Family
Strife – The World in Turmoil – Part One
Over the past
months and weeks, and especially over the past days, the world has watched and
been in turmoil because of the warfare being waged in various geographic
areas. Russia against Ukraine. India against
Pakistan. United States against
Venezuela. And many others. Now most recently, the United States and
Israel have waged war against Iran in a battle that has affected the entire
Middle East Region and beyond. However,
these types of events should not come as a surprise to many Christians and others
who have studied the Bible.
The major
differences between now and in the past of man’s history can generally be
viewed in the degree and “sophistication” / technology of the weapons used to
kill other men. The combatants in war are generally not only neighbors but
also often related through family ties.
We have
learned from the Bible Scripture itself and our understanding of human behavior
that we should expect that these acts of violence between nations and peoples would
occur.. Our Lord Jesus Himself has
advised us of these times as He spoke with His Disciples near the end of His
Earthly Ministry. (Matthew Chapter 24)
In
retrospect, virtually all Bible students will agree that by longest extension
we are all related as the “family of mankind” through the first man
Adam. His sin against God, instigated by
the Enemy, opened the door for death and violence to enter the world. (Genesis
Chapter Three) That violence quickly
appeared as Cain, the elder son of Adam and Eve killed his brother Abel. (Genesis
Chapter Four)
Note that the
Enemy had only begun to incite such evil behavior and set man against man. Remember
the temptations that led to Adam’s fall through Eve…”lust of the flesh, lost
of the eyes and the pride of life” (Genesis Chapter Three; 1 John
2:16) The sin-nature of mankind inherited
from Adam has made us even today susceptible to failing to overcome these temptations.
Note also
that God had already given man the ability to “choose between good and evil /
right and wrong.” That one option / choice existed when the LORD God gave
everything in the Garden of Eden to Adam, with one exception. As we know, Adam
chose to disobey and follow that one exception that was promoted by the
Enemy. So that sole explanation of “having the option
to choose’ does not explain subsequent family violence. It is too simplistic.
As more
background for this discussion, consider what happened a thousand years later
in man’s history when the LORD flooded the Earth to destroy all mankind except
for one family,. He could no longer
tolerate mankind’s insatiable appetite for evil and violence. (Genesis 6:
1-7) That one family saved was led
by Noah, who had found grace in the eyes of God, and his three sons. (Genesis
6: 8) Noah and those sons: Shem,
Ham and Japheth, and their descendants are the second family that
laid the groundwork for the resumption of the evil behavior that the LORD
abhorred, and that we have seen manifest throughout history even until today.
Let’s look at
an excerpt from Genesis 9: 18-29 , showing how the
Scripture recorded the events that took place prior to Noah’s death, noting especially
the individual roles of the three sons:
“18 And the sons of Noah, that
went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is
the father of Canaan. 19 These
are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. (Emphasis added)
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman,
and he planted a vineyard:21 And he drank of the wine,
and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22 And Ham, the
father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his
two brethren without. 23 And
Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders,
and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces
were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and
knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25 And he said, Cursed
be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. (Emphasis added) [It
is important to note that Noah did not place his curse on his “younger son Ham”,
the offender. That is noteworthy because
the first verse in the chapter recorded that “God blessed Noah and his
sons…” Noah could not “curse”
what God had blessed, so he placed the curse on Ham’s son Canaan. As a result, this verse and the next verses
of Scripture become critical to our discussion related to family dynamics.
Canaan and his descendants were cursed
to be servants to the descendants of Shem and Japheth. That point is emphasized in the next verses:]
26 And he (Noah) said, Blessed be
the Lord God of Shem;
and Canaan shall be his servant. 27 God
shall enlarge Japheth,
and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be
his servant. (Emphasis added) [Note the blessings / advantages given to both
Japheth and Shem and their
descendants. As the elder / first-born son, Japheth was by custom
to inherit a double portion (disproportionate share) of the family wealth.
That in itself could lead to family jealousy
/ resentment through the three temptations noted above. But there is more to
consider.
