January 5- Family Trees Can Be Shady...

January 5, 2011

Scripture Readings;
Genesis 11:1-13:4; Matthew 5:1-26; Psalm 5:1-12; Proverbs 1:24-28

A good many family trees are shady.  ~Robert Elliott Gonzales

Genesis 11:1-13       -The Table of Nations

Have you ever wondered about your ancestry?  Do you know much about your family's past?  Many people are obsessed with finding out about their family history. Today the Bible takes us WAY back to the time right after the Flood to teach us about the human family.

Before we review chapter 11 in Genesis, I want to take a minute to go back to Genesis chapter 10 and discuss what is called The Table of Nations. Understanding The Table of Nations is important for understanding the rest of the Bible and for understanding the framework under which God unrolls history.  We are given keys to unlocking why things are the way they are relationally between cultures, people groups, and nations in these passages.  We also see that God has ordained this dynamic on earth for a purpose.

Here is a chart with a breakdown

Noah's three sons were Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  All people on earth are descended from these men. Japheth's genealogy is given first showing that he is the father of the European people. According to ethnologist H.S. Miller, the Russian and Slavic people come from Magog, Indians and Persians (Medes, Persians, Kurds, Afghans) come from Madai, from Javan we have the Greeks, Romans, and French, and from Tiras we have the Germans, Scandanavians and Anglo Saxons (English people). Please note, I am not giving a comprehensive list here.  This is just a overview.

I can't go through the whole chart of human history, but Ham's descendants are Africans and Canaanites (the Canaanites eventually are all killed), and Shem's children are the Israelites and the Arabs, for the most part.

It is important to note that the first dominant people group on earth after the Flood are Ham's descendants.  The African nations are incredibly influential in early ancient world history.

Genesis 10:8 mentions a descendant of Ham named Nimrod.  He is highlighted because he was the founder and leader of the land of Babylonia.  As the first world conqueror Nimrod eventually takes over Assyria.  Remember that at this time the people of the earth are only in one area of the planet.  Secular history tells us that Nimrod was responsible for the Tower of Babel.  He was a hunter of men, ruthless, rebellious, and a shadow/type of the Antichrist, who will be revealed in the end times.  The first great earthly civilization comes from the line of Ham through Nimrod.

Remember that Noah cursed Canaan, and eventually, the Canaanites are killed off, but Ham's line is used to set forth a theme that will be constant throughout history, the history of mankind as told through God's eyes in the Bible.  This theme is that people will rebel against God and Babylon will represent rebellion against God in God's story.  Spoiler Alert:  Babylon is used as a symbol in the descriptions of the end times on earth as both a religious system, a political system, and a physical place. 

It is interesting to note that each of Noah's sons' descendants have dominated history at one time or another.  Ham's children dominated first, Shem's children were prominent during David and Solomon's reigns, and Arabs are rising on the world stage today, (although Shem's true dominance will come eternally through Jesus Christ), and Japheth's descendants (the Europeans and Asians) are dominating now.  Lesson:  God uses all people groups for His purposes.

Okay,  let's look at today's reading.  Genesis 11:1 tells us that at that time, after the Flood, the whole world spoke one language and used the same words.  They all migrated from the Mt. Ararat area, where the ark had landed and settled in the plains of an area called Shinar or what we would call Babylonia. Nimrod, the dynamic and ruthless world dictator, directed a building project designed to glorify man, rather than God.

We are told they used bricks and mortar for this.  This represents the work of men's hands, rather than the work of God's hands, which would have been natural stone that had not been altered or dressed.  The Bible describes the motives of these people as wanting to celebrate their own greatness, secure unity among the people groups, and prevent the scattering of people across the earth.  What we have here is the first United Nations-like assembly!  Here is an attempt to have a one world government/community glorifying the achievements of mankind.

If you remember Genesis 9:1, God told Noah and his family, after the Flood, God wanted them to multiply and fill the earth.  God's intention was not for them to locate in one place.  

