Getting Excited about Genesis 10
Notes
Transcript
Sermon handout.
Please turn to Genesis chapter 10.
Genesis chapter 10. We are almost done with this current sermon series.
And this chapter is one of the most boring chapters in all of Scripture—at least at first glance. and yet it is also I believe one of the most helpful chapters in all of Scripture.
because when you and I think about Genesis 1-11, our series, we think of:
God creating all things - Adam and Eve!
The fall - Adam and Eve sin
Cain and Abel
Noah and the flood
Tower of Babel
not this chapter.
this chapter shows the genealogy of the 3 sons of Noah—Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
It comes naturally right here because in chapter 9...
Noah gets drunk and naked in his own tent. Ham, his son stumbles upon him, tells his brothers, dishonors him.
and Shem and Japheth cover Noah up in an honorable way.
and then Noah says in chapter 9:25-27
25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
and so I think it only makes sense that chapter 10 is included—to show how did the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth develop and the nations that came from them.
it’s called the Table of nations—because it is very organized
1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.
5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
and so if you look at this map—here are the sons of Japheth—north and west of Israel—those names become nations. (red outline) where their descendants settled
Let’s look at Ham
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.
11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah
12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
13 Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,
14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.
15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered
19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
look at the map - in green.
and last but not least - Shem
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
26 Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah,
28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.
31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
look at the map in blue
Exciting stuff!
before I talk about this passage...it’s worth asking the question...what do you do when you come to a passage like this and it doesn’t seem inspirational.
and it doesn’t make sense.
I have never seen Genesis 10 on a refrigerator magnet, or Christian t-shirt. I have never seen anyone post on social media— “Genesis 10 just uplifted my soul! Praise the Lord—hallelujah!”
so what do you do:
Some Bible reading tips:
Remember 2 Timothy 3:16
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
so even passages like this is God-breathed (inspired by God) and useful...
2. slow down and read the passage again. Chew on it. (why might this be here—even genealogy — I know how much we love genealogy as a society now; small towns love it—if you are related—who are your parents...and grandparents—my mom knows who our families’, 3rd, 4th, and 5th cousin—
3. Get a good Study Bible.
I have 2 Study Bibles—each of these are good.
NIV Biblical Theological Study Bible (in our Book Nook) top half is Scripture, bottom half is notes. (picture)
or
ESV Study Bible (came out in 2009)
4. Consult a good resource online. What are those good resources. 2 that I regularly use:
—www.Bibleproject.com
—www.thegospelcoalition.com
I will sometimes search what does the Bibleproject say about Genesis 10 or the Gospel Coalition.
Try to wait to do this until you have a guess what it means.
5. Ask 2 big questions of every text:
—what does this passage teach me about God? (he is the main character)
—what does this passage teach me about humans (or myself?) (in response to God)
so before we can learn or apply it—we have to do some good Bible Study on our own or with others.
What do we learn/Application
as we are asking what does this teach us about God and humankinds—here are some of the things from my study and discussion with our staff:
Since God is the Creator of all people, and all of us have a common origin, there is no place for racism (or ethno-centrism.) (or elitism or superiority—or any other ism)
this theme is throughout Genesis...
we are reminded earlier in Genesis 1 that all of us are descended from 2 human beings Adam and Eve—all of us are their descendants.
We are also reminded that all people are created in the image of God Genesis 1:27
27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
this means all of us have value—-and a mission...all peoples have inherent dignity and worth from the womb to the tomb
c. and we are reminded here—that all of us have common ancestors—we are all descendants of Noah and His wife, and then 3 sons — Shem, Ham, or Japheth.
the Apostle Paul in Acts 17 reminds us of this too when he is giving a missions, evangelistic speech to the intellectual people of Athens - he says -
26 From one man he made all the nations....
so we see here — if Moses wrote this—and was giving it to the Israelites on the verge of going into the Promised Land—to wage war, it was a reminder to the Israelites that they had no right to look down on their enemies.
their enemies were in vs. 15ff
15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites,
16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites,
17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,
18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered
19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha. (Promised Land)
and even though God chose the Israelites through Abraham to be his chosen people. they were not to feel superior “Well God chose me...”
