Genesis 10-11
Sunday Morning Bible Study
January 14, 2007
Introduction
Genesis is the book of beginnings. We’ve seen the creation of the universe and the creation of man.
We’ve seen the fall of man as Adam and Eve sinned and were removed from the garden of Eden.
We’ve seen the wickedness of man increase as man multiplied and just got worse and worse.
We’ve seen the judgment of God with the flood of Noah.
And now we see the world beginning all over again with Noah’s family.
Genesis 10
:1-5 Sons of Japheth
:1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.
Genesis 10 contains what is known as the “Table of Nations”. It shows how the nations of the world came from the three sons of Noah.
We might be tempted to skip through these kinds of lists of names, but some of them are quite important. This is sort of a key to unlocking many of the things in the Bible. The more names you learn to identify in this chapter, the more you will understand the key players in the Bible.
Scholars and archaeologists have studied this list of names and concluded that it’s incredibly accurate. William F. Albright (who does not believe in the infallibility of the Scriptures) says,
“It stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework...The Table of Nations remains an astonishingly accurate document.”
In all probability, it was Shem that kept this record. His lineage is given the fullest, as though he lost track of the other lines after the dispersion. He is also listed as an author in 11:10.
There are seventy nations listed in all, 14 from Japheth, 30 from Ham, and 26 from Shem.
Who are these seventy nations? Check out the handout ...
:2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
Japheth basically becomes the father of the European nations.
These are the same nations listed among those who will attack Israel in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39.
(skip vs. 3-7)
:6-20 Sons of Ham
:8 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 – Nimrowd – “rebellion”
:10 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,
Some of these places Nimrod settled would become world empires. Babel is a Hebrew word, the Greek form is “Babylon”. Nineveh would be the capital of the Assyrian empire.
It’s not surprising that Nimrod becomes a “god” in the Babylonian religions. It gives you a taste of this man’s pride and the pride that will drive things at the tower of Babel.
(skip vs. 12-14)
:15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth;
Heth is where the “Hittites” come from.
:16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite;
The names of these descendants are familiar if you’ve read through the books of Exodus and Joshua. These are the Canaanites.
skip vs. 17,18
:19 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.
Last week we talked about the sexual nature of the sin of Ham and the resultant curse on the Canaanites. Is it any surprise that the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 18-19), places known for their depravity, come from Canaan?
:21-32 Sons of Shem
(skip vs. 21-24)
: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.
Eber – we believe this is where the name “Hebrew” comes from.
Peleg – Peleg – “division”. And interesting name. Peleg’s dad, Eber, was the same generation from Noah as Ham’s descendant, Nimrod. Since the rebellion and division of languages at Babel took place in Nimrod’s day, it’s possible Eber named his son for this event.
(skip vs. 26-31)
:32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
Genesis 11
:1-9 The Tower of Babel
:1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
Men are multiplying, and they still speak the same language, and no, it’s not the “language of love”…
:2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.
Shinar – Shin‘ar – “country of two rivers”. This is an ancient name for the area later known as Babylon, Chaldea, or modern Iraq, a country of two rivers – the Tigris and the Euphrates.
from the east – Man moved from Noah’s Ark westward to Babylon. This is one reason why it would make more sense for “the mountains of Ararat” to be east of Iraq like Iran, and not west of Iraq like Turkey.
they dwelt there. – Who is the “they”? Nimrod and his family. He’s the one who founded the city of Babel. (Gen. 10:10)
Remember that his name means “rebel”. History tells us he devised a new religion which has since crept into just about every religion of the world.
It will eventually culminate in a world wide apostate religion, and a world wide government, both of which are destroyed in Revelation 17-18.
:3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar.
:4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves,
a city – Ancient written Babylonian accounts (Enuma Elish VI, lines 55-64) claim it was constructed in heaven by the gods as a celestial city and an expression of pride.
tower – migdal – tower; most likely this was a “ziggurat”, something like a pyramid with a ramp running up its side. There are ruins of ziggurats in the Tigris/Euphrates valley.
(tower of) Babel – The original word comes from the Akkadian language, meaning “Gate of God” (TWOT)
These people thought they were building their way into heaven.
whose top is in the heavens – This is very similar to the boast of Lucifer, who’s sin was also pride:
(Isa 14:13-14 NKJV) For you have said in your heart: ’I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north; {14} I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
:4 lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth."
This seems to be in direct rebellion against God’s command to Noah to multiply and fill the earth (Gen. 9:1).
:5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
:6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
It can almost sound as if God is somehow feeling “threatened” by this unity among men.
