Genesis 10, verses 1 to 5, Gomer and Magog

 

Genesis 10:1 ¶  Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood. 2  The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. 3  And the sons of Gomer; Ashkenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah. 4  And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5  By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations.

And he died closed the last chapter and Noah’s life as it did the pre-Flood fathers. See chapter 5 of Genesis for a number of times this phrase is used. So shall we all if the Lord tarries.

Nineteenth century thought held that Gomer was the ancestor of the Celtic tribes of Europe while some did say he became the Germanic tribes but they will move to Europe after Babel. An Icelandic writer claimed that the gods of the Norse came to them from Asia Minor. Ezekiel’s prophecy in chapter 38 shows why God raised up the European, why he is enlarged, to one day turn against Israel and be destroyed in God’s judgment. All of their civilization, learning, arts, organization, and ability to unite and conquer in history leads to it. What has saved America as a nation is not its existence as a Christnation or a Redeemer-nation for the world, ridiculous ideas of our forebears, but that it has treated the Jews well and honored God, at least on the surface with our lips. As that changes so will judgment come on this country and is coming now. If there even is a United States of America at the end it will not be a significant player except, perhaps, as one of the nations being judged by God. It is not the Promised Land as our forebears often said and it is not God’s special envoy to bring Christ to the world. Even our conservative Christians hardly know Christ except as an idea. They certainly don’t believe Him or believe they even have His words. America is a wicked nation, a Babylon, so much the more so because we claim to be something else. The right wing worships the Constitution as originally written and a Christ they invented that is not of the Bible as an excuse for selfishness and greed while the left worships its own intellect and desires and revels in its moral bankruptcy; its murders and extortions.

Ezekiel 38:6  Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee.

Read Matthew 25, starting in 31. Understand that nations in the Bible are ethnic groups, peoples, not nation-states as in the last few hundred years where many ethnic groups are bound together by force or even voluntary agreement behind imaginary lines drawn on a map.

See in the following that Abraham’s physical descendants through Isaac, referring specifically to the Jews who dwell in many countries or nation-states or kingdoms, are to be a great nation or people.

 

Genesis 12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

 

Exodus 19:6  And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

 

See that Abraham’s descendants through Ishmael who live in many countries or kingdoms will also be a great nation or people.

 

Genesis 17:20  And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation.

 

Spiritually, when Peter was speaking to the predominantly Jewish early church he brought this idea up again of the Jews, now those who believed on Christ, being a separated unto God, an holy nation.

 

1Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

 

The places and people’s whose modern names we give to Gomer and his children are often matters of pure speculation but they are European tribes, although in the beginning, like Ham and Shem’s children, most likely dark skinned, dark haired, and brown eyed.

Psalm 118 comments

 

Psalm 118:1 ¶  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever. 2  Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 3  Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 4  Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 5  I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place. 6  The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7  The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. 8  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9  It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. 10  All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them. 11  They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 12  They compassed me about like bees; they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them. 13  Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me. 14  The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation. 15  The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 16  The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly. 17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD. 18  The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.

 

The sentiment of verse one is commonplace in the Psalms.

 

Psalm 103:17  But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;

 

Psalm 106:1 ¶  Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

Psalm 107:1 ¶  O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

Psalm 136:1 ¶  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

I particularly believe this is applicable to Christians and believe that our salvation is settled and final and we will have eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul makes it clear that you cannot be saved twice and if you could lose your salvation you could never be saved again.

 

Hebrews 6:4  For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

 

The Psalmist calls upon the Aaronic priesthood to praise God and to all those who fear God to praise Him, which would apply to all of us.

 

Verse 5 is one of those verses that speak to me regarding something Jesus promised His followers. From my comments on the Gospel According to John see this;

 

John 14:1 ¶  Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If you believe that God is preparing an eighteen room majestic home to occupy in your resurrected body I will not argue with you. I’m just going to give you the literal interpretation and you can do with it what you will. According to the Early Modern English database at http://leme.library.utoronto.ca/menu/menuSearch.cfm the word mansion at one time meant a dwelling place, a house, or even a large, luxurious apartment in a mansion house. Look at some of the cross references to verse 2.

