1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:04,080 Turn, if you would, to Genesis chapter 10. 2 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:10,160 I feel like we're flying now, right? 3 00:00:11,400 --> 00:00:13,080 We're moving a bit quicker than we were. 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:18,880 Genesis chapter 10 will cover all of chapter 10, more or less 5 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,960 this morning. I'm grateful to Pastor Ed for 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:31,720 filling in last week to preach on such wonderful subjects, 7 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,840 interesting topics. To be honest, I was kind of 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,920 bummed that I had to miss talking about what what did 9 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:48,280 happen in the tent? What was it that that Ham saw or 10 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:51,560 did? Yeah, these are just these 11 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:54,080 things that that people ask questions about What, what 12 00:00:54,080 --> 00:00:55,120 happened there? What happened? 13 00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:00,920 Truth is we don't fully know, but that's OK. 14 00:01:01,800 --> 00:01:05,480 So Genesis chapter 10 is where we will be this morning. 15 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:10,040 Now here this morning we have the most tedious section of text 16 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,760 that that we've yet to come across. 17 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,880 Sure, we had a couple little genealogies back in chapters 18 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:20,600 4:00 and 5:00, but here in chapter 10 it's a bit more 19 00:01:20,600 --> 00:01:26,160 extensive and and drawn out. These genealogies serve to 20 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:30,520 remind us of God's continuing faithfulness to fulfill His 21 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:36,600 promise to defeat the serpent's. In this chapter we see God's 22 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:41,040 provision for the line that would one day give rise to the 23 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,520 Messiah. Humanity hasn't been completely 24 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:49,080 destroyed in this remnant of people signifies hope for the 25 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:55,280 coming nations of the world. This morning's text is often 26 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:59,520 referred to as the table of nations and it details how the 27 00:01:59,520 --> 00:02:03,360 descendants of Noah's three sons reproduced and they began to 28 00:02:03,360 --> 00:02:07,640 spread across the earth, providing the roots for each 29 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:14,880 people group of verse one reads. These are the generations of the 30 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:18,880 sons of Noah. Shem, Ham and Japheth sons were 31 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:25,320 born to them after the flood, so this is a a continuing lineage. 32 00:02:25,560 --> 00:02:29,280 God's God promised to save Noah and his family in the flood and 33 00:02:29,480 --> 00:02:33,560 and he did so. Now those same people are the 34 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:36,640 roots of God's restart for humanity. 35 00:02:38,160 --> 00:02:41,200 You may recall that a few weeks back I drew our attention to the 36 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:46,800 special formula or word called the Tolidoth section. 37 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:50,240 This name is taken from the Hebrew word for descendants. 38 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:54,600 That is Tolidoth, the phrase that we'll see. 39 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,960 These are the generations. That phrase occurs 10/10 times 40 00:02:59,960 --> 00:03:02,280 in 10 different parts of of Genesis. 41 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,080 To draw our attention to the fact that this is a new section 42 00:03:06,800 --> 00:03:10,080 of the narrative. It's essentially a way to 43 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:14,200 outline the important divisions in Genesis. 44 00:03:14,680 --> 00:03:20,240 There was creation and Adam, Noah, Noah's sons, Shem, Tara, 45 00:03:20,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Tara is Abraham's father, Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, and Jacob. 46 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:29,480 These all are various Tolidoth sections that we'll continue to 47 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,760 see throughout this book. Now, this new Tolidoth section 48 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,280 draws the reader's attention to the reality that life continued 49 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:39,360 when Noah and company got off the ark. 50 00:03:39,960 --> 00:03:42,840 They continue to have babies, they continue to multiply, and 51 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,720 they began to spread across the earth, and everybody in the 52 00:03:47,720 --> 00:03:53,080 world is connected back to the three sons of Noah. 53 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,480 Now, we're not going to read all of the texts this morning, but 54 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:02,760 what I want to do is draw our attention to various peoples and 55 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:06,960 nations, peoples of No 10 and who figure in the remaining 56 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:11,280 narrative of Genesis and the greater meta narrative of 57 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:15,920 Scripture. Even the first list we get is 58 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:20,200 found in verses 2 through 5, and it details the the sons of 59 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:23,040 Japheth. And Pastor Ed mentioned some of 60 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:27,840 the things that that I'm going to talk about this morning. 61 00:04:28,880 --> 00:04:31,920 The sons of Japheth. Only 14 of Japheth's descendants 62 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:35,960 are mentioned. I know that may sound like a 63 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:40,640 lot, but in a list of 70 names, 14 is pretty small. 