THROUGH THE BIBLE: Genesis 1..

Welcome to Cornerstone Reformed Baptist Church. Thank you for using and sharing our resources. What you're about to hear is God's Word from one of our teaching elders. We trust that God's Word will inspire, instruct, and bless you. For further teachings or information on our ministry, please visit us on our website at cornerstonerbc.

com. That's cornerstonerbc.com. Genesis chapter 10. We're going to be reading cooperatively this chapter this morning and studying it together, seeing how Jesus Christ is foreshadowed here in this chapter.

I'm going to be reading from the English standard version of the Bible, and let's read carefully. This is the words of God. Genesis chapter 10. These are the generations of the son of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, sons who were born to them after the flood, the sons of Japheth, Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshach, and Tyrus. the son of Gomorrah, Ashkenaz, Ripeth, and Togarmah, the sons of Jabal, Elisha, Tarshik, Kittim, and Dodanim.

From these, the Khoslem peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language by their clans in their nations. The sons of Ham, Kush, Egypt, Put and Canaan, the sons of Cush, Siba, Havilah, Saptah, Rayama, and Saptika, the sons of Rayama, Shiba, and Edan. Cush, father Nimrod, he was the first on the earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore, it is said, like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.

The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akkad, and Kalmeh, in the land of Shinar. From that land, he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ere. Kala and risen between Nineveh and Kala, that is the great city. Verse 13. Egypt, father Ludim, Anamim, Libahim, Naqtuhim, Pad-Ruzim, Qal-Luhim, from whom the Philistines came, and Qabthurim, Canaan, father Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Archais, the Sinaites, the Arvadites, the Zemurites, and the Hamathites.

Afterwards, the clans of the Canaanites dispersed, and the territory of the Canaanites extended from Zion in direction of Jerar as far as Geza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim as far as Lezha. These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations." Verse 21. To them also, to Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. the sons of Shem, Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lut, and Aram, the sons of Aram, Uz, Kul, Gether, and Mash.

Arphaxad, father Zilah, and Zilah, father Eber. To Eber were born two sons. The name of the one was Pilak, for in his day, the earth was divided, and his brother's name was Joktan. Joktan, father Almodat, Selef, Hazar-Mavet, Gerar, Haduram, Uzal, Diklar, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ofir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan.

The territory in which they lived extended from Misha in direction of Sifar to the hill country of the east. These are the sons of Shem by their clans, 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 nations spread abroad onto the earth after the floods amen this is the words of god the apostle paul says to timothy that all this scripture is breathed out and inspired by god and is profitable for teaching for reproving for exhortation and for training in righteousness, that the men of God might be complete and fully prepared for every good work." The same apostle Paul says to the Ephesians that those good works that we have been created in Christ for good works and these good works have been prepared beforehand for the church. All scripture is sufficient.

It is what we need, not only for our faith, but also for our obedience. So then when we reach a chapter like this one, that is even difficult to pronounce those names and to go through all of those lines, we ask the question of, how is this good for me as a Christian? How is this genealogy, all of these names, sufficient for the life of the Christian? And beloved, what we have here is not only a list of very difficult names to pronounce, but it is the providence of God providing to the church that which we need to grow in conformity to Jesus Christ and to understand what the Lord has done in the history of redemption. Now, Let me just put this in your mind.

Chapter 10 of the book of Genesis. What is all about? If I can just summarize it in one statement, I will give you something like this, and then we'll break it down to see what is contained in the chapter. Chapter 10 here in the book of Genesis is about the sovereign and providential power of God in working out the story of redemption or the history of redemption in the midst of rebellion. It is the sovereign and providential power of the triune God working out the history of redemption in the midst of rebellion.

And these two words, I'm giving it in purpose. Sovereign and providential. Beloved, I want you to have this difference between these two things, because God is sovereign in the sense that he is the ultimate ruling power of everything that exists. He is sovereign, but he is also a providential God that does not only create everything that has been created, but also relates to creation and works his plan, which is sovereign, through his providential work. Providence is put into work that which God decree in eternity past.

So I'm saying to you that Genesis chapter 10 is about the sovereign and providential power of the triune God working out his history or his plan of redemption. in the midst of rebellion. from Noah and from these three sons that were of Noah. We see the fulfillment of the Noahic covenant, at least of that promise of multiplying and fulfilling the earth. But what we have here in chapter 10 is something very special, and it's worth the providential power of God is worth in a very special way, beloved.

because the names that we have here are not necessarily the names of people. And please pay attention to this. The names that we have here are not necessarily the names of every single person that is a descendant of Noah. Rather, what we have here from the author of Genesis, probably Moses, it is a list of 70 groups of people that are descendants from Noah. These are nation groups of people and we can see it here in the last verse of the chapter that says from these nations spread from these the nations spread above on all the earth after the flood the Lord had brought judgment upon the earth because of the unrighteousness and rebellion of everyone and after the flood the only righteous man who walked with God that was protected from that judgment was Noah and here we see the fulfillment of this spreading and the multiplying on the earth of every single group or nation.

We can see that in verse 5 and in verse 20 and in verse 31 that the author repeats, these are the sons of, any of the sons of Noah, and they were organized by clans, languages, lands, and nations. Verse 5, verse 20, and verse 31. The author is trying to say that from Noah single nation or every single clan and every single language is spread. Now beloved, why is this important in this history of redemption? Please pay attention to this.

I said to you that this chapter is about the sovereign providential power of the triune God working out the plan of redemption in the midst of rebellion. In Genesis 3.15, upon the disobedience of Adam, when sin entered the world through the disobedience of Adam, and because that sin, death, spread to all people, and all people's sin, in Genesis 3.15, when the promise is given to Adam that from the offspring of the woman there was going to be redemption and salvation, A tale of two Adams, or a story of two different offsprings, starts. The offspring of the serpent, and then the offspring of the remnant and the people of God.

