Month: March 2010

Genesis chapter ten is known as The Table of Nations. All the nations of the world and all the peoples of the nations descend from Noah’s three sons, Japheth, Ham and Shem.

Last week we taught on the lineage of Japheth and Ham. This morning our teaching will be on the descendants of Shem. Some say Japheth was the elder of the three sons while others claim Shem was the oldest brother. However the Bible says that Shem was the first born. This we also know. Shem was one hundred years old when his third son was born. So let’s get started.

Genesis 10.21
Shem in Hebrew means Name.

Shem is the ancestor of the Jewish People. Read 1 Chronicles 1.24-28.
Many Arabs from Islam descend from Ishmael, Abraham’s son.

Shem and a number of his descendants are in the Messianic lineage of Yeshua.
But the first ancestor of Messiah’s lineage is of course Adam, meaning all peoples
from all different backgrounds can be blessed in Messiah. After all, He is the One
who made us all.   John 1.3,  Luke 3.23,34-38

The word “supposed” in Luke 3.23 means considered or thought of. Certainly, Yeshua
is the Son of God.

Eber, the son of Shem.

Eber in Hebrew is Ay vehr who also is an ancestor of the Jewish People.

The word “Hebrew” in Hebrew is Eev ree and comes from Eber or Ay vehr.

Genesis14.13
Abram is called a Hebrew.

Genesis 32. 22-30 focusing on verse 28
God later called the Hebrews Israel.

Exodus 9.1
God called Himself the Lord God of the Hebrews.
In Hebrew; Yehovah Ehlohay Hah Eev reem.

Esther 2.5
The term Jew or Jewish is first used in the Bible in the Book of Esther.
Jew does not refer to a member of the tribe of Judah because Mordecai was
from the tribe of Benjamin.

But the word Jew or Jewish infact means Praiser of God.
The Hebrew for Jew is Yeh hoo dee, which comes from Yeh hoo dah or
Judah, meaning praise or celebrate. And Yeh hoo dah comes from Yah dah
meaning, to hold out the hand to worship, praise, confess and give thanks
(To God). Amen?

So Shem is the elder. See Genesis 5.32, Genesis 6.10, Genesis 9.18.
But that’s not important. David was the youngest. 1 Samuel.16.11.

Genesis 10.22
Elam – Became a people and a region of Persia, today’s Iran. 
See Daniel 8.1-2

Asshur – Means Assyria and no doubt the founder of Assyria and the
ancestor of the Assyrian people.

The Assyrian Empire at the height of its power consisted of Syria, Babylon,
todays Iraq, part of Persia, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and part of Turkey.

Assyria invaded and captured northern Israel in 722 BCE and sent the Jews
into captivity throughout Assyria, and replaced them with their own people.
2 Kings 17.6-24

On the other hand, the Babylonians, descendants of Ham, captured Judah, the
southern Kingdom of Israel in 586 BCE and killed a million Jews, and destroyed
the Temple and Jerusalem.
2 Chronicles 36.11-21

Arphaxad – Was the founder of a region in Assyria.

Lud – An ancestor of a people in Asia Minor. Asia Minor is Greece and Turkey.

Aram – Is Syria and the people of Syria. Syria is also known as Aramea or the
Aramaens. And is also Mesopotamia which in Greek means, Between the rivers.
The rivers being the Tigris and Euphrates. So Aram would include Syria and Iraq.

Genesis 10.23
Uz 
According to Ezekiel 14.12-14, Uz was in Israel.

Job lived in Uz and he was Jewish and lived his life according to God’s Laws,
the Torah.
Job.1.1,  Job 22.22

Back to Genesis 10.23
Hul, Gether,and Mash were ancestors of peoples in Syria.

Genesis 10.24
Salah – We know nothing about Salah except that he is an ancestor of Judaism
because he is the father of Eber an ancestor of Abraham.

Eber – We’ve talked about.

Genesis 10.25
Peleg – Peleg in Hebrew is earthquake. He was the son of Eber and in his days
the earth was divided. Meaning perhaps the splitting up of the world’s population
at that time, into various geographic groups or into different regions of the world. 

Joktan – Peleg’s brother. I understand that many of the tribes of southern Arabia
refer to their origin as being from Joktan.

