Recap
- After the flood we have seen sin reintroduced into the world. The fall recurs again with the exposing of nakedness by Ham.
- Shem and Japeth, by covering Noah, act as God did when He covered Adam and Eve with animal skins.
- The judgment issued by Noah curses the seed of Ham in a similar manner as the serpent was cursed in Genesis 3.
- The God of Shem is blessed indicating that the descendants of Shem will be those who identify with name of God. Remember that Shem means name.
- Again this is reminiscent of Genesis 3 where we had the seed of the woman identified with the people of God and the seed of the serpent identified with opposition to God.
- However, a third group, the descendants of Japeth are described. These people will eventually be incorporated as God’s people. Isaiah uses language reminiscent of the passage in Genesis 9 to identify these people as the Gentiles.
Tower of Babel
Q. What are your thoughts or questions on the tower of Babel?
Q. What is the motivation for building the tower of Babel?
- They want to make a name for themselves.
- Name is a motif that recurs throughout Genesis 1-11. By naming the animals, Adam exercises the authority over the animals given to him by God. Adam demonstrates his faith in God’s promise by naming his wife Eve or life. The descendants of Seth begin to call upon the name of YHWH at the end of chapter 4. The children of the union of the sons of god and daughters of men are the conquering warriors who are described as men of the name. Shem means name and his family is identified with God.
Q. Assuming that the repetition of the word name is important, what conclusions are we supposed to draw from it?
- Humanity either seeks to glorify its own name or God’s name.
- Glorifying its own name, without reference to God, is acting autonomously and is a repetition of Eve’s decision to decide for herself if it was appropriate to eat the forbidden fruit.
- The root of all sin is the desire to act apart from God. That is why Proverbs starts off by stating “The beginning of wisdom is fear of YHWH.” and “Trust in YHWH and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.”
- Notice humanity was instructed to be fruitful and multiply and have dominion over the whole earth. Instead the men of Shinar come together in one place specifically so they
are not dispersed over the whole earth. These people are acting in rebellion to God and His commands. Once again we see more evidence of autonomy.
- The men of Shinar hope to reach heaven by their own construction. The texts mocks this by specifically mentioned that God had to come down to investigate the structure.
- The result of God’s judgment is that man is dispersed over the face of the earth. The point is that God’s purposes for man will be accomplished.
Patterns
- There are many patterns apparent in the first 11 chapters of Genesis. The text alternates back and forth from the city of God to the city of man.
- We start with garden, we then follow Cain and his descendants. We jump back to the line of Seth, then we move to the sons of god and daughters of men. Next we have the story of Noah, then we have the table of Nations and the tower of Babel. So after the tower of Babel we would expect a return to the city of God. That is what we get with the genealogy of Shem ending with Abram.
- At critical junctures the text resorts to poetry. In the garden the creation of man and woman is expressed as a poem. Adam’s introduction to Eve is expressed in a poem. After the fall, God’s judgment is in the form of poetry. Lamech’s drunken boast illustrating the rebellion inherent in the city of man is expressed as poetry. Noah uses poetry in his judgment on his three sons.
- My point is that this section of Genesis is highly structured and written with care.
- There is another pattern that recurs. Sin, judgment, and grace. For example, Adam & Eve sin at the fall and God issues judgment. However, they are also given the promise of the seed. Cain kills his brother and is exiled as a fugitive, but he is given divine protection. Mankind becomes evil and is judged by the flood, but given the promise associated with the rainbow.
- As we close this section we have the sin of the tower of Babel and we have God’s judgment, but what we have missing is God’s grace. The narrative is incomplete and we are left wondering if God has changed His purpose.
- However, we are then introduced to the genealogy of Seth concluding with Abram and so the text hints that something new is happening and that God’s grace will be found in this person Abram.
Abram’s Biography
- Abram is from the land of Haran. So most likely he was an Aramean which was a nomadic people from what is now Syria.
- Abram is living in Ur a Sumerian city in the southern part of present day Iraq near present day Basra.
- It was not unusual for an Aramean to be in Ur. It was a cosmopolitan city at this time and the dominant city of the reason.
