BiblicalMastery Buddy's bible blog

Lesson 8

The Beginning of the Nations

Genesis 10 and 11

Me-

One of the things I enjoy doing, especially in the winter time, is to work jigsaw puzzles.  I especially like the ones with a thousand pieces which provide just enough challenge.  Recently I tried to work one which became an exercise in futility and frustration.  Not only was there a lot of the same color but also many of the pieces were almost identical in size and shape.  In fact the box top which shows what the puzzle should look like as a finished product did not help.  It became an almost impossible task to complete, so I gave up on it.

The only thing more frustrating than the above mentioned one is to work at putting a puzzle together only to find that there is a piece missing.  Usually it can be found on the floor or in a chair but occasionally it cannot be found at all.  Without it the picture is complete and the enjoyment I expected to get from accomplishing is gone.

My life has been somewhat like a jigsaw puzzle. I know that God has had a plan and purpose for me.  Sometimes because of my actions there seems to be a piece or pieces missing.  It is only when I follow through on what He has given me to do is there the joy of accomplishment.  Thankfully He sees each of our lives as just one piece but as a part of the whole.  He views us as a completed picture through His Son.

We

What I have described is not limited to individuals.  Organizations have to look at the box top to see the purpose for which He has brought it into being.  The picture represents the vision that God has for each church.  In order to fulfill the vision we have to approach it from the standpoint of what God wants to accomplish.  Once we know that then all of the pieces can be brought together to complete the picture.  There cannot be extra ones and for sure if one is missing.  Lacking one part of the whole makes what we hope to accomplish incomplete.

In chapter 10 and 11 we will begin to see God’s plan, His vision, for mankind.  Before the seed of Eve could come to defeat the devil the world had to be made ready for His appearance.  Most of us like to skip the genealogies because to us it is just a list of names.  To God each one of the people mentioned served a purpose His overall plan. 

Genesis 10:1

God was about to do something.  He was going to bring about through the sons the fulfillment of His plan to multiply and fill the earth.  Every person is a descendant of one of those three men.  Here the names are given in the order of their birth.

Genesis 10:2-5

Moses begins with the family of Japheth the youngest son.  It is interesting to note that in the genealogical lists the elected family comes last.  In this case it would be Shem.  Each of the sons was the forefather of distinct people groups or nations.  Gomer who many believe was the founder of the Germanic people and Magog who was the founder of Russia are later mentioned in Ezekiel as enemies of Israel.  It is agreed that these along with the others mentioned started the nations of Europe and parts of Asia.  The dispersion of the peoples had begun. Each would have its own language. Because of the location of these nations interaction with the nation of Israel would not occur until much later in its history. For a more definitive breakdown of the nations begun by each of the sons “Exploring Genesis” by John Phillips would be one source to use.

1. Why does the Bible give us so much detail about the families of the three sons of Noah?  
2. How do these verses show that the command of God to fill the earth was being carried out?
3. Why is it important to us where each of the families settled?
4. Why was Japheth the youngest listed first?

Genesis 10:6-7

Next in order were the families of Ham.  For the most part they settled in what is now called the Middle East and the nations of northern Africa.  He had four sons Cush Mizraim, Phut and Canaan.

Genesis 10:8-12

Cush after having other sons had Nimrod.  Nimrod played an important role during that period of time.  He is described a “mighty one on the earth.”  Further Moses said, “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.”  The word “before” might be translated against.  He became powerful enough that he was able to establish several cities including Babel, later Babylon, and Nineveh, the future capital of Assyria.  The anti-god sentiment of Nimrod can be seen in the naming one of the cities Babel.  Babel means, “the gate of the god.”  Eventually Babel (Babylon) would become one of the most powerful nations on earth under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar.

1. Why did Nimrod play an important role in the history of the people at that time in history?
2. What does it mean that he was a mighty hunter against God?
3. What would the naming of the city, Babel signify?
4. Why would an anti-God sentiment develop among the people?
5. What did they desire?

