The
10th chapter of Genesis is an amazing account of the distribution of
the various peoples of the earth. It is an accounting of the sons of
Noah and how their son’s “spread
out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each
with their own language“.
The Table of Nations, as it is called, includes more than
genealogies, it includes the geography they migrated to and the races
of people that came from each son. We are immediately struck by the
fact that although our natural tendency is to see the difference in
the races of people, God knows we are all kin. While we have
developed different languages and cultures we can all trace our roots
back to Noah.
The
author lists, “The
sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madial, Javan, Tubal, Meshach and
Tireas“.
We are told among the sons of Javan were “these
maritime people“,
it is fascinating to study the nations that these men became and the
clans that formed. “The
sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan”
and some of his grandsons include, “Nimrod…a
mighty hunter (of men)…the first centers of his kingdom were
Babylon… Asyria, Nineveh…Philistines…Hittites,
Jebusites…Amorites…”
As Noah prophesied all became enemies of the nation Israel. We also
read “Shem
was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber”
which traces the line to Abraham. As Americans, we have a difficult
time understanding the ancient warring that is still going on in many
parts of the world today, particularly the middle east. Most of us
were born here and have possibly moved many times in our lives- when
we don’t like an area, we just relocate. The hostilities in the
middle east go back thousands of years and include ethnic, religious
and geographic disputes.
To
many of us, long term planning means knowing what will we be doing
next weekend, but with children and grandchildren, we begin to get a
sense that what we do can impact generations to come. It is sobering
to imagine that we will pass on our passions and faith on to the
generations to come. The apostle Paul writes to his protégé
Timothy, “To
Timothy, my child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the
Father and Jesus Christ, our Lord…Jesus Christ came into the world
to save the sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. And yet for
this reason I found mercy, in order that Jesus Christ might
demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those that would
believe in Him for eternal life“.
Paul pours out his faith for Timothy to see and carry on after him.
What will be passed on to your descendents?