Arabia today includes Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, The United Arab Emirates,
Qatar, Bahrein and Kuwait.

So peoples from Yemen and Oman on the very southern part of Saudi Arabia
descend from Joktan.

Genesis 10. 26-27
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmavet, meaning village of death, Jerah and Hadoram
are peoples who settled in Arabia.

Uzal – Is an ancestor of a people in Yemen in southern Arabia.

Diklah – Also is an ancestor of a people in Arabia.

Genesis 10.28
Obal – Also an ancestor of a people in Arabia.

Abimael – Is perhaps the ancestor of a people in Mecca. Mecca is in southwest
Saudi Arabia near the Red Sea. Muhammad was born in Mecca in 570 AD and
died in 632 AD at the age of 62. He founded Islam in Mecca which today is the
second largest religion in the world.

   Christianity has 1.9 billion people or 32% of the world’s population.
   Islam has 1.2 billion people or 20% of the world’s population.
   Judaism has 14 million people or less then 1/4 of 1% of the world’s population.

Sheba – In Genesis 10.7, Sheba is a grandson of Cush, from Ham, an Ethiopian
and a Sabean.

Here in verse 28, this Sheba is a son of Joktan and there were two Arabian tribes
with the name Sheba. One in southern Arabia, the other in Syria.

Genesis 10.29
Ophir – Is the ancestor of a people either in Arabia or India.

Havilah – In Hebrew means circular.

1/ Havilah is first mentioned in Genesis 2.11. Read Genesis 2.10-15.
    So Havilah is a land associated with the Garden of Eden, with beautiful gems and gold.

I think the Garden of Eden was in God’s boundries of Israel that David and Solomon reigned
over and the future Messianic Kingdom.
Genesis 15.18-21 and Ezekiel 20.6

2/ This Havilah (one was the son of Cush) was from Shem, a son of Joktan and perhaps
    the ancestor of a people in Arabia and parts of India.

Jobab – An ancestor of a people in Arabia.

Genesis 10.30
Mesha – Was a region of Arabia.
Sephar – A mountain in Arabia. 

Genesis 31-32  See Acts 17. 24-26.
Verse 26 
One blood is Adam.
Determined means God appointed in advance, even decreed.
Times- History. All the events of history before they happen, such as wars, elections,
earthquakes, the end of times, Messiah’s return, etc.
Bounds – The boundries of all nations.

Genesis 11.1-9
Let’s quickly look at the events concerning the Tower of Babel, why God confused
their language and scattered the people throughout the earth.

Genesis 11.1
One language. I believe that language was Hebrew.

Genesis 11.2
From the East. Since the Ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat which are in
parts of Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Armenia,
the people started to migrate and settle in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and
Russia and then throughout the world.

Plain – A wide valley between mountains, like Las Vegas.

Shinar – In Babylon or todays Iraq.

Genesis 11.3
Slime – A kind of cement.

Genesis 11.4-6  Nothing will be out of their reach.

Genesis 11.7-9
Babel – In Hebrew is Bah vel meaning Babylon.

So why did God scatter the people throughout the world? To populate the earth.

And the Lord wants us to depend on Him and not others. See Proverbs 3.5-6
Verse 5  Lean not – Don’t rely
             Your own understanding – Don’t depend on yourself or others.
Verse 6  Acknowledge Him – That is, know Him, live your life according to His
ways.
             1John 2.3
              Your paths – God will guide your life for the good.

So to summarize:

So far in the first eleven chapters of the Bible, we learn two very important teachings from the Lord God.

1/ God wants us to obey Him, His Teachings, His Laws and His Commandments.

    For obeying God, we are blessed as Noah was blessed.

    For disobeying God and rejecting His Teachings, His Laws and Commandments, troubles come. Let’s say,
    as Sodom and Gomorrah found trouble for not obeying God’s Teachings, Laws and Commandments.

2/ And God wants us to trust Him. Every Word He Speaks. And for trusting Him, God will guide our lives for
    good, and give us so much more.

And the Lord has given us Yeshua the Messiah to help us please Him and obey Him, and trust Him. That’s all
the Lord seeks from us. Obedience to Him, our trust in Him and our love for Him and others.

