OUR
FATHER'S
WORD
"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light
unto my path."
Psalm 119:105
________________________________________________________________________________
Genesis
A Message For The End Time
by
Jim Lisenby
________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER
10
The Generations Of Noah
The
Bible, as we know it, was originally written by
Adamic people, to Adamic people, and primarily for the Adamic
people.
Its primary underlying theme throughout is the Messiah who was to
spring from that group of people, and it is for that reason that the
pedigrees listed in the Bible are mainly concerning those who were His
ancestors. With a few exceptions only the male offspring are
mentioned because that was the method used in determing heritage in
biblical times.
Now, you have only read the introductory paragraph to this lesson and
right
about
now you might be
thinking, "b-o-r-i-n-g"!
Maybe so, but these early years of Adamic history are important so
don't regard them lightly or
treat
them carelessly. They set up and record the chain of events that
led up to the birth of Jesus Christ, and even to many of the conditions
that are extant within western civilization today, indeed within the
entire world today.
The generations of Adam, from Adam to Noah, were covered in previous
chapters, and now in this chapter we continue with the generations of
Noah. In
the previous generations of Adam, as I've stated above and
elsewhere, only those who were in the
direct lineage of the Messiah were recorded in Genesis, and that is so
with only a couple of exceptions. Cain, the first seven
generations of his progeny, and poor Abel. That
means that the vast overwhelming majority of the Adamic race have
received little attention so far in Genesis. However, starting
now that changes a little. In the forthcoming generations of Noah
you
will notice that
more of the male offspring are mentioned even if they are not
connected to
the Messiah directly.
Let's get into it, but before we do something else must be said about
these
people we are reading about. Of course you know already that
they are all part of the Adamic race and
that basically means lighter skin, or white people, if you
prefer. I'll say it again, and over and over all the
different species of people
extant on the Earth did not descend from Adam. Most were created
on the sixth day of creation, whereas Adam was created much later, on a
theoretical eighth day. Work with it. Prove me right, or
prove me wrong.
Gen. 10:1 Now
these are the generations of the sons of Noah,
Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood.
No children were born to the sons of Noah before, or during, the
time of the flood.
Gen.
10:2 The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan,
and
Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.
The sons of Japheth are mentioned first perhaps because he was
the
eldest son of Noah.
Gen.
10:3 Genesis 10:3 And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and
Riphath, and Togarmah.
Gen.
10:4 And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and
Dodanim.
Here we have the
grandsons of Japheth whom you can find mentioned elsewhere in scripture
as nations and groups of people. Today, they are so
mixed with Shem and Ham that they are no longer clearly definable as a
group. Of course, I suppose the same could be said of Ham, or
even Shem except
for the Hebrews, and even they have crossbred to a large extent.
Gen.
10:5 By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their
lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their
nations.
This is the first occurrence of the word gentile(s) in
the Bible. It is the Hebrew word gowy, or goy, or the plural goyim
(Strong's No. 1471) and basically means foreigners, foreign
nations, heathens, or people.
Curiously, it can also mean a swarm of locusts,
or a group of
animals, or beasts.
It is usually used in such a way as to indicate non-Hebrew people.
The identity of the isles of the
Gentiles is a little nebulous. Isles can be
considered as meaning simply lands but it is
generally taken to mean coastlands.
These people were generally migrating from the environs of the Tarim
Basin in central Asia westward, or toward the area we call the Middle
East today, and toward the Mediterranean Sea. You will see
that as we go along. So, basically isles of the Gentiles
could be considered to mean the coastlands of the Mediterranean Sea,
the lands surrounding it, and the islands in it.
This
verse almost seems to be an afterthought, an inset or parenthetical
statement, and I want you to remember the word divided because
it becomes important later. So far only the offspring of Japheth
are
mentioned, but all
of the descendants of Noah overspread and occupied the territories to
the West which likely were already occupied by other people. More
on
this later in the chapter.
These few verses are all there is on the lineage of Noah's son
Japheth. Noah's son Ham comes next.
Gen.
10:6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
These sons of Ham, and their offspring, eventually became the main
inhabitants of the Arabian Peninsula, Egypt, Palestine, and North
Africa.
Gen.
10:7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and
Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
Gen.
10:8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the
earth.
