2Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5The coastland peoples spread out into their lands. These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations. Each group had its own language. (Genesis 10:2-5)
It looks like just a list of names to me. But notice in verse 5 that it says, “These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations.” J. Vernon McGee, in his commentary, lists some of the nations that descended from these people. These include the eastern and western Europeans, the Indians, the Persians, the Afghans and the Kurds. (I’m in there too. J. Vernon McGee mentions the Bohemians. I’m three-fourths Bohemian.)
Now let’s go on to verses 6 and 7. In verses 6 and 7, Moses tells us about the sons of Ham, Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan. The black Africans are descended from Cush. Those that are along the northern coast of Africa are descended from Egypt and Put. Those who were in the land of Canaan when the Israelites entered it eight hundred and some years after the flood were descended from Canaan. The Canaanites are pretty much extinct now. You remember the curse that Noah pronounced against Canaan: “Canaan will be cursed.” (Gen. 9:25a) This was a prophecy that God gave through Noah.
Now we come to verses 8 through 12. Here’s what they say:
8Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth. 9He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.” 10His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.
Do you remember that I said that today’s passage is mostly about human pride and rebellion? Nimrod was the first man after the flood to establish himself as a leader. That’s what it means that he was the first powerful man on earth: “Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth.” Verse 9 also says that Nimrod was a powerful hunter. He was well known because of this. Matthew Henry, whose commentary I also refer to, speculates that Nimrod used his hunting skills to rid the land of wild animals, which, as you may remember, were now carnivorous, and by doing so, gained favor with the rest of the people. Nimrod established himself as a king. Apparently up to this point, there was no authority beyond that which was in extended families—no human king that was over all the people.
Verses 10 through 12 tell us that Nimrod established cities. He established eight cities in all. The first city he established was Babylon. That is where, as we’ll see in chapter 11, God confused their language so that they would be scattered over the face of the earth. After Babylon Nimrod went on and established seven more cities. What this is all about is ambition and pride; its about human achievement! (When I was a kid, I was always wanting to start some kind of club. I would make myself president and appoint some of my friends to other offices. Fortunately, I didn’t have any leadership skills.)
Verse 13 gives the descendants of Cush’s son Egypt. The Philistines, which were later to give the Israelite a lot of trouble, were descended from one of Egypt’s sons.
Verses 15 through 20 (which I’m not going to read) tell us about the descendants of Cush’s son Canaan. If you read them and you are familiar with the various tribes that the Israelites had to contend with when they entered the Promised Land, you will see that these verses pretty much list them all (all except for the Philistines, that is, who came from Cush’s son Egypt).
Now let’s go on to Noah’s son Shem’s descendants. Verses 21 and 22 say, “And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had children. Shem was the father of all the children of Eber. Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.” Now, if you look closely at those verses, you will see that Shem was the father of all the children of Eber, but that Eber is not mentioned as one of Shem’s sons. Why? If you go on from verse 22, you will see that Eber was actually the great grandson of Shem.
Now, if you look ahead to verse 25, here’s what it says: “Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.” God scattered the people from the tower of Babel all over the earth—the earth was divided (which I’ll talk about in just a minute)—during the lifetime of Eber’s son Peleg. If you look ahead to Genesis 11:10-32 (which I’m not going to do this week), you will be able to see the time when the people were scattered. (It give the years of the births and deaths of Shem’s descendants.)
But there’s something more important about the Eber. It is through Eber that Abraham the Hebrew was descended—and through him Isaac and Jacob who is Israel—God changed his name to Israel—and through Israel God sent his one and only son Jesus Christ to save all of us from all of our sins! Amen!
Verses 26 through 31 give us more information on the descendants of Shem. And verse 32, the last verse in chapter 10 says, “These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.” This verse confirms that no one was left alive after the flood but Noah’s family, because all the nations on earth spread out from only these people, the descendants of Noah, after the flood.”
Now let’s go on to chapter 11. This is about the tower of Babel (or the tower of Babylon, as the HCSB renders it). I’m going to read this entire passage. It consists of verses 1 through 9:
1At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They had brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The Lord said, “If, as one people all having the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (Genesis 11:1-9)
At the time Babylon was established, everyone spoke the same language. The land of Shinar in verse 2 (…they found a valley in the land of Shinar…) is the location of Babylon (and also of modern Iraq. Do you remember that Saddam Hussein was trying to rebuild Babylon? He was, but isn’t any more. )
Now, let’s look as verses 3 and 4. Verses 3 and 4 say, “They said to each other, ‘Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.’ They had brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. And they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’” The didn’t want to obey God who had commanded them to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” Instead, they wanted to make a name for themselves by building a very high tower. They wanted to stay in one place. And they were willing to overcome the apparent lack of stone by using oven-fired bricks instead. (Modern technology!) This is all about human achievement and human glory. “Let’s make a name for ourselves.” (I read the other day that they investigated someone who was taking pictures of the Sears tower as a terrorist suspect. The Sears tower is a likely terrorist target. And why do you think the terrorists attacked the world trade center towers? Don’t you think it might have been because they figured that we would consider them the “glory” of the United States? The Tower Of Babel was probably a project of Nimrod intended to unite the people together under his leadership. (Otherwise, they would be “scattered over the face of the whole earth.”)
Why do you think the Russians started launching satellites into orbit around the earth back in the ‘50’s? And why did the United States join in the race to get the first man on the moon? It’s all about human glory. Seeking human glory is rebellion against God! All glory belongs to the God who made all things including us!