2Corinthians 5:1 ¶  For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

In God’s house, the verse says, there are many mansions. My concern is that we are telling people in our excitement about Heaven and in their unwillingness to read the Bible that we are all going to have our own version of Buckingham Palace. Wouldn’t it be more likely, based on the construction of the sentence, that we will all have our own wonderful, dwelling place in God’s house rather than our own castle next to the golf course?

Psalm 18:19  He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.

Psalm 31:8  And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

Psalm 118:5  I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.

Historical evidence teaches us that, and I quote Michael L. Satlow’s book entitled, Jewish Marriage in Antiquity, the bride would be brought to the huppah, a private place prepared by the groom in his father’s house, where the marriage was consummated.( So, Jesus preparing a magnificent room in His Father’s house for His bride has parallels in Jewish customs of the time. There is a lot of interesting information, if you are willing to search it out, about those customs but be careful of copying anyone who doesn’t, at least, provide you with the sources of his statements.

Here, Jesus promises to His followers that He is going to prepare a place in His Father’s house and will return to take them there. This is an amazing promise apparently in keeping with Jewish custom and tradition for marriage. When Jesus ascended into heaven;

Acts 1:9  And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.

He went to prepare a place for His church, His bride.

2Corinthians 11:2  For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

He will return to take His bride to His Father’s house.

1Thessalonians 4:16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Where there will be a feast, a marriage supper, and great rejoicing.

Revelation 19:9  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.

We await this greatest of all events in our lives.

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

(21) Michael L. Satlow, Jewish Marriage in Antiquity (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2001), 172.

Verse 6 tells us not to be afraid of man, or what mankind will do.

 

Matthew 10:28  And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 

The Lord is on our side and will avenge us. We should not put our confidence in political leaders or mankind in general.

 

The Psalmist is confident that all of the nations that surround him shall be destroyed. Does that not put in remembrance of a prophesy about the end of the millennial reign of Christ and what He does to those who have come up against Him?

 

Revelation 20:7  And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8  And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

9  And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

 

2Thessalonians 2:8  And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

 

For our sake, beyond the immediate context of David’s triumphs, the promise here is that God will deliver His people against all of the spiritual forces that rise against them. Yes, even the judgments of Hell itself shall not prevail against God’s people.

 

Matthew 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

In Genesis, Lot sat in the gate indicating that he had become a judge in Sodom to judge disputes and help manage the city’s affairs. Sitting in the gate as a position of judgment is defined in the Bible. It was a place to meet with the elders of a city.

Deuteronomy 21:19  Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

It was a place of the king’s authority.

2Samuel 15:2  And Absalom rose up early, and stood beside the way of the gate: and it was so, that when any man that had a controversy came to the king for judgment, then Absalom called unto him, and said, Of what city art thou? And he said, Thy servant is of one of the tribes of Israel.

2Samuel 19:8  Then the king arose, and sat in the gate. And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the gate. And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent.

1Kings 22:10  And the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah sat each on his throne, having put on their robes, in a void place in the entrance of the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets prophesied before them.

The mention of the gate is equivalent to the deciding of judgment.

Amos 5:15  Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph.

The gates of hell then is a reference to the judgments of Hell not some huge set of physical doors.

 

For verse 18 God might permit us to suffer in this life but our eternal destiny is secure.

 

Psalm 118:19 ¶  Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD: 20  This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter. 21  I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 22  The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner. 23  This is the LORD’S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes. 24  This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 25  Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 28  Thou art my God, and I will praise

thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

John Gill reported that verse 19 was a literal reference to the doors of the sanctuary or tabernacle.

 

Psalm 100:4  Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

 

Isaiah 26:2  Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.

