Genesis chapter 10, the section
of scripture is referred to as the table of nations. It does
just that. It highlights 70 nations at this
particular time. And I want to read beginning
in Genesis chapter 10 at verse 1. Now this is the genealogy
of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born
to them after the flood. The sons of Japheth were Gomer,
Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshach, and Tyrus. The sons of Gomer
were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. The sons of Javan were Elishah,
Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these, the coastland peoples
of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according
to his language, according to their families, into their nations. The sons of Ham were Cush, Mitzrayim,
Put, and Canaan. The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah,
Sabta, Rehama, and Sabtaka. And the sons of Rehama were Sheba
and Dadan. Cush begot Nimrod. He began to
be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. Therefore, it is said, like Nimrod,
the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of his
kingdom was Babel, Erech, Achad, and Kalneh in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria
and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Kala, and Rezon between Nineveh
and Kala, that is the principal city. Mitzrayim begot Ludim,
Anamim, Lehebim, Naphtahim, Pathrusim, and Kasluhim, from whom came
the Philistines and Kaphtarim. Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn,
and Heth, the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite, the Hivite,
the Arkite, and the Sinite, the Arvidite, the Zemurite, and the
Hamathite. Afterward, the families of the
Canaanites were dispersed, and the border of the Canaanites
was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza, then as
you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, as far as
Laisha. These were the sons of Ham, according
to their families, according to their languages, in their
lands, and in their nations. And children were born also to
Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth
the elder. The sons of Shem were Elam, Asher,
Arphakad, Lud, and Aram. The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul,
Gether, and Mash. Arphakad begot Selah, and Selah
begot Eber. To Eber were born two sons. The name of one was Peleg, for
in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Jokdan.
Jokdan begot Almadad, Shaleph, Hazar, Meveth, Jera, Haderam,
Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimele, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joctan,
and their dwelling place was from Misha as you go toward Sephar,
the mountain of the east. These were the sons of Shem,
according to their families, according to their languages,
in their lands, according to their nations. These were the
families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations,
in their nations. And from these, the nations were
divided on the earth after the flood. Amen. We'll close in prayer
and we'll go. I'm just kidding. This is a bit
of a difficult section of scripture. We're going to probably not deal
with every particular name here. There are very able treatments
that do that. If you want to spend about 20
pages and commentary, I can suggest John Gill. because he goes through
each and every one and tells you where they are and some specific
details and facts about that particular place. I'm of the
mind of Calvin. Calvin said, if anyone pleases
more accurately to explain the genealogies related by Moses
in this and the following chapter, I do not condemn his industry.
And some interpreters have not unsuccessfully applied their
diligence and study to this point. Let them enjoy, as far as I am
concerned, the reward of their labors." And then he goes on
to say that he's going to draw out some of the main lessons
from Genesis chapter 10, and that is my hope and my aim tonight. But I do want to go back for
just a moment to chapter 9, where we see the sons of Noah mentioned. If you go into chapter 9 at verse
18, the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham,
and Japheth. And remember that Noah got drunk. He planted a vineyard, he reaped
the grapes, and then he got drunk. And then Ham, or he became uncovered
in his tent, according to verse 21. And then Ham, the father
of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two
brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment,
laid it on both their shoulders and went backward and covered
the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away
and they did not see their father's nakedness." So Ham engages in
voyeurism, sort of a homosexual voyeurism, as he looked upon
his father's nakedness. It showed a great deal of dishonor.