64 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:46,360 Now these, these sons, these descendants extend only to the 65 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:50,200 third generation. Here in the text, Japheth's 66 00:04:50,200 --> 00:04:53,720 grandchildren. And the first name I want to 67 00:04:53,720 --> 00:04:58,640 point out is Gomer. Of course not to be confused 68 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:07,080 with Gomer who comes later and who Hosea married Gomer. 69 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:10,840 This is a guy. First of all, the family of 70 00:05:10,840 --> 00:05:15,000 Japheth is generally thought to be the foundation of those of us 71 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:20,720 who are more lacking in melanin, if you know what I mean. 72 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,280 They they filled parts of Europe and Asia Minor. 73 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,760 Gomer's descendants initially occupied the region north of the 74 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:33,000 Black Sea and what we would now know as Ukraine. 75 00:05:34,280 --> 00:05:37,680 Over the years they began to shift S towards Asia Minor and 76 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:43,600 Turkey, and then then they later spread W into Western Europe, 77 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:49,680 filling in places like Germany, Denmark and Sweden, even the 78 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,480 British Isles. I know it's weird for us to be 79 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:57,400 talking about Bible and talking about Western Europe, but that 80 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:59,920 is where it seems that these people landed. 81 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,960 Their ancestors eventually formed the foundations of what 82 00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:06,920 have come to be known as the Celtic people. 83 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,800 Today. There is even a group of Jews 84 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:17,520 who who call themselves the Ashkenazi, taken from the name 85 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:23,240 Ashkenaz, Gomer's son. Very interesting stuff, by the 86 00:06:23,240 --> 00:06:24,080 way. I might add. 87 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:29,000 A few weeks ago I said, oh, that was a research paper that I was 88 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,480 basically writing for that week's sermon when we were 89 00:06:31,480 --> 00:06:33,760 talking about the Nephilim and stuff like that. 90 00:06:33,760 --> 00:06:37,440 There is so much stuff. Every name, you start 91 00:06:37,440 --> 00:06:41,600 researching names, you're going down all sorts of rabbit trails. 92 00:06:41,600 --> 00:06:46,880 There are 70 rabbit trails to chase down here in preparation 93 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,120 for this message, so I've tried to distill it down to the most 94 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:52,760 significant ones. The next person will consider in 95 00:06:52,760 --> 00:07:00,920 Japheth's line is Magog. Magog will be familiar to us. 96 00:07:01,840 --> 00:07:05,600 Magog has largely been associated with Eastern Europe 97 00:07:05,600 --> 00:07:09,840 and the region of the Black Sea, similar to his brother Gomer. 98 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:17,880 Now Magog or Gog for short, is common commonly associated with 99 00:07:17,880 --> 00:07:21,520 two of his brothers, Tubal and Meshech. 100 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:27,280 Meshech's people became the Mushku and lived near the 101 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:31,120 Mosquian mountains. Then later generations of the 102 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:37,440 Mushku seem to have moved farther NA significant ways and 103 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:45,680 they became what is now Moscow. So the Mushku people became 104 00:07:46,240 --> 00:07:49,840 Moscow. I find this all very intriguing. 105 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:57,840 Then there's Tarshish. Tarshish is 1 of JFS grandsons. 106 00:07:58,320 --> 00:08:02,600 There's a bit of debate as to as to where Tarshish is. 107 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,160 If I asked you where is Tarshish, tell me where is it? 108 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:12,960 That's that's that's what we naturally think of, right? 109 00:08:13,360 --> 00:08:17,440 We first think of Spain. The southern portion of Spain 110 00:08:17,440 --> 00:08:21,600 garners the most attention. But then others say, well, what 111 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,920 about Sardinia, the island of Sardinia, West of Italy? 112 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:34,400 Well, no, actually, maybe it's Tarsus where where Paul is from 113 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,360 that that might be what Tarshish is. 114 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:45,920 So we can't make any committed decisions on on where Tarshish 115 00:08:45,960 --> 00:08:50,000 actually is. It could be Spain, it could be 116 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:53,840 Sardinia, and it could even be Tarsus. 117 00:08:56,840 --> 00:09:01,480 So a lot of these there's a there's conjecture, there's 118 00:09:01,480 --> 00:09:05,400 guessing trying to figure out where these people landed and 119 00:09:05,400 --> 00:09:08,680 you will find arguments for and against various locations. 120 00:09:09,520 --> 00:09:13,200 We do know Japheth's kin settled in parts of Asia Minor, the 121 00:09:13,200 --> 00:09:16,560 northern Mediterranean and Europe, and they were the 122 00:09:16,560 --> 00:09:20,080 forerunners of light skinned peoples. 123 00:09:21,320 --> 00:09:25,320 Verse five said from these the coastland peoples spread in 124 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:29,440 their lands, each with his own language by their clans in their 125 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,720 nations. We'll see this formula reference 126 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,080 to languages, clans and nations three times in this chapter, 127 00:09:37,080 --> 00:09:40,200 once for each sun. And, and this draws our 128 00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:45,000 attention to the fact that each of these was a distinct people 129 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:46,320 group. They spread out. 130 00:09:46,560 --> 00:09:49,160 These people spread out over the face of the earth. 