7 The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
it’s a reminder to all of us that if we are followers of Jesus—it’s not because we are smarter or more talented at accepting Jesus or believing in Jesus, but we go by the grace of God.
so there is no place for racism. no place for looking down on anyone...we only go by the grace of God.
one of the sad histories of interpreting Gen. 9 and 10—is that some used the curse of Ham and Canaan—they interpreted it as Christians to justify the enslaving of Africans.
here is how the thinking went:
Ham had sinned against righteous Noah, the pastor explained, so God cursed his son Canaan and his descendants by destining them to perpetual servitude (Gen. 9:25–27). Just as Cain had a mark on him (Gen. 4:15), so the Hebrew meaning of Ham’s name was “dark or black”—hence the mark on the cursed dark-skinned peoples of Africa. They were destined to continual subjugation, which is evident throughout history. (Garrett Kell, https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/damn-curse-ham/)
this interpretation grew in America prior to 1865 - some used this as justification for enslaving Africans.
sadly some of that thinking is still used to support segregation or even white supremacy.
this is sad—and a misuse of Scripture. .… the curse on Canaan and descendants was not about skin color—but about sinful conduct.
this shows that how we interpret Scripture matters!
so as we think about application:
one of the challenges with this point is probably that most of us don’t think we are racists.
because we don’t call people from other races or ethnicities names. We don’t use the N word to describe African Americans.
but perhaps it’s better than talking about what not to do, but instead...what you do instead.
if we are not to be racist or prejudice against other people groups, it’s worth asking this—thinking of this from more of a perspective not just what to avoid—but to pursue—if God is making a kingdom of peoples from every tongue, tribe, and nation....
do you have a heart for all nations to come to Christ? if Jesus wants to see all peoples come to Him - do you pray for other nations or missions efforts around the world? (Prayer booklet) (Missions wall)
do you know someone from another culture, ethnicity? (maybe that is hard, but in our predominantly white congregation, do you know any of our Hispanic neighbors, Japanese neighbors who may work at FCC, the Amish (another culture) do you actually have a relationship with them? do you actively pursue this?
if not, what can you actively do to pursue those who may be different than you? how can you actively pursue relationships with all peoples? what would that look like? I think it begins with prayer.
As I have been following the World Cup - soccer - I have been struck that I don’t even know where all the countries playing are located such as Cabo Verde (cape verd or caboooo vurday)—which is a country of about half million off the coast of West Africa!
maybe one small step is to know where all the World Cup nations are.
in God’s kingdom, there is no place for racism because we have a common ancestor, we are all made in god’s image. and we need to have a global mindset of God’s mission. this passage teaches that.
2nd thing we learn here as we think about God and humankinds
2. Since God is sovereign over all the nations, our ultimate hope should not be in any one nation but in God.
the word “sovereign” simply means that God is king. He is in charge of all the nations. He is the real ruler.
one of the reasons I think this table of nations and genealogy is here is to remind us that God is the real one in charge—not kings, kingdoms, or empires.
to make this clear we need to only look at Ham and his descendants.
if you look at vs. 8 there is an interesting character mentioned
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth.
9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.”
10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar.
11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah
12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
Nimrod has somethings been used as name calling “you’re such a Nimrod.” meaning a fool or idiot.
but here in the bible, in the Hebrew—His name simply means “to rebel”.
he is so rebellious in the fact that he is a mighty hunter—not hunting animals, but Men—killing them. and he does this defiantly—it looks like he is doing this before the Lord—God’s blessings. but I agree with scholars who say that Nimrod is not described nicely here. He is killing people as a mighty warrior with rebellion and openly and defiantly against the LORD.
in fact, from Nimrod, came some of the greatest yet most evil empires ever—Babylon. Assyria (Nineveh—that’s where Jonah went—they were known for killing people and hanging their skins on the walls to intimidate people)
vs. 13 mentions the Egyptians who would enslave the Israelites.
vs. 15 and following mentions all the Canaanite nations—wicked nations known for their sexual immorality and sacrificing children in the fire to their gods.
even Shem if you look at vs. 21—Shem’s descendants are blessed, and from them would come Abraham and eventually Jesus—even they are not perfect—Peleg in vs. 25. that means division.
and we know that Israel as a nation, a people, struggled to follow God. they rebelled.
and yet through it all, God is not surprised. He is still in charge and on the throne.
this is a good reminder for all of us—that our hope is not in any particular nation—or even our own nation, but in God—the author of all nations
this next week, we are getting ready to celebrate our Country’s birthday—how old are we—250 years!
that’s remarkable that this American experiment—the idea of democracy, and self-governing, and rights and freedom—has existed, and we can thank God for that and we are thankful for our veterans and military men and women who have served our country and the freedoms we have.
at the same time, thought, as I was thinking about America and the table of nations...
