This Is God's World

Setting the World Stage for God’s Glorious Purposes
(Genesis 10, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, August 31, 2014)

God's Sovereignty.  Genesis 10 records the descendents of Noah’s three sons: Japheth, Ham, and then Shem.  From these would come all the peoples of the earth.  Seventy names are given of people who descended from Noah’s sons, a number which symbolizes completeness.  All the peoples of the world are represented here.  No other table of nations like this has been discovered in ancient Near Eastern records.  The narrative of Genesis shows that there is one God who created the world, who created all peoples, and who rules over the world and its peoples.  As Paul states in Acts 17:26, “And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.”  God is sovereign over human history and Genesis 10 sets the stage for the world in which God will display his glory through working out his purposes of deserved judgment and undeserved blessing for all nations.

God's Justice.  The largest portion of this table of nations is the record of Ham’s descendents.  The judgment of God is all over this section.  Nimrod is a mighty man, recalling Genesis 6:4, who builds himself a kingdom.  This kingdom will be at the center of mankind’s united efforts to defy God by building the Tower of Babel in chapter 11.  God will respond in judgment, confusing mankind’s languages and dispersing the peoples of the earth.  Half of this section follows the descendents of Canaan.  God will bring judgment upon them for their great wickedness through his people Israel.  We also here among Ham’s descendents some of Israel’s greatest foes.  There is Egypt, who would enslave the Israelites.  There are the Philistines, who would plague Israel during the period of the judges and the early monarchy.  And there are Babel and Ninevah of Assyria.  Built by Nimrod, these would become the centers of powerful kingdoms which would themselves be agents of God’s judgment against Israel.  All judgment against Israel or her foes is deserved because mankind, like Nimrod, is prone to seek to build our own kingdoms rather than humbly surrender to God’s kingdom.  And yet sovereign over rebellious mankind is God, who displays his glorious justice in his judgments.

God's Mercy.  The chapter concludes with Shem, through whose descendent Abram blessing would come to all nations.  Blessing for a sinful world is undeserved.  This is the mercy and grace of God.  It would not come through just any descendent of Shem.  When the genealogy gets to the sons of Eber, it follows Joktan rather than Peleg.  Yet chapter 11 will follow Peleg’s descendents until Terah and his three sons.  God chose Terah’s son Abram to be the vehicle of blessing.  From Abram’s descendents, Jesus would be chosen to dispense God’s undeserved blessing.  That blessing would be for all peoples (12:3; 22:18), the descendents of Shem, Japheth, and even Ham.  God lavishes his grace on all those who stop living to build their own kingdoms and surrender to him and to his Son’s kingdom.  Building our own crumbling kingdoms has earned God’s deserved judgment.  Jesus Christ, whose kingdom will truly last, has earned for us God’s blessing.  In pouring out undeserved blessing upon the nations through his Son, God displays his glorious grace.

God is Creator and Ruler of all.  Human history is the stage for his display of deserved judgment upon mankind’s pompous pride, and his undeserved blessing to those from all nations to whom he extends his mercy.

Put the Word to Work:  The world and mankind does not exist for our glory, our kingdom, or our plans, but for God’s.  Be part of the kingdom of his Son and receive his gracious, undeserved blessing.

Memory Verse from the Psalms of Ascents: Psalm 122:5 – There thrones of judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 13:47-50 – The Parable of the Net