1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. ~ Genesis 10:1-5
Today, we transition into Genesis 10 which is often referred to as the table of nations. Sadly, this chapter is often passed over without any in-depth study or thought. But it’s been placed in the Bible by God and therefore it will always render blessing from Him. As we see in this chapter, 70 nations came from Noah's three sons. Out of Shem came 26 nations. Out of Ham came 30 nations. And out of Japheth came 14 nations.
In v.1 of today's passage we read, "Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood."
This is the fourth genealogy in the Bible. So far we have seen the generations of the heavens and the earth in Genesis 2; the generations of Adam in Genesis 5; the generations of Noah in Genesis 6; and now we come to the genealogies of the sons of Noah. As you know, Noah means "rest" and he had three sons. From these three sons of Noah, the world divided into seventy nations. This passage, therefore then, is the table of the nations.
Previously Noah’s blessing to Shem was, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant." Rather than directly blessing Shem, Noah said, "blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem." This blessing was spiritual in nature. And the line of Shem since then has been the main spiritual line of man, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Regardless of the validity of the religion, the spiritual nature of the people has continued for over 4000 years.
Amazingly, the three sons of Noah were represented at the cross of the Lord Jesus. The sons of Shem sold Him, they tried Him, they convicted Him, and they handed Him over to the Romans to be crucified. Ham was represented by Simon of Cyrene who acted as the servant, just as Noah prophesied, when he carried the crossbeam for the Lord Jesus to the Place of the Skull where He would be crucified. The sons of Japheth were given the executive responsibility for what occurred when Pilate tried Him and the Roman soldiers actually pierced His body with the nails and the spear.
In v.2-5 of today's passage we read, "2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations."
The lineage of Japheth was given first here because he was the firstborn of Noah and possibly also because his lineage was the furthest removed geographically from the Israelites. In this account, fifteen names are mentioned including Japheth, the seven sons of Japheth, and seven grandsons. This son's part of the overall genealogy is the shortest of the three.
Interestingly, some of the descendants of Jephthah are mentioned in Ezekiel 38 and even in the book of Revelation as people who will come against Israel during the Tribulation in the future. These sons of Japheth became the coastland peoples of the Gentiles. Because of this, they more easily branched out around the world than Noah’s other sons. From the coastlines, they became the great sea-going adventurers of the world.
The descendants of Japheth are also known as the Aryans who split into two main groups. One group settled in Europe and the other in India. These groups, although varying widely in skin tone, are of the same origin. The descendants of Japheth have always been at the forefront of scientific understanding, rivaled only by the sons of Shem. History is replete with names like Newton, Pasteur, Galileo, Kepler, Copernicus, and Faraday.
Japheth's first son was Gomer from who we get our English word Gaul, or Gallic. These are the people, interestingly enough, to whom the New Testament Epistle to the Galatians was written. They migrated to the north and settled in Spain, France and in Britain. From these come most of the early families of Western Europe and, consequently, of the Americas as well.
The oldest son of Gomer was Ashkenaz. He and his descendants first settled around the Black Sea and then moved north into Scandinavia. Another of the sons of Gomer was Riphath who located in Central Europe. Another son was Togarmah who was the ancestor of the present-day Turks and Armenians, who also migrated northward into Southern Germany. The word, Germany comes from Togarmah. Once we remove the first syllable we are left with the basic root word for Germany.
Two others of the sons of Japheth were Madai and Javan. While the Medes/Persians came Madai, Javan is the ancestor of the Greeks. His name, Javan, is still found in Greece in the form of Ionia. The Ionic Sea and Ionian Peninsula all derive their names from Javan. His sons were Elishah and Tarshish, whom most scholars associate with Spain. Then there was Kittim who settled in Cyprus; and Dodanim, who settled around the Black Sea.
In Psalm 120 we read of dwelling in the tents of Meshech. Meshech was a son of Japheth and it is from his name that we get the name Moscow. We also see in Psalm 120 the name Kedar who was a son of Ishmael and therefore a son of Shem. For 2000 years, the Jewish people were exiled around the world and dwelt in the tents of foreigners, but now God has restored them to their homeland. In His sovereign way, He has faithfully protected and returned His unfaithful people and He will continue to do so as the world comes against them during the great Tribulation.
All of this underscores the faithfulness and the sovereignty of the God of the Bible. He has never rendered a wrong decision, experienced the wrong attitude, taken the wrong path, said the wrong thing, or acted in the wrong way. He has always been and always will be right. He is righteous. And he has complete sovereignty over all things. Needless to say, we can trust Him with every fiber of our being. Even the unwanted moments of our lives have great significance and will render great blessing as we doggedly continue in our pursuit and in our trust of Him.