131 00:09:50,000 --> 00:09:53,640 Now I suspect that it wasn't so much out of obedience. 132 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,000 Perhaps for some it was out of obedience. 133 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:59,640 God said to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. 134 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:03,760 And so maybe some of them filled the earth and spread out out of 135 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:06,520 obedience. But I suspect there's a lot of 136 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,800 just pragmatism involved here as as people began to multiply and 137 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,160 and become more numerous, there comes a point where, hey, we 138 00:10:15,160 --> 00:10:18,680 need more space. So they go farther and farther 139 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:23,840 simply because they need space and spread out into these 140 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:30,280 various regions of the world, the well they're known world, 141 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,680 and then ultimately throughout the rest of the world. 142 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:38,880 The next section, from verses 6 through 20, outlines Ham's kin. 143 00:10:41,320 --> 00:10:43,400 Verse 6 tells us who Ham's sons are. 144 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,920 There's Kush, Egypt, Poops, and Canaan. 145 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,640 Now, I suspect some of you already know that Ham's 146 00:10:51,640 --> 00:10:55,320 descendants largely head down into Africa. 147 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:59,040 First of all, we know where Egypt is. 148 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:02,080 There is no disputing where Egypt is. 149 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,960 Egypt, however, isn't the only one here who would become an 150 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:11,440 enemy to the people of God. Verses 13 and 14 tell us Egypt 151 00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:16,840 fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, naftuhim, path through SIM cast 152 00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:20,720 cast, Ludhim from whom the Philistines came, and Katharine. 153 00:11:22,120 --> 00:11:26,120 I've been told all you need to do is just sound confident and 154 00:11:26,120 --> 00:11:28,200 people will think you know what you're saying and you're 155 00:11:28,200 --> 00:11:32,200 pronouncing it correctly. Sometimes I attempt to pronounce 156 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:36,520 them the way that the Hebrew would, but sometimes we just go 157 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:39,440 with whatever. So a number, this is a number of 158 00:11:39,440 --> 00:11:43,120 different people groups that that are pointed out here. 159 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:49,400 When you hear eem as it said ludem anamim le habim, when you 160 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:54,960 hear eem on the end of the word, that means the word is plural. 161 00:11:55,200 --> 00:12:01,560 That means these are this list. Here is a group of people that 162 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:07,520 that Egypt fathered. Notice what it says of Kas 163 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:12,000 Luhim. It says of Kas Luhim from whom 164 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:17,080 the Philistines came. This is the first time in 165 00:12:17,080 --> 00:12:21,120 scripture that we see the Philistines mentioned and and 166 00:12:21,120 --> 00:12:26,600 these descendants from Ham's son Egypt of course become arch 167 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:33,280 enemies of Israel. Look at verses 8 through 12 in 168 00:12:33,280 --> 00:12:41,280 your Bible if you would Speaking of Ham's son, it reads Kush 169 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,360 fathered Nimrod. He was the first on earth to be 170 00:12:44,360 --> 00:12:47,080 a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before 171 00:12:47,080 --> 00:12:49,160 the Lord. Therefore it is said, like 172 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:52,720 Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord, the beginning of his 173 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:57,080 Kingdom was Babel, Erek, Akkad and Kaunay in the land of 174 00:12:57,080 --> 00:12:59,480 Shinar. From that land he went into 175 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:04,680 Assyria and built Nineveh, Reha, both ear Kala and resin. 176 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:08,640 Between Nineveh and Kala that is the great city. 177 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:15,640 So this tells us Nimrod built Babylon and Assyria. 178 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:19,040 Nimrod built Babylon and Assyria. 179 00:13:20,200 --> 00:13:22,240 Now Nimrod is a very intriguing character. 180 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:27,280 Who was he? Can we pinpoint him in history? 181 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:32,720 Is is Nimrod a name or is it a title? 182 00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,280 He's associated with some bad places, but was he actually 183 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:40,960 evil? And what was his relationship to 184 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:44,240 Yahweh? Since it says he was a mighty 185 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:47,720 hunter before the Lord, what does that mean? 186 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,640 So many questions, so few answers. 187 00:13:55,000 --> 00:13:59,640 Here's what we do know. First of all, the name Nimrod 188 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:05,280 means rebel. It means rebel. 