Genesis 10:13-14

Mizraim and his family founded Egypt.  This fact is important because the nation of Egypt eventually would give rise to the Philistines who came from the family of Casluhim.

1. What is the significance of the founding of Egypt?
2. Why did Moses mention the Philistines at this point?

Genesis 10:15-20

Aside from Egypt and the Philistines the descendants of Canaan, the grandson of Noah, would have the greatest interaction with Israel in the future.  The list is a who’s who of the enemies of the nation of Israel and inhabited the land that eventually became the Promised Land to be given to the Jews by God.

1. Why would the nations mentioned in these verses be of special interest to us?
2. Which of the different people groups would present the greatest challenges for Israel?
3. Out of all of them which controlled the land that in the future would become the home of the Israelites?
4. Why did Moses go into such great detail about the descendants of Ham?

Genesis 10:21

Moses finally gets to the family of Shem.  Notice that he jumps two generations and mentions Eber through whom the chosen people would come. As mentioned above it was the practice to list the family of the elect of God until the end.

1. Why did Moses leave the family of Shem to end of talking about Noah’s descendants?
2. Why did he refer to Eber who would have been Shem’s great grandson?
3. In what order do we generally talk about our children and grandchildren?
4. Why do we speak of them in that way?
5. When would the situation be different for you?

Genesis 10:22-25

None of the sons of Shem would live in what is now called Israel permanent until the time following the death of Moses. They travelled to places like Assyria, east of Babylon, Arabia, and Mesopotamia.  Throughout the listing of the descendants there are certain names about which more will be written.  Arpachshad (Arphaxad in some translations), Shealah, Eber (who became the father of Peleg.  It was during the lifetime of Peleg whose name means division, that the incident at the tower of Babel occurred. 

1. If the nation of Israel was to come from Shem why do we find them scattered in many other places like Assyria, Arabia and Yemen?
2. Why did Moses not continue with the descendants of Peleg?
3. What important event occurred during the lifetime of Peleg?

Genesis 10:26-31

In this chapter the genealogy of Peleg stops but that of his brother Joktan is given in more detail. Joktan is thought to be the father of the Arabians. Of his sons the only exception to those who lived in Arabia was Almodad who possibly founded Yemen.

1. Why are we given more detail about Joktan’s family than that of Peleg?
2. Where did the family of Joktan go as they were dispersed?

 Genesis 10:32 

With the naming of Shem’s descendants the completion of the dispersion of Noah’s family was complete.  Each of them founded different nations.  One of the criteria that described the separation was the differences in language each spoke.  All of these events described in this chapter were written by Moses from the perspective of almost one thousand years.  The language factor is expressed in verse 5, 20 and 31. 

1. Why was it necessary for the people to be separated?
2. What probably would have happened if all the people had been allowed to stay together?
3. What do we see around us when a location becomes overcrowded? 

Genesis 11:1-2

Moses returned to the time before the world was divided among the different people groups to explain how Genesis 10:6, 20, 31-32 occurred.  At that point in time all the people were together but they then began moving out from one location to populate the whole world.  Evidently, many of them migrated to the east went into the land of Shinar (present day Iraq) and settled there. 

1. Why did Moses return to the time when the world was not yet divided as he continued his narrative?
2. Which of the tribes would be the subject of the migration?
3. What is important about the land of Shinar?

Genesis 11:3-4

In contrast to the permanence of God’s kingdom, this new world order man’s attempt to make a name and place for himself would be made from that which cannot last.  All one has to do is look around to see the crumbling remains of societies long past to realize that what they were trying to do was an act of folly.  Notice each time they spoke of what they were going to do it was always with the words, “Let us.”  God was not going to be part of their plan.  Their attempt to make themselves the center of the world included three ideas:

• The first was to build a city for themselves. They desired to have a political social structure in place to guide their lives.
• Secondly and the one which reflected the humanistic philosophy was to build a tower.  This was to become the emblem of self worship.   
• Lastly they wanted to make a name for themselves.