He did not give that filial obedience to the fifth commandment to his
father as he should have. But here we see that Shem and
Japheth really went out of their way to protect him, or rather
Noah, They really went out of their way to protect their father. They turned away. They did not
see their father's nakedness. Now, on the heels of this, Noah
finds out what has happened, and then Noah speaks this word
of prophecy in verses 25 to 27. Then he said, Cursed be Canaan. Now again, Canaan is the son
of Ham. If we ask the question, why doesn't
he curse Ham? Because Ham was already blessed,
and what's involved here is the blessing and cursing, ultimately
of posterity. So that's why Canaan is targeted
here. But cursed be Canaan, a servant
of servants, he shall be to his brethren. And he said, Blessed
be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of
Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. Now we see this prophecy confirmed
or affirmed or beginning to be fulfilled in Genesis chapter
10. In terms of the theology of this
particular section, we learn that God is gracious and merciful. Noah sinned but nevertheless
God forgave him. Now God is also righteous and
just and he brings judgment to bear upon Canaan as a result
of his father Ham's sin against his father. Remember as well
in terms of that curse of Ham or that curse of Cain. Some people
take Genesis chapter 9 and they condemn all black people. They
say that black people suffer from the curse of Cain. The curse
of Cain was blackness, and then the curse of Ham was slavery. And that's what has been appended
to the black people subsequent to this particular instance. Older Mormon theology taught
that. The curse of Cain was black skin
and the curse of him was that blacks were cursed with servitude.
That's not what's in view in this particular passage. That
is simply not accurate. That is owing more to a defective
hermeneutic and owing more to an idea concerning race or supremacy
or other things that have no sort of root in scripture. So
I would encourage you and caution you against imbibing this doctrine
of the curse of Ham or the curse of Cain. So that's sort of the
background. And then that brings us to this
table of nations in Genesis chapter 10. And essentially, you have
the sons of Japheth in verses 2 to 5. You have the sons of
Ham in verses 6 to 20. And then you have the sons of
Shem in verses 21 to 31. Now, not every name given in
this particular genealogy is a person's name. It may be the
name of a particular place. And then the formula is the same
in each of the instances with a little bit of variation in
Shem's genealogy. Notice you have the sons of either
Japheth, Ham, or Shem in verses 2, 6, and 22. And then you have
a concluding formula in verses 5, 20, and 31. Again, the total
is 70, but you'd have to minus Nimrod. And commentators explain
why you would minus Nimrod to come up with this number 70.
And we simply don't have time to get into all of that. and
I don't have the competency to get into all of that. But if
you look at Shem, there's this prefatory remark. Before it gets
into indicating his particular children, or his sons, it says
in verse 21, "...and children were born also to Shem, the father
of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder."
So that's a little bit of a deviation, and again, I think there's a
reason for that. As we move through, we'll see why. But in the first
place, notice the sons of Japheth. And the thing that we need to
appreciate here is specifically verse 5. From these the coastland
peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, according
to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
If you remember when we went through Genesis 9, I indicated
that it's something of a programmatic passage. Genesis 3.15 is also
a programmatic passage. In other words, it's a passage
that telescopes into the future. What is stated in Genesis 3.15
moves all the way through the Bible. The seed of the woman
will crush the serpent. Well, Genesis 9 has something
of that as well in Noah's prophecy. in terms of cursed Becanaan,
and in terms of blessing Shem, and blessing Japheth. Remember
that Shem, the Shemites, are Israelites. Japhethites are Gentiles. And so what Noah prophesies is
that God the Lord is going to bless the Shemites, and He's
also going to include in that blessing of the Shemites the
Japhethites. In other words, the Gospel goes
first to the Jew and then also to the Greek. For in that Gospel,
the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. The Japhethites
are going to prosper and they are going to prophet as a result
of Shem's God. Now certainly when the Japhethites
participate in these blessings, these covenantal blessings, that
God of Shem becomes their God to be sure. But as I say, this
is programmatic. This looks forward in terms of
redemptive history to indicate what's going to happen in salvation
history. And so we need to appreciate
that the Japhethites represent the Gentiles. Now, they are the
first that the author begins with because, in many respects,
they're the furthest off from the Israelites. They're the least
known among the Israelites. So the author starts with Japheth.
Now, notice, secondly, he moves to the sons of Ham. And it's
the sons of Ham that are really amplified and really expanded
in a whole host of ways. Notice, first, that these are
most well-known to the Israelites, the sons of Ham. Because from
the sons of Ham, you have the arch enemies of Israel. You have
the Babylonians. You have the Egyptians. You have
the Assyrians. You have all manner of horrible
persons that are against Israel from this son of Ham. the son
from which Israel's worst enemies come. Egyptians, Babylonians,
Assyrians, and Canaanites are all given to us in this particular
section in verses 6 to 20. The son whose son, Canaan, was
cursed by Noah is given to us here in this section concerning
the sons of Ham. And then notice specifically
with reference to this fellow called Nimrod. In verse 8 it
says, Cush begot Nimrod, he began to be a mighty one on the earth.
