Genesis 10: Greatness Of Genealogies

These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.
 
2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.
 
6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
 
15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
 
21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.
 
32 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.
 
Meditation
The Lord is the “Lord of years, the Potentate of time,” ordering history according to His plan and for His glory. Genealogies help us see where His story is going.
 
The point of this genealogy is stated clearly: The sons of Noah who survived the flood scattered and filled the earth (32). What is embedded in the names are important origin stories and the key redemptive thread in God’s redemptive tapestry. Every word of God’s word is significant for us to study.
 
God used Noah’s offspring to fill the earth to fulfill His promises. From Ham eventually came the kingdom of Babel, then Assyria, and other external enemies of Israel (6-14). From Canaan came a lot of “-ites” who would eventually fight Israel inside the promise land, cascading from the cursed son of Noah (15-20). From Shem comes the covenant promises of God, reaching back to Genesis 3:15 and forward to Luke 3:38 (eventually going through Revelation!). God’s promises are pushed forward through Shem’s people (21-31).
 
God’s faithfulness finds full expression in the birth and work of Jesus Christ, and His sovereignty directs the drama until Christ comes into the world. God’s sovereignty saturates redemptive history as it stokes hope in the human heart, and God directs history through Noah’s offspring. Reading this section of Scripture reminds us of our need for forgiveness of sin, the continued thorns in our flesh after coming into God’s promises by faith, and the hope we have in the fullness of God’s promises in Christ. God is working everything for His glory.
 
Richly Dwelling
-Why would it have been important for the original audience of Genesis to know the origin story of their external enemies AND their enemies inside the land?
 
-How quickly do you dismiss genealogies in Scripture? Why?
 
-Why is it important for you to see God’s promises pushed forward through His story, finding fullness in Jesus Christ? How does this fuel hope in your heart?
 
Key Verse
32 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.