nation…

We need to be as the voice of the prophets to speak against evil and speak for God.

They killed Charlie Kirk for doing this, because that’s what they do to prophets.

John the Baptist was the last of the OT prophets… and he told everyone to Repent… and he called out Herod for his illegal union… and they killed him for it.

But, it’s not for naught. One martyr’s death saves many alive… look at the ripple effect in our nation of all the good coming from Charlie’s death.

We know where we are going when we exit this earth… we step out of time and into eternity… and nothing can kill us eternally.

In Matthew 10:27-28, Jesus said, “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.” And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

We need to be the voice in our culture… boldly speaking truth in love… standing in the gap… and not fearing what man can do… knowing there is a greater authority we answer to… who is God.

When the leaders and people of a nation fall away from God to idols… they are removed from earthly significance.

I don’t want to see that happen to our nation under our watch.

Continuing on in V11-12… Nimrod builds several cities in Assyria: Rehoboth Ir… (Ir meaning “city”), Calah (a principal or great city… which today is called “Nimrud” after it’s founder… it’s ruins are in Iraq) and Resen.

These cities of ancient Assyria would later march from Calah against the kingdoms of Israel and Judah… as Calah was in a strategic military and economic location.

vv13-14 “Mizraim [another son of Ham… the founder of Egypt] begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).”

These sons all have an “im” ending to their names which is a plural noun suggesting these names refer to tribes of people.

And, several are obscure… seemingly settling in North Africa… but the note about the Philistines would suggest some migrated to the land of Canaan.

And, the Philistines become a major threat to early Israel. We read about them quite a bit in Judges and Samuel.

Caphtorim is identified with Crete.

V15 “Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed.”

Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, had eleven sons and likely many daughters as well.

I found a helpful chart that tables how the Nations of Canaan change in number over time and in various bible verses.

The Arkites and Sinites for ex. are only listed here and in 1 Chr 1:15.

So, don’t feel crazy when you read the OT, and the number of nations changes.

Over time… nations move, merge, are conquered… so it’s not surprising the number would change.

From Sidon came the Phoenicians, who occupied the coastland North of Israel… two of her famous sister cities were Tyre and Sidon.

Heth is the ancestor to the Hittites… who were present in Canaan during the time of Abraham (Gen 15:19-21)… and became a powerful nation for over 800 years in Asia Minor (Gen 23:10)… and were still a great power 1000 years later during the time of Solomon (2 Chr 1:17).

That nation would eventually fall and a remnant of their people are thought to have fled to the Far East.

Archaeologist have found several similarities between Hittites and Mongoloids such as smelting and casting iron and breeding and training horses.

It’s also thought the Sinites migrated to China.

And we read at the end of V18 “Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed”.… so with this significant note… it would seem that the Canaanites, more than the other tribes, would spread North and East into Asia.

The other nine tribes listed in vv 16-17 became the Canaanite tribes who inhabited the land when the Abram first… and later the nation of Israel arrived.

When God established His covenant with Abram… God promised the land of Canaan to Abram… and promised his descendants would be numbered like the stars in the sky…

Abram “believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness.” (Gen 15:6)

And, God foretold Israel would be strangers in a land for 400 years (literally fulfilled in Egypt)…

And, then interesting Genesis 15:16 reads, “But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Amorites here is used as a representative for the whole of all the Canaanite tribes… who were all falling into sin… and would eventually be judged by God.

God judges nations… not by time, but morally and spiritually.

God is outside of time… and His desire is that people and nations would turn to Him in belief.

2 Peter 3:8–9 reads, “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”

God is a just God and extends time for people and nations to repent… to change their mind about Him and turn to Him.

But, there comes a day when sin is complete… it becomes full… and then justly… God judges.

Israel NEVER stole the land of Canaan… all the “ites” tribes were wicked and idolatrous and were judge by God.

And GOD gave the land to Israel… just as He promised Abram He would… some 400 years prior.

For each person… sin can also reach a fullness and Romans 1 portrays in vv 24, 26, and 28… how God will eventually give them up to lusts in their hearts.… to vile passions and to a debased mind centered on various forms of sin and wickedness.

God is just in that He hates and judges sin… but He is also the justifier of anyone who believes in Him…

And, in our day… namely anyone who believes in Jesus Christ as the Savior from sin… as the one who paid the price for sin on the cross (that price being death)…

And, in belief… God puts Jesus’ righteousness onto our account… and grants us eternal life.

Just as Abram believed and God accounted it to him as righteousness… so it is today for anyone who believes.

In vv 19-20 we see the Canaanite geographic boundaries… “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. 20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.”

So, without getting into too much detail… the borders here outline North to Sidon or Phoenicia, South to Gaza, Southeast to the Dead Sea (and note that Sodom and Gomorrah were still standing at this time)… Lasha likely marked the Northeast border.