Nimrod was an extremely important figure in his day, and we
need to spend some time on him because some of the things he did still
impact the way we live today. Here he is placed in the line of
Cush, but it seems unlikely that Cush
was his real
father. That is to say, Nimrod may not have
been a true son of Cush
like we
understand
the meaning of the word "son", even
though he was said here to be a son of his. The term "son" is
sometimes used rather loosely as a figure of speech in the Bible.
Any male descendant is often referred to as a "son" no matter how far
down he is in the lineage. That is likely here in the case of
Nimrod. He probably came from Cush through his mother, who was
likely to have been an adulterous wife, or perhaps even a daughter of
Cush. He
would have been considered a Cushite
for that reason. Let's continue with that thought in mind.
Gen.
10:9 He was a mighty
hunter before
the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter
before the LORD.
The word mighty here is translated from the
Hebrew
word gibbor
(Strong's
No. 1368) and means powerful,
strong, or mighty, and by
implication
means a tyrant, or a
warrior. The same
word is
used concerning the
offspring of the fallen angels who were mentioned previously in Genesis
6:4.
Gen.
6:4 There were giants
in the earth in those
days; and also after that,
when the sons of God came in unto
the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became
mighty men which were
of old, men of renown.
Nimrod was certainly a mighty
man of renown. The words mighty men
in the last clause of this verse are translated from the same word
gibbor
as in verses 8 and 9 above. I hope you can see the
possible
connection between Nimrod, the fallen
angels, and their offspring who were called gibbor. An interesting
sidelight to the word gibbor is that
the name of the archangel Gabriel has the
same root and basically means mighty man
of God.
Now, concerning the
relationship between Nimrod and
giants. He is said by some to have been a giant
in stature
ten or more feet in height. Some scholars have said he could have
been as much as twelve feet
tall but that is a little suspect.
He was also said to be an invincible warrior and a bloody tyrant who
was rebellious
against
God exactly like the offspring of the first influx of fallen angels
before
the flood. Those giant blivits required a lot of food and
apparently they were
not farmers, or perhaps they were unwilling to work the land.
They were monstrous tyrants who enslaved the descendants of Adam and
made them
farm the land for them.
Cush was the son of Ham who
was the
son of
Noah. He was pure Adamic, not mixed, and he was of normal stature
as were his offspring, until the second influx of evil
fallen
angels.
Yes, that's right! There was at least a second influx, and
perhaps even more irruptions
than that of fallen angels. Go back up to Genesis 6:4 and notice
the
phrase and also after that.
Giants were upon the Earth both before and after the flood who were the
children
of
fallen angels. Goliath and his brothers in the time
of David were some of the last of their monstrous
offspring.
After
all is said and done, there
is enough evidence for me to
say with confidence that Nimrod was a gibbor, and his true father was
likely to have been one of the fallen angels instead of Cush.
Like I said above, Nimrod's mother was probably either an adulterous
wife of Cush, or one of his daughters.
There are all sorts of stories about Nimrod and much has been written
concerning him. Curiously, some
scholars aver that Nimrod actually married his mother, whose name
was Semeramis. They say that she and Nimrod formed the ancient
religion in Babylonia and forced the people to worship within it.
She was the high priestess, who also was proclaimed to be a goddess,
and she forced the people to worship herself and the god
called Tammuz, who of course in reality was her son/husband/god (???)
Nimrod.
[Late addition: Nimrod's
mother/wife Semeramis was likely the Babylonian mother goddess Ishtar (pronounced Easter). Nimrod, her
son and later her husband, was of course the god Tammuz.
Consider
the following excerpt from my Compton's Interactive
Encyclopedia under the search
heading: Babylonia
and Assyria
The
First Kingdom Of Babylon.
As goddess of fertility, Ishtar could grant her worshipers crops,
lambs, or children. In the hot midsummer month named for her son
Tammuz, vegetation dried up and people fasted until he rose from the
dead to make the earth green again. The worship of Ishtar (also called
Astarte) and Tammuz spread over southwestern Asia and reached Egypt in
the myth of Isis and Osiris. Later the deities appeared in Greece as
Demeter and Persephone.
---------------------------------------------------------
From Compton's
Interactive Encyclopedia © 1998 The Learning Company, Inc.]
