The generations of Shem lead us on to
another phase in the unfolding of the Divine plan. The way in which this new section is placed
in juxtaposition with man’s attempt at Babylon is suggestive. In the order of occurrence Genesis x.
follows Gen. xi. 1-9. This is
easily seen when we note that in the period covered by Genesis xi. 1-9, “The whole earth was of one lip and one in words”, whereas in Gen. x. 5, 20, & 31 the division of the earth among the sons of
Japheth, Ham, and Shem is among other classifications, “after their
tongues”. We are not told when the tower
of Babel was built, but we do know that it was immediately after its erection
that “the Lord scattered the builders abroad upon the face of the whole earth”.
In Gen.
x. 25 a statement is made that in the
days of Peleg “the earth was divided”. This word “divided” is not the same as that
used in Gen. x. 25 & 32, but it is nevertheless used with the same
meaning. The Hebrew word is palag, which comes in such passages
as II.Chron.xxxv.5, “the division
of the families of the Levites”; Ezra vi. 18,
“they set the priests in their divisions”; Dan. ii. 41, “the kingdom shall be divided”. We may take it
that in the days this great division took place, and he was so named in
relation to the event. In
Deut. xxxii. 8 there appears
another reference, as it seems, to this time:--
“When the Most High divided to the nations
their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the
peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.”
Here the word “divided” is nahal, and directs attention more to the
“inheritance” than to the manner of its division. Peleg’s generation is not given in Genesis x.,
while that of Joktan his brother is set out fully; the reason is clear. Joktan is numbered among the nations, Peleg
comes in the line of promise which involves the calling of the one nation out
of which was to come the Messiah. Peleg
was born, according to the genealogy of
Genesis xi., 101 years after the
flood, and 121 years after Peleg, was born Terah the father of Abraham.
Terah’s generation comes central in the
book of Genesis. On the one side we have
the generations of the heavens and earth, Adam, Noah, the sons of Noah, and
Shem. On the other side we have the
generations of Ishmael, Isaac, Esau, the sons of Esau, and Jacob. Terah is the link between the “nations” and
the “nation”. Strangely, Abram has no
separate generation, but has his line traced under the generations of
Terah. While the genealogy from Terah to
Abram is exceedingly brief, the section covered by these generations is very
full, extending to Gen.xxv.11. Terah has three sons, Abram, Nahor, and
Haran. Abram marries his half sister
Sarai; Nahor marries his niece Milcah,
the daughter of his brother Haran, and becomes the grandfather of Rebekah. Lot was brother to Milcah.
Genesis xi. 28 tells us that Ur of the Chaldees was the land
of Haran’s nativity, while verse 31 shows
that Abram dwelt there also. The
Hebrew name of this city is Ur-Kasdim. Hommel has shown that the name, like many
others, has changed with time. From the
9th century onwards Kasdim was Kaldu, which gives the Greek word Chaldaioi, Chaldeans, before that, as
early as the second millennium B.C., in fact to the very time of Abraham, and
the dynasty of Khammurabi. This city, Ur
of the Chaldees, was at the time of Abraham a centre of learning, science, art,
and wealth, even to the point of luxury.
All this has been discovered from the monuments and remains of the great
city.
It is of great importance that we remember
that it was not Abram’s ordinary mode
of life to dwell in a tent. He was not by upbringing and choice a nomad; he was a citizen of no mean city. The fact therefore that Abram chose to leave
this city behind, and become a stranger and a pilgrim, is an evidence of faith,
and becomes an example of enduring hardships for Christ’s sake. With all the light and learning of Ur of the
Chaldees there was darkness and ignorance of the true God.
“Your fathers dwelt on the other side of
the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of
Nachor; and they served other gods” (Joshua xxiv. 2).
So again when Laban and Jacob made their
covenant, Laban sware by
“the God of Abraham, and the god of Nahor,
the god of their fathers. And Jacob
sware by the fear of his father Isaac” (Gen. xxxi. 53).
Idolatry had reached a high pitch by the
time Abram was born. An elaborate ritual
and priesthood, with altar, sacrifice, and temple. With gods many and lords many, with awful
magical rites and powers, and a definite league with evil spirits had enveloped
the earth with a pall. Into this mire
and corruption descended the God of grace, and led Abram forth to make of him
the father of the faithful and the friend of God. Abram therefore stand out in the page of
history as a kind of firstfruits, a pledge of the blessing yet to be
realized.
The nations of the earth had been given up
by God as a retribution for turning away from Himself, and for instituting
idolatry. He might have left them to
perish with their own devices. That He
did not, but called out Abram to walk with Himself, and become the father of a
great and privileged nation, is an eloquent testimony to the great purpose of
love that shines out with ever increasing splendour as the Scripture story
develops. Let the reader remember as he
finishes the eleventh chapter of Genesis, that so far as the periods covered
are concerned, he is half way through the
O.T. It is an illuminating fact
which shows how truly the Bible is the record not merely of human history, but
of Divine purpose.
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