The Tower may have been a ziggurat like this

This assembly in Babylonia was in direct rebellion against what God had mandated after the Flood.  Oh, how quickly the great have fallen. How quickly the sin nature of man rears its ugly head.

In order for history to unfold the way God wants it to, rather than the way man wants it to, God problem solves. It should be noted that like Genesis 1:26 when God says, "Let Us make man...", God again says, "Let Us go down and give them different languages.  Then, they won't be able to understand each other."  (NLT)

We are told that after God confuses the languages among the people assembled, the city is then called Babel because it is where different languages were started and confusion reigned. 

It is important to realize that cultures do develop around language, and unity is founded upon common language and communication among humans.  By introducing the concept of different languages, God found a way to make sure that humans filled the earth!  Have you ever noticed that it is hard to relate to someone who can't speak your language?

Genesis 11:10-13:4

After this description of the Table of Nations, the rest of the Old Testament focuses on the descendants of Shem.  Other people groups are bit players, allies, or enemies of Shem's descendants.  This is because the central character of the Bible is Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is a descendant of Shem. Therefore, Shem's people are followed as the story unfolds as to how God brings the Redeemer child- Jesus through this people group to the whole world.  Remember, Noah prophesied that Shem would be blessed by God.

Hey!  Are you getting tired of genealogies?

Here is another genealogy.  This one is the genealogy of Shem's descendants.  Please note how much earlier people are dying after the Flood in this genealogy. It starts with Shem living to 500 and ends with Nahor dying at 119 years.  Do you remember God saying that He would only allow men to live to 120 years old?  Well, He meant what He said! The purpose of this genealogy is to introduce us to Abram.

God calls Abram to leave the land of Ur and go to the land of Canaan.  Remember Canaan?  He was Ham's kid who was cursed by God thru Noah.  Canaan's kids are going to be arch rivals of Shem's kids.

God makes a promise to Abram.  It is a covenant like the one made with Noah.  This covenant is that God will make Abram the father of a great nation, will bless him, and make his name famous.  Also, all of the families on the earth will be blessed through him.  

May I remind you of a few things?  Adam and Eve had Seth.  Seth had Noah.  Noah had Shem.  Shem had Abram.  I am obviously skipping some people in that list, but you get the point. God told Adam and Eve that Seth was their child through whom the promised Redeemer Child for the world would be born. God now tells Seth's descendant, Abram, that God is going to bless the whole world through him by making him the father of many nations.  The Christ will come through Abram. 

Please note a few things about the story of Abram that follows.  Like Noah, Abram sets up an altar to God and worships God through giving an animal sacrifice. Abram is exhibiting faith in the future Messiah. 

Abram goes to down to Egypt because of a famine.  Egypt is a territory inhabited by Ham's descendants.  In Scripture Egypt symbolizes the world.  

Abram, Joseph, Moses, and Christ all go down to Egypt and are delivered out of Egypt.  This is a pattern in the Bible. They are delivered out of the world system into the Promised Land (representing the blessed life of faith).

We see in the story that Abram is a flawed individual.  He marries Sarai, who is his very beautiful half-sister.  Fearing that he will be killed because of her, Abram tells the Egyptian officials that Sarai is just his sister.  Abram tells a half-lie here. Sarai is also his wife, but he conveniently leaves out that fact. The Egyptians give Abram many gifts because of her, causing him to become exceedingly wealthy, and Sarai is sent to live with the Pharaoh. 

A plague comes upon Pharoah's house because of Sarai.  After this is discovered, Abram is told to leave Egypt with all of his wealth, his wife, and his nephew Lot.  Abram came to Egypt as a starving beggar, but he leaves a rich man. 

Abram goes back to the altar he built in Bethel and worships God.  Abram worships God in poverty and in wealth.  His faith does not rely on his circumstances.

Lesson:  Our faith in God should not be affected by our life circumstances.