 

See how the Psalmist declares that God has become his salvation? Christ is our salvation when we believe Him and trust in His righteousness and not our own for eternal salvation.

 

Verses 22 and 23 are quoted by Christ Himself.

 

Matthew 21:42  Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?

 

He is the chief cornerstone of our faith, on which it rests.

 

Ephesians 2:19  Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20  And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21  In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22  In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

 

Verse 24 is a great memory verse and is quoted often by preachers. It is one we can say with rejoicing in the Lord’s mercy and in the bountiful life He freely gives to all men and women, whether they are His or not. But can it not also be a reference to the day of salvation, our translation and His return to rule?

 

Psalm 130:6  My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

 

1Thessalonians 5:2  For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night…4  But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

 

2Peter 3:10  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

 

I would pray this Psalm back to God, offering up our praises to the one who created us, sustains, and preserves us. Let me repeat it in closing.

 

25  Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. 26  Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD. 27  God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar. 28  Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee. 29  O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.

 

Revelation 12:4,5, part 2, Satan's desire to subvert Christ's mission

 

The evidence we have in the Bible shows the sons of God, whose visible representatives are called angels, like any visible representative of God, man on earth, or even a church, is called an angel, which we have already discussed as having in part succumbed to Satan’s pride and temptation.

The question is, do these verses following have to do with this mention in Revelation, chapter 12? Or is 12 referring to a future event?

Genesis 6:1 ¶  And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2  That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

3 ¶  And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

4 ¶  There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. 5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Jude 1:6  And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.

In any event, Satan knew Christ was coming, and wanted to kill Him, but did not know when.

Genesis 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Jeremiah 31:22  How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding daughter? for the LORD hath created a new thing in the earth, A woman shall compass a man.

This gives us a spiritual reason why Israel was so deceived and spiritually buffeted about as Satan did everything in his power to destroy them both physically and spiritually. We must remember, though, that Satan could go no further than God allowed. We have that certainty from reading the book of Job. It also explains why he tested and tempted Christ to try to have Him seek a crown before a cross, thus trying to overthrow God’s plan.

Luke 4:1 ¶  And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, 2  Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered. 3  And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. 4  And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. 5  And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6  And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. 7  If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine. 8  And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 9  And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10  For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: 11  And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 12  And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 13  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

Genesis 9, verses 18-29, part 3, a curse on Canaan

 

So, why Canaan? We don’t see in the text that Canaan had anything to do with his father’s disrespect of his grandfather. Saying something, “must be so,” that is not in the text is not much of an argument. And why would Canaan be cursed for things remote descendants many generations in the future would do? I see this curse as a prophesy. The descendants of disrespectful Ham hundreds of years from now in the land that the descendants of his son, Canaan, will inhabit, will be a stench in God’s nostrils and thorn in the side of the Jews who are given their land by God.

Noah didn’t curse Canaan. He stated a prophetic fact that Ham’s descendants through Canaan would be a cursed people and be the servant of Shem’s descendants, one strain of which would become the Jews.

There was a myth fostered and promoted as a justification for racial slavery in the United States, although it had a small number of voices before, that Ham was the father of the black, African races, thereby making the supposed curse on Canaan really a curse on Ham and all of his descendants. This myth gained ascendancy in Antebellum America and is still popular among racist preachers and congregations. The most exhaustive study of this myth I have read is by Stephen Haynes, a professor of Religious Studies at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.[1]

While a literal view of this passage reveals that Canaan was said to be cursed, a condition we will see was literally played out as proved in the Bible narrative, we will also soon see that Ham was not just the ancestor of African populations. In fact, let’s make something clear. The idea that Noah walked off the Ark with three sons; one of whom was a white guy, one a black guy, and one an Asian guy is so patently absurd that it can only be dismissed as the raving of a lunatic who has an agenda. Mankind would have been brownish with dark hair and eyes at this time, with some variation possible which foundations were already in the genetic code God had placed in man and God operated with each cell division and each generation. Race, a social construct, that has little bearing in physical reality, based more on politics, geography, and culture, will come about later, over time. Some geneticists estimate that the classic white skinned, blue eyed Caucasian came about between 5 and 6,000 years ago as, in their elongated time frame based on their dating methods, early Europeans were dark-skinned, brown-eyed, and dark-haired. There are a number of genetic studies confirming this belief of the modern geneticist. Unfortunately, we are still using classifications from the racist 19^th century that alternately render black people between being, as a group, naturally villains or fools, and impulsive victims of their own biology. Such nonsense should not be honored in a Christian church.

