Genesis – Book of Beginnings
Nations
Family Tree
Intro
 Open Bibles to Gen.10
 Funny stuff – Parting Shots
Creation, Fall, Flood, Nations,
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph
Gen. 10-11
This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the
flood.
The Japhethites
2
The sons[a] of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.
3
The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4
The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites.[b] 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out
into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
The Hamites
6
The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
7
The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.
8
Cush was the father[c] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty
hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”
10
The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in[d] Shinar.[e]
11
From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,[f] Calah 12 and Resen,
which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.
13
Egypt was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the
Philistines came) and Caphtorites.
15
Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn,[g] and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites,
Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward
Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
20
These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
The Semites
21
Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was[h] Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all
the sons of Eber.
22
The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23
The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.[i]
24
Arphaxad was the father of[j] Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25
Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg,[k] because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named
Joktan.
26
Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba,
29
Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
30
The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.
31
These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations.
From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
32
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[l]
they found a plain in Shinar[m] and settled there.
They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick
instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a
tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will
be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
3
5
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD
said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they
plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so
they will not understand each other.”
8
So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
That is why it was called Babel[n]—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole
world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
9
I. A Very Big Family Tree
Reason for the Chapter
 Explained in verse 1 and 32
 It explains God’s plan to repopulate the earth by the 3 sons of Noah
Remember a couple things here
 This isn’t a typical genealogy found in the Bible with only names
 It’s better described as an Atlas, History Book and Family Tree
Jaheth’s Record
 It would seem not all information was included
 The Record Keeper may had reason for his methods, not sure
Ham’s Record
 His descendants settled in the regions of Egypt, Palestine, Sudan, Saudi
Arabia, and Yemen
 Interesting note here, Nimrod

8
Cush was the father[c] of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the
earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said,
“Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD.”

10
The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and
Kalneh, in[d] Shinar.[e] 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built
Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir,[f] Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh
and Calah—which is the great city.
His Name Means
1. Nimrod = "rebellion" or "the valiant"
1. the son of Cush, grandson of Ham, and great grandson of Noah; a mighty hunter,
he established an empire in the area of Babylon and Assyria
KJV --- he began to be a mighty one in the earth.
The Account of the Tower of Babel is one of those cities Nimrod founded and lead
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved
eastward,[l] they found a plain in Shinar[m] and settled there.
3 They
said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used
brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a
city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves;
otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But
the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD
said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing
they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language
so they will not understand each other.”
8 So
the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
is why it was called Babel[n]—because there the LORD confused the language of the
whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
9 That
 Nimrod was blessed of God, a mighty hunter, great leader
 When God bestows talents and gifting in our lives, God’s intent is for us to
use it for His glory and purposes --- not our own
 Our 4 lessons from the Book of Esther are true also in Genesis
 There are 4 major lessons we learn from the book of Esther:
1. God has a plan for your life.
2. Satan has a plan for your life.
3. You have a choice.
4. God has the answer.
Two --- 1st Huge take away from the Tower of Babel account is about what God
says regarding “unity.”
5 But
the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD
said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing
they plan to do will be impossible for them
2nd Imagine if Nimrod used his influence for good?
 Nimrod had a choice, very obvious what he did with the unity of the people
and leadership talent there on the plain of Shinar
 How are you doing with what God has given you
 Using it for yourself, to make a name for yourself?
 Or are you leveraging what God has given you for His kingdom
Imagine if we truly worked together as a church. Keeping the Mission
1. Evangelize the lost.
2. Worship God.
3. Disciple believers.
4. Show compassion through God’s love to this World
So important for us not to forget Shem
 5 sons
 Last one mentioned with emphesis on Arphaxad grandfather of Eber which
next week we trace this branch to a man we will study next week named
Abraham.
II. Important Truths
A. God Made the Nations
Deut.32:8
When the Most High gave the nations their inheritance,
when he divided all mankind,
he set up boundaries for the peoples
B. We are all from the same Family
Pro. 22:2
Rich and poor have this in common:
The LORD is the Maker of them all.
C. We are made with Purpose
This we will see unfold in the weeks ahead for our ancestors here in Genesis
But that question what is our purpose
III. What is our Purpose
Paul, while in Athens and speaking
Acts 17
Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “People of
Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I walked around
and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this
inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. So you are ignorant of the very thing you
worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.
22
“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and
earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served
by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life
and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that
they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in
history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek
him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any
one of us. 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[b] As some of
your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[c]
24
Closing
There is a pattern
1. People drift away from God --- God pulls us back, come my way
2. Mankind wants to think this world is about him --- God says no… it about
Me
3. We tend to get consumed with our own struggles --- God says no… your
family, look out for eachother
Questions on back