189 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:09,320 He was a powerful leader and hunter, the first of his type. 190 00:14:09,320 --> 00:14:14,600 It said in in verse 8 he was a man of influence and power as 191 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,360 evidenced by the fact that he built a number of cities. 192 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,960 The first first city he built was was Babel or or Babylon 193 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:29,920 along with three other cities in the land of Shinar. 194 00:14:30,640 --> 00:14:35,720 Now Shinar is largely located in in modern day Iraq as you can 195 00:14:35,720 --> 00:14:39,560 see on the map. I think we have a map. 196 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:44,200 Yes. Then then verse 11 told us 197 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,760 Nimrod went into Assyria and built four other cities, of 198 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,080 which Nineveh is 1. And you see Nineveh is located 199 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:57,560 there in the very northern part of Iraq, in what is now Mosul. 200 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:04,240 We don't know more than what the text says, but it seems probable 201 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,920 that Nimrod either organized the building of Babel and its tower 202 00:15:08,920 --> 00:15:15,320 or had it done. Nimrod symbolizes someone who 203 00:15:15,760 --> 00:15:21,640 who had become proud and because of his his pride he had no need 204 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:26,440 for God and he gloried in his own strength and capabilities. 205 00:15:28,960 --> 00:15:37,000 He single handedly created the two dynasties who many, many 206 00:15:37,000 --> 00:15:44,760 years later would carry the Israelites off into exile, the 207 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:51,440 Babylonians and the Assyrians. Now Babel is the namesake of 208 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,760 Babylon and it symbolizes the worst of humanity. 209 00:15:56,200 --> 00:15:59,960 The Babylonians are bad people, and so this empire becomes the 210 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:05,040 the archetype for man's sinful pride and all that's bad in the 211 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:10,840 world. Next the text turns to Canaan. 212 00:16:11,680 --> 00:16:16,080 Ham was the was the one who had sinned, we learned about last 213 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:21,960 week, but it was his son Canaan whom Noah cursed. 214 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,280 Now was God not being fair to Canaan? 215 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:29,720 Was he being judged for his father's sin? 216 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:35,040 No, he's not being judged for his father's sin, and the text 217 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,080 will instead show us that the apple doesn't fall far from the 218 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,320 tree. This was actually more of a 219 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,200 prophecy indicating what Canaan's family would be like. 220 00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,280 And and Canaanites will certainly be shown to live 221 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:55,640 sinful, wicked lives. So Canaan's family settled 222 00:16:55,640 --> 00:17:01,760 places like Jibus, and Jibus is now Jerusalem. 223 00:17:02,560 --> 00:17:09,280 They also settled Gaza, Sodom and Gomorrah, as well as further 224 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,720 north of the Dead Sea all throughout Palestine. 225 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,839 Now this was the the promised land and the Canaanites 226 00:17:17,839 --> 00:17:21,440 repeatedly proved to be a problem, right? 227 00:17:22,960 --> 00:17:27,119 You can see in this map that we have here that that Ham's 228 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,160 relatives lived throughout Palestine as as well as in parts 229 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,840 of the Arabian Peninsula and a little bit of Africa. 230 00:17:33,840 --> 00:17:40,200 Everything that you see here, the green, the the tan, all, all 231 00:17:40,200 --> 00:17:44,880 those different highlighted sections, those are all Hams 232 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:48,160 descendants. So you can see that they settled 233 00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:53,520 in in part of Africa there on the northeastern side of Africa, 234 00:17:53,880 --> 00:18:00,120 then in what is Saudi Arabia on the western side of Saudi Arabia 235 00:18:00,400 --> 00:18:06,040 over into Iraq and of course all through Palestine is where Ham's 236 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:12,760 descendants settled. Lastly, verses 21 through 31 237 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:18,960 reveal Shems lineage to us. Now Shem. 238 00:18:19,800 --> 00:18:22,120 Shem should have been listed first. 239 00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:26,160 He's the oldest of the of the three sons. 240 00:18:26,440 --> 00:18:28,600 All the other times when the brothers are listed, they're 241 00:18:28,600 --> 00:18:35,160 listed as Shem, Ham, and Japheth, possibly pointing to 242 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:39,120 their birth order. Now when Noah issued the 243 00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:43,360 blessing in Chapter 9, Shem was the one who received the greater 244 00:18:43,360 --> 00:18:46,040 blessing. As Noah said, Japheth would 245 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:51,240 dwell in Shem's tents. This this infers that that Shem 246 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:55,080 is going to be so great that that Japheth would come dwell 247 00:18:55,080 --> 00:19:01,200 alongside him. There's a concept often seen in 248 00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:08,200 Scripture called primogeniture. I know this is a new word for 249 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:13,640 many of you, but primogeniture means that the oldest receives 250 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:18,840 the greater blessing. This is we find primogeniture 251 00:19:18,840 --> 00:19:25,280 all throughout the ancient world as well as in the Near and 252 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:33,520 Middle East as the oldest Shem received the greater blessing. 