GENESIS
CHAPTER
10
1. These are the descendants of Noah's sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: children were born to them after the flood.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 1)
According to the introductory verse of chapter ten of the book of Genesis it appears that we are going to be given a long list or overview of Noah's descendants. This may appear to be boring and of a non spiritual significance, however on reflecting no word or chapter, full stop or comma has been inserted without a purpose or beyond the will of 'God', therefore although the content may appear tedious, we are to treat it with the same respect as we have done to the previous chapters of the book of Genesis.
2. The descendants of Japheth; Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 2)
According to chapter 9 of the book of Genesis Japheth was a kind and respectful person, who found favour in the eyes of his father whom he saved his face in front of the rest of his family, so much that he received his father's blessing in earnest.
3. The descendants of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 3)
Gomer is the answer to our previous riddle. She is one of the daughters of Japheth as in verse 2 of the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis. As previously mentioned it was a bit hard to comprehend how out of three sons could the world have been populated. Gomer is one of those women though whom God made this possible.
4. The descendants of Javan: Elishah, Tarshush, Kittim, and and Rodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread. These are the descendants of Japheth in their lands, with their own language, by their families, in their nations.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 4 and 5)
Javan is referred to be another of the sons of Noah's line of descent. As can be noted the spread of humanity was gradually taking place. This can be noted by the fact that the descendants of Javan had spread to the coast lands or lands surrounding the coast, and had become an individual unit or nation having its own language.
6. The descendants of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 6)
On browsing through the Bible we find written that Ham or the land of Ham is referring to Egypt. Therefore if we hold the mountain of Ararat as our point of departure we can conclude that the spread of humanity ventured even as far as Egypt.
7. The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 7)
The descendants of Cush or the Cushites are referring to the people of Asia thus the circle of migration is already in an advanced state of development.
8. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. 9. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD."
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 8 and 9)
Unlike Noah who was a good and righteous man, Cush was the father of Nimrod, who was known as a mighty warrior and hunter. On reflecting, I wonder and also might you for what people will remind you when you leave this world.
10. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 10)
According to the Word of God we are given indications that Shinar was located in Babylonia however the aim of this analysis, is not that of trying to identify the actual place, but to refer to the fact that indeed the descendants of Noah did spread throughout the world as found in the 'Word of God and as found in other sources. Therefore we, will continue going through the rest of the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis.
11. From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 11 to 12)
On reflecting it is no coincidence that the land of Assyria has till today retained its original name as found in the Bible. This can be confirmed in any atlas.
13. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come."
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 13)
On reflecting the Word of God refers to the fact that indeed the sons of Noah ventured throughout the world of their days and left descendants that can be traced to present day lands.
15. Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 15 to 19)
Although these nations existed long ago, some of the names such as Sidon can still be identified by their original names and therefore continue to shed light on to how far was the expansion of the descendants of Noah that led to the eventual population of the world as found in the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis.
20. These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 20)
According to verse twenty from the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis, the descendants of Noah spread extensively throughout the world so much that they had different languages, lands and nations.
21. To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachsad, Lud, and Aram.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 21 to 22)
On analyzing the given list the descendants are all presented by the following classification based on their geographical location in order to show the pattern of expansion undertaken by humanity in the process of populating the world.
23. The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachsad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 23 to 25)
According to verse twenty-nine from the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis, evil was in an increase in the world so much that the people of the world had become divided among themselves.
26. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. 31 These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 32 These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 26 to 32)
On reflecting the author of the book of Genesis constantly repeats the criteria underlining the given classification of the descendants of Noah according to the region that they had emigrated to, leading to the actual population of the world.
Although this classification and the actual process of world population may be disputed and even supported or refuted, what matters is that after the second birth of humanity after the cleansing of the world by the waters of the flood, humanity regressed back to its natural self and commenced in a process of spiritual, sinful, social, and psychological degeneration that is still going on today. Throughout this sad process, evil is on the increases in many walks of life both on a material level and even on a spiritual level. Priests are becoming accused of immoral acts, some of which are alleged as being guilty, Judges of the peace have also been proved to be corrupt, murder, robbery, drug abuse have become the rule of the day.
However, although the given scenario seems to be bleak and tragic, God is still in control of the goings on in the world, and that humanity has control, only to some extent. God is aware that we are constantly at war with our sinful selves, and that the Devil takes advantage of our natural weakness to try to hurt God, (biting the heel), but God has already crushed the head of the serpent. The Devil is a loser, therefore our hearts and minds are to be at rest that the victory over evil is of God.