The words which spoke of the tower suggested not that they expected that they could actually achieve the building of a tower all the way to heaven, but that the top would be the signs of the Zodiac.  It is the first mention of a false religion dominated the lives of man.

1. What is the symbolism of the materials that were used to build the city?
2. What was the reason they desired to build a city?
3. What did the tower mean to them?
4. Why is it so important for man to make a name for himself?
5. What do all these things say about man’s attitude toward God?

Genesis 11:5

Let be said that God did not have to have down physically.  Moses was speaking about God’s involvement in the affairs of man.  Inherent in the description of the tower there is the limited capability of man. The tower did not reach to heaven as has been mentioned previously.  God let the people complete what they desired to build before He intervened.

1. What does it mean that God came down?
2. What does the description tell us about the limitations of man?
3. Why did God wait until the project was complete?

Genesis 11:6

The common factor identified by God that allowed man to accomplish what they had done was that all of them spoke the same language. When He spoke to the God head it was not so much that man could actually accomplish because he cannot.  It was about an attitude that completely excluded God to his own detriment.

1. What was the common factor in God’s view?
2. Why did God say that man would be able to accomplish everything that came to his mind?
3. How would that attitude be harmful to mankind?

Genesis 11:7-9

God dealt with the issue by taking away the means that the people had of communicating with each other.  No longer could they coordinate the activities involved in building the city.  Since there was no longer a commonality the people separated themselves and were scattered by God over the entire earth. 

1. How did God deal with the situation?
2. In what ways was this a benevolent act on His part?
3. What does this tell us about the difficulty about different cultures coming together today?
4. On the positive what can be accomplished by good communication in the church and families?

Genesis 11:10-23

Here is found the same pattern that was used in the writing of Adam’s genealogy in which the age when a son was born and the length of life of each father was given.  Notice, unlike those who lived before the flood, the life span of those born after the event was much shorter.  This was a consequence of the judgment God brought on man at the time of the flood.  It was in His sovereignty to limit the life span of man. 

The previously listing of Shem’s genealogy had ended with Peleg.  When Moses returned to providing information about Shem’s family not all of the sons were listed.  He only mentioned those who were ancestors of Abraham.  Remember he was writing genealogy after the birth of Abraham.

1. What is one difference that is found in the Shem’s descendants from those of Adam’s?
2. Why did Moses stop then pick up on the speaking of the family of Shem?
3. Why did Moses leave out the names of all the sons but instead only listed particular ones?
4. What does this tell us about the plan of God for mankind?

Genesis 11:24-28

Moses now begins the narrative of one of the most important men in the history of not only Jews but the world.  Abram was born to Terah, the son of Nahor.  He had two brothers, Nahor and Haran.  Lot is also introduced in these verses.  He was the nephew of Abram.  His father was Haran who died while the family still lived in Ur of the Chaldeans.

1. Why did Moses present the genealogy of Shem’s family as he did?
2. What did he have in mind as he wrote it?  Remember he was writing about things that had occurred a long time in the past.
3. Why are these particular verses of Genesis important to us?
4. What was the relationship between Abram and Lot?
5. Why was Lot specifically mentioned here?

Genesis 11:29

Abram took a wife whose name was Sarai.  Later Moses will tell us that Sarai was Abram’s half sister.  His brother Nahor also married.  Milcah the daughter of Haran would also play an important role in the life of Abraham’s descendants.  Although her sister-in-law was able to have children, Sarai was barren.

1. What were the relationships between husbands and wives?
2. Why did Abram and Nahor intermarry with their kin?
3. What other important fact do we learn about Sarai at this point?

Genesis 11:31-32

Terah set out from his homeland with the intentions of going into Canaan.  He carried with him his sons, their wives and Lot his grandson.  For a while they settled in Haran which is in present day Syria.  It was there that Terah died at the age of two hundred.