253 00:19:33,520 --> 00:19:36,760 He received the blessing. Primogeniture often means that 254 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:42,280 the oldest is listed first. But now in this list, the order 255 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:47,600 is reversed kind of in a oh, let's save the best for last 256 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,280 kind of way. So let's look at verse 21. 257 00:19:52,000 --> 00:19:57,240 Verse 21 says to Shem, also the father of all the children of a 258 00:19:57,240 --> 00:20:03,440 bear, the elder brother of Japheth children were born Now 259 00:20:03,480 --> 00:20:08,640 it's so easy if we're we're not stopping to to really dig into 260 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:10,480 the text. It's so easy to just breathe 261 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,440 that and say, OK, children were born great move on to the next 262 00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:15,760 verse. Some scholars and commentators 263 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,000 maintain that we that we can't be sure that Shem is the oldest, 264 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,680 and they speculate Japheth might actually be the oldest, but. 265 00:20:22,200 --> 00:20:25,840 I don't agree with that with that assessment based on first 266 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:27,400 of all the concept of primogeniture. 267 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:32,880 Also, Scripture makes it clear that when primogeniture is being 268 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:39,240 upended, it is upended. Sometimes in the text it calls 269 00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:42,120 that out. It makes that obvious that that 270 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:47,680 the the order of primogeniture is being upended and a younger 271 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:52,600 sibling instead is receiving the blessing. 272 00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:59,160 Now lastly, this verse certainly seems to tell us that Shem was 273 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:02,160 the oldest. The basic statement, the first 274 00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:06,120 clause in the last clause is that children are born to Shem 275 00:21:06,600 --> 00:21:10,840 so that that's what it means. And then the middle 2 clauses, 276 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:15,680 the second and third phrase, clarify who Shem is. 277 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:20,960 It says he's the father of all the children of a bear, and he's 278 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:29,320 the elder brother of Japheth. So I think that means Shem is 279 00:21:29,520 --> 00:21:34,640 the oldest. So this is ample proof for him 280 00:21:34,640 --> 00:21:36,440 being the eldest. And I think the text bears that 281 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,880 out even more as we'll continue to look at it. 282 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:42,680 Now here Moses breaks stride. And instead of listing numerous 283 00:21:42,680 --> 00:21:48,160 family members of each of Shem's sons, he chose to only address 284 00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:52,960 our Pakshod. What then follows our Parkshod's 285 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:54,280 descendants? So. 286 00:21:54,440 --> 00:21:58,440 So why are we drilling down on this particular son's progeny? 287 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,600 I imagine if I'd asked you who our Pakshod was before this 288 00:22:02,600 --> 00:22:07,000 message, you would say I have absolutely no idea, right, If 289 00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:11,480 we're being honest. So why are we examining him? 290 00:22:11,480 --> 00:22:15,880 Well, verse 24 says our Pakshad fathered shala, and shala 291 00:22:15,880 --> 00:22:21,680 fathered a bear. This is important because a bear 292 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,400 is where the word Hebrew comes from. 293 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:31,800 A bear is the first Hebrew person, if you will. 294 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:34,520 He's the father of the Hebrew people. 295 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:40,800 And interestingly, there are two lines of Hebrew people here, 2 296 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:45,600 lines that that come from him. There's the line of Peleg, which 297 00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:48,400 is of significance, and we'll look at that more. 298 00:22:48,920 --> 00:22:51,760 And then there's also the line of Jock 10. 299 00:22:53,000 --> 00:22:58,840 The descendants of both sons are drawn out in this passage. 300 00:23:00,720 --> 00:23:04,520 Now, of course, only one becomes the chosen. 301 00:23:06,200 --> 00:23:07,760 Jock. Tan's descendants are said to 302 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,160 have settled towards the Hill Country of the east, and some 303 00:23:12,160 --> 00:23:15,440 have argued they primarily settled in Saudi Arabia, which 304 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:20,280 is actually South, and then others argue that they settled 305 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:23,720 towards Asia, possibly Afghanistan or maybe even 306 00:23:23,920 --> 00:23:27,600 further E. Again, we don't know exactly, we 307 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,200 can just only go on. The text tells us. 308 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:35,280 I'm inclined to think they went more E because Saudi Arabia is 309 00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:39,880 South and not east of where they were now. 310 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:46,480 Jock Tan's brother was Peleg. The comment on Peleg is that in 311 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:52,920 his days the earth was divided. There are varying viewpoints on 312 00:23:53,320 --> 00:23:56,680 on what this means, but a number of commentators believe this 313 00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:02,720 points to consequences received from the experiments of the 314 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:07,640 Tower of Babel. This points to the consequences 315 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:09,640 received from the Tower of Babel. 