Genesis Chapter 10 - Descendants Designed By Us

Okay, I admit it. Some chapters of the Bible just do not seem to be too interesting to read, nor do they seem to hold any importance to us today. Sometimes we get bogged down with too many details, and we know more than we want to know. If this chapter in Genesis leaves you feeling like "Who cares?", perhaps we can fill in some blanks and find a purpose for this being included in God’s inspired Word.

The three sons of Noah did as God had told them to do when they left the ark...be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it. (Genesis 9:7) The earth was once again replenished by the descendants of these three men. All the nations we read about in the Bible can be traced back to Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Let’s take a brief look at which nations came from which son.

Ham is the son who discovered his drunken father’s nakedness and ridiculed Noah to his brothers. Because of his lack of respect, he was cursed by his father to be the slave of his brothers. From Ham we have the Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Hitites, and Amorites. Currently those nations may not mean much to us by name, but as we continue on through the Bible, even through Genesis, we will find that these are the nations that were always causing trouble for God’s chosen people.

We will find that the Israelite people, those separated for God’s purpose, will continually be tempted by and intermarry with the Canaanite women.

The Egyptians will become such hard task masters that Moses will confront their leader, and then all of the Israelites will be chased by Egyptians into the desert.

The Philistines will be the "giants" in the land that a little boy named David fights single-handedly.

The other nations will be mentioned in battles that lay ahead for the people of God. Did Ham have a clue that he would be responsible for centuries of disobedience by his descendants? Surely the curse Noah placed on him proved to be everlasting.

Japheth was blessed by Noah, who asked that God extend his territorial boundaries. Probably Japheth’s descendants traveled the farthest, and they settled in Europe and Asia Minor. In years to come we will find the first missionary, Apostle Paul, traveling to these far away regions to take the gospel of Jesus Christ, and many churches will be started along his journey among the nations fathered by Japheth.

Shem, the third son of Noah, was the most blessed of the three surviving sons of the flood. His descendants will include the Hebrews, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Persians, and Syrians. Some of the big names that will come out of his line are Abraham, David, and Jesus. It is from Shem that God will call a people to come out and be separate from all the other nations. They are to be His chosen nation, the nation of Israel. But now we are getting ahead of the story.

If you were to be chosen as a father or a mother of a nation, what would your descendants be like? If they were carbon copies of you, would you produce a belligerent slave driver or a fearless leader? A great big bully or a child with conquering faith? A miser or a missionary? Each of us do leave a part of us behind. We influence lives every day by the way in which we live, whether it is our children, our co-workers, the grocery store clerk, or the driver in the other car. What kind of impression are we making? Would God be pleased?

"May those who come behind us, find us faithful!"