As noted
in earlier posts, in Bible history first comes the ”natural”, then comes the
“spiritual”.(1 Corinthians 15: 45-48) The first-born “natural” are more prone to follow “fleshly”
desires than the “spiritual”. Consider the
examples of Cain and Abel; Ishmael and
Isaac; and Esau and Jacob. [(As an aside,
in a figurative sense, Jacob was born “natural”, but the LORD changed his name
to “Israel” as he became “spiritual”. (Genesis 32: 24-32) Similarly, we Christians were all born “”natural”, but the
Holy Spirit has changed our names to “sons of God” when we spiritually came to
believe the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15: 1-4; Romans
10: 9-13); Galatians 3: 22-26)]
Returning
to our Scripture, it would be through Noah’s second son Shem and
his descendants in the “spiritual” line of genealogy that the “Seed of
the woman” / Redeemer of Mankind would come. (Genesis 3: 15); Luke
Chapter Three] 28 And
Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 And all the days of
Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
With
that background, it is important to note what the Bible says, and does not say
in the next few chapters of the Book of Genesis about “family strife / violence”,
and the spiritual development of mankind through Noah’s sons and their families
/ descendants.
In Genesis
Chapter Ten, the first and last verses (Verse One and Verse 32) provide “bookends”
for the listing of the “generations” of the descendants of the three sons. They
read: “Now these
are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth: and unto them
were sons born after the flood; and “These are the families of the sons of
Noah, after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations
divided in the earth after the flood”. The intervening verses contain some clues to what
will be highlighted in Chapter 11. Also, you might find the following reference
helpful for your study:
https://bible-history.com/old-testament/table-of-nations-genesis-10#google_vignette
To put
Chapter 11 into perspective, remember the what the LORD had told Noah and his
sons as He sent them out from the Ark. (Genesis 8: 15-19). The Scripture then said: “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.”
(Genesis 9: 1) (Emphasis added).
As
you likely have already read the Scripture in Chapter 11 about this family’s venture
at the Tower of Babel, I will not repeat it. However, I encourage you to review
it as I cite the words of “Commentary” from the noted Bible Scholar Matthew
Henry (https://www.gotquestions.org/Matthew-Henry.html
, :
Verse
1-4 - How
soon men forget the most tremendous judgments, and go back to their former
crimes! Though the desolations of the deluge were before their eyes, though
they sprang from the stock of righteous Noah, yet even during his life-time,
wickedness increases exceedingly. …
God's
purpose was, that mankind should form many nations, and people all lands. In
contempt of the Divine will, and against the counsel of Noah, the bulk of
mankind united to build a city and a tower to prevent their separating.
Idolatry was begun, and Babel became one of its chief seats. They made one
another more daring and resolute. (Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Genesis
Chapter 11: 1-4)
Verse
5-9
God
has wise and holy ends, in allowing the enemies of his glory to carry on their
wicked projects a great way, and to prosper long. Observe the wisdom and mercy
of God, in the methods taken for defeating this undertaking. And the mercy of
God in not making the penalty equal to the offence; for he deals not with us
according to our sins. The wisdom of God, in fixing upon a sure way to stop
these proceedings. If they could not understand one another, they could not
help one another; this would take them off from their building. God has various
means, and effectual ones, to baffle and defeat the projects of proud men that
set themselves against him, and particularly he divides them among themselves.
Notwithstanding their union and obstinacy God was above them; for who ever
hardened his heart against him, and prospered? Their language was confounded.
We all suffer by it to this day: in all the pains and trouble used to learn the
languages we have occasion for, we suffer for the rebellion of our ancestors at
Babel. Nay, and those unhappy disputes, which are strifes of words, and arise
from misunderstanding one another's words, for aught we know, are owing to this
confusion of tongues. They left off to build the city. The confusion of their
tongues not only unfitted them for helping one another, but they saw the hand of the Lord gone out
against them.
(Matthew
Henry’s Commentary on Genesis Chapter 11: 5-9)
I’ll
continue this discussion on Family Strife in Part Two.
Dr.
W. A. (Bill) Robinson
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