July 2, 2004

Reading through the Bible in one Year: Leviticus 10-12

Good Evening Brothers and Sisters,

Genesis 10 (NASB95)
¹ Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood. ² The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. ³ The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. ⁴ The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. ⁵ From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. ⁶ The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. ⁷ The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. ⁸ Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹ From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, ¹² and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ¹³ Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim ¹⁴ and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim. ¹⁵ Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth ¹⁶ and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite ¹⁷ and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite ¹⁸ and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. ¹⁹ The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰ These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations. ²¹ Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. ²² The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram. ²³ The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. ²⁴ Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. ²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶ Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah ²⁷ and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah ²⁸ and Obal and Abimael and Sheba ²⁹ and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰ Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east. ³¹ These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations. ³² These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood.^[1]

As I read through this chapter today, often Genealogies are considered to be boring.  There are a few interesting things that I would like to point out.  First, one of the little quirks that I have found interesting from this chapter is verse 25 regarding the earth being divided.  I have always marveled over this verse and considered the possibilities associated with it.  Was it during Peleg's time that God split the globe up?  If you look at any map of the earth, it looks like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle which has been cut up, almost as if you could slide all the pieces back together again.  Please note:

“One fact is certain: the movement of the continents to their present locations did not take hundreds of millions of years, as evolutionists declare, but occurred rather recently—since the time of the Flood—and the movements happened quickly. The continental drift theory suggests that hundreds of millions of years were involved in the movement of the continents. It was concocted by evolutionists for a single reason: to replace any theory associated with a supernatural Creator. In their minds, God had no part in the events of creation. This leaves only one other alternative: to find a naturalistic and materialistic explanation for the world’s beginnings. The refusal to believe in a Creator leads to error and blindness. There is no meaningful explanation for creation except God. The apostle Paul admonishes Christians to avoid endless arguments and to pursue godliness:

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge (I Tim. 6:20 NIV).

Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly (II Tim. 2:16 NIV).

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels (II Tim. 2:23 NIV).

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness (I Tim. 6:11 NIV).”^[2]

Another interesting person was Nimrod, who was a great hunter, fierce before the Lord.  Note that Nimrod had his eyes upon the Lord, but the kingdom that he founded did not fix their eyes upon the Lord they fixed their eyes upon the legacy of Nimrod.  Babel started out as a land based upon the Lord, the people of the land focused upon Nimrod rather than upon the Lord, and eventually caused Babylon to fall due to it being permeated with evil.  Babylon, Nimrod's city will eventually rise again for a short time during Revelation, in the end it will suffer a second death as its sin is judged again.  

One final observation on this chapter is that it set the ranks for the nations of the world.  I won't pretend to understand the implications of the names, or how they pertain to the modern nations.  The chapter basically demonstrates how that the nations of the world came to be, and how the curse of Ham was passed down to the nations.  For example, the Philistines descended from the lineage of Ham, and they were on the wrong side in the Biblical accounts. Israel descended from Peleg's brother Joktan, Verses 26-30. 

A careful study of ancient maps can be found in some study Bibles, other than that, I can't comment much on this chapter.  I hope that as you look into it, and if you see something that I missed, be sure to write in. 

Father, as we consider Your word today, open our eyes and enable us to see and understand the scriptures.

In Him,

Joe Turner.