316 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:15,640 In the Old Testament, the verb palag, which sounds like peleg 317 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:19,680 palag, is used to describe division of languages. 318 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:25,480 So it makes sense that that the division in view here, plague, 319 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,960 means division. The division in view here is the 320 00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:34,760 Babble event occurring 5 generations after the flood. 321 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:41,080 It's interesting because because I think in my mind, perhaps in 322 00:24:41,080 --> 00:24:47,000 yours as well, we tend to think, OK, got off the ark and then 323 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:53,440 Babble happened. But no, a bunch of time went by 324 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:59,920 before the Tower of Babel happened, and we'll examine that 325 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:03,200 in a few weeks. Now let's jump ahead. 326 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:09,040 Thousands of years from Peleg in Luke three. 327 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:13,640 You don't need to turn there, but Luke 3 we have the genealogy 328 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:16,960 of Jesus. This is a list that says to the 329 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:22,680 reader, this Jesus that that you have heard of here is his 330 00:25:22,880 --> 00:25:25,760 lineage. We know exactly who He is. 331 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,760 We know where He comes from. We know that He is able to sit 332 00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:36,840 on the throne of David and we know he's the one the Old 333 00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:39,400 Testament was looking forward to. 334 00:25:40,120 --> 00:25:44,320 Now I won't read all of the genealogy in Luke 3, but I want 335 00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:46,880 to read this section that begins with the patriarchs. 336 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:49,000 You'll find it here on the screen. 337 00:25:49,440 --> 00:25:54,920 Verse 34 picks up with Judah. Judah, the son of Jacob the son 338 00:25:54,920 --> 00:25:59,560 of Isaac the son of Abraham the son of Terra, the son of Nahor 339 00:25:59,560 --> 00:26:03,440 the son of Seru, the son of Rue, the son of Peleg, the son of 340 00:26:03,440 --> 00:26:06,560 Ebert the son of Shala the son of Canaan. 341 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,960 Kainan that is the son of Arpashad, the son of Shem, the 342 00:26:11,960 --> 00:26:15,520 son of Noah, the son of Lamech, the son of Methuselah the son of 343 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:20,520 Enoch, the son of Jared the son of Mahalalel the son of Kainan 344 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:27,520 the son of Anos the son of Seth the son of Adam the son of God. 345 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:36,800 I know this is fairly tedious but there in Luke 3 verse 35 a 346 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,480 bear and Peleg are listed as Jesus far descendants. 347 00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:46,320 So Jesus is the Messiah that Adam and Eve and their offspring 348 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:53,440 had been looking forward to. So this morning's passage has 349 00:26:53,440 --> 00:26:58,800 shown us all the peoples of the world, and you can see in this 350 00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:04,240 map here you can see where they generally spread out to. 351 00:27:05,400 --> 00:27:09,640 I hope I put Yep. OK, so you can see who they came 352 00:27:09,640 --> 00:27:15,320 from and where they spread the the green is Ham's descendants, 353 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:20,240 the yellow is Shem's descendants, and then the orange 354 00:27:20,720 --> 00:27:23,240 orangish red is Japhis descendants. 355 00:27:23,240 --> 00:27:29,000 Now this doesn't necessarily jive with everything I just said 356 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,840 because there is a lot of debate about about where these people 357 00:27:32,840 --> 00:27:38,360 went, but generally this is this is generally correct. 358 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:45,760 Now here I want to give us three final takeaways. 359 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:47,960 This is all fun. This is interesting. 360 00:27:49,240 --> 00:27:52,840 I love to geek out on stuff like this and just learn weird and 361 00:27:53,880 --> 00:28:01,120 novel things, but I don't want this to just be information. 362 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:08,080 Information doesn't do anything specifically for us if we don't 363 00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:11,920 get to the heart. SO3 takeaways. 364 00:28:12,880 --> 00:28:17,680 First of all, this list, as I said, included 70 names. 365 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:25,440 It is not a coincidence that there are 70 names listed here. 366 00:28:26,760 --> 00:28:29,760 This means a couple things. First of all, this genealogy 367 00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:34,920 should not be taken as comprehensive, rather it is 368 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:39,280 representative. Some names only go a couple 369 00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:43,120 generations while others go to the 3rd, 4th, 5th and even the 370 00:28:43,120 --> 00:28:48,440 6th generation. Not to mention Nimrod we we 371 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,920 don't know for sure where he sits in which generation. 