How much of it is true? Who knows? Some of the stories
probably have some basis in truth. Nimrod and his
wife/mother/priestess/goddess (???) are the likely candidates who
instituted the ancient Babylonian religion and forced the people to
worship within it. Incredibly, some of it is still with us today
in the form
of traditions of
men. The festival of Easter is a
prime example. Work with it.
It is also pretty evident that Nimrod was the first powerful conqueror
within the western world. He was mean, dominating, controlling,
and he was a bloody tyrannical giant who waged cruel warfare on the
people
around him. He was absolutely evil in every way and his influence
is still felt within west civilization today. Next to Cain, he
may have been the most evil man to live to date. Only the soon
coming false
prophet, or Antichrist
(my choice of words) will surpass them.
[Late note: I feel there is
enough evidence concerning Nimrod to support the conclusion that he is
likely the first great ruler of Babylonia Sargon of Akkad, a.k.a. Sargon the Great and Sargon the Magnificent.]
Gen.
10:10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and
Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
These were ancient cities located in the areas we know today as
Kuwait and Iraq. Of course you recognize the name Babel, you
know, where the famous so-called tower was built. Actually it was
a ziggurat
instead of a tower like we think of today, but more on that
later in Genesis.
Gen.
10:11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh,
and the city Rehoboth, and Calah,
This verse may seem
out of place because Asshur was the son of
Shem, and he was likely the father of the ancient Assyrians. He
is
mentioned here by the writer not because he is in the lineage of Ham,
but because these cities are all close to one another
in the same area, the land of Shinar, where Nimrod was dominant.
You will see Asshur
mentioned again in the lineage of
Shem shortly.
Gen.
10:12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great
city.
Gen.
10:13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and
Naphtuhim,
Mizraim was likely the father of the Egyptians, in fact,
that was the ancient Hebrew name for Egypt.
Gen.
10:14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,)
and Caphtorim.
Philistim is likely referring to the
Philistines who became a big problem for Israel during the time of the
judges which included the time of Samson. The Caphtorim may have
later occupied the island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea.
Gen.
10:15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,
Sidon here is likely
the origination of the name of the city of Sidon. It was later
occupied by some of the descendants of Cain who likely displaced the
descendants of Sidon. Heth was probably
the father of the important Hittites who learned how to smelt iron.
Gen.
10:16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,
The Jebusites occupied the ancient city called Jebus which later
became
known as Jerusalem. It is a truly ancient city, so whether they
were the original builders is not known, but what is known is that the
Jebusites
did occupy it until they were conquered by David.
Gen.
10:17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
Gen.
10:18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and
afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.
Gen.
10:19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou
comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah,
and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.
This describes what
was called the Land of Canaan. It approximates the same
portion of land that God later promised to Abraham. Canaan had
occupied it illegally and his descendants had no right to it under
the agreement which Noah and his progeny constructed during the days of
Peleg. More on that shortly, and it is all related to the word divided that I
asked you to remember above.
With regards to this list of the sons of Canaan, notice that some of
the tribes mentioned above are the same ones that Israel made war upon
and
displaced when they entered and conquered the Land of Canaan. The
children of Israel were some of the descendants of Abraham and they
became the occupiers
of the land after killing or throwing the descendants of Canaan out of
it.
Canaan was a bad man. Remember from chapter 9 how that
he did something that was unacceptable and was cursed by Noah?
Well, he continued in his aberrant behavior and evidently so did his
progeny. After occupying the land in an unlawful manner they
began to do things that displeased God greatly. I have a strong
feeling that, like so many others, some of them were crossbreeding with
the progeny of fallen angels. In any case, God told Israel
to deal harshly with them.
Gen.
10:20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after
their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
That concludes the lineage of Ham, the son of Noah. Now
comes Shem.
Gen.
10:21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of
Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
Eber is mentioned in
this way because it was likely from him that the Hebrews were
named. Abraham and all the other Hebrews sprang from Shem, as did
our Lord. The third clause of this verse
seems to corroborate that Japheth was the eldest of the three sons of
Noah.
Gen.
10:22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and
Lud, and Aram.
The Elamites, from
Elam, eventually became a large and powerful group. Notice that
Asshur, the
father of the Assyrians is here, and Aram, the father of the Aramaeans
whose
language, Aramaic, was still commonly spoken in Palestine
in the
days when Jesus walked there.
Gen.
10:23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
Gen.
10:24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
This is the same Eber mentioned in verse 21 above after
whom the Hebrews are named.