Now those who have been here for any amount of time might
reminisce about Genesis 6-4. Now I'm not suggesting that Nimrod
is the same sort of mighty one that we find there in Genesis
6-4, but It certainly sounds similar. Genesis 6.4 says, There
were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when
the sons of God came into the daughters of men, and they bore
children to them. Those were the mighty men who
were of old, men of renown. So this Nimrod is a mighty man. He's a mighty hunter before the
Lord. Now some wonder why it says he
was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Some suggest it simply
means or it's a reference to the fact that God is over all
things and he sees and he knows that this Nimrod is in fact a
mighty hunter. Others say it is a reproach before
God and God is at enmity with this particular Nimrod. But what
we find is that it became a saying like Nimrod, the mighty hunter
before the Lord. Again, that may seem a bit obscure
and a bit odd to us, but it's describing this particular fellow
who ultimately gives birth to Babylon and Assyria. Now, all
of these particular names and these nations are going to come
up again, not only in the book of Genesis, but they're going
to come up again all throughout the Old Testament history. In fact, notice what Nimrod does. Verse 10, the beginning of his
kingdom was Babel, Erech, Achad, and Chalne in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria
and built Nineveh. So this Nimrod is the one behind
the two arch enemies of Israel. The two enemies that would ultimately
bring Israel to her knees. It would be the Assyrians that
would destroy the northern kingdom, and it would be the Babylonians
that would destroy the southern kingdom. Again, what Moses is
doing here in terms of this table of nations, we'll see specifically
what he's doing as we move through, but what he's doing as well is
providing background. He is giving us the nuts and
bolts. He is giving us history so that as we move through redemptive
history in what we call the Old Testament, we'll have some frame
of reference as to where these nations originated. They didn't
just show up one day. They are all here. They're all
present and accounted for, and there's a reason for the antipathy
that exists or obtains between, say, Babylon and Israel, or Assyria
and Israel. So this man Nimrod is an archenemy
of the Lord God Most High, and he is the one who begins his
kingdom with Babel, and from that he went to Assyria and built
Nineveh. Now, notice the reference to
Canaanites in verses 15 to 19. All of the ites, you know, you
read through the Old Testament, you see the Jebusites and the
Girgashites and the Hivites and all those particulars. Well,
they're all here in verses 15 to 19. Now, if you look specifically
at verse 18, in terms of the Canaanites, it says, afterward,
the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. And the border
of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as you go toward Gerar, as far
as Gaza. Then as you go toward Sodom,
Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, as far as Lashah. Now, this may
be a positive statement at the end of verse 18. Afterward, the
families of the Canaanites were dispersed. could be positive
in the sense that wherever they were, they then dispersed because
they engaged in more conquest and obtained more land. Or it
could be negative, and based on verse 19, I would take it
as a negative. When he says, afterward, the
families of the Canaanites were dispersed, he's foreshadowing
what ultimately happens to the Canaanites. The Canaanites are
godless, the Canaanites are wicked, and the Canaanites will ultimately
be dispossessed from their land. They will be dispersed, and verse
19 sounds like the announcement or a description of the first
definition of the promised land that would ultimately be given
to Israel based on the promise to Abraham in Genesis chapter
12. So verse 19, and the border of
the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar as far
as Gaza, then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Adma, and Zeboim
as far as Lasha. So this is a proleptic statement
concerning the ultimate conquest of the Canaanites, the dispossession
of the Canaanites from their land, and the fact that Israel
obtains that land by God's grace given to them. Again, you see
how this connects with Noah's prophecy in Genesis 9, 25 to
27. The things that Noah specifies
in terms of a curse for Canaan and in terms of blessing for
Japheth and for Shem are realized here, at least alluded to here,
in Genesis chapter 10. They begin to be fulfilled here. Now, notice the sons of Shem. Again, we have this prefatory
remark that children were born also to Shem, the father of all
the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. Now, this
word Eber is probably where we get the word Hebrew. It's probably
that place from which the word Hebrew comes. Now, John Gill
makes this observation. in one small section of his 20-page
tree. I'm serious. It's about at least
15 pages. And Gill's, like Calvin, lucid,
not as lucid as Calvin. Calvin was a commentator that
liked lucid brevity. That meant clear, quick, to the
point. Gill is pretty lucid and brave.