And, this is pretty much the border of the land when Joshua entered to conquer it.

Once again in V20… we see that God divides progressively by families who have their own languages… settle in their own lands… and become nations.

And, this note in V20… which is similar to the note in V5… also tells us Gen 10 was written after the Tower of Babel incident for Gen 11:1 & 6 tell us the "whole earth had one language”, but afterwards there would be many.

Now moving on the the line of Shem. Shem is listed last as the Messianic story of the Bible traces through the line of Shem.

This genealogy therefor is more extensive… Japheth’s genealogy extends only to the second generation… and Ham’s genealogy to the third… but Shem’s extends to the fifth generation.

V21 “And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder.:

Shem is called “the father of all the children of Eber”…

Eber means “region beyond” and is an origin word for the term “Hebrew.”

In fact the first time “Hebrew” is used in the Bible is Gen 14:3 where we read “Abram the Hebrew.”

And, the root word for “Hebrew” is “Eber.”

Which you pronounce quite different if you are using proper Hebrew… which I am not.

We also read She is the brother of Japeth the Elder… and no mention is made of Ham… perhaps as Shem connects with Noah’s prophecy in Gen 9:25-27…

Where Ham’s line is foretold as cursed, and Shem and Japheth’s as blessed.

V22 “The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.”

From Elam came the Elamites… who in Gen 14 invaded Canaan during the days of Abram.

Asshur founded the Assyrian nation, but would be invaded by Nimrod as noted in Gen 10:11.

So, those people became a mix of Semitic and Hamitic cultures, languages and religions.

We don’t know much about Arphaxad… except that his is the Messianic line that leads to Abraham… and the Christ…

In Luke 3:35-36 (Jesus’ genealogy through Mary)… Jesus traces through the line of Arphaxad… Salah… Eber… and Peleg.

Lud may have founded the Lydians of Asia Minor.

And Aram the Arameans… same as the Syrians...who became a great nation.

V23 “The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.”

We don’t know much about these guys, except that Job was from the “land of Uz” (Job 1:1)… and that same land is later mentioned in Jer 25:20 and Lam 4:21… which is thought to be somewhere in Arabia.

V24 “Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. 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.”

Again… this is the Messianic line.

And, while other sons and daughters were likely born to Arphaxad, only the line of the promised Seed is listed.

It’s noted that in the days of Peleg the earth was divided.

Peleg’s name means “division” and children were often named after conditions surrounding their birth.

And, Nimrod (from Ham) and Eber (from Shem) were in the same generation.

Thus, to commemorate the earth being divided, it would seem that Eber named his son Peleg / “division.”

Now… the divided earth here… is NOT referring to a continental drift of a once supercontinent called “Pangaea”…

Rather… this points to the division of peoples and languages at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

Genesis 10:5 again reads, “Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language...”

Pointing to linguistic division.

Genesis 10:32 “… the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.”

Pointing to Nations being divided by geography, but not by actual splitting of a supercontinent.

vv 26-31 “Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael [his name means “My father is God”], Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.”

Here are the 13 sons of Joktan (Peleg’s brother, Eber’s son)…

It’s thought all settled in Arabia. Of note:

Ophir is mentioned 13x in scripture… and was an area linked as being rich with gold. 1 Kings 9:28 describes “… four hundred and twenty talents of gold” being brought to King Solomon from Ophir.

Jobab is possibly the one we know as Job in the Bible.

Some think that Shem may have written records that were passed down… and may have lived closer to Joktan, thus he was familiar with the names of all his sons…

Versus only knowing the key sons in the line of Peleg, but no others.

V31 is a familiar summary verse… also for Japheth in V5 and Ham in V20.

Feel free to study these names further… and perhaps look up all the meanings behind the names, but…

… we are going to wrap up with this summary statement in V32…

V32 “These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations [Again, Heb. “toledot’}, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.”

So… Gen 10… the Table of Nations provides us with the original 70 nations that came to be in the post-flood world.

(Worship team please come)

I like this quote from Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (a fantastic resource)…

“Any man who can barely read his Bible, and has but heard of such people as the Assyrians, Elamites, Lydians, Medes, Ionians, and Thracians, will readily acknowledge that Asshur, Elam, Lud, Madai, Javan, and Tiras, grandsons of Noah, were their respective founders.”

What Genesis 10 provides to us… is an important record… as it preserves the record of the Messianic line through Shem…

… and demonstrates the veracity… the devotion to truth… of God’s word to show the origin of the post-flood Nations.

Praise God for His word.

Let’s Pray!

If you need prayer, please see us before you go.

“The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you;

The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” ’

God bless you as you close out the week ahead.