I. Introduction and Background
A. Chapter 10 — A Remarkable Historical Document
- Chapter 10 of Genesis is one of the most remarkable historical documents ever written
- It records the beginnings of so many things:
- Creation
- Human life
- Marriage
- Sin
- Proper Worship
- Work
- The beginning of nations
B. The Beginning of Generations (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.” - Genesis 10:1
C. What Could Be Helpful About Reading All These Names?
- It gives you perspective — you are part of a long story
- It sharpens your judgment — you learn to trace consequences
- It builds empathy — these are real people with real lives
- It protects you from manipulation — you know where things come from
- It feeds your curiosity — the world is fascinating when you understand its origins
- It connects you to your identity — you know who you are and where you came from
D. Can This Information Be Trusted?
- These are the words of God
- Inspired by the Holy Spirit
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” - 2 Timothy 3:16
“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” - Matthew 4:4
“Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” - John 5:39
“Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” - Psalm 119:160
- All of history tells HIS-STORY
- These people are OUR heritage
II. Message
A. The Beginning of All Nations (Gen 10:1,32)
- About 2340 BC — just after the flood
- 64 nations are mentioned in this chapter
- 193 nations are recognized in the world today
- 10,400+ people groups exist in the world today
- They all trace back to these 64 original family groups
B. Names Matter
- 73 people’s names and 18 place names are listed in this chapter
- George Lamb story — names carry meaning and identity
- Names from title words: nations are named after people, and people after the first great men
- Names like Abraham, Sarai, Sarah, Joel, O’Sullivan, O’Mahony, Cathal, Craig, Ledbetter — all carry history
- We and our children should do the same
- But most importantly — your name needs to be in God’s Book of Life
- These are the nations as Moses knew them — written from the perspective of his day
- They serve as a bridge between prehistory and recorded historical times
- God starts with Japheth
C. Japheth — The Oldest Son
“The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras.” - Genesis 10:2
- Japheth becomes a distinct genetic line after Babel
- Gregor Mendel’s genetics research (1854-1865) helps us understand how this works
- Noah’s Promise: “God shall enlarge Japheth” - Genesis 9:27
- Japheth is the father of the Indo-European peoples
Seven sons of Japheth:
- Gomer — becomes Germany and France; ancestors of the Saxons, Celts, Picts, Jutes, Angles, Gauls, and Franks
- Magog — the Scythians; people of southern Russia and Ukraine
- Madai — the Medes; people of Iran and the Kurds
- Javan — Greece; the Ionians and Macedonians; the Greeks themselves traced their lineage to Japetos in their own mythology
- Tubal — Turkey, Iberia, and Spain
- Meshech — Armenia and Moscow
- Tiras — Thrace, Bulgaria, and Italy
Sons of Gomer:
- Ashkenaz — ancient Germany and France; the Scythians and Goths; the Ashkenazi Jews take their name from this line
- Riphath — the Slavs, Bulgars, Lombards, and Croatians
- Togarmah — the Armenians, Phrygians, Cappadocians, and Turkish peoples
Sons of Javan:
“And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” - Genesis 10:4,5
- Elishah — Greece proper
- Tarshish — Cilicia; the destination Jonah fled to; probably also Tartessos in Spain
- Kittim — Cyprus
- Dodanim — Italy
Japheth and his descendants headed north by northwest into Europe. From Japheth come the Spanish, Greeks, Italians, Germans, French, Hungarians, Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, Finns, Romanians, English, Scots, and Irish. They are called “Gentiles” — meaning “the nations.”
D. Next Up Is Ham
“And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.” - Genesis 10:6
- Ham heads SOUTH into Africa
- Egypt is called “the land of Ham” throughout Scripture:
“Israel also came into Egypt; and Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.” - Psalm 105:23
“They shewed his signs among them, and wonders in the land of Ham.” - Psalm 105:38
“There was no such plague in all the coasts of Egypt.” - Psalm 106:19-22 (referencing Ham’s land)
- Ham means “Burnt” or “Black”
- Ham is NOT cursed with black skin — dark skin is a biological protection against UV radiation
- Character matters, not colour
“But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self.” - 1 Corinthians 4:3
“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” - 1 Corinthians 4:2
Four sons of Ham:
- Cush — Ethiopia
- Mizraim — Egypt
- Phut — Libya
- Canaan — Palestine; the cursed people; the Sodomites, Amorites, and Jebusites; conquered by Joshua
Ham’s descendants spread southward creating great empires — Egypt, Kerma (c.2500-1500 BCE), the Land of Punt, and Dhar Tichitt.