But in this section, he abandoned that. And as I said, he went,
every step of the way, every name in here, if you want explanation,
please read John Gill. It will satisfy or scratch the
itch. Even Matthew Poole went longer
than Matthew Poole ever has gone on anything I've seen in Genesis
up to this point. So all that to say, kind of my
first day back in preparing for a Bible study, I was weighed
down with a lot of sort of, information about places that I really had
no clue of, and I'm not convinced I'm all that more informed at
this particular point. But notice this reference to
Shem, and then he mentions Eber. So Gil says, Eber was the great-grandson
of Shem, and is here spoken of by anticipation. And Shem is
called not the father of either of his immediate sons, but of
the posterity of this man, because the Hebrews sprung from him in
this lot, or in his line, among whom the church of God and the
true religion were preserved, and from whom the Messiah was
to come, as he did." Now, notice as well that it refers to Shem
as being the brother of Japheth the elder. Now, this is going
to be a bit obscure, or perhaps is a bit obscure, But I think
Moses is theologizing right here. I think he's theologizing in
the entirety of the chapter, but notice what he says here.
Children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children
of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. He was also the brother
of Ham, wasn't he? See, Ham doesn't count because
Ham is cursed. Ham is not the star of the show. Shem and Japheth are based on
what Noah had spoken in terms of prophetic word in 925 to 27.
The promises of God are to Shem. Based on that blessed reality,
Japheth becomes a participant in those things. In other words,
in the language of Noah, may God enlarge Japheth and may he
dwell in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his servant. As
well, most agree that this reading is correct, that Japheth was
the elder son. Some suggest that he was not,
and there's reasons why they give. But most agree that Japheth
was the elder. But typically, the language is
Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Shem comes first, not because
he's the eldest, but Shem comes first because he's preeminent. Shem comes first because he is
the one in whom the seed is going to be manifested. Namely, that
seed, Genesis chapter 3. Now note the theology of the
section. From Shem, we have this reference
to Eber, and we have this reference to two particular sons. To Eber,
notice in verse 25, were born two sons. The name of one was
Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother's
name was Jokdan. Now, the genealogy here continues
only in the line of Jochdan. We then come to the Tower of
Babel. Chapter 11 goes hand-in-hand
with Chapter 10. It really should be taught together,
but I just didn't have the time to go through all of this particular
material. But Babel belongs with what precedes
here. So you have this separation that
the name Peleg even represents, division. And then from the rest
of chapter 10, we only have the line of Joctan. We then go to
Babel. And after Babel, then what happens? We go back to Peleg and specifically
his son, specifically the line of Peleg. So it's not the seed,
or not the line, rather, of Joctan, but it's the line of Peleg. And that's what the author is
doing. He shows the division, actually, literarily, in the
text itself. All of this goes into Babylon.
After Babylon, out comes the particular line that leads, ultimately,
to Abraham. In other words, what Moses is
doing is he's connecting all of this to Genesis 3.15. He's
honing in on and narrowing down for us where the seed of Genesis
3.15 is going to come from. It's not the line of Joctan,
it's the line of Peleg. And this consistently, if you
go to chapter 11 at verse 10, what we find here in terms of
Shem and who he begets down to Peleg, It comes to Terah. Terah gives birth to Abraham,
and Abraham is the one in whom the seed is located. It's the
nation of Israel, it's the family of Abraham specifically, and
that's what Moses is doing. He's honing in for us on that
particular line from whence the seed, Christ the Lord, will come. So the reference, or rather the
reference to Peleg means, his name means division. Look at
verse 25. Eber were born two sons, the
name of one was Peleg, and then it gives some information. For
in his days the earth was divided. Now that may be proleptic or
sort of anticipatory for what's going to happen at Babel. But
it's also within the family of Shem. Not everybody within the
family of Shem are the chosen ones. It is the particular line
of Peleg. And this is consistent with what
we've seen in genealogies up to this point. You have Cain.
