Our Father, Noah

GETTING STARTED

We all have a deep longing to know where we come from and how we fit in the world. From today’s passage, we see that we are all descendants of Noah. In the beginning of Genesis, we read how God created the earth and populated it from one man, Adam. Here, we will see how God repopulated the earth again from one man, Noah, and his sons.

  • Where did your ancestors come from, what did they do, and how has their legacy has affected you?

READ THE WORD: GENESIS 10:1-32  (ESV)

10:1 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.

English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

DIGGING DEEPER

  1. Noah’s son Japheth had how many sons? Where did this line of Noah’s family settle? What else do you learn about them in verse 5?
  2. Noah’s son, Ham, had four sons (vss. 6-14). From Ham’s sons, what lands did they repopulate? What skills did they posses?
  3. What regions did Canaan and his children develop (vss. 15-20)? To where did Shem and his children move (vss. 21-31)?
  4. If this is the account of the repopulation of the world after the flood, what are the implications of this passage on you, your identity, heritage, or ancestry?

RESPOND TO GOD

At first glance, this passage seems a little uninteresting. But if you dig a little deeper, you learn that Noah’s descendants “spread” (vss. 5, 18, 32) to what would have then been considered the very ends of the earth. Previous genealogies focused on chronology, but this one focuses more on geography. The nations, in all their diversity, are descendant from one man, Noah, our new Adam, through whom blessing will be made known from God. Seventy people are mentioned in this passage, a number symbolizing fullness and wholeness. Through Noah, God’s blessings covered the earth as it waited for the savior to come.

  • Spend some time thanking God for the blessings in your life.
  • Think about where your family has spread. Pray that everywhere they go they will experience the blessing and presence of God and proclaim the love and goodness of God.