Slices
Prepare
Reflect on the hymn lyric: ‘Thou dost all nations rule, / And their affairs control; / Thy power extends o’er all the earth, / Thy love from pole to pole’ (Anon).
Bible passage
The table of nations
10 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.
The Japhethites
2 The sons of Japheth:
Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.
3 The sons of Gomer:
Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.
4 The sons of Javan:
Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. 5 (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)
The Hamites
6 The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
7 The sons of Cush:
Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.
The sons of Raamah:
Sheba and Dedan.
8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, ‘Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.’ 10 The first centres of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah – which is the great city.
13 Egypt was the father of
the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.
15 Canaan was the father of
Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.
Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon towards Gerar as far as Gaza, and then towards Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.
20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
The Semites
21 Sons were also born to Shem, whose elder brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
22 The sons of Shem:
Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.
23 The sons of Aram:
Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.
24 Arphaxad was the father of Shelah,
and Shelah the father of Eber.
25 Two sons were born to Eber:
One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.
26 Joktan was the father of
Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.
30 The region where they lived stretched from Mesha towards Sephar, in the eastern hill country.
31 These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.
32 These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.
Explore
Genesis 1–11 takes a wide-angle view of humanity, repeatedly emphasising that all people are God’s image-bearers, created and blessed by God (1:26–28; 5:1,2; 9:6,7). After the flood, God bound himself by a covenant with Noah and his ‘descendants’ for ‘all generations to come’ (9:8–12). It is these ‘descendants’ of Noah who are named in Genesis 10 – nations or their founders, including some familiar names: Babylon, Assyria, Egypt, Canaan, Sodom and Gomorrah (vs 10,11,13,15,19).
In Genesis 12, the camera zooms in on Abraham, Israel’s founding father, who comes from the line of Shem (10:31; 11:10–26). Although in most of the Old Testament the camera remains trained on Israel, God’s choice of this one nation never excludes other nations, even though these nations frequently opposed both God and Israel. God’s promise to Abraham was not just to make Israel ‘a great nation’; rather, his purpose is as wide as the world: ‘all peoples on earth will be blessed through you’ (Genesis 12:2,3).
Genesis 10 – sometimes called the ‘Table of Nations’ – lists 70 nations, and Jesus’ sending out of the 70 (or 72) probably symbolised the good news going to all nations (Luke 10:1). As Christ-followers, we are also commissioned by Jesus to ‘make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28:19).
Respond
Make this your prayer for our world: ‘Let Your glory fall in this room / Let it go forth from here to the nations.’*
*David Ruis, Mercy/Vineyard Publishing (ASCAP), © 1992
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Genesis 24,25; Acts 9
Pray for Scripture Union
Pray for the ongoing development of SU’s resources for Easter this year. Pray that each member of the team involved in the process will know their value and worth and will have insight and creativity as they work on content.
Mission Support Training
Looking for fresh ideas that can help you in your outreach to children and young people?
Throughout the year we’re offering Mission Support Training, sessions that are packed with innovative ideas and inspiration, for your work with the 95.
Join us next week as we unpack ways that you can explore sharing the message of Easter with children and young people in your context.