THE THREE SONS OF NOAH Gen. 10 It’s usually the case that when we sit down to read through the Bible and we come to the genealogies we ‘skip over’ them, - we miss them out, we don’t really read them. But we need to remember that the portions of Scripture that contain the lists of the genealogies are as inspired as the portions of Scripture such as Ps. 23 and John 3:16. The Bible tells us that All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. What then could God be saying to us this evening through these genealogies in Gen. 10? Verse 1 very clearly sets out the purpose of the chapter. Even before preachers hit on the idea of having three points, that is exactly how we find this chapter divided. Indeed, we find a good homiletical structure to this chapter: ∗ v.1 is the Introduction ∗ From vv. 2-5, the sons of Japheth ∗ From vv. 6-20, the sons of Ham ∗ From vv. 21-31, the sons of Shem ∗ v. 32 is the Conclusion So as we look at the generations of these three sons of Noah let’s keep the Biblical structure as we explore this important chapter. Before we consider them individually what kind of a background would these sons have had? 1. They would have been brought up in a society completely disobedient to the ways of God. ∗ The Bible tells us that as He looked upon the earth (Gen. 6:5) God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. ∗ As boys Shem, Ham and Japheth would have been brought up with friends and neighbours who resisted the will of God; their communities were strangers to the goodness and grace of God. D.G. 2 ∗ To the amusement, - no doubt, - of many their father began to construct a boat and the message was that God was going to visit the earth in His wrath. ∗ I’m sure the young boys were often taunted and made fun of. ∗ They would have been seen as being different, - and they would have been made to feel different, - to everyone else. ∗ And I suppose there would have been times when they just wanted to be like everybody else’s children, … because it was a strain having a dad like Noah who depended so much on God. 2. Their father was a faithful man of God (Gen. 6:9,10) ∗ And these young men would have been taught in the things of God from they were little babies. ∗ Night and day they would have heard God’s Name spoken with great respect and love, … for these young men had been brought up with all the privileges of a God-fearing home. ∗ Whilst they heard about the parents of their pals going out and – as Jesus put it, - eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, they were at home with mum and dad. ∗ They heard about their friends’ parents and … ∗ They were going out to parties, and they were sleeping around, and they were coming home drunk, and the marriages would have been breaking up and these young children, - these friends of Shem, Ham and Japheth, - they would have had other half-brothers and half-sisters, and they would have different ‘uncles’ staying with their mum, and different ‘mummies’ with their dad. ∗ But Shem, Ham and Japheth knew that their home was a different home where their mum and dad loved them dearly and cared for them faithfully. ∗ In their home the Name of God was so special, - it was never taken in vain or treated with disrespect. 3. When their father had completed the building of the ark they walked up into that boat … behind their mother and father and along with each of their wives (and notice there is no mention of polygamy). ∗ There’s no doubt about it, … they would have been laughed at, D.G. 3 ∗ But they had been brought up to respect their parents and the God of their parents, and these young men and their wives cast aside the scorns of their neighbours (notice too that they had their wives in subjection to the God of their father). ∗ As the rains began to fall they were glad they had taken shelter in the ark that was built at the command of and due to the specifications of God, ∗ … For those young men were saved from the catastrophe that God had sent upon the rest of the world because of their father and mother’s trust in God. Now, … that’s the background, - the introduction. That’s a picture of the society that these young men had experienced and also the love of their parents and obedience to the will of God. Let’s consider briefly these three sons. As I have said on previous occasions genealogies are a favourite study of mine and I went through the genealogies of the Bible and put them into charts, … and if you are interested I can let you have a copy of them. But we are not going to delve too deeply into the genealogies this evening, … just try to learn something about these three sons and what the Word of God has to teach us through them. THE SONS OF JAPHETH vv.2-5 ∗ If you can picture a map of the Mediterranean Sea the sons of Japheth moved to the north and the north-west of Israel. ∗ For example, Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Meshech moved off in the direction of the regions we would identify with Russia today. [See Ezek. 38] ∗ Tarshish was away over on the southern tip of Spain, - it was to Tarshish that Jonah planned to sail (1:3) ∗ Javan was Greece, Tiras is identified with the direction of Italy. ∗ The European peoples derived from the sons of Japheth. ∗ Some of these sons of Japheth we can trace throughout Scripture. In particular, Gomer, Magog, Tubal and Meshech became the enemies of God’s people and Magog is featured D.G. 4 in Rev. 20:8 on the side of Satan fighting against the people of God. ∗ And indeed many of the sons of Japheth were responsible for the terrorising of God’s people, - for example Hitler. ∗ Since we are only ‘skirting over the top’ of what the Bible has to say about these sons we won’t go too deeply, except to draw the picture that they moved away from there and set up a life for themselves. ∗ It is a sad fact too that the descendants of the sons of Japheth forgot about their father’s God and took the form of worshipping idols. ∗ It was to the descendants of the sons of Japheth that Paul was sent to bring the grace of God. THE SONS OF HAM vv.6-20 ∗ He was the disgrace of the family. ∗ He had a wife that he took into the ark, but we read that he saw the nakedness of his father, (i.e. they would call it bisexuality nowadays). ∗ He took advantage of a drunk man, … and true… Noah shouldn’t have been drunk no matter how good the wine in his vineyard was! ∗ … but Ham took the opportunity and Ham became a disgrace, … and more than that, he passed the disgrace on down through his generations. ∗ His father cursed him (9:25) and made him to become a servant unto Shem, … but anywhere we read about his descendants we find them in opposition to God’s people. ∗ For example, Ham’s son was Cush (10:6), and his son was Nimrod, and Nimrod built Babel (or Babylon), - the greatest enemy in history and in prophecy to the people of God. ∗ Another great enemy of the people of God was the descendants of Asshur (v.11), - Assyria; … and there is Nineveh too. ∗ And in v.16,17 there are the Jebusites, and the Amorites, and the Girgasites, and the Hivites. There, in v.19 is Gaza, Sodom and Gomorrah. ∗ The sons of Ham also settled in modern-day Africa, but wherever they were they always became the enemies of D.G. 5 God’s people, and they succeeded in leading many of God’s people astray. ∗ When the Hebrews settled in Canaan, among the descendants of Ham, I can’t understand how the Hebrews weren’t wise to the sons of Ham. ∗ It was obvious they had nothing in common with the sons of Ham, … nothing! ∗ Yet, … why did they get involved with them, - it ruined their reputation, it ruined their relationship with God, … why did God’s people get involved with the sons of Ham?! ∗ Why do God’s people today get involved with church groups and doctrines of apostates that the Bible tells them to have nothing to do with! ∗ So, there are the sons of Japheth and the sons of Ham, and then finally … THE SONS OF SHEM vv.21-31 ∗ Thus far we have seen these two sons of Noah rejecting the God of their father. ∗ Japheth, - I would imagine, - just ‘got away from it’. ∗ He left home, his parents, their style of life, their faithful adherence to the worship of God, and the God of their father just paled away. ∗ Ham, - I would imagine, - couldn’t wait until he got away from his parents and their old-fashioned faith in God.