Genealogies of Noah’s Sons
A Devotional Series from Genesis
Online Bible Audio/Readings Links (ESV)
8/4 Reading Portions: Judges 18; Acts 22; Jeremiah 32; Psalms 1-2
Genesis 10:31-32
These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
PEOPLE
This thirty-first verse affirms that the earth was divided in the days of Eber and Peleg (Gen 10:25) because of the confounding of the languages at the Tower of Babel (Gen 11:1-9). Again, the Scriptures present a basic truth tucked into the narrative when conveying revelations upon a differing but parallel subject. The focus of the tenth chapter of Genesis was to convey the clans and nations of the three sons of Noah. The details of how their languages would come to pass will unfold in the following chapter. Because of Adam’s fall in the garden, and thus because of the corruptions which remain in our fallen flesh though we’ve been saved by God’s grace, we tend to think more linearly and sometimes forget or forsake more abstract thought patterns like recapitulation.
Another blessed truth we can glean from the conclusion of this chapter is found in the thirty-second verse. Though the people were separated by their clans and lands and nations, we all come from one father, Noah (Acts 17:26). In God’s providence I had spent many years traveling to and living in many lands through the military, and after that, through the ministry. The more I studied the people, their histories, and cultures of those lands I visited or lived in, the more I found that people are more similar than we are different. That is, our diversity is wonderful and should be embraced and celebrated; however, those are minor compared to our similarities, being of one race, the human race, made in the image and after the likeness of God (Gen 1:27). We are all corrupt and fallen (Rom 3:23), and therefore, we all need Jesus (Acts 4:11-12). And this leads us to the third blessed truth we can glean from this chapter as we conclude it; one to keep in mind when we follow Shem’s genealogy at the end of the next chapter:
The lineage of Shem was mentioned last because it is to show that no one clan, or language, or nation, wherever they may live in their lands, is more superior than another (Acts 10:34-35; Rom 2:11). The Semitic lineage through Peleg became God’s “chosen” people because of God’s sovereign grace to bring His promise of the Messiah to pass. It was their privilege, and therefore, honored duty to spread that news of Messiah to all the other nations (Rom 10:12-13). Later, as Jacob sprung from that lineage, and His children, Israel, were given that distinctive honor, they hoarded that gospel blessing rather than sharing it with people of like need. May we who are in Christ endeavor to persevere to not only exalt Christ with our lives, but proclaim Him with our mouths, in languages that could be understood, to every nation under heaven (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 2:5-8).
Hallelujah! What a Savior!