You have Abel, you have the Sethites, you have the Cainites, you have
this demarcation reflecting the announcement in Genesis 3.15
concerning the skull-crushing seed of the woman that would
ultimately come to deliver his people from their sins. I think
that's what Moses is doing. He's honing in on, and once we
get to Genesis chapter 12, I mean, the direction, no, not the direction,
the speed greatly, greatly slows down. I mean, look at where we
go from. In Genesis chapter 10, we have
this reference to 70 nations. Genesis 11, we have this, you
know, magnificent event concerning the Tower of Babel and how God
confuses their language. We get some more genealogy to
bring us to Abraham, and then what? We have Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. That's it. Go from 12 to 50. 12 to 50, focusing on these three
men. Now, ultimately Joseph as well.
Why? Because the purpose, one of the
purposes of the book of Genesis is to show us that Genesis 3.15
man. It's to show us the seed and
how that seed comes to pass in the fullness of the times. When
God sends forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
How He is both Son of God and Son of Man. That His pedigree
or His humanity reaches all the way back through this particular
line. That's what Moses is conspicuously
demonstrating in this instance. So Piraeus not only means division,
but it also highlights the division that obtained not only at Babel,
but the division that occurs between the sons of Shem. And
this fits in with what Paul will later say in Romans chapter 9.
Not all Israel is Israel. It's not just physical descent
from Abraham, or in this instance from Shem or Eber, that secures
your place with God. It's not just blood. It's not
a race. It's not the bloodlines, but
rather it's this election of God according to His grace that
separates from this Shem, these two sons of Eber, namely Jocton,
who are reprobate, and Peleg that are actually the ones that
bring the seed to pass. And then notice the reference,
or rather the dividing line, falls between the two sons of
Eber, Peleg and Joktan. One line leads to the building
of Babylon. I mean, again, literally, if
you look at the passage, it flows that way. We have all these nations
leading right into Babel, and then we have this dispersal.
So Jachdan leads us to Babel, and then after Babel, we have
Peleg that leads us to Abraham. It's a beautiful sort of way
that the author has converged or brought this to pass. He is
narrowing down for us the nation, the family, and ultimately the
individual, Abraham, through whom the Messiah would come.
So it would be Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. This is in fact what Abraham
will ultimately reflect upon, that in his seed, or God will
say to Abraham, in his seed all the nations of the earth will
be blessed. So this is extended commentary,
extended sort of exposition of the seed promise in Genesis chapter
3 at verse 15. It's consistent with what Noah
has spoken in terms of a curse upon Canaan and in terms of blessing
upon Shem and Japheth. And in terms of the similarity
in the genealogies up to this particular point, it's been the
same sort of a thing. If you go back for just a moment
to Genesis chapter 4, Well, Genesis 3, 315, "...I will put enmity
between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed.
He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." So
we're taught that there will be these two seeds. The seed
of the woman, that's Jesus Christ. The seed of the serpent, or rather
the serpent himself, is the devil. And then we get to Genesis chapter
4, and we see this genealogy of Cain. Cain is not the one
through whom the seed ultimately goes, but rather it's going to
be Seth. And that's highlighted for us
in Genesis chapter 5. And the same thing is true here.