—we are a relatively young country and experiment—compared to others...
—and just as many of these nations mentioned here—many of them—none of them really exist today—except for Israel
—and so it’s a good reminder to thank God for our country and the freedoms we have, but also to remember, that our country is not guaranteed survival just like any of these nations.
—nor is our ultimate hope in the American kingdom or people—our hope and identity is in Jesus and His kingdom. Our citizenship is first of all in God.
I think a passage like this was written to remind the Israelites—that just as quickly as God takes out these nations, He can take out you.
and that our hope is not in a nation—but in God..
so where is your hope—is it in the nation, the kingdom of America, the kingdom of this world or...in God.
(theme of empire)
3. God cares about all these nations, so we should be missionaries wherever God has placed us.
God does care about all these nations.
he does—even though He blesses Japheth, and particularly Shem’s line...
Shem’s line here — from him would come Abraham—and eventually—Jesus.
God had promised Abraham this:
1 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.
2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
God called Abram and the Jews and Israelites not to be superior—but to be a blessing, and that blessing would come not through race or ethnicity—but through Jesus Christ, so that anyone who follows Jesus—as Lord and Savior—is blessed.
as I was thinking about Japheth, Ham, and Shem here—even though God chooses to work through Shem’s line...God’s people several times rebelled against him (kind of like Nimrod). and Japheth and Ham represent the Gentiles.
and we see hints that God’s kingdom was never just about Shem...because if you think about Ham—Canaan—we see people in the Old Testament come to faith in God...
people like Rahab the prostitute, a Canaanite who hid the spies
25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?
26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
or people like Namaan the Syrian general.
God’s hope is that all the nations would come to him.
I don’t know if you caught it—but did you catch how many names are mentioned.
at least 70...maybe 72.
theme of “70”
70—7 and 10 - numbers of completion in the Bible.
interestingly when Jacob—had offspring.
we read:
27 With the two sons who had been born to Joseph in Egypt, the members of Jacob’s family, which went to Egypt, were seventy in all.
Israel in the wilderness had 70 elders leading them.
and then in the NT—
Luke 10 - Jesus sends out the 70 or 72
1 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go.
2 He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
3 Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.
The nations are mentioned here to help us lift our eyes off our own people group—realize our common humanity—realize our common sin problem, and realize we need a Savior.
The Missionary Church has a great mission statement:
Love like Jesus and live like missionaries.
locally: where can you be a missionary this week locally?
globally: what is one of our missionaries or countries you need to pray for — familiarize yourself with our missions board; grab the prayer book (maybe as a Sunday School class or small group, pray for a missionary each month)
communion:
invite the ushers
open to anyone who is a believer in Jesus.
23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Genesis 10 is a little discouraging and then Genesis 11...because the peoples will be divided.
5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
division...the nations will be divided...languages, cultures, fighting.
but Christ has come to unite people.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,
Christ has come to make Gentiles (descendants of Ham and Japheth) along with the Jews (descendants of Shem) one in Christ—through a deeper unity than culture, language, race, ethnicity or skin color
9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
10 And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
Christ one day wanted to unite all peoples under Him. That started on the Day of Pentecost when Jesus poured out His Spirit reversing the Tower of Babel.
so would you take a moment:
praise God that He wants all people to be a part of Hm — most of us here are Gentiles
take a moment and pray for a person who needs the LORD who is different from you — maybe they are from another country, or at least another culture, maybe even socio-economically...
take a moment and pray for a country that maybe God has burdened you for (Ukraine, Iran - church is growing there, maybe one of our missionaries we support)
final plug - outdoor service - 1 service
—if bad weather indoors
—dress comfortable—
