Genesis 10:1 “Now these [are] the generations of the sons of Noah,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.”
This Scripture, above, was telling us about the descendents of Noah and
his sons, who were born after the flood. There is no record of a birth while
they were on the ark.
Genesis 10:2 “The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and
Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.”
The word “Japheth” means expansion, that is a very good example of just
what happened. These sons, like Gomer, became the name of a tribe of people.
Each son started a tribe with the family name as the name of the tribe.
Magog is a name we see throughout the Bible as a tribe of people. Some
believe this to be Lybia, others believe that Gog in the land of Magog is
referring to Russia. Besides this reference in Genesis, Magog was mentioned
strongly in Ezekiel as an enemy of Israel (Ezekiel 38:2 and 39:6).
The Medes sprang from Madai, the third son of Japheth. These sons
spread and populated different countries, as God had instructed them to do.
Javan, many believe, was the descendent of Greeks. In Isaiah 66:19
where this name was mentioned, it is associated with Tarshish, Pul. And Lud,
and “the isles afar off”, probably, the Gentiles of many nations.
For our study here, I believe all of these sons populated a different
area and started tribes of people by that name. Tubal, many believe, founded
Tibernia near the Black Sea. Meshech was often mentioned together with
Tubal, and probably, populated the area of Northern Assyria. They were slave
traders. I could not find any additional information on Tiras.
Genesis 10:3 “And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and
Togarmah.”
Ashkenaz, probably, was Assyrian. They were, also, known as the
Scythians. The name was associated with barbarians. Riphath was an obscure
tribe that seemed to not be mentioned again. The descendents of Togarmah
were mentioned in 1Chronicles 1:6. They are mentioned as being traders who
trafficked with Tyre in horses, horsemen, and mules in Ezekiel 27:14. In
Ezekiel 38, they were named along with Persia, Ethiopia, and Libyia as
followers of Gog.
Genesis 10:4 “And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and
Dodanim.”
The Bible leaves no questions about these sons of Javan, because V-5
told us exactly what happened to them.
Genesis 10:5 “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their
lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.”
We know very little about Elishah, except that his descendents were
island people who sold purple and scarlet fabric to Tyre. Many people
believe these were Cyprus, or Kittim. The Agean Coast was rich in purple
shells. Whether this has a connection, I cannot say.
“Tarshish” is a Phoenician word meaning smelting plant, or refinery.
Nearly every time the word Tarshish was mentioned in the Old Testament, it
was associated with ships, merchants, and trade. Whatever the area, we do
get an indication, here, that these people shipped metals to various places.
Kittim had no certain area that can be proved by the Bible. It could have
been used loosely for the islands of the coast, maybe Cyprus. Dodanim, the
Bible does not explain. Some scholars believe this was Troy. Really, unless
the Bible carries the name through the Scriptures, it probably means it is
irrelevant to the spiritual teachings.
In verse 5 I do want us to take note that the descendents of Japheth
did as God instructed, and scattered, and populated the area God has given
them. Take note, also, that these people spoke different languages. This
will be very important to remember as we go on. We, also, need to take note,
at this point, that all of these people that we have studied in the first
part of this lesson today were descendents of Noah through his son Japheth,
probably Caucasians.
In verse 6 there was a break from the first five verses. We will now
take up the descendents of Noah through Ham.
Genesis 10:6 “And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
Canaan.”
We learned in a previous lesson that the name “Ham” means hot. Most
people believe that Ham was the father of the Negroid nations. It is
impossible to prove this either way, except to note that some of Ham’s
descendents settled Africa, and Ethiopia, and other black nations.
Cush, probably, settled Ethiopia, too, (this is commonly accepted).
Mizraim was commonly accepted as Egypt. “Mizraim” was translated Egypt
eighty-seven times in the Bible. Phut was an African country or peoples,
probably joining Egypt. Canaan was, probably, ancient evil Palestine before
Joshua, through the help of God, overthrew them and took the land for the
children of Israel. We will see in V-15 of this chapter, that many races of
people were started from Canaan. Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite,
Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Ham’s descendents
worshipped false Gods.
Genesis 10:7 “And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and
Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.”
Seba, probably, means the Sabeans. Seba was mentioned in Isaiah and
Psalms, as well as in Genesis. (The Sabeans, South west Arabia,and Yemen).
The Queen of Sheba was, probably, from this area. Seba, Saba, and Sheba
probably are the same word. Havilah became the Ishmaelites, located
somewhere in Arabia. These people were nomads (traveling people). Their name
meant sand. They, probably, roamed the desert, Sabtah has no other mention
that I can find. Raamah’s descendents were traders and lived in South West
Arabia, probably. Sabtechah seems to disappear with this son. Sheba (this
particular Sheba) seems to have settled the shores of the Persian Gulf.
Dedan seems to be just mentioned once more in Chronicles, and I could not
trace him.
Genesis 10:8 “And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the
earth.” Genesis 10:9 “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it
is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.”
“Nimrod” means rebel. Nimrod was a powerful worldly man. If you will
notice, it was of the earth, not heaven. Hitler was a powerful earthly man,
as well. You can easily see that having power on the earth is not
necessarily good. He was a direct contrast to Jesus (Shepherd). A hunter is
trying to satisfy his own flesh, and a shepherd is concerned about saving
others. At any rate, we will see that Nimrod was of a very earthly nature,
not a spiritual nature. There is no doubt about where he settled. V-10 tells
us that.
Genesis 10:10 “And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech,
and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.”
Nimrod had a rebellious spirit. He did not want to heed God’s
instruction to scatter and populate the earth. He thought that by his own
power and might, that he would be able to make his own entrance to heaven
without the help of God. He and his ancestors rebelled against God. Even
now, we associate the name Babel with evil or evil city. Babylon the great
in Revelation was a very good example of this. Nimrod would take his glory
right here on the earth; he would not have any glory in heaven. Erech was
near the Euphrates River in southern Babylonia. Accad was thought to be he
same area as modern Baghdad. There was very little known of Calneh, except
the evil influence of Nimrod. Shinar was, probably, southern Babylonia;
Assyria as we know It today. In Isaiah 1:11, we saw Shinar mentioned as one
of the places the Jews will be gathered from and brought to the Holy Land in
the end days. In Zechariah 5:11, the land Shinar was mentioned as a land of
godless commercialism. Nebuchadnezzar carried away temple treasures from
Jerusalem to Shinar in Daniel 1:2.
Genesis 10:11 “Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh,
and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,” Genesis 10:12 “And Resen between Nineveh
and Calah: the same [is] a great city.”
This above Scripture was speaking of Assyria. Nineveh was a wicked
city, even down to the time of Jonah. This was the city that Jonah thought
was too evil for God to save. Jonah went the other way when God told him to
warn Nineveh. Nineveh repented in sackcloth, and ashes, and called a fast.
God let them live, but you can see that Nineveh was truly an evil city.
Rehoboth was, probably, a suburb of Nineveh to Calah, including Resen, all
made up Nineveh proper. As we can easily see, all the cities and areas that
Ham’s descendents inhabited were rebellious toward God. They worshipped the
god of fertility, and worshipped in high places, which, as we will come to
find, is an abomination of God.
In the next lesson, we will continue with Ham’s descendents, and read
about Shem’s descendents.