Genesis 10 – Part 2 – WHEN I SHY AWAY, DON’T BREAK MY NECK!
I don’t know much about my family tree but I know my grandfather was a tough man who broke horses and had a team of about 40 Clydesdale horses which he used to haul logs. My Dad once drove a team right through a fence. It’s not all that easy to manage a huge team of horses like that, but my grandfather was an expert horseman. He was also a strong man with a bad temper, not a good mix. Once, when the horse he’d ridden to town shied and was about to escape, he flew at it, grabbing it and accidentally broke it’s neck. It fell dead in the main street of town. That poor horse really did end up being broken.
Sometimes throughout history God has had to break us in order to deal with our sin, not in anger but with true justice and love. We die to the old way of life in order to live for Christ. I’ve been digging into the genealogies of Genesis 10 and discovered some interesting things from the commentaries I have been reading, especially the POSB Commentary, which I have quoted in a number of places below. History seems to be a story of people shying away from God and God coming alongside to bring order out of chaos, to deal with our sin and fulfill His promises.
There’s some people mentioned in Genesis 10 that stand out. I’m glad I didn’t pass over them too quickly.
MAGOG - second son of Japheth's sons. The descendents of Magog came to live in what we now know as Russia. They will have a major role to play during the final days of world history Ezekiel 38-39 and Rev. 20:7-10 tells us about this.
MADAI - third son of Japheth. The Madai are the ancient people of Media. They came to settle in Persia. Later they moved into India. The wise men (Magi) who visited Jesus as a young baby were from Media (Matthew 2:2).
JAVAN - The descendents of Javan are the Greek people of the world. They were the ancient Ionians. Genesis 10:5 says: it was these ancient Greeks or Ionians who moved out, explored, and settled various lands and territories, each with its own language. The people of Greece developed one of the greatest societies upon earth. They will play a major role when God ends human history. There’s an interesting prophecy which I will look at in Daniel 8:19-24 (NLT) sometime later which says “Then he said, “I am here to tell you what will happen later in the time of wrath. What you have seen pertains to the very end of time. The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia. The shaggy male goat represents the king of Greece, and the large horn between his eyes represents the first king of the Greek Empire. The four prominent horns that replaced the one large horn show that the Greek Empire will break into four kingdoms, but none as great as the first. “At the end of their rule, when their sin is at its height, a fierce king, a master of intrigue, will rise to power. He will become very strong, but not by his own power. He will cause a shocking amount of destruction and succeed in everything he does. He will destroy powerful leaders and devastate the holy people.”
HAM was the cursed grandson of Noah. It is believed that the descendents of Ham spread out and populated ancient Asia or the far east and Africa, such places as Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, Canaan, the Oriental nations, the African nations, Iran and Iraq.
CANAAN - the descendents of Canaan, the fourth son of Ham settled in the land of Canaan, that was later to become known as Palestine. They were an ungodly people, utterly immoral and unjust. The two well known cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were Canaanite cities. God judged Sodom by raining fire down upon the city because of its corruption.The future of the Canaanites had been foretold in the prophecy by Noah which I have already looked at in Genesis 9. They were to be an enslaved people (Genesis 9:24-27). As predicted, they were conquered by Israel under Joshua (cp. Joshua 9:22-27; cp. Joshua 9:1-21) and Solomon (1 Kings 9:20-21).
The land of Canaan was to become "The Promised Land" to the Jews. God says to Abraham in Genesis 17:8 (NLT) “I will give the entire land of Canaan, where you now live as a foreigner, to you and your descendants. It will be their possession forever, and I will be their God.”
SHEM – Shem’s descendents are the ancient Shemites or Semites scattered all over the Middle East, and so far as we know, they did not migrate beyond the Middle East. Shem is the ancestor of the Arabs, Arameans or Syrians, and Hebrews (Jewish race). The line of Shem (through the Hebrews) was to become the chosen line through whom God was to send the Messiah, the Saviour to the world, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
How does this genealogy effect me? Well God shows me through this geneology that He is faithful. When I shy away from God, He doesn’t break my neck but He doesn’t tolerate my sin either. Throughout ancient history He deals with man’s sin and gives us the only answer for forgiveness through Jesus Christ. He paid the penalty for my sin when He died on the Cross. One day, the Bible says, He will come again to finalise things on earth. God bless you Church as put your trust in Him today.
Pastor Ross