It's ultimately not Joctan, but it's going to be Peleg. And this
in the family of Shem. Consistent with the promise of
God through Noah to Shem, blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem,
and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and
may he dwell in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. And then as well, in terms of
just some practical sort of observations, again, you can read the other
commentaries to get all the particular names and countries and locations,
and to see what was carved out for each of these particular
brothers, or these particular sons, rather, of Noah. but in
terms of just some overall general observations. In the first place,
it demonstrates the providence of God in the history of the
world. The providence of God in the
history of the world. God not only created man in Genesis
1 and 2, but God multiplies man. God preserves man. God establishes
man. God spreads man throughout the
earth. And when man rises up in rebellion
against God, as he will do in Genesis chapter 11, God brings
judgment to bear. Now, I don't think you're supposed
to read Genesis 10 and 11 strictly chronologically. I think chapter
10 is proleptic, and that means it sort of anticipates what's
going to happen. Genesis 11 shows us why the division
came about. You have this one family under
God, this one blood, and then they rose up in opposition against
the High King of Heaven, and so God confounds their lip. He
confuses their language and then they are dispersed from there.
So the providence of God in world history, if anybody ever wants
to know their history or wants to know how they came to be,
Genesis 10 is fundamental. It explains for us. God's hand
in the government of the world. Secondly, Genesis chapter 10,
as I hope you've seen, is a way, or rather a means, by which there's
a discovery and a distinction of the chosen people of God.
We move from Shem, ultimately, down to Abraham. Notice in 26, in verse 11, Now
Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. We've got Terah's descendants
in verses 27 to 32, and then, boom, Genesis chapter 12. Again,
the narrative slows down to almost a complete halt. We focus now incredibly and in
detail upon Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Why? Because the author's
done the specific work of identifying the family from whence Messiah
will come, and now we're going to investigate these people in
their world. As well, this whole section confirms
Noah's prophecy to his sons. The fact that there's going to
be this dispersal of Canaanites, according to verse 18, and that
verse 19 is ultimately what the children of Israel inhabit or
obtain, show us that what Noah said, he spoke by the Spirit
of the living God in a prophetic manner. He didn't make this up.
He cursed Cain and he blessed Jeb and Japheth consistent with
what the Spirit of God had laid upon his heart. And then in terms
of that prophecy, it does jive with later redemptive history.
I mean, isn't this the whole point? Not the whole point, but
certainly one of the points in New Covenant Christianity. It
is to explain Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God.
In fact, you can turn to Acts chapter 15, a passage that we
looked at, you know, a month ago, four weeks ago, when we
looked at that statement in Genesis chapter 9. But you remember,
at the Jerusalem Council, The issue was, what do we do with
these Gentiles who are coming in among the people of God? Acts
15 verse 1, certain men came down from Judea and taught the
brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses,
you cannot be saved. Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to
Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question."
You see, brethren, we've already got this established. This is
already settled for us. We already have the benefit of
the Jerusalem Council, but remember the first century. This Jewish
Messiah comes, and he's crucified, and he's raised the third day,
and then his apostles, his disciples go out, and they start preaching
the gospel, not just to Jews, but to Gentiles. And lo and behold,
those Gentiles are getting saved. Lo and behold, those Gentiles
are confessing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and the Apostles
specifically. Paul the Apostle is encouraging
this, and he's even sent specifically to these Gentiles. Well, everybody's
starting to kind of, you know, scratch their heads and say,
okay, what do we do now? Do these Gentiles have to subscribe
to the same sorts of things that we Jews have to do? Do they have
to get circumcised? Do they have to fulfill the Mosaic
law? Do they have to go through the ceremony? These were legitimate,
real, live issues. These were burning, pressing
issues. And that's why you had some who said, no, they can't
enter in among us unless they subscribe to circumcision. They
can't join in with us unless they go through what we went
through. In other words, they have to
not only become Christians by faith in Jesus Christ, but they
also need to become Jews by circumcision a la Moses. So this was a real
burning issue. And so they go to Jerusalem,
they have this particular council, and then we see the council meets
together. We have Peter's testimony in
verses 7 to 11, and then we have Paul and Barnabas address the
council in verse 12. Notice Paul and Barnabas, they
had been the missionaries to the Gentiles. Their testimony
is key here. I mean, so is Peter's. Go back
to verse 7 for just a moment. Verse 7, And when there had been
much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them, Men and brethren,
you know that a good while ago God chose among us that by my
mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe.