Shalom, Ira Weinstein

So Noah and his wife had three sons, and each son was married and had children after the flood. And from these three children of Noah, all the peoples of the world have descended from them. Some call Genesis chapter 10 the Table of Nations.

This morning our teaching will be on the descendants of Japheth and Ham. And next week we will teach on the descendants of Shem.

Genesis 10.1
Generations – The Hebrew word is To leh dote meaning; Descent or ancestry, That is the
families and races that descended from Noah’s three sons.

Genesis 10.2
The Sons of Japheth:
Japheth was the father of some fourteen nations, and over time, many more then fourteen.
His sons established civilizations in Iran, Greece, countries throughout Europe and Russia.

Gomer
Was the ancestor and founder of a northern people including Armenia which is north of Iran,
and Turkey. 

Magog
Was the ancestor and founder of Russia.  See Ezekiel 38.1-9.

Madai
Was the ancestor of Media or Iran.

Javan
The founder of Greece and the Greek people.

Tubal
It is believed that Tubal’s descendants peopled the regions south of the Black Sea which is
north of Turkey. And then went further south to todays Turkey, Syria, Iraq and  north to
northern Russia.

Meshech
An ancestor of Russia.

Tiras
An ancestor of the people of Greece and Turkey occupying  the coast lands of the Aegean Sea.
The Aegean Sea is part of the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Turkey.

Genesis 10.3
The Sons of Gomer:

Ashkenaz
The ancestor of a people north of the Black Sea which is north of Turkey, including Rumania,
Yugoslavia, Poland, Germany and Russia.

Jewish people today refer to Ashkenaz as the Jewish Communities of central and north
eastern Europe know as Askkenazim. Sephardim are Jewish people from Spain and
Portugal.

Riphath and Togarmah
Were ancestors of the peoples of Asia Minor. Asia Minor is on the northern Mediterranean
Sea on the south, and the Aegean Sea. So Asia Minor is Greece, Turkey, perhaps Bulgaria
and parts of Russia.

Genesis 10.4
The sons of Javan, the ancestor of Greece:

Elishah
The founder of a region situated on the Mediterranean Sea. Perhaps people from southern
Italy and Cyprus.

Tarshish
The ancestor of a region in Spain. See Jonah 1.1-3.

Kittim
An ancestor of Cyprus in the Aegean Sea.

Dodanim
Another ancestor of the Greeks.

Genesis 10.5
The Isles of the Gentiles. The translation in Hebrew is; Ee yay Hah Goy im.
Isles – Ee yay; means,  Islands and countries.
Divided means separated.

The Lord God made and populated all the Nations of the World from Shem, Ham and
Japheth.

Deuteronomy 32.8

Inheritance – The land they inherited which was given to them by God.
Separated – Scattered and dispersed.
Bounds – Boundaries and boarders.

Genesis 10.6
The Sons of Ham:
Ham’s descendants traveled to Africa and later spread west along the Mediterranean
Coast of north Africa and into Egypt, Canaan, Babylon, and other countries.

Cush
Cush is Ethiopia and the ancestor of Ethiopia.

Mizraim
Means Egypt in Hebrew and is the ancestor and founder of Egypt and the Egyptians.

Phut
Ancestor of Libia, an African nation.

Canaan
The ancestor of the people who lived in todays Israel,  the Israel where Yeshua, Jesus
lived. 1,158 years  after the Flood, the Lord God gave the Children of Israel the land of
Canaan for an everlasting possession when Joshua brought them into the Land.
  
Genesis 12.1-7,   Genesis 17.8

Genesis 10.7
The Sons of Cush;

Seba
Seba was the ancestor of a region of Ethiopia.

Havilah
Was the ancestor of a people on the southern part of the Red Sea. The Red Sea is
between Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the Sea the Lord God opened for His People to
cross on dry ground. Havilah is probably the ancestor of today’s Yemen and parts
of Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia.

Sabtah
Is the ancestor of a people on the shore of the Arabian Sea. The Arabian Sea is huge.
It is south of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan and India. Thus Sabtah is the ancestor of
many of these people.

Raamah and Sabtecha and the Sons of Raamah; Sheba
Are ancestors of peoples in the regions of Ethiopia.

