Monday, August 12, 2019

Ham’s Descendants, God’s Sovereign Purpose

Genesis 10:6-20
6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
    7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.  8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).  
    13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).
    15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

The first son of Ham, Cush, had Nimrod as a son; this one was a great hunter and he setup a kingdom which included Babel where the inhabitants’ pride in reaching towards heaven would be their downfall and affect all other nations to follow.  He also built Nineveh, which is also infamous for their sin, but best known for humility and repentance.  The second son of Ham, Mizraim, was most notable for siring the nation’s of the Caphtorim and the Philistines, who would oppose God’s chosen people in the future.  The third and last son of Ham, Canaan, had a long list of descendants (Genesis 15:18-22) who would be dispossessed as well in the promised land to Israel in times to come.  These Canaanites possessed much of the land for quite a while until God’s plan for His chosen children would set them at odds.  This account then of the sons of Ham shows a beginning of nations and sets the stage for future nations and conflicts which end in God’s plans for His people chosen out of the descendants of Noah who repopulated the earth after the great deluge of judgement on sin, as a second chance for mankind.  Grace is on display alongside God’s sovereign purpose. 

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