I don’t think the issue is God’s insecurity. The issue is the danger of man’s pride.
These people were under the impression that they were going to build their way into heaven.
And God was determined for them to get to heaven another way, by atoning for their sins.
Rather than let them get any farther, thinking they were going to achieve something by themselves without God, God puts a stop to it all.
:7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech."
let Us – Just like in Genesis 1, we see the Triune Godhead at work.
Here’s the origin of different languages.
:8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
:9 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.
We’ll come back to this …
:10-26 Shem’s Genealogy
Back in Genesis 5, we got the genealogy that linked Adam to Noah. Now we get the genealogy that links Noah’s son Shem to Abraham.
You’ll see several things in the genealogy.
1. Clear timeline connections.
Just like Genesis 5, this genealogy does not appear to have gaps. We are given the age of the father when the son is born and we are given the total lifespan of the father. When you add it all up, you find that Abraham (Abram) is born 1944 years after Adam’s creation. Noah is still alive when Abraham is born. Noah dies when Abraham is 62 years old, before Abraham leaves “Ur” of the Chaldees to head for the land of Canaan. You find that Abraham dies BEFORE Noah’s son Shem.
2. Life spans get shorter.
Back in Genesis 5, we were amazed at the long life spans of the people before the flood of Noah. We suggested that one explanation might be connected to the flood – that prior to the flood the earth was surrounded by a “canopy”, a dense layer of water or ice, might have shielded the earth from harmful radiation. Since Adam and Eve were created perfectly, they would not have had things like genetic defects and all these factors may have allowed these long life spans. Yet when the “canopy” collapsed at the time of the flood, mankind was exposed to harmful radiation and so man’s life span began to get shorter and shorter as disease and genetic problems began to creep into the human race.
Noah lived 950 years.
Noah’s son Shem lived 600 years (a 30% decrease)
Terah, Abraham’s dad, is 9 generations after Noah, and lives to be a “mere” 205 years old, roughly an 80% decrease from Noah’s life.
3. It all leads to Jesus.
We’re making our way from the judgment of Noah’s flood to the man Abraham, the “friend of God” who “believed God” and it made him “righteous”. He was a father who was asked to sacrifice his only son. And God provided a lamb to take the place… it’s all about getting to Jesus.
Back to …
:9 Therefore its name is called Babel
What was the sin of Babel?
It’s pride. It’s the idea that I can do anything. And I can do it all without God.
Lesson
Pride leads to division
The pride of Babel led to their being scattered and the nations being divided.
Our pride is always making us want to get “one up” on the other person, like …
Illustration
Two men, one from Alabama and one from Texas, were having a friendly chat. The man from Texas asked the Alabaman how big his home place was, and the Alabaman answered, “Oh, I’d say I own about a hundred acres. How ‘bout you?” The Texan replied, “Well son, if you got in a car and drove from sunup to sundown, you still wouldn’t reach the end of my property.” The Alabaman responded, “Yep, I had a car like that once.”
It’s those silly kinds of arguments where we want to be better than the other guy that leads to problems with people.
But humility leads to unity.
(Phil 2:1-5 NKJV) Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, {2} fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. {3} Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. {4} Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. {5} Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,
It’s when I feel like I need to stick up for myself, to make sure that MY opinion is the one that wins out, to feel like everyone knows I’m the “better” guy, that I end up causing division.
Unity can come when I think more of others than I do myself.
Lesson
Pride leaves God out
They were intent on showing that they didn’t need God. They were going to get to heaven on their own. Literally.
But the truth is, we need God.
(John 15:5 NKJV) "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
How much is God a part of your life?
Illustration
Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth’s rite of passage? His dad takes him into the forest blindfolded and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not take off the blindfold until the ray of sun shines through it. He is all by himself. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience. Each lad must come into his own manhood. The boy in our story was, naturally, terrified. He could hear all kinds of noise. Beasts were all around him. Maybe even a human would hurt him. The wind blew the grass and earth and it shook his stump. But he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could be a man. Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he saw his father sitting on the stump next to him - at watch the entire night.
It’s a Christian’s rite of passage to realize that he CAN’T do it all on his own through the long night. It’s a part of growing up to realize that you NEED your Father’s help in everything.
Illustration
A. W. Tozer (The Pursuit of God) writes, “Like the eye which sees everything in front of it and never sees itself, faith is occupied with the Object upon which it rests and pays no attention to itself at all. While we are looking at God, we do not see ourselves—blessed riddance. The man who has struggled to purify himself and has had nothing but repeated failures will experience real relief when he stops tinkering with his soul and looks away to the perfect One.”