Galatians 3:28  There is neither Jew nor Greek [grades of ethnicity or race], there is neither bond nor free [grades of social class], there is neither male nor female [grades of gender] : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:11  Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

            The idea of white as a race is a relatively new thing. In 1619 when the first black slaves were dumped off at Jamestown by a Dutch ship there were no white people there. Or at least they didn’t regard themselves as particularly white. They viewed themselves as English or some other cultural tag. The process of making white a characteristic of the ruling class and black the permanent peasant, serf, slave class happened gradually as the English molded the way they treated the Irish, the poor, indentured servants, etc. into an effective economic system and a method of social control. American slavery came about as a process and regarding Africans as an inferior race cursed from ancient times also came about over time as one part of its justification drawing on a few scattered commentaries from late antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Noah lived for several centuries after the Flood to see several noteworthy events, perhaps to his further shame.

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[1] Stephen R. Haynes, Noah’s Curse: The Biblical Justification of American Slavery (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002).

 

Revelation 12, verses 4 and 5, a third part of the stars of heaven

 

Revelation 12:4  And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. 5  And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

Satan led the third part of the stars of heaven, which we have established as angels, and they were cast to earth. This is perhaps history and whether or not it is worthy of discussion. Evidence shows us that Satan’s rebellion began a long time ago.

Several times in Revelation, as through the rest of the Bible, there is mention of a third of something. We have already seen in Genesis how the Bible can equate the number of stars in the universe with grains of sand on the sea to denote a huge uncountable number. So, a third seems to represent, not an exact number, but a significant minority. While the number three is often associated with the trinity of God the Father, Christ the Word, and the Holy Ghost it also, as with a third, can represent God’s sovereignty and absolute power over every event, most notably in many cases of prophecy judgment itself.

From Noah’s three sons to Mary staying with Elizabeth for three months to a third part in Revelation we see three and a third closely linked to God’s plan, to what He has ordained. There are patterns of three in the Bible, for instance Hosea 2:22. While commentators have their own opinions of why three is so prominent my view is that it is linked throughout as a symbol of God’s sovereignty and of His involvement in the details. When we see three or a third we should then think of the sovereignty of God. One commentator I read said that three in the Bible was God’s fingerprint leaving no doubt or confusion about who was in charge.

As the Holy Ghost gave inspiration to the writers of the Old Testament they wove a description of Satan into their descriptions of human kings and even beasts. Here, Ezekiel starts out and ends up talking about the king of Tyre, who was the very powerful ruler of that city and Phoenicia, whose merchant navy traveled the world, including rounding Africa, working tin mines in Cornwall in England, and perhaps even reaching what are today called the Americas. But, in the description a key is given that could only apply to Satan.

Ezekiel 28:13  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. 14  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. 15  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

In addition, Satan, the adversary, also known as Lucifer, had his motivations exposed early on. In speaking to the king of Babylon, Isaiah gives us this;

Isaiah 14:12  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15  Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

 One would think that the reference in Isaiah can be linked to these verses in Revelation 12 and that at least some of these verses by virtue of Christ’s statement in Luke 10:18 are historical events of Christ’s time and the ascension of the Roman Empire around Christ’s birth.

