The Hope of Jesus | Genesis 10:21-32 |

 

 

 

Canaan is cursed and Shem and Japheth are blessed. 

 

“He also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.  May God enlarge Japheth And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.’”

--Genesis 9:26-27

 

Genesis 10 is the fruit and result of this Patriarchal blessing on Shem / Japheth and the Curse on Ham.  Canaan is cursed because of Ham’s sin against his father, Japheth and Shem’s fruit is blessed because of Shem and Japheth’s mercy to their father. 

 

This blessing and curse are fulfilled in the future generations of Ham, Shem and Japheth.

 

Elam will be the father of the Elamites.  There was a king in Genesis 14 named Chedorlaomer.  King of Elam invaded Canaan so that the sons of Canaan served the sons of Shem.   This structure of the blessed people and the cursed people will carry its way through the rest of the entirety of Scripture.  There is a community that is in rebellion to God and a community submitting to God and therefore blessed by God—called His people.

 

1. God establishes the nations based on language culture, and location.

 

 

-Asia, China these people are known to come rom the descendants of Ham—either the Hittites or the Sinites.  The Hittite empire lasted over one thousand years, there are indications of some in this empire felling to the east of Turkey into China.  The other possibility is found in the Sin dynasty.  Genesis 10:17 describes the ‘Sinites.’  The study of China is called ‘sinology’ Sin also means “purebred” in Chinese culture.  IT is possible they came from Ham’s lineage through either the Hittites or Sinites.

 

 

“And so it is possible that they came from Ham.  But I’ll tell you this; they came from Noah’s family.”

--John MacArthur

 

Cush:  África, Ethiopia.  Elam:  Persia and Mesopotamia.  Asshur:  Hebrew name for Assyria, Northern Mesopotamia.  Lud:  Asia Minor, Northeastern Africa.   Aram:  Aramea, fertile crescent, Jordan river, present day Syria to the Persian Gulf.

 

Nimrod builds a kingdom in Babel, which will defy God.  He is the world’s first great dictator, God judges the nations by separating them through language and location; not by race. 

 

 

“Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan.”

--Genesis 10:25

 

The dividing event is described in detail in Genesis 11:1-9 with the tower of Babel.  Even in the midst of rebellion, while Nimrod is defacing God, God is preparing the way for salvation, for Hope, for blessing.  Shem’s lineage is a righteous one which will lead to Supernatural Hope. 

 

 

2. This supernatural sign of hope is found in Jesus Christ. God always planned to offer His son to save the world from their sin.

 

 

“Jesus’ mission occurred in the context of promised found in the Hebrew bible.  He came as the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope.” 

--Stanley Grenz

 

MW definition of Hope:  To Cherish a desire with anticipation, to want something to happen or be true.

 

Nimrod built Babel.  Nebuchadnezzar built Babylon.  The Antichrist will build the final Babylon.  But God is doing something greater.  Something eternal.  Something that will not be destroyed by anything or anyone.

 

God isn’t building a physical kingdom –yet.  Rather God is sending Himself as Jesus through the family of His very creation—Humanity itself. 

 

“These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.  Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.”

--Genesis 11:10, 26

 

Abram is important.  He is called by God to be the father of His people, the Israelites. 

 

 

“’And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great;
And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse.  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’”

--Genesis 12:2-3

 

It is through Abram, Abraham where God will give His sign of hope for His people and for humanity.  A sign of salvation.  A sign of relationship.  Jesus brings hope. 

 

 

 “Then the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying,  ‘Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.’  But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!’  Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?  Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

--Isaiah 7:10-14

 

Who is this sign?  Scripture makes it very clear.  Luke 3 puts Jesus in this lineage.  Dating from Joseph and Mary, to David, to Jacob, to Isaac, to Abraham, to Terah, to Nahor, to Serug, to Reu, to Peleg, to Heber, to Shelah, to Cainan, to Arphatad, to Shem, to Noah, to Lamech, to Methuselah, to Enoch, to Jared, to Mahalaleel, to Cainan, to Enosh, to Seth, to Adam (Luke 3). 

 

His name is Jesus—He is the promised sign from the Old Testament.  The messiah to live a perfect life, to die a nasty death and to be raised from the dead to give Hope to this sinful, evil, depraved and dark world.

 

3. All hope and pleasure in this world is temporary. The hope of Christ is eternal, miraculous and proof that God loves His family.

 

 

 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.  He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.  For everyone who does evil hates the Light and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.  But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

--John 3:16-21

 

“If you love me you will keep my commandments.”

--John 14:16 (13-16)

 

 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

--Revelation 22:16

 

“How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north.”

--Isaiah 14:12

 

 “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!”

--Galatians 1:6-9

 

 

Who are you looking at?  What sign are you prioritizing in your life? The sign of Christ will bring true hope

 

--Chip and Joanne Gaines, same sex couple on T.V. Show

--Steve Lawson, wonderful preacher, had emotional and physical affair with 26 year for 5 years, he is 73 years old.

--Ravi Zacharias, amazing Christian apologist, sex trafficking ring exposed after his death.

 

Worldly leaders will fail you.  Politicians will fail you.  Nations will fail you.  The lusts and pleasures of this world will fail you.  Christ will never fail you. 

 

Look towards the Hope of Christ.  Embrace His love, accept the salvation He is offering you, live a life of daily repentance, daily submission to Him—Christ is your Morningstar, not me, not Shellbrook Pentecostal Assembly and not your favourite online preacher, podcast or book.  You have the truest story of salvation sitting right in front of you—envelope your life around God’s word, around the Holy Spirit and God Himself.