1. Why did Terah leave Ur?
2. Where was he intending to go?
3. Who did he take with him?
4. Why did God not allow him to go any further?

You-

• Think about the legacy that your family has left to you.
• Think about the times that you have excluded God from your plans and said, “Let me do it on my own.”
• What are the towers of Babel you have tried to build in your life to replace God?
• Consider the ways you have communicated in a positive or negative way and how it impacted those around you.

We-

In this lesson we have discussed how the world became so separated.  Hopefully the very things that happened close to four thousand years ago will teach us that whenever we exclude God from our lives that the consequences can be so destructive.  Often we find the greatest problem becomes the alienation that comes from our actions both from those around us and God.

Happily God had a plan all along.  It began with Abraham who came from the family of Shem who was chosen to father in a way our Savior Jesus Christ.  The Scriptures tell us what a difference He has made.  While the world at the time of Peleg had to go their separate ways because of apostacy, Christ has come to reunite us by reconciling us to the Father.  In 2 Corinthians 5:19, we are told that,

“God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.”

We read further in Ephesians 2:14-16,

“For He (Christ) is our peace, who made both groups (Jews and Gentiles) into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity.”

Christ has come and fulfilled all that God intended to be.  May we not live a life that is in open conflict with Him.  May we be an instrument of reconciliation of the world to each other and to the Father.

Additional Notes:

BL- At the time the people attempted to build the Tower of Babel everyone once spoke the same language.  However, when men settled in the plain of Shinar, they began to build a tower of bricks (a “ziggurat”!) in order to reach the heavens.  This was the first “religion”–man’s attempt to reach God through his own efforts.  The residents of Babel used bricks; people today often use rituals or good deeds, but the results are the same.  Sinful man can never reach holy God by human means.  God, however, DOES reach out to US, and that is what makes Christianity a relationship, rather than a religion.  It is a relationship initiated by God in which He came down to meet US through His Son, Jesus Christ–and when we, by faith, trust in Christ as our Savior, God forgives our sins and clothes us in His Son’s righteousness, making us holy and acceptable in His sight. This has been God’s plan from the beginning; we saw the first hint of it in Genesis 3:15 and we see it again here in verse 7 when the Lord says, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language. . .”  God initiates the action of salvation; He accomplishes it through Christ; and He convicts us of our need for salvation through the Holy Spirit.  The Lord confused men’s speech in vv. 6-8 because He said that if He didn’t stop them,  . .then nothing they planned to do would be impossible for them.  He realized that men, left unchecked, will attempt to build a world according to their own specifications; and because men are flawed, the world they create will be flawed as well.  As an example, there is the supposedly utopian society that the Communists tried to create in Russia and the evil to which they resorted in an effort to maintain it.  Could the same be true of our own country?  It will be, if we leave God out of it!  Are we, as Christians, willing to stand up for what we believe?  One of the best places we can start is in the voting booth!  Don’t forget to exercise YOUR freedom to vote next Tuesday! (Gen. 11)

BL-Are there any positive aspects that came from events surrounding the Tower of Babel and God’s subsequent destruction of it?  The sudden dispersal and inability to communicate, forced people out of their “comfort zones.” The action by God fostered new cultures and ideas.  It also taught the people humility and made them more dependent on God instead of each other. However, in building the Tower, the people had learned the value of teamwork.  They were unified in their goal, their purpose, and their planning.  What they tried to do may be compared to the Church today, in which each believer brings unique gifts that can benefit the entire entity.  What gifts has God given you and me?  How are we using them to build up the existing body of believers?