Gen.
10:25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was
Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother’s name
was Joktan.
Now, we come to this thing of the Earth being divided.
There has
been confusion about what that means, so let's spend some time
on it. Peleg
is mentioned here and a few more times in chapter 11, but nothing
really important is said of him but what you see here. His name
is said to mean division,
and it is interesting to note that the consonants in his name (p-l-g) in are
the same as those in the Hebrew verb palag (Strong's
No. 6385), which means to divide.
In chapters 8 and 9 of the book of Jubilees it is
stated that the Earth was divided among
the descendants of Noah. It apparently was during the days of
Peleg that this plan was developed and put into action. Consider
the following verses taken from those chapters of Jubilees.
Jub. 8:10 And it
came to pass at the beginning of the thirty-third jubilee, that they
divided the land (in) three parts, for Shem, Ham, and Japheth,
according to the inheritance of each, in the first year of the first
week, while one of us who were sent was dwelling with them.
Jub 8:11 And he
divided by lot the land which his three sons would possess. And
they stretched out their hands and took the document from the bosom of
Noah, their father.
Jub. 9:14 And thus the
sons of Noah divided for their children before Noah, their
father. And he made them all swear an oath to curse each and
every one who desired to seize a portion which did not come in his lot.
Jub 9:15 And they
all said, "so be it and so let it be to them and to their sons forever
in their generations until the day of judgment in which the Lord God
will judge them with a sword and with fire of account of all the evil
of the pollution of their errors which have filled the earth with sin
and pollution and fornication and transgression."
A little earlier I stated that Canaan had occupied an area that
was not his, or that of his children. Consider the following
verses from chapter 10 of Jubilees.
Jub. 10:29 But
Canaan saw that the land of Lebanon as far as the river of Egypt was
very good. And he did not go into the land of his inheritance
toward the west, that is the sea, but he dwelt in the land of Lebanon,
eastward and westward, from the bank of the Jordan and from the shore
of the sea.
Jub. 10:30 And
Ham, his father, and Cush and Mizraim, his brothers, said to him,
"You have dwelt in a land which is not yours nor did it come forth for
us by lot. Do not do this, because if you do this, you and your
children will fall in the land and be cursed with sedition because by
sedition you have dwelt and by sedition you children will fall and you
will be uprooted forever.
Jub. 10:31 Do not
dwell in the dwelling of Shem because it came to Shem and his sons by
lot.
Jub. 10:32 You
are cursed and you will be cursed more than all of the sons of Noah by
the curse which we swore with an oath before the holy judge and before
Noah, our father."
Jub. 10:33 But he
would not listen to them and he dwelt in the land of Lebanon from
Hamath to the entrance of Egypt, he and his sons, until this day.
Occasionally, I have heard someone say that they didn't
understand why God had
Israel to deal so harshly with the Canaanites as they entered and
occupied
the Land of Canaan. Well, here is one of the main reasons.
It was not
theirs according to the agreement that they all had made, and swore to
uphold, in the days of Peleg. They received the punishment and
the
uprooting according to the agreement that all had made. The main
problem was that when Israel came out of Egypt to possess it, which was
proper in accordance with the aforementioned agreement, hundreds of
years had passed and the inhabitants of the land weren't about to give
it up without a fight to the death. That is the long and short of
it. The rightful owners of the land came to possess it and
the illicit occupants didn't want to give it up to them. There
were other things involved as well, but that was the main reason for
all the
killing and the seizing of spoils.
Jub. 10:34 And,
therefore, that land is called Canaan.
Not anymore.
Gen.
10:26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and
Jerah,
Gen.
10:27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
Gen.
10:28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
Gen.
10:29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons
of Joktan.
This Jobab is
interesting because the biblical name Job is short for
Jobab.
The Book of Job
has
long been reputed to be the oldest book in the Bible even if its
authorship
is still debated. In any case, Job was said by some to have been
a contemporary of Abraham and chronologically we are very near to the
time of Abraham
here. Could it be that this Jobab and Job are the
same? Maybe, maybe not, but it is possible.
Gen.
10:30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto
Sephar a mount of the east.
Gen.
10:31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their
tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
Gen. 10:32 These are the
families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their
nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the
flood.
Again a final reference to the division of the lands by
the descendants of Noah.
God bless with
understanding
of His word.
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