372 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:59,480 Some of the some of the lists showed a true genealogy and then 373 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:05,000 then some of it switches over to people groups like the 374 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,280 Canaanites of course. So these 70 names represent 375 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:16,360 totality or completion. This is the first instance in 376 00:29:16,360 --> 00:29:19,960 Scripture of the number 70 being used. 377 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,720 This represents completion, but it's but it's used in other 378 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,560 places as well. There are there are 70 379 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:34,120 descendants of Jacob in Exodus 170, elders of Israel in Exodus 380 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:36,680 24. Then in Luke 10, Jesus sends out 381 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:42,760 the 70 disciples. Here the number 70 is used to 382 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:46,560 represent the entirety of the world's population, coming from 383 00:29:46,800 --> 00:29:51,040 Noah's sons. Furthermore, we could say the 384 00:29:51,680 --> 00:29:57,920 the the three main races that that sociologists sometimes talk 385 00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,160 about. The three main races of the 386 00:30:00,160 --> 00:30:03,840 earth all come from this moment, and scholars often point to the 387 00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:09,280 fact that some settled in Europe, some settled in Asia, 388 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:16,960 and then some settled in Africa. Next, in this genealogy we see 389 00:30:16,960 --> 00:30:21,560 God working at both the macro and micro levels. 390 00:30:22,640 --> 00:30:27,120 We see God working at both the macro level and the micro level. 391 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,080 I love this. The opening and closing verses 392 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:34,520 are at a macro, a high level. Verse one said these are the 393 00:30:34,520 --> 00:30:39,360 generations of the sons of Noah Shem, Ham and Japheth sons were 394 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:43,200 born to them after the flood and then the chapter concluded these 395 00:30:43,200 --> 00:30:45,600 are the clans of the sons of Noah according to their 396 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:50,240 genealogies in their nations and from and from those the nation 397 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:54,840 spread abroad on the earth after the flood chapter opens and 398 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:59,080 closes with a with a 30,000 foot perspective on humanity. 399 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:05,160 It's very high level. Noah and his family got off the 400 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,560 ark. They began to to spread abroad 401 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:11,520 on the earth as they multiplied. And in a sense it's a fulfilling 402 00:31:11,520 --> 00:31:15,360 of the cultural mandates to be fruitful and multiply and fill 403 00:31:15,360 --> 00:31:19,880 the earth. However, this passage isn't just 404 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:26,640 communicating information to us. In this genealogy, we see Yahweh 405 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:31,400 working at a more personal or or micro level as well. 406 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:37,200 First of all, God's concern for humanity is demonstrated with 407 00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:45,920 each name that's mentioned. 2nd, the text shows God working at 408 00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:50,520 both the the cosmic and and personal levels to accomplish 409 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:55,080 His plan for redemption. He's overseeing the course of 410 00:31:55,080 --> 00:31:59,120 human history while simultaneously attending to the 411 00:31:59,120 --> 00:32:03,160 lineage and and the future of the promised Messiah. 412 00:32:04,760 --> 00:32:11,480 Think about this for a moment. Moses wrote this history of of 413 00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:16,600 the human race and, and he, he's focusing specifically on the 414 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:20,480 line of Shem because he was teaching his contemporaries, He 415 00:32:20,480 --> 00:32:23,920 was teaching the Israelites about their personal family 416 00:32:23,920 --> 00:32:30,560 history, where they came from. The Holy Spirit guided him to 417 00:32:30,960 --> 00:32:36,680 write these things because he, the Holy Spirit, knew what Moses 418 00:32:36,680 --> 00:32:41,240 didn't know, that the Messiah would eventually arrive on 419 00:32:41,240 --> 00:32:43,960 earth. Through that same genealogical 420 00:32:43,960 --> 00:32:49,800 line, Moses knew practically nothing of the Messiah. 421 00:32:51,280 --> 00:32:55,320 He only knew of Yahweh's promise to someday send someone who 422 00:32:55,320 --> 00:33:01,880 would strike the serpent's head. This passage then continues to 423 00:33:02,120 --> 00:33:05,480 unfold the story of the Creator's desire to not only 424 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:10,120 redeem this particular family line, but also people from every 425 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:15,640 tribe and tongue and nation. So how awesome is that? 426 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:22,040 God was working through all of it to accomplish His purposes. 427 00:33:23,720 --> 00:33:30,520 And lastly, the gospel transcends cultures and borders. 428 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,680 The gospel transcends cultures and borders. 429 00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,320 As we look at the list of peoples and nations, we see a 430 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,480 number of them who would later become Israel's enemies. 431 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:49,680 Yet from these same peoples, God has claimed the people for his 432 00:33:49,680 --> 00:33:56,760 own possession. You see, God was always making a 433 00:33:56,760 --> 00:34:00,680 way for the outsider, for the foreigner to be part of the 434 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:03,760 Kingdom. He'd made provisions in the law. 435 00:34:03,760 --> 00:34:08,080 And this was this was first seen when Israel entered the promised 436 00:34:08,080 --> 00:34:14,480 land. Rahab, she was the unlikeliest 437 00:34:14,480 --> 00:34:23,320 of women to be brought into the fold, but Rahab was faithful in 438 00:34:23,320 --> 00:34:27,639 the revelation that she received when when she met the spies and 439 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:30,400 and she responded to that revelation. 