How can we use them to reach out to those who do not yet believe? (Gen. 11:1-9)

BL-In the remaining verses of chapter 11, we traced the background of Abram, a descendant of Noah’s son, Shem.  In chapter 12, Abram was commanded by God to leave his country, his people and his father’s household and go to the land God showed him.  If he complied, God promised to make Abram into a great nation (although Abram had no children at this point, to bless him and make his name great.  Abram did obey God–but with a few concessions!  He left his country, but he took along all his possessions, his servants, and his nephew, Lot–extra baggage that would weigh him down considerably at a later time!  In v. 7, God promised to give Abram’s offspring the land of Canaan, but Abram still did not trust God to care for him.  A famine in v. 10 sent him scurrying to Egypt, and there, his lack of trust prompted him to commit yet another sin–he deceived the Egyptians into believing that Sarai, his wife, was really his sister. Pharoah took the beautiful Sarai into his palace and gave Abram sheep, donkeys, servants, and camels in return. Who knows how long Abram would have lingered in this land of plenty if God had not intervened?  However, God inflicted Pharoah and his household with diseases. Pharoah quickly surmised the reason for his suffering and ordered Abram, Sarai, and Abram’s people out of Egypt.  Sometimes, God will use even godless people to set His children straight! 

M-Those who followed Nimrod came to the point where there concern of be scattered caused them to build a city that would give them a name.  One of those cities was Babel.  It became a good idea gone sour. For in that city they decided to build a tower to reach all the way to heaven.

When the reason for working at a project of the magnitude of building a tower to heaven is based on pride then it has become misguided and will not provide the fulfillment the builder’s desire. Babel was just such an endeavor.  It was doomed from the beginning because it was based on the same premise that caused the fall of Adam, to be like God or in other words replace Him with our own accomplishments and worship the material things that man has made. (Gen. 11:4-6)

WM-Man’s arrogance began to surface as he attempted to build a monument to themselves.  It is the same idea that the secular humanists have today of elimination God from all of their endeavors. (Gen. 11:4)

WM-The people who arrived at Shinar failed to understand that God has placed limitations on what finite man can accomplish.  When man begins to attempt to make himself equal or above God he can expect that He will take action to re-establish His preeminence among men.  God is jealous of His position and His name and will let no man take those attributes from Him.  Man has never caught on to the fact that every- thing he does is temporary at best, except for the eternal relationship he may have with the Father. (Gen. 11:5-10)

C-In the building of the tower of Babel there is the foundation of the present day humanistic philosophy and ideology. (Gen. 11:4-6) 

DM-The decision to build a city and the tower which became Babel has impacted the world from that point on.  Man has continually attempted to make a name for himself.  God then has had to intervene with discipline and judgment.  Man has not learned that God cannot and will not be supplanted. (Gen. 11:4-9)

RT-It was not the physical tower of Babel itself, but he pride of the men who were building it who responsible for it becoming a symbol of dispersion.  The tower was left standing but the people were all gone from that place. (Gen. 11:4-9)

UE-Unlike the gods that the pagans worship, God takes interest in the affairs of men. Especially when it calls for His direct intervention He took at the tower of Babel when He confused the language and scattered the people.  This was not done out of vindictive- ness but because man had become proud and arrogant believing that somehow by their own hands they could reach and become like God. They soon learned they lesson that it is God who reaches down to man with was beneficial for him and not man reaching up by his own achievements. (Gen. 11:4-9)

C-Attitudes of people sometimes necessitate change.  It may be as simple as a little attitude adjustment.  In the case of Noah’s descendents, God had to use more extreme measures.  As the people spread out over the face of the earth they reached a point in which they began to believe that they could build a tower all the way up to heaven.  In essence to accomplish this would raise them in their own minds to the level of God.  This could not happen.  God showed sovereignty over man by giving each of them a new language, thus ending the building project.  We can only imagine the chaos that one act caused.  No longer could any man understand what another man was saying.  The language barrier separated man from man and each went to different parts of the earth.  I believe that not only was the language changed but all races came into being at the same time as God allowed each to adapt to his new environment. (Gen 11:1-9)