Dedan
Is an ancestor of the people of Cush on the shore of the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf
is between Saudi Arabia and Iran. So Dedan is the ancestor of people in the southern
parts of todays Saudi Arabia and perhaps people in southern Iran.

Genesis 10.8
Nimrod was born of Cush. He, Nimrod was one of the first rulers in the world. He governed
the Land of Shinar which is todays Iraq. And he ruled Assyria (Syria) and perhaps rebuilt
Ninevah.

Genesis 10.9-10
The cities of Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh were in Babylon, todays Iraq.

Daniel 1.1-2

Genesis 10.11
Asshur means Assyria and is no doubt the founder of Assyria. He was a son of Shem.
See verse 22.

He built Ninevah, Rehoboth and Caleh, cities or regions in Assyria.

Genesis 10.12
And Asshur built Resen which was a great city.

Genesis 10.13
Mizraim, the founder of Egypt had sons born of him.
Ludim, an African people belonging to Ethiopia of Egyptian origin

Anamim, Lehabim and Naphtuhim
Are ancestors of Egyptian peoples.

Genesis 10.14
Parthrusim, Casluhim, Philistim (Philistines) and Caphtorim
Are of Egyptian origin from Ham. And they are ancestors of these Egyptian people.

The Philistines traveled on to Crete, an island of Greece, and then went on to Canaan,
todays Israel.

Genesis 10.15
Canaan had a son Sidon. Sidon is the ancestor of Sidon, the capital city of the
Phoenicians or todays Lebanon.

Heth
Was a Canaanite who is the ancestor of the Hittite people in Canaan and lived in Hebron.

Genesis 23.1-16

Genesis 10.16
The Jebusites are from Ham and Canaan of Egyptian origin. The Hebrew for Jebusite is
Yeh voos or Jebus, the ancient name for Jerusalem.

1 Chronicles 11.4-5

The Amorite
A nation of Canaan. Possibly the Amorites are sometimes classified in the Bible as all Canaan.

The Girgasite
Were a Canaanite people.

Genesis 15.13-16,   Deuteronomy 1. 20,   Ezekiel 20.6

Genesis 10.17-18
The Hivites were a Canaanite people.

The Arkites, Sinites and Arvadites
Were a people of Lebanon.

The Zemarites
Were a people of Canaan.

The Hamathite
Is the city of Hamath in todays Syria, called Hama today. And is north of Damascus.
The boundries of Israel given to the Children of Isreal include all of todays Israel, the
West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, Lebanon, part  of Jordan, Syria and Iraq up to the
Euphrates River and perhaps that part of Egypt to the Nile.

Genesis 15.18-21,   Exodus 3.8,   Exodus 23.22-25,   Numbers 34.7-8

And afterward were the families of the Canaanites dispersed and scattered.

Genesis 10.19
Border – Border or territory of the Canaanites.
Sidon – Lebonon
Gerar – In todays Israel
Gaza – In todays Israel   Joshua 15.1, 47
Sodom and Gomorrah – By the south end of the Dead Sea along the Jordan River.
Admah – A city near the dead Sea, was destroyed with Sodom and Gomorrah.
Zeboim – Destroyed with Sodom
Lasha – A town east of the Dead Sea in todays Jordan.

So Canaan included Lebanon.

Deuteronomy 1. 6-7

So to wrap up this morning’s message:

I think it’s important to note that there were no Jewish people or Children of Israel who are one and the same, when the Lord God made the distribution of the Nations in Genesis Chapter 10 to establish the ancient world.

But some
 367 years after the Flood, God chose the man Abraham and years later, the Children of Israel out of the Nations to be His witnesses to all the world. Isaiah 43.10.

And to gather to Him in one, a people from all the Nations to be a special people for Himself, according to the Covenant He made with the Children of Israel, which reads, “Know therefore that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God, which keeps Covenant and Mercy with them that love Him and keep His Commandments, to a thousand generations.” I Believe a thousand generations mean forever. And that Covenant is found in Deuteronomy 7.9.  

That is why Yeshua Who is God, the God of Israel says, “If you love Me, keep My Commandments.” That is how we become God’s special people. Loving Yeshua and keeping the Commandments of God. That never changes.

Shalom, Ira Weinstein