440 00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:42,360 She responded in faith and obedience and eventually is 441 00:34:42,360 --> 00:34:50,159 brought into Jesus own lineage. She's also mentioned in the hall 442 00:34:50,159 --> 00:34:58,120 of faith in Hebrews Chapter 11. So the gospel does isn't 443 00:34:58,120 --> 00:35:02,160 confined by borders and cultures. 444 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:10,360 It is for everyone. And Rahab is a marvelous picture 445 00:35:10,360 --> 00:35:15,840 of the Gospels transformation. And because of the gospel's 446 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,400 great power, we have scenes like like the one spelled out in 447 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:23,280 Revelation 7, Revelation 7, You'll see it there on the 448 00:35:23,280 --> 00:35:25,920 screen. Verse 9 says after this I looked 449 00:35:25,920 --> 00:35:29,280 and behold a great multitude that no one could number from 450 00:35:29,280 --> 00:35:32,680 every nation, from all the tribes and peoples and languages 451 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:36,400 standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in 452 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:39,800 white robes with palm branches in their hands and crying out 453 00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:44,400 with a loud voice. Salvation belongs to our God who 454 00:35:44,400 --> 00:35:48,880 sits on the throne and to the Lamb. 455 00:35:50,040 --> 00:35:52,480 Just how? Imagine how amazing it'll be to 456 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:56,960 one day worship God with Christians from all of history, 457 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:09,040 even Jews, Iranians and Arabs all worshipping God around the 458 00:36:09,040 --> 00:36:18,800 throne side by side. God promised that one day the 459 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:21,520 woman's seed would strike the head of the serpent. 460 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:26,440 He promised it so he can be trusted to keep his promise. 461 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:31,440 From the perspective of Noah's sons, fulfillment of the promise 462 00:36:31,800 --> 00:36:34,280 may have seemed very slow in coming. 463 00:36:36,160 --> 00:36:39,240 Noah was named rest. Perhaps this one will give up 464 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,960 best. Perhaps this will be the one 465 00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:46,000 that brings change. But no, it was many, many years 466 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:49,280 later. God doesn't always work in the 467 00:36:49,280 --> 00:36:52,040 timing we desire. He works in the right timing. 468 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:55,680 In Galatians 4 tells us that that when the fullness of time 469 00:36:55,680 --> 00:37:03,360 had come, so in the right timing, God sent his Son Jesus 470 00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:11,720 down into the world. The time was right, God was 471 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:13,600 shown to be faithful and keeping that promise. 472 00:37:13,600 --> 00:37:17,080 And someday, at the end of time, the serpent will receive his 473 00:37:17,080 --> 00:37:20,520 final blow and be locked away forever. 474 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:27,960 Until then, we wait, trusting that God is faithful and in 475 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:33,400 control of both the big picture and our own personal lives. 476 00:37:33,400 --> 00:37:38,560 You know, it could be so easy to gloss over a chapter like this 477 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:44,320 since since it's a genealogy, I don't know how many times I've 478 00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:52,080 read this chapter in my life and I've missed so many of these 479 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:53,800 things that we've talked about this morning. 480 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:58,520 But here we've seen the sovereignty and grace of God 481 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:04,320 revealed in these names. Humans filled the earth, but in 482 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,440 the midst of it all, God was paving the way for one 483 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:12,120 particular family to be the conduit through which He would 484 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:16,240 send salvation into the world. This. 485 00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:25,280 This isn't a boring genealogy. This is God's grace being 486 00:38:25,520 --> 00:38:28,680 demonstrated. Let's bow our heads and close 487 00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:41,240 our eyes. God, this morning the major take 488 00:38:41,240 --> 00:38:50,400 away from what we've learned, what we've examined is just to 489 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:56,400 be in awe of your working, that you were working at A at a macro 490 00:38:56,400 --> 00:39:03,920 level to fill the earth from these three Suns. 491 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,040 But not only that you were working at the personal at the 492 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:15,400 micro level in each of these names, but also to to work 493 00:39:15,400 --> 00:39:25,280 through the descendants of the bear and specifically through 494 00:39:25,640 --> 00:39:28,680 Peleg. And then eventually this leads 495 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:34,320 us to the chosen family, the patriarchs of our faith. 496 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:39,440 How awesome it is. How you have always been 497 00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:43,800 working. You have not taken a break, but 498 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:49,600 you've always been working your will and providing the way for 499 00:39:49,760 --> 00:39:52,680 Jesus Christ to come into the world. 500 00:39:54,640 --> 00:39:59,200 How awesome that is. What wonderful grace. 501 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:08,040 So God, may we be ever thankful for your grace that was 502 00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:12,160 demonstrated all the way back then, even in this genealogy, 503 00:40:12,920 --> 00:40:15,360 since Jesus name we pray, Amen.