I would like to end this chapter which has not been easy to analyze in a spirit of prayer, with the following prayer.
Oh God thank you for all the people of the world, people of different religions, colour, creed, social standing etc. All people are your reflection and are one big family with you as their one and only father, whether we admit it or not. Thank you for my many aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, thanks for making one unique in his or her own way, while I also thank you for making all equal in your just and loving heart.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 6)
On browsing through the Bible we find written that Ham or the land of Ham is referring to Egypt. Therefore if we hold the mountain of Ararat as our point of departure we can conclude that the spread of humanity ventured even as far as Egypt.
7. The descendants of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The descendants of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 7)
The descendants of Cush or the Cushites are referring to the people of Asia thus the circle of migration is already in an advanced state of development.
8. Cush became the father of Nimrod; he was the first on earth to become a mighty warrior. 9. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD."
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 8 and 9)
Unlike Noah who was a good and righteous man, Cush was the father of Nimrod, who was known as a mighty warrior and hunter. On reflecting, I wonder and also might you for what people will remind you when you leave this world.
10. The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, and Accad, all of them in the land of Shinar.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 10)
According to the Word of God we are given indications that Shinar was located in Babylonia however the aim of this analysis, is not that of trying to identify the actual place, but to refer to the fact that indeed the descendants of Noah did spread throughout the world as found in the 'Word of God and as found in other sources. Therefore we, will continue going through the rest of the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis.
11. From that land he went into Assyria, and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 11 to 12)
On reflecting it is no coincidence that the land of Assyria has till today retained its original name as found in the Bible. This can be confirmed in any atlas.
13. Egypt became the father of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, from which the Philistines come."
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 13)
On reflecting the Word of God refers to the fact that indeed the sons of Noah ventured throughout the world of their days and left descendants that can be traced to present day lands.
15. Canaan became the father of Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon, in the direction of Gerar, as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 15 to 19)
Although these nations existed long ago, some of the names such as Sidon can still be identified by their original names and therefore continue to shed light on to how far was the expansion of the descendants of Noah that led to the eventual population of the world as found in the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis.
20. These are the descendants of Ham, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 20)
According to verse twenty from the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis, the descendants of Noah spread extensively throughout the world so much that they had different languages, lands and nations.
21. To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The descendants of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachsad, Lud, and Aram.
(Genesis chapter 10 verse 21 to 22)
On analyzing the given list the descendants are all presented by the following classification based on their geographical location in order to show the pattern of expansion undertaken by humanity in the process of populating the world.
23. The descendants of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachsad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 23 to 25)
According to verse twenty-nine from the tenth chapter of the book of Genesis, evil was in an increase in the world so much that the people of the world had become divided among themselves.
26. Joktan became the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the descendants of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar, the hill country of the east. 31 These are the descendants of Shem, by their families, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 32 These are the families of Noah's sons, according to their genealogies, in their nations; and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
(Genesis chapter 10 verses 26 to 32)
On reflecting the author of the book of Genesis constantly repeats the criteria underlining the given classification of the descendants of Noah according to the region that they had emigrated to, leading to the actual population of the world.
Although this classification and the actual process of world population may be disputed and even supported or refuted, what matters is that after the second birth of humanity after the cleansing of the world by the waters of the flood, humanity regressed back to its natural self and commenced in a process of spiritual, sinful, social, and psychological degeneration that is still going on today. Throughout this sad process, evil is on the increases in many walks of life both on a material level and even on a spiritual level. Priests are becoming accused of immoral acts, some of which are alleged as being guilty, Judges of the peace have also been proved to be corrupt, murder, robbery, drug abuse have become the rule of the day.
However, although the given scenario seems to be bleak and tragic, God is still in control of the goings on in the world, and that humanity has control, only to some extent. God is aware that we are constantly at war with our sinful selves, and that the Devil takes advantage of our natural weakness to try to hurt God, (biting the heel), but God has already crushed the head of the serpent. The Devil is a loser, therefore our hearts and minds are to be at rest that the victory over evil is of God.
I would like to end this chapter which has not been easy to analyze in a spirit of prayer, with the following prayer.
Oh God thank you for all the people of the world, people of different religions, colour, creed, social standing etc. All people are your reflection and are one big family with you as their one and only father, whether we admit it or not. Thank you for my many aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters, thanks for making one unique in his or her own way, while I also thank you for making all equal in your just and loving heart.
Thank You
God
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