So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them
the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. See, Peter
had preached to the household of Cornelius and he saw the Holy
Spirit come upon them and he baptized them. He says in verse
10, now, therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on
the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were
able to bear? But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved in the same
manner as they. Lord, this is the one covenant
of God applied to Jews and Gentiles. Then Paul and Barnabas, verse
12, then all the multitude kept silent. Listen to Barnabas and
Paul declaring how many miracles and wonders God had worked through
them among the Gentiles. You see, this was a real issue
for them. That's why at the end of chapter
15, they write this letter to Gentiles and essentially tell
them, don't do things that are going to bug the Jews. That's
a huge paraphrase, but that's essentially how you should understand
Acts 15. It's not a developed covenantal
ethic for Gentile Christians. It was to facilitate the transition
of Gentile inclusion among the covenant people of God. In other
words, Gentiles, don't eat bacon in front of your Jewish brothers.
Again, just to make it as paraphrased as I can, you don't want to upset
the apple cart. Do those things that will facilitate
this transition. But notice specifically the testimony
of James in verses 13 and following. Verse 13, And after they had
become silent, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, listen
to me. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the
Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name. And with
this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written. Now this is Amos chapter 9, verses
11 and 12. After this, I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle
of David, which has fallen down. I will rebuild its ruins and
I will set it up so that the rest of mankind may seek the
Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the
Lord who does all these things. Known to God from eternity are
all his works. Isn't that a beautiful testimony?
The prophets have declared this. He could have went right back
to Genesis 9, 25 to 27. Noah announced this, that Japheth
will come and find safe haven in the tents of Shem. Those tents
of Shem will provide that blessed cover and that atonement and
that glory for Gentiles. And I love James' statement in
verse 18, known to God from eternity are all his works. Brethren,
God purposed to save a great multitude that no man can number
from every tribe, every tongue, every people, and every nation.
He chose the Jews as the vehicle from whence the Redeemer would
come. That family specifically identified
here in Abraham, or as the text moves forward to Genesis chapter
12, to Abraham, it is in Abraham that all the nations, all the
families of the earth will be blessed because of Abraham's
seed, even the Lord Jesus Christ. That purpose and plan always
envisioned the inclusion of Gentiles in the covenant promises of God.
Noah is preaching in Genesis 9, 25 to 27, Gentile inclusion
in the covenant promises of God. Now, typically we go to Genesis
12 as the sort of first place with reference to Gentile inclusion
in the covenant promises of God. But we have this reference to
these Gentiles, these Japhethites that are going to find safe haven
in the tents of Shem. So Noah was a gospel preacher
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then finally,
Genesis 10 provides background for later events in Genesis and
beyond. The background for later events
in Genesis and beyond. John Sailhammer made this observation. He said, by and large, the notes,
and what he means by the notes is that when you read through
Genesis 10, It's pretty much name, name, name, place, place,
place, name, name, name. But there's some notes. There's
some reference concerning Nimrod. There's this note concerning
the Canaanites. There's this note concerning
this division. There's these sort of comments
by Moses along the way in this genealogy. So Sarah Hammer says,
by and large, the notes focus on those nations that are the
subject of God's judgment in the remainder of the book. For
example, Babylon, verses 8 to 12, the Philistines, verse 14,
the Canaanites, including Sodom and Gomorrah, in verse 19. So
names that are given, places that are described in Genesis
chapter 10 are fundamental and key to understand the rest of
Genesis. It's sort of like a key, if you
will, or a legend or a grid by which we make heads or tails
out of subsequent chapters in the book of Genesis. So, it really
is a most valuable and a most excellent chapter of Scripture. Well, let's close in a word of
prayer. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word, and we thank
You for these covenant promises that are realized in the Lord
Jesus Christ, and they are for Jew and Gentile, and in this
we greatly rejoice, Lord God. We thank you for this seed of
the woman that crushes the serpent. We thank you for his work at
Calvary. We thank you that all of the Bible, the scope of the
whole, as the old boys would say, is to give glory to God
in the salvation of men by Jesus Christ. How we thank you for
Christ our Lord, how we thank you for what Genesis 10 even
teaches us about him. And we ask now that you would
go with us and watch over us and bring us together on the
Sabbath that we may worship you in spirit and in truth. And we
pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