Bible Study with Fred, Genesis 9, verses 18 to 29, part 2, the whole earth overspread

 

The entire earth was eventually settled by the offspring of these three sons. This is not hard to accept, even from the point of view of modern theoretical science. Scientists theorize that there may have been many, “severe population bottlenecks,” of human beings in the distant past based on their assumptions about evolution.[1] Of course, their conclusions are filled with speculations and interpretations based on an atheistic worldview in that they might think, “we don’t know for sure but it must be so because the alternative of the Bible being true is just too horrible for us to imagine.” The point is that here is the ultimate population bottleneck and there may have been others later until humanity got on its feet, so to speak.

Use a population growth calculator online and figure the growth rate where it was for the world in the early 1960s, at 2.2%, and if I am not mistaken you will find that within a thousand years there can be over 5 billion people, starting from just two.

It is possible that, based on the change in conditions, Noah would not have known that fermentation could take place and that he could get drunk. Or, perhaps the long voyage and time of struggle surviving and leading his little tribe after disembarking from the ark made him desperate to get roaring drunk as soon as it was possible to do so. Either way, that is what happened.

To see the nakedness of someone carries with it a very wicked implication.

Leviticus 20:17  And if a man shall take his sister, his father’s daughter, or his mother’s daughter, and see her nakedness, and she see his nakedness; it is a wicked thing; and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people: he hath uncovered his sister’s nakedness; he shall bear his iniquity.

But, let’s say, for argument sake, that this is not an idiom suggesting actual sexual contact with either Noah or Ham’s mother which it appears to be.

Leviticus 20:11  And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.

To keep from delving into aspects of this event that incite prurient interest in a reader or listener let’s say for argument sake that this event involved only vulgar disrespect and mocking. God had already blessed Noah and his sons in verse 1 of chapter 9. So, Noah cursed Ham’s son, Canaan, and this curse was fulfilled in Israel’s conquest of Canaan hundreds of years later. Noah blessed Shem and Japheth further, due to their respect and merciful deed toward him and their mother, one assumes, and prophesied that Canaan would be their servant, which proved very true as what is today called Palestine, where Canaan dwelt, became the victim of many conquests from Israel to the Persians to the Turks to the Crusaders and the Turks again to the British and French with many in between. Palestine, as it is referred to often today from the word Philistines and a Roman insult against the Jews, was an avenue of conquest between the warlike culture of Babylonia and Assyria to Egypt.

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[1]  John Hawks, Keith Hunley, Sang-Hee Lee, Milford Wolpoff, “Population Bottlenecks and Pleistocene Human Evolution,” Molecular Biology and Evolution, Volume 17, Issue 1, Pp. 2-22.

www.mbe.oxfordjournals.org/content/17/1/2.Full 

 

1Kings 18 comments

 

1Kings 18:1 ¶  And it came to pass after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, Go, shew thyself unto Ahab; and I will send rain upon the earth. 2  And Elijah went to shew himself unto Ahab. And there was a sore famine in Samaria. 3  And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly: 4  For it was so, when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the LORD, that Obadiah took an hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water.) 5  And Ahab said unto Obadiah, Go into the land, unto all fountains of water, and unto all brooks: peradventure we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that we lose not all the beasts. 6  So they divided the land between them to pass throughout it: Ahab went one way by himself, and Obadiah went another way by himself. 7  And as Obadiah was in the way, behold, Elijah met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said, Art thou that my lord Elijah? 8  And he answered him, I am: go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 9  And he said, What have I sinned, that thou wouldest deliver thy servant into the hand of Ahab, to slay me? 10  As the LORD thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when they said, He is not there; he took an oath of the kingdom and nation, that they found thee not. 11  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here. 12  And it shall come to pass, as soon as I am gone from thee, that the Spirit of the LORD shall carry thee whither I know not; and so when I come and tell Ahab, and he cannot find thee, he shall slay me: but I thy servant fear the LORD from my youth. 13  Was it not told my lord what I did when Jezebel slew the prophets of the LORD, how I hid an hundred men of the LORD’S prophets by fifty in a cave, and fed them with bread and water? 14  And now thou sayest, Go, tell thy lord, Behold, Elijah is here: and he shall slay me. 15  And Elijah said, As the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will surely shew myself unto him to day. 16  So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him: and Ahab went to meet Elijah.

