Genesis 10

Genesis 10

One of the great lists of Old Testament begins in this chapter. Here we see the descendants of the son of Noah. Now remember the curses and blessings from the end of Genesis 9. Because of the way the sons reacted to Noah’s drunkenness and nakedness, Ham received a curse whereas Shem and Japheth were blessed. Now look at what happened to the sons of Japheth. These people groups traveled by their clans, and they settled along the coastlines. There is not mention of any struggles that they had within the first few generations of their existence.

As for Ham, look at some of the names that are mentioned, particularly Egypt and Canaan. Knowing that he received the curse, think about Israel’s future. Abraham’s family eventually travels from his hometown to Canaan, the eventual Promised Land. When the family endures a detour with Joseph, they travel to Egypt, a land that they eventually overcome. Pharaoh’s armies are destroyed during their escape. These events are still hundreds of years away, but just as God always keeps His promises, He also remembers what He had promised to Ham. Furthermore one of Ham’s descendants is Babel, and as we will see in the next chapter, that was yet another city that drifted from God and was destroyed by the Lord. Near the end of Ham’s listing we finally see Sodom and Gomorrah, two more cities that drift so far from God that they are destroyed by fire. Much of the conflict that occurs throughout the rest of the book of Genesis comes from Ham’s descendants: Babel, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the land of Canaan, and all of this is due to one man’s sin. We do tend to get “bored” with the genealogy lists, but by taking a closer look, it becomes obvious that these lists can help provide some important background for other texts.

Finally we come to Shem, Noah’s third son. None of these names really stick out to me, and I cannot think of any connections that these men would have to future stories. However, it is important to note that Abraham would eventually be descended from Shem. The man that God would eventually choose to be the patriarch of the Hebrew people came from one of Noah’s sons that received the blessing.

The closing verses of this chapter also show a fulfillment of God’s commands. Just like God had commanded Adam, He told Noah and his sons to multiply and repopulate the earth. These last few verses say that the descendants of Ham, Japheth, and Shem did this very thing. They spread out across the entire earth (or at least of what was known to them at the time). So the aftermath of the storm turned out to be successful. God’s decision to begin anew with the human race through one man, Noah, ended up working just as He had planned.

Matt