Cush’s descendants:
“And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth.” - Genesis 10:7,8
- Sheba — the Queen of Sheba came from this line
- Dedan — traders and merchants
- Nimrod stands out — and I will talk more about Nimrod next week
“He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah” - Genesis 10:9-11
Mizraim’s descendants:
“And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.” - Genesis 10:13,14
- The Philistines came from Casluhim — descendants of Mizraim/Egypt
Canaan’s descendants:
“And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite” - Genesis 10:15-18
- These are the nations God drove out before Israel:
“In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, And the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.” - Genesis 15:18-21
“And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.” - Exodus 3:17
Notice the word “TONGUES” — languages
“By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.” - Genesis 10:5
“These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.” - Genesis 10:20
“These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.” - Genesis 10:31
- The division by language is described in the next chapter
- Acts chapter 2: the tongues at Pentecost were LANGUAGES — real human languages — not some unknown heavenly prayer language
- The Charismatic interpretation of “tongues” is wrong
E. God Saves the Best for Last — Shem
“Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.” - Genesis 10:21,22
- Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob all come from this line
- Five Semitic peoples:
- Elam — Persia (modern Iran)
- Asshur — Assyria
- Arphaxad — Chaldea; the line that leads directly to Abraham and Sarah
- Lud — Lydia, western Turkey
- Aram — Syria
All of these peoples settled north and east of Mount Ararat.
Aram to Uz:
“And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.” - Genesis 10:23
- Uz — this is where Job lived (Job 1:1)
Arphaxad leading to Abraham:
“And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. 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.” - Genesis 10:24,25
- And Joktan’s many sons through Genesis 10:26-30 — these are the Arabian peoples
F. Summary
“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.” - Genesis 10:32
The full line of names — from Gomer to Jobab — 64+ names in total.
A line is being drawn leading to the Messiah.
Luke 3:21-38 traces the genealogy of Jesus all the way back:
Jesus — Joseph/Heli — David — Jesse — Obed — Boaz — Salmon — Naasson — Aminadab — Aram — Esrom — Phares — Juda — Jacob — Isaac — Abraham — Thara — Nachor — Saruch — Ragau — Phalec (Peleg) — Heber — Sala — Cainan — Arphaxad — Sem — Noe — Lamech — Mathusala — Enoch — Jared — Maleleel — Cainan — Enos — Seth — Adam — God
III. Important Truths
Four Great Truths from this chapter:
- There is One God — Creator of all, Father of all nations
- All peoples are one race — one blood, one humanity, one origin
- Historical truth is unknowable without inspired revelation — only the Bible gives us this record
- There is only one way of salvation — through the line of Shem, through Abraham, through David, through Jesus
Mankind has not remembered these things:
- They make up their own gods
- They look down on other peoples
- They repeat the same errors generation after generation
The entire world needs to know these things:
- Where we came from
- Who created us
- That they can find God
- That salvation comes through the Jewish Messiah Jesus
- THAT is why we are commanded to go into all the world
Everyone is a mixture of all three sons over 4,500 years:
- We all started speaking the same language
- We all knew God at first
- But one generation moves on
- They romanticize the pre-flood gods — like Lot’s wife, like the children of Israel longing for Egypt
- Jesus Himself had Hamitic blood through Rahab and Moabite blood through Ruth — there are no pure bloodlines!
- Hitler’s Aryan race theory was a lie
- We are all from ONE blood — Adam and Eve, then preserved through Noah
“For salvation is of the Jews.” - John 4:22
“For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh: Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.” - Romans 9:3-5
IV. How Did Moses Know All This?
- Very advanced revelation to an ancient Hebrew man — don’t you think?
- Inspiration of the Holy Spirit — the author of truth
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me” - John 15:26
“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” - 2 Timothy 3:16