March 27, 2023
Reading: Genesis 10 & 11:10-32
Focus: Genesis 10:1 – This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
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Oh goody! Another two chapters of who begat who. I used to just skip through these chapters, but I read them now. In Genesis 10:1-20, we see the listing of the sons of Japeth and Ham. It is interesting to see that some of the names of the sons of Ham are the names of countries. For example, Egypt, Cush, Put and Canaan. We know where Egypt is. Many biblical scholars believe that Cush is what is now Ethiopia. Put is believed to be Liberia. And of course, Canaan is the land of Israel today. In the sons of Japeth, we see Tarshish the city where the apostle Paul was from and Magog which some scholars believe to be Russia. Magog is the name of a people that will also be found in the book of Revelations. I find it fascinating that the names of countries that exist today came from Noah’s sons and grandsons, some 4500 to 5000 years ago, depending on whose theory you believe. Some say the flood was about 12,000 years ago. I don’t think I can agree with that last estimate though, because I believe in a young earth.
These twenty verses are about the only thing that is said about the sons of Japeth and Ham and where they settled. Many of the descendants of Japeth and Ham would become enemies of the descendants of Shem. The genealogies of these other sons are given but not in much detail. Their history is not part of the history of salvation. Theirs is the lineage and history of other peoples who filled the earth.
The rest of the chapter and the Bible follows the lineage of Shem, who is the father of the Semites, or as we call them today, the middle Eastern peoples, from which both the Jewish and Arab peoples are descended. The reason for this is that the Bible is the story of the salvation of mankind. Jesus came from the lineage of Shem. So, as we read the Bible, we see that Jesus came from this line of men and women who followed God. Even though it sometimes looks as though the line of David is wiped out, there is always one who survives. This is His Story.
Now, there were many times that the Hebrews fell away from God but just as many times they came back. And God would accept their repentance and forgive them. This happened a lot in the history of the Hebrew people. Contrary to the law of God, they would fall away from worshipping God when they began to marry into the peoples who worshipped gods of stone and wood. They would forget from where God had brought them and turn away from Him to worship those same idols. God called them a “. . . a stiff-necked people,” (Deuteronomy 9:13) and not just once. He called them stiff-necked, stubborn and obstinate. But they always returned to Him. Even now, the Jewish people are returning to God. Some even recognize Jesus as the Messiah.
Now, also in chapter 10, a man named Nimrod is mentioned in only two verses. He is said to have been a mighty warrior and a mighty hunter before the Lord. He is credited with founding Babylon and other cities in that area. Babylon is what is currently modern-day Iraq. He also is said to have travelled to Assyria where he built even more cities. There is no indication that Nimrod turned his back on God but many of the cities he built did. Babylon was built on the Euphrates and was often used by God to punish Israel for their sins. It enjoyed a long reign where other empires rose and fell. But God’s prophets prophesied that one day Babylon would fall due to its own sins. The rest of the chapter lists the families that came from Shem and the lands in which they settled. From these three men, Shem, Japeth and Ham, and their sons, the rest of the world was populated.
Believe it or not, these two chapters of genealogies, as well as other genealogies throughout Scripture, have given many Jewish families the ability to trace their ancestry back to old Noah himself and then, of course, back to Adam. As Jewish families began to trace their ancestry back to Noah, they often found it was a very difficult process. One of the problems was that ancient Jews did not use last names. They were known as the son, or daughter of their father. King David was David ben Jesse or David, the son of Jesse. Other problems arose when Jewish families added surnames or changed their surnames so that they didn’t sound like Jewish names. For example, many Jews today have German sounding names. Throughout history the Jewish people were pushed out of country after country, so surnames were added or changed to hide themselves in countries where Jews were persecuted and, during World War 2, 6 million Jews were exterminated, causing possible breaks in traceable lineage.
I don’t know if you have ever tried to trace your family tree using one of the online genealogy sites. Let me tell you from experience, it aint’ easy. Not at all. I started with my family tree. I easily traced back about 4 or 5 generations. Then came the hard part. There were several possibilities, but you had to trace prior generations’ siblings and parents and cousins and on and on. I found a line of an umpteen generation grandmother that went all the way back to the Norman invasion of England on my father’s side and back to mid-1300s on my mother’s side in Germany. The nationalities that I thought I had in my background were not what we thought we were. We were told that we were 2nd or 3rd generation Native American but there is not any evidence of it anywhere.