How's that going for ya?  Are you able to worship God no matter what happens?  It's a challenge, isn't it?  Abram is an example of faith to us, even though he is not a perfect person.

Matthew 5:1-26

Matthew Chapter 5 is where Christ begins his teaching. Verse 17 gives us the key to understanding why Christ is on the earth.  He says, "Don't misunderstand why I have come.  I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writing of the prophets.  No, I came to fulfill them."

Remember that Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.  Jesus states that he is here to fulfill the OT writings and predictions of his coming.

The Sermon on the Mount 

Chapter 5:1-10 is known as The Sermon on the Mount.  As you might have noticed, Jesus takes a different approach to teaching people how to be reconciled to God.  He does not emphasize following a bunch of rules in this sermon.  Instead, he sets out a list of heart attitudes that please God.  Here's a list:

• Those who realize they need God (poor in spirit)
• Those who mourn (the implication is mourning over sin)
• Those who are gentle and humble
• Those who are hungry and thirsty for justice
• Those who are merciful
• Those whose hearts are pure
• Those who work for peace among people
• Those who are persecuted by others because they live for God

Jesus states in verses 21-26 that we should have proper attitudes, including not being angry with others, not cursing other people, and not being in conflict with other people.  He additionally admonishes the Jews to obey God better than their religious leaders do.

While it might appear that Jesus is giving us all great advice on how to live appropriately, what he is really doing is setting us up for failure!

This is a very important concept. One of the key things that Jesus has come to teach us is that if we think that our behavior and attitudes are something that we can work at to be "good" enough for God, we are mistaken.  His standard for acceptance is perfection.  

To be in God's presence requires complete holiness.  Jesus is saying that God is pleased with perfect attitudes and actions. To inherit the Kingdom of Heaven and be reconciled to God after the Fall in the Garden requires something that we cannot achieve through our own works. We would have to live a sinless life.

The list that Jesus gives us causes us to realize that none of us is capable of reaching this standard.  That is his point.  He wants us to despair. He wants us to realize that we need a Savior.  Left to our own devices we are hopeless sinners.  As Romans 3:23 says, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Who among us never gets angry?  Who is at peace constantly in their heart with everyone?  Whose heart is pure?  Not yours and not mine, people.  If you don't meet the standard, you don't inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.  Epic Fail.

Our only recourse in the face of our failure to live a sinless life is to call out for a Savior.  Romans 3:25 tells us, "God presented him (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood."

Jesus is our sacrificial lamb. He died for our sins.  Our belief in this atonement and his resurrection solve the problem presented here by Christ.

Lesson:  Our works will never be good enough to reconcile us to God.  We cannot "positive attitude" ourselves into heaven.  We must rely on Christ and his work on the cross.

Psalm 5:1-12

This is another song of despair.  What I noticed today was that David cries out to God (and only God) in the morning.  Each morning David brings his requests to God and waits expectantly for an answer.

His heart is directed towards his Creator at the start of each day.

This is awesome.

The other thing I like is that David is constantly telling God that he knows about God's personality and character.  He tells God things like, "You will destroy those who tell lies."  David is talking to a person that he knows.  He is letting God know that he "gets" him.  This has to please God very much.

Lesson:  Go to God each day with your problems.  Get to know God and tell God that you know Him, daily.  Have a relationship with your Creator!

Proverbs 1:24-28

Are you ready for this? God is a person. Today you see some of His personality and how He feels when people reject his advice. According to these verses, He's not too happy when you ignore Him.  If you do not heed His Wisdom, the consequences are on you.

Lesson:  God gets mad if we do not seek and fear Him.

Food for Thought:

1. What does the story of the Tower of Babel teach you?
2. What would you have done in Abram's situation in Egypt?
3. What does the Sermon on the Mount teach you?
4. How can you meet God each morning?
5. Is wisdom important to you?

Hey, I know these blogs are long.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!  Genesis is a very important book!!!  Let me know what you are learning.

Blessings,

Jubilee Gal

Kathy Fullerton