- Mesopotamia had been united in the 24th century B.C. when Sargon of Akkad had conquered all the city states of the Tigris and Euphrates and united them into the Akkadian empire.
- Sargon’s children were not as adept as he was at running an empire and during the reign of his grandson the Akkadian empire was destroyed by a tribe from the Zagros mountains called the Guttians.
- Amidst the collapse of the Akkadian empire, the city of Ur rose and became prosperous. It never tried to unite Mesopotamia the way it had been under Sargon, but it was the dominant city in the region.
- At the time of Abram, the King of Ur, Ur Nammu, built a ziggurat in honor of the god Nanna. Nanna was the local god of the city of Ur and a moon deity.
- So everyday when Abram went outside he was confronted with the beautiful ziggurat which must have been one of the greatest achievements of man in the world. The rationale behind a ziggurat is to reach heaven. A ziggurat is another embodiment of the theology of the builders of the tower of Babel.
Q. Was Abram a worshipper of YHWH?
- In the book of Joshua we are told that Abram was a pagan. Joshua 24:2
- The names of Abram’s family all point to moon worship. Sarratu means queen and was the wife of the moon god Nammu. Malkultu was the daughter of the moon god. Terah is the Hebrew word for moon.
Call of Abram
Abram is promised 3 things:
1. Great nation
2. Great name
3. Bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you
- Earlier we noted that the two things humanity lost in the fall were security and significance.
- Throughout Genesis, the city of man has been attempting to gain back security and significance. Cain builds a city, Lamech’s violence and the violence of the sons of god are all attempts at security and significance.
- The author of Genesis places this story right next to the tower of Babel to highlight that Abram is promised everything the men of Shinar were trying to accomplish by building the tower.
- The point is that security and significance can only come from the Lord and is not the results of humanity’s autonomous effort.
- Abram is promised land and seed which seems to be a restatement of the command throughout Genesis 1-11 for humanity to be fruitful and multiply and to subdue and have dominion over the earth.
- In Genesis 1-11 the word curse is used 5 times - the serpent is cursed, the ground is cursed, Cain is cursed, Noah is named as a possible answer for the curse, and Canaan is cursed, in the call of Abram the word bless is used 5 times.
- God is going to bless Abram in order to restore the devastation and broken relationships brought about by the fall and worked out in the first 11 chapters of Genesis.
- Abram is a major turning point. The first 11 chapters cover a huge time period - tens of thousands of years. The next 24 chapters will cover 20 years.
Q. What is the difference between how land and seed is stated to Abram and how it has been used earlier?
- It is given to Abram in the form of a promise not a command.
Q. What is the purpose of the blessing on Abram?
- Abram is blessed specifically so he would be a blessing to others. The promise to Abram does not end with Abram. Abram is meant to be the vehicle through which God’s blessing would be extended to all the families of the earth.
Q. Can you connect this point to anything we have studied earlier?
- Noah says blessed be the God of Shem and then promises that Japeth would be enlarged and dwell in the tents of Shem.
- By establishing that Abram is descendent of Shem, we see this prophecy begin fulfillment through the blessing of God on Abram who will take that blessing to the descendants of Japeth.
- Remember last week we looked at Isaiah who takes this prophecy and runs with it. The idea is that at some point worship of YHWH will no longer be limited to Israel. A time is coming when there will a new Exodus and the nations will stream to Jerusalem. This new Exodus would be accomplished through a figure that Isaiah calls the servant:
Isaiah 49:6 “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
- Other prophets will elaborate on Isaiah’s vision, for example Zechariah
Zechariah 8:22-23 “Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”
- This prophecy begins its fulfillment at Pentecost. Noah’s prophecy in Genesis 9 leads to a listing of the descendants of Ham, Shem, and Japeth in Genesis 10 which leads to the story of the Tower of Babel where human language is confused.
- Luke describes the events of Pentecost with rushing winds, the appearance of fire, and the speaking of tongues. After noting the amazement of the people that they could understand the words of the apostles in their own language, Luke gives a list of the different nations represented at Pentecost and then Peter preaches a sermon the central point is that the last days described by the prophets have arrived as a result of Jesus Christ and this promise of salvation is “for you and your children and for all who are far off everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”
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