You know, when I was young, I thought space exploration would be really neat. I’m an engineer and would really have loved to be involved in space exploration. The way we were pursuing it, I thought we would continue until we had explored the planets and then probably go on to the stars. My friends and I were all science fiction fans. I thought everyone was. I had a friend who said that he would gladly give his life to be the first man on the moon. I was surprised to hear him continue to say this even after he had a wife and kids. (He eventually became an airline pilot.)
Well, I was disappointed when people apparently lost interest in space exploration when we won the race and beat the Russians to the moon. Still, it was all about human glory and achievement. And yet I’ll say this: Some of the United States astronauts actually did give glory to God while they were in space, something I doubt if any of the Russians would have done, at least if they wanted to continue to be astronauts—or maybe if they wanted to be brought back from space at all!
And consider the Olympics. During the days of the Soviet Union, that was a big competition also. The Russians trained athletes in special camps from childhood. They were supposed to be amateurs, but they were really professionals. All for human glory. And what about OSU football? (I won’t say any more about that.) Let me read to you from 1 John 2:15-17:
15Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. 16For everything that belongs to the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever. (1 John 2:15-17)
How much do you love the things that belong to this world? If you love the things of this world, love for the Father is not in you! How much pride do you have in your lifestyle? The world with its lust (desires in the NIV) is passing away, but the one who does God’s will remains forever! Do you expect to remain forever?
Well, the Lord came down to look over the tower and the city that the men were building. He concluded that, since they were able to cooperate so well as to build the tower and the city, nothing they set their minds to would be impossible for them. Now that would sound great…except for the fact that they were all sinners! We are all sinners too. We are only saved by God’s grace. We have the righteousness that comes through faith, just as Noah did.
But I want to add this. Noah built the ark because he believed God. If you have faith, you will trust God and you will obey him, just as Noah did. None of us is perfect, at least not yet. Noah wasn’t either. But if you believe God, you will have the desire to obey him and he will see that you become perfect.
Verse 7 says the Lord said, “Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” You know, sometimes the Lord intervenes in the affairs of men by doing something spectacular (like the flood, for instance). But I think that in this case they weren’t even aware of what was happening. At some point they were no longer able to communicate with each other or cooperate in the tower project, so they gave it up and all went their separate ways. God guides history in this way. Sometimes he does something spectacular. Other time people don’t even know that he is intervening.
Verse 9 says that the city they were building was called Babylon because “the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.” If you look at the footnote in HCSB, it says that the word for confuse sounds like Babylon. It was called Babylon after they left.
Now I want to say something else. You know, Abraham, the descendant of Shem, lived in tents, not in houses and not in cities. Here’s what the writer of Hebrews has to say about him:
8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went out to a place he was going to receive as an inheritance; he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he stayed as a foreigner in the land of promise, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, co-heirs of the same promise. 10For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. (Hebrews 11:8-10)
Are you looking forward to something in this world, or are you looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God? One time one of my friends said that he thought it was terrible that his father had died when he was 65 years old. I wondered what he meant. But after a little more conversation I realized that my friend thought it was terrible that his father had died because he had been “cheated” out of his retirement years. What are you looking forward to.
Well, the lesson of today’s passage is that God wants us to be humble and to know that we depend on him, and not to think that we can, by our own effort, glorify ourselves. And I might add the pride shows up in a lot more ways than wanting to build cities or make yourself a king. Any time you decide that you want to do what you want to do and not what God wants you to do, that’s pride! “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matt. 5:3) “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (Proverbs 3:34 –NIV) And:
5Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus,
6who, existing in the form of God, did not consider
equality with God
as something to be used for His own advantage.
7Instead He emptied Himself by assuming the form of a slave,
taking on the likeness of men.
And when He had come as a man in His external form,
8He humbled Himself by becoming obedient
to the point of death—even to death on a cross.
9For this reason God also highly exalted Him
and gave Him the name that is above every name,
10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—
of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—
11and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)
Jesus humbled himself for us in obedience to God the Father and gave himself up to death on a cross. God exalted Jesus highly and gave him the name that is above every name. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matt. 23:12)
God loves us and sent his Son to become a man and to die for our sin. Jesus loves us. Praise the Lord. Amen!
[Prayer]
END NOTES
1 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible ®, Holman CSB ® and HCSB ® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
2 Genesis 10:1-11:9
Chapter 10
The Table of Nations
1These are the family records of Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. They also had sons after the deluge.
2Japheth’s sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3Gomer’s sons: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4And Javan’s sons: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5The coastland peoples spread out into their lands. These are Japheth’s sons by their clans, in their nations. Each group had its own language.
6Ham’s sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7Cush’s sons: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. And Raamah’s sons: Sheba and Dedan.
8Cush fathered Nimrod, who was the first powerful man on earth. 9He was a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord. That is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a powerful hunter in the sight of the Lord.” 10His kingdom started with Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, 12and Resen, between Nineveh and the great city Calah.
13Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14Pathrusim, Casluhim (the Philistines came from them), and Caphtorim.
15Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn, and the Hittites, 16the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterwards the Canaanite clans scattered. 19The Canaanite border went from Sidon going toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and going toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.
20These are Ham’s sons, by their clans, according to their languages, in their own lands and their nations.
21And Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had children. Shem was the father of all the children of Eber. 22Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram.
23Aram’s sons: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash.
24Arpachshad fathered Shelah, and Shelah fathered Eber. 25Eber had two sons. One was named Peleg, for during his days the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan. 26And Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah,
27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were Joktan’s sons. 30Their settlements extended from Mesha to Sephar, the eastern hill country.
31These are Shem’s sons by their clans, according to their languages, in their lands and their nations.
32These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their family records, in their nations. The nations on earth spread out from these after the flood.
Chapter 11
The Tower of Babylon
1At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They had brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The Lord said, “If, as one people all having the same language, they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.