GENESIS - 12
The Beginning of Nations
In front of the huge United Nations Building in the city of New York there are around two hundred flags representing the member nations of that organisation. Each nation, even the smallest, has its own flag and its own ambassador and its own set of offices. Within that building there is represented a considerable diversity of language, culture and physical appearance. Where did all these nations come from? Why do we have these differences of language and physical appearance?
We turn again to the Bible book of beginnings - Genesis - for the answer. Written long ago Genesis traces the roots of the human race back to the first man, Adam. Adam was created in the image of God and is the common ancestor of all mankind. The Bible clearly teaches that, although there is this great diversity of appearance and language and culture, the human race is all one. In the New Testament book of the Acts, that great Christian teacher the apostle Paul says this, in chapter 17 verses 26 and 27:
“From one man God made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.”
All people, whatever their colour or race or culture, owe their very existence to the one true God, the Creator of us all. We all share the same characteristics of humanity, though there is an infinite variety of height, weight, skin colour and hair type. In every part of the globe we find evidence of man’s creativity in music, art and literature and a host of other skills. Even in so-called “primitive” societies this is true. We are all different from each other and yet so very similar. We all have that inbuilt capacity to reach out to our Creator if we will, and He is longing for us to do that. There is only one race, the human race, and the love of God reaches out to us all.
Only one race yet many nations of mankind. Let us discover what the book of Genesis can tell us about where these diversities began.
If you were able to listen to the previous talk in this series you will remember that Cain, the first child to be born to Adam and Eve, murdered his brother Abel in a fit of jealous anger. As a punishment for this great sin God drove Cain into exile away from his parents and from the presence of God. He became a wanderer, and we read in Genesis chapter 4 verse 17 that he built a city and named it after his firstborn son.
While that line of people descended from Cain was developing a similar group linked to Adam and Eve was also emerging. Eve had given birth to Seth whom she recognised as God’s replacement for her righteous son, Abel. At the end of Genesis chapter 5 we read that this line from Seth followed the Lord, unlike the descendants of Cain who appear to have followed the way of their rebellious father. So at this early stage in man’s history we have diverse groups following different paths. We have those who “called on the name of the Lord” and those who did not.
Genesis chapter 5 gives us the family tree of Adam on to the time of Noah. At the opening of chapter 6 we are told that, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” Nothing has changed, has it! Because of this evil situation God determined that He would destroy the world by a great flood and make a new beginning. You know the story, I am sure, for the story of a great flood is known to many cultures and is not found only in the Bible. This new start would come through the one righteous, God-fearing, man, Noah, and his family. God would rescue this man and his family by means of the Ark. Just as in Noah’s day, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should turn to Him in repentance for their sins and find salvation through the Saviour He has provided, our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Bible account tells us that just eight persons, four married couples, survived the flood and it is from the three sons of Noah, called Shem, Ham and Japeth, that the main branches of the human family originate. Genesis chapter 9 verse 19 says: “From them came the people who were scattered over the earth.” From chapter 10 we can trace the different branches of these families for a certain length of time and then from ancient histories in different parts of the world covering many thousands of years.
From Shem we trace the Semitic peoples of the Middle East and North Africa, the Jewish people and the Arabs. Ham is the ancestor of those who moved south into the African continent and south-eastwards towards Asia and the Pacific regions. The descendants of Japheth moved out in various directions and to the coasts and are considered to be the ancestors of the Caucasian peoples.
So there you have it. Whatever your nationality or the colour of your skin, we all had the same beginning, a fresh start after the judgement of the Flood. In the various races of mankind we see wonderful variety, as in all of God’s creation, and yet it is our common humanity that unites us as one, all made equal in the image of our Creator.
Have you ever had to learn another language? If you have you will know how frustrating it can be at times trying to communicate properly. At the beginning of Genesis chapter 11 we are told that the sons of Noah and their families and their descendants spoke in a common language, but something happened to divide the people further into different groups.
It all arose out of an act of rebellion against God’s express command to Noah that the people spread out and “fill the earth.” Here in chapter 11 we find men planning to do the opposite. They want to settle down in one place and build a city and a huge tower reaching up to heaven. They evidently hoped that this focal point of power and false worship would guard them against being scattered. So, in verses 5 to 9 we read:
“But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel - because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world.”
Obviously, down the thousands of years since then, people have migrated all over the world and their languages and dialects have altered and developed with them. In the United Nations that we spoke about at the beginning of this talk there is an army of translators making sure that the proceeding are understood by everyone present.
As we conclude this study my question to you is this: Whatever your nationality or race or language have you responded to the message of salvation through God’s Son, Jesus Christ? The God who rescued Noah from sin’s judgement long ago loves you and wants to rescue you from your sin and its eternal consequence.
He wants to give you a new beginning and bring you into his family with brothers and sisters of every nationality who love the Lord Jesus. Jesus said to his disciples that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name among all nations. I urge you, whatever nationality you are: Turn from your sinful ways and trust in Christ Jesus today that you may be saved from the judgement to come.