Elias is Elijah transliterated from the Greek so please read this passage in James’ letter.

James 5:17  Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.18  And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.

The understanding the Jews had gives us a more detailed reference to the length of the drought God sent and Elijah prophesied. There is clearly a famine here spoken of as a consequence of not having rain for so long.

The wicked King Ahab sends the governor of his household, Obadiah, to scrounge up enough grass to feed his horses and mules lest all perish. Presumably this would involve seizing the needed food from the common man who would have no power against such a seizure although the text doesn’t tell us that. Just my extrapolation from the text and historical conditions.

Ahab and Obadiah split up and their parties search the land and Obadiah runs into Elijah. Obadiah doesn’t perceive this as a good thing when Elijah tells him to go tell Ahab he is there. Obadiah is pretty sure Elijah will be sent or transported somewhere else by the Spirit of God and since Ahab has probably killed others who failed to find Elijah he will kill Obadiah. Ahab is a wicked, wicked king. Elijah promises, though, that he will show himself to Ahab, thus sparing Obadiah’s probable execution. Obadiah is an honorable man who has saved God’s prophets from Jezebel’s cruel intentions.

 

 

1Kings 18:17 ¶  And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? 18  And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father’s house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim. 19  Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel’s table. 20  So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.

So Ahab confronts Elijah and blames him for the drought. Elijah throws it right back on Ahab for his and his family’s idolatry. Then, Elijah issues a challenge and Ahab complies. 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets who served the groves where pagan worship was held are called to Mount Carmel.

1Kings 18:21 ¶  And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 22  Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23  Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: 24  And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. 25  And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. 26  And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. 27  And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. 28  And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. 29  And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. 30  And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: 32  And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed. 33  And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood. 34  And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. 35  And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 36  And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. 37  Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. 38  Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39  And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. 40  And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.

Here in one of the most powerful scenes of God’s power intruding into the so-called natural world miraculously, it would seem, we have Elijah confronting the prophets of Baal, challenging them, defeating them by showing the power of the God he served, and then ordering their execution, mercilessly I might add. This is a war between God and pagan idolatry among His chosen people, the nation of Israel. God’s control over the “ natural world” is made apparent here and is certainly worthy of prayer and contemplation. Unlike the spiritual warfare that Christians fight the ancient Jewish prophets under the Law carried on a physical fight simultaneously with the spiritual forces of their day.

2Corinthians 10:3  For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4  (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5  Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;6  And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Beware of anyone who wants to declare a crusade against unbelievers and take up arms against them. This is not what we are called to do. You might do it for political or social reasons but don’t use God as an excuse to justify your homicidal fury. There are anti-Christian religio-political forces at odds with us in our country today but these must be met with opposition at the ballot box and in the courts, not by murder or civil war. Let it be said, though, when combatting evil, that you and God are an overwhelming majority when confronting any number of people steeped in false worship.

1Kings 18:41 ¶  And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 42  So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, 43  And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. 44  And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. 45  And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel. 46  And the hand of the LORD was on Elijah; and he girded up his loins, and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

After this massacre of the pagan prophets Elijah lets a probably shocked Ahab know that rain is coming. Here is an example of the power of the Spirit of God and how it can physically alter a person’s physical nature and capabilities. This could be one of those hints at what a resurrected body will be like in eternity.

Elijah outruns a chariot and horses. What about Samson’s great strength?

Judges 16:3  And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron.

What about Jesus appearing in a closed room after His resurrection?

John 20:26 ¶  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

Or Philip being transported miles away from where he stood with the Ethiopian eunuch?

Acts 8:39  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing. 40  But Philip was found at Azotus: and passing through he preached in all the cities, till he came to Caesarea.

I’m not saying I know something for sure here but just raising the question based on these Bible passages and others. Are these hints about what we will be able to do?