Genesis 10

         This chapter is the second official genealogy of the Bible. Once again, it’s significant to note here that the entire human race – black, white, red, yellow, and every skin shade in between – descended from Noah, his wife, Shem, Ham, Japheth and their wives. There is only one race: the human race. (Acts 17:26) God does not see skin color. All human blood is red. Nowhere in scripture is there a command for us to only marry within our same skin color. Nor is there any credible basis for any other form of racism anywhere in the Bible. Once again, it is Satan that has put man’s focus on skin color in an effort to twist and pervert doctrine and the truth of God’s word. God made it clear here in chapter 10 that ALL of mankind descended from the three sons of Noah.
 
         Verse 2: The sons of Japheth, one of whom is Magog. That name is also found in 1 Chronicles 1:5, as well as in Ezekiel 38:2, 39:6, and Revelation 20:8. That last reference is the great, final battle between good and evil, after the millennial reign of Christ, when Satan is loosed upon the earth for one last time. We, the redeemed, will fight alongside Jesus as He obliterates the armies of Gog and Magog, and then casts Satan into hell once and for all. It’s interesting to see that the name of Magog is found in both the first and last books of the Bible. God is a God of precise order and even the smallest details such as a proper name are never placed at random in scripture. They are listed where they are for a specific reason.
 
         Verse 5 is a foreshadowing of the more detailed events of chapter 11.
 
            Verse 6: the sons of Ham, two of which are notable because of their descendants: Cush and Canaan. Cush is later referenced in 1 Chronicles 1:8-10 and Isaiah 11:11.
 
        Verses 8-12: Notice the descendants of Cush. Some of the names in this branch of the genealogy should be familiar to us from later books in the OT. Sheba (Genesis 25:3, 1 Kings 10:1-13, Ezekiel 27:23), Shinar (Genesis 11:2, 14:1, 9, Isaiah 11:11, Daniel 1:2, Zechariah 5:11); Asshur, the second son of Shem, whose descendants would form the Assyrian Empire and whom God would use to judge and punish Israel for its disobedience (Numbers 24:22, 24, 1 Chronicles 1:17, Ezekiel 27:23, 32:22, Hosea 14:3); Babel, the root word of “Babylon” which is a well-known name and place throughout the Bible, a synonym of all that is sinful, wicked, and rebellious against God (Genesis 11:9; all the cross references of the verses in scripture that contain the word “Babylon” are too numerous to list here); Nineveh (2 Kings 19:36, Isaiah 37:37, Jonah 1:2, 3:2-7, 4:11, Nahum 1:1, 2:8, 3:7, Zephaniah 2:13, Matthew 12:41); and, finally, Nimrod, who is described in verses 8 and 9 as “…a mighty one in the earth…” and “…a mighty hunter before the Lord…” Verse 10 goes on to say that “…the beginning of his kingdom was Babel…in the land of Shinar…” The events of the Tower of Babel are described in chapter 11.
 
     Verses 13-14: the descendants of Mizraim included the Philistines (v.14, 1 Chronicles 1:12).
 
          Verse 19: the descendants of Canaan settled in and populated the region that later included the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. This verse is the first mention in the Bible of these twin cities, and we well know from Genesis 13-19 that the men of these cities practiced homosexuality and pedophilia. (Genesis 19:4-5) The fact that this verse specifically mentions these two cities in connection with Canaan, the son of Ham, is further proof that something sexual must have occurred between Canaan and his grandfather, Noah, in the previous chapter.
 
          Verse 22: doctrinal footnote from my study Bible: “Shem was the forefather of the Semitic peoples, including the Hebrews, who descended from this son of Noah. He was one of eight people who survived the Flood. His progeny has been generally identified as Persia, Assyria, Chaldea, Lydia and Syria – most of whom shared various Semitic dialects. Shem is listed in Luke 3:36 as one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ.”
 
        Verses 25 and 32 are another reference to the division and dispersion of the peoples of the earth by God at the Tower of Babel.