II. From the Flood to Abraham(Genesis 9-11) Noah after the Flood (Genesis 9:1-29)9:1/ "fill the earth" (cf. 1:28; spread out & repopulate the earth)
9:3,4/ Prior to the flood only vegetation was to be eaten for food (Genesis 1:29,30), but now meat is allowed as food, with the limitation that no blood is to be purposely eaten (cf. Leviticus 17:11-14; Acts 15:19,20), for it has been divinely designated as representing life and atonement.
9:5,6/ God intended capital punishment as an affirmation of the value of the innocent human life taken - the murderer (man or beast) forfeits his own (cf. Exodus 21:12,14; Romans 13:1-4).
9:8-17/ the rainbow is "covenant sign" to remind us of God's promise (cf. Amos 3:7)
9:18,19/ Noah's three sons repopulated the earth, thus all of us are descendants of Noah.
9:20-27/ Even Noah had a failing – he became drunk and embarrassed himself. Possibly discovered by his grandson, Canaan, Noah's sons demonstrate the two reaction of others to our sins – "gossip" about it to others or attempt to cover it. Noah's patriarchal declaration foretells the servitude of the Canaanites as well as the Messianic blessing to come through the line of Shem, with many of Japheth's descendants sharing in that blessing.
9:28,29/ Noah goes "the way of all flesh" (cf. Hebrews 9:27). The whole "flood account (ch. 6-9) is merely an expanded genealogical account for Noah, which began in 5:32, recording the number of years he lived before having significant children, the number of years he lived after their birth, and the simple closing, "and he died."
The Table of Nations (Genesis 10:1-32)
10:2-5/ Japheth's descendants (10:2-5) moved north and east into the "coastlands" of the northern Mediterranean from Asia Minor to Spain. The ancient histories of the Spanish Basques, Bretons, Anglo-Saxon, Irish, Scottish Picts, Norwegian, and Danish peoples include clear genealogical links to the Middle East and Japheth.[1]
10:6-20/ Ham's descendants populated Africa. "Mizraim" became the Hebrew word for Egypt. Nimrod was an early Hamitic conqueror of Mesopotamia, tyrant, and empire-builder, while his wife (Semiramus) became the model for deified motherhood and all of the "mother-goddess" deities that later sprang up around the Mediterranean (Ishtar, Ashtaroth, Astarte, etc.).
10:21-31/ Shem's descendants became the Semitic people of the Middle East and some of them probably moved further East into Asia.[2] "Eber" (25) may have been the origin of the term "Hebrew" and "the earth divided" may refer to the division of languages at Babel (11:1-9) or possibly the break-up of the original super-continent, Pangea. *the mention of "according to their languages" (10:5,20,31) indicates that Chapter 10 is emphasizing the results of an event that is recorded for us in 11:1-9.
The Division of Nations at Babel (Genesis 11:1-9)
Originally, Noah's descendants spoke the same language (v. 1). However, rather than "fill the earth" as commanded (cf. Genesis 9:1), they were led to pursue the humanistic desire for earthly greatness and determined to settle together in the plains of Shinar (Mesopotamia) to build a city and great tower (v. 4). Disobeying God brings divine intervention - the division of languages was intended to make them divide into many nationality/culture groups that would spread out and fill the earth. The other end of this lesson can be found in the events of Pentecost 30 A.D., when God was ready to unite nationalities and bring them back together as "one people" in Christ, He demonstrated it by miraculously uniting human languages again in the apostles (cf. Acts 2:1-11; 1Corinthians 14:22). The "tongues" on Pentecost were "intelligible" to the audience (Acts 2:8-11), but the modern fascination with "unintelligible tongues" is actually a return to Babel, not Pentecost!
The Messiah's Lineage (Genesis 9:26; 11:10-32)
From the first lesson, we saw that God specified the Messianic lineage as coming through Eve (Genesis 3:15) and from Seth to Noah (Genesis 4:25 - 5:32). Now we find this lineage continued through the line that leads from Noah's son, Shem, to Terah, Abraham's father (11:10-12:3). [1] see: Bill Cooper, After the Flood (Sussex, England: New Wine Press, 1995) [2] For the appearance of the events & concepts of Genesis 1-11 in Oriental culture, see: C. H. Kang and Ethel R. Nelson's The Discovery of Genesis. St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1979. Unless otherwise noted, all material produced by Charles E. McCoy All Scripture citations/quotations from the New American Standard Bible To send a question to Chuck: chuck@severnchristian.org
|