The history of redemption is just a history of two different types of offsprings. Those who are of God, and those who are of the serpent, those who are unrighteous. So when the judgment comes with the flood, one would think that the unrighteous seed has disappeared, and now it is just the men who walked with God. But no, because the unrighteous and the powerful work of the serpent and sin was even in the man who was walking with God and who founds favor in the sight of God. No, we saw his sin in the previous chapter, and also the dishonoring of his son to his nakedness.

Here now the author of Genesis is gonna show us how now in the midst of this covenant that was given to Noah, that I'm not going to destroy the earth, that the Lord allows that his sovereign decree of redemption providentially works in the midst of rebellion. Because unrighteousness was not only in the air, but it was in the heart and in the flesh of Noah and his descendants. and from them, or from him, every nation in the world was formed. Seventy groups of people. And here in this list, we can see how these two offsprings, we can perceive these two offspring, one of the unrighteous serpent, evil, and the other one of the promise and offspring of God that he was given in Genesis 3.

15. The first character that we're given here is Nimrod in verse 8. is said of him that he was a mighty man. And if you remember when we came together and we studied Genesis chapter 6 and we were speaking of the Nephilim, I said to you that these Nephilim were before and after the judgment. And these Nephilim were these mighty men of renown.

So commentators say here that Nimrod is one of those mighty men of renown. And we read of Nimrod that he is a hunter of the Lord, that he was establishing cities and kingdoms. And we don't understand it very well in the Hebrew, but the commentator said that this hunter of the Lord does not only mean a hunter of animals, but also a hunter of people, that he was establishing cities and kingdoms with the power and the strength that he had in his hands. killing and spreading cities and kingdoms. And then you can see there in chapter in verse 9 that he was a mighty hunter and from him comes Babel, right?

Babylon coming from Nimrud. Here we are going to see then in chapter 11 how the Lord is going to bring another type of judgment. It was first of all the expulsion or the ejecting from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1. Now in Genesis 6 through 9 is the flood, and then we're going to see another type or shadow judgment in chapter 11 when we started that. Now another thing that I have to say here about chapter 10, because I remember when I was reading this for the first time when I was saved, seven, eight years ago.

And I was just reading this in chapter 10, and I was just reading and then comparing with chapter 11. And you read that in chapter 10, it speaks of languages and different nations. But then in chapter 11, in the Tower of Babel, it says that the languages were given. And to me, it didn't make sense that languages were spoken in chapter 11, But also in chapter 10, it was languages already spoken about. So I was like, when languages came about?

I didn't understand that. What we have to understand is that chapter 10 gives us the framework to understand the whole book of Genesis. The book of Genesis is not a sequential narrative of acts that happen one after the other. It is in big parts of the book. But when we come to this chapter 10, Moses is giving us a big picture of the framework of how the nations were a structure during the time of Genesis.

So he's giving us a picture of how everything will work. It is not giving us something that happened before chapter 11, but rather the whole framework upon which that we have to use to understand all of these nations. Two offsprings. From Nimrod, it comes those who are unrighteous. But then from Shem, you remember that Noah gave this blessing to Shem and said that through him, or as we said last time, that through him was going to come this expectation of the offspring that was going to save the world.

And it's the person of Eber, if you can read it in verse 21, to Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber. Eber is the father, or it is from whom it comes, Abraham. And Eber in the Hebrew is the word from where it comes, Hebrew. From Shem, the people of Israel will be protected. And from the other genealogies, or from the other streams, all the other Gentile nations will be formed.

The author here is giving us just two streams of the Jews, of the covenantal people of God through Abraham, and the rest of the Gentiles. He's saying, this division that happened in Genesis with the serpent and the righteous men, this will continue even after the judgment that was given to Noah, or to the times of Noah with the flood. This division will continue. Ones are going to be the nations, the Gentiles, and then from Shem, Eber, and Abraham, I will have my covenant people of what we will know in the future after that of the people of Israel. Why is this important, beloved?

This is very important. This is a very typological, foreshadowing, prophetic, and eschatological picture, the one that we have here. Because it's in the person of Jesus Christ. I don't know if you remember when Paul is preaching in the Areopagus, and he says that from one man, all nations of the world have been given, all nations from one man. And all of these nations have been determined their places, their dwelling places, and their boundaries by the sovereign power of God.

And it is in the person of Jesus Christ, beloved, Ephesians 2, that the wall of hostility between the Jews, the covenant people that comes through Abraham and then Moses, and the Gentiles are united from one God all nations come. He is going to take from the nations, he's going to choose and he's going to pick a people, the people of Israel. This is going to serve as the scenario in which the Messiah will be born and also as a type, as a shadow of the redemption of the church. But the ultimate purpose of God in his mind, it is that from one man, all the nations will be gathered. And that person is Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ is the person that makes available salvation for all the nations. Isaiah will say that from all the nations they are gathered. That which was divided in the midst of rebellion because of the unrighteousness of people will be united in Christ by grace through faith. And then here we see a pattern that will repeat and repeat and repeat. Unrighteousness is judgment.

unrighteousness, judgment, unrighteousness, judgment. To Noah, the promise is given that I will not destroy the world. So the world will stay and endure until the Messiah comes. and protects and keeps the people that are going to be united to him in glory. The wall of hostility between the Jews and the Gentiles has been destroyed in Jesus Christ.

And from these two men, he has made one peace with God. And this is the dwelling place of God. Amen.