However, these days, DNA research has paved the way for almost anyone to find their ancestry or at least the nationalities from which they descended. Thanks to the genealogies of Genesis 10 and 11, as well as others in Scripture, many Jewish families can trace their heritage back to Noah himself via Noah’s son Shem. These two chapters record a precise, specific number of generations from the flood to Abraham. Since the Bible is the history of our salvation through Jesus Christ, the descendants of Shem, the father of the Semites, were the ones that are more detailed.
I recently came across a book by Nathaniel Jeanson, a research biologist, who puts forth a DNA tree that has “. . . the ability to connect the genetic history of every single people group on earth back to one of these three sons of Noah and some to specific ancestors listed in Genesis 10. . .”1. At the base of that DNA tree, he states that he finds Noah and his three sons. He goes further to say that the DNA-based tree contains a near-exact match to this family tree structure found in Genesis. The DNA tree currently has only thousands of branches right now but more DNA samples will increase the number of these branches. Jeanson states that all people groups of today can be traced back to one of Noah’s sons. He says that this fact can only help missionaries because it shows that the Bible isn’t only for ‘white people’. It is for every tribe, color and nationality.
Tracing genealogies has become a hobby for some and a business for others. On the first page alone of a search for “sites for tracing family lineage” there are about 14 sites listed and a couple of them have lists of 10 or more additional sites that can be used to trace one’s family tree. I was even tempted to have someone do it for me but the cost was $2,000 and up. Then, there are the DNA sites that can give a person a general idea of where in the world you descended came from. I took three different tests. They weren’t radically different but they weren’t the same either. They were generally in the same direction though. I imagine a more extensive test would have been way more detailed. And probably cost a pretty penny too.
Human DNA can help one discover his origins. But how do we discover our spiritual origins? It goes back to the same book used by many to trace Jewish family trees. The Scriptures given to man by God. Our spiritual origins also go as far back as Adam. You may not have realized it but Judaism is the foundation of Christianity. The 10 Commandments were given to Moses and the Hebrew nation. The first 5 books of the Bible is called the Torah for the Jewish people. Some Christians call it the Pentateuch. We hold the books of the Old Testament in as much reverence as the New Testament. Jesus was a Jew. His disciples were Jews. Practicing Jews. The Bible tells us that even after Jesus left this earth, they kept the high holy days.
The Bible tells us, in Acts 2:5, that “. . . there were staying in Jerusalem, God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven,” and that 3000 people believed on the day of Pentecost and were saved. Pentecost (a Greek word) is a Jewish Feast day and is called the Feast of Harvest or the Feast of Weeks. On this day of the Feast of Harvest, over 3000 people came to believe in Jesus. It was the first harvest of souls for the Kingdom of God. There were people there from 16 different nations who heard Peter preach about Jesus (Acts 2:9-11). Those 120 Jewish men and women, who had been in the Upper Room praying for days (Acts 1:15), spread out across the known world to spread the Gospel of Jesus. They were Jews. The name Christian wasn’t even used until about 12 years after Jesus returned to heaven. People of Antioch were the first to call those preaching the Gospel, Christians. Christian means “follower of Christ”. Before that they were simply called believers.
Our Bible is our spiritual ‘family tree’. It tells the history of salvation, from Adam to Jesus. All believers have been adopted and grafted onto God’s family tree. We have become family to Jesus through the salvation provided by His Blood. The choice is yours.
Are you on God’s family tree?
Father, I am so grateful that You call me Your child. I have crawled into Your lap and cried as You held me close. When I hurt You are there with comfort. Keep Your eye on me. Help me to increase Your family tree. In Jesus Name. Amen.
- Jeanson, N. T. (2022). Traced: Human DNAs Big Surprise. New Leaf Publishing Group, Inc.
Food for Thought
- Do you believe that God has always had a people? Who are they?
- What do you think is the point of tracing one’s family tree?
- Have you ever gotten your DNA analyzed? What did you find out?
- Do you believe that DNA can be traced back to Adam and Eve?
- Are you one of God’s adopted children?
