IN THE BEGINNING

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'  And God created the Man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen.1:27)
From the beginning, man was created to rule over all the earth.  From the beginning, God looked upon man as more than one: Let us make man...let them rule...He created him...He created them. He created one man, but that man contained more than himself alone.
So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God built the rib which He had taken from the man into a woman, and brought her to the man. (Gen.2:21-22)  He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day when they were created. (Gen.5:2)
In the Garden, Adam and Eve turned away from their Creator.  They chose instead something that was good to eat, pleasing to look at, and desirable to make them wise.  They chose the things of the flesh rather than the things of the Spirit.  They believed a lie rather than holding fast to the Truth.  They chose not to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.
For generation after generation, the children of Man also lusted after physical things rather than the things of the Spirit.  They were envious and when they could not get what they wanted, they fought and quarrelled. (cf. Jacob 4:1-5) When they could not get what they wanted, they committed murder. They filled the earth with violence, rather than with the glory of the Lord. So God cleansed the earth of them.  He sent a flood to destroy and remove the children of Man from the earth.
Noah alone, with his family, found grace in the eyes of the Lord.  Noah was not sinless, but he was righteous, walking with God. (Gen.6:8,9) Everyone is called to walk with God, but most people choose not to. "He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Mic.6:8) In Noah's obedience, his humility can be seen.  He sought to serve God and not himself.
Noah's humility enabled him to receive God's grace.  For, "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (Jacob 4:6) It was only the grace of God that stood between Noah and destruction.  So it is for everyone who walks with God.
"And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.'" (Gen.9:1)  God still had a blessing for the children of Adam.  He still intended to make it possible for them to fulfill His initial purpose in creating Man.
Noah had three sons - Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  God identified Himself by name with Shem.  Noah said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem..." (Gen.9:26)
"And also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber...children were born." (Gen.10:21)  Eber was a great grandson of Shem.  He and his children are singled out as the heirs of Shem.  God was choosing a particular human lineage, yet to be created, to further His plan of redemption.
There were exceptions, but as a whole, the descendants of Noah rebelled against the Lord.  Instead of spreading abroad to fill the earth, they chose to stay in one place to make a name for themselves.  They chose to build their tower and their kingdom at Babel.  This rebellion at the Tower of Babel is the mother of all future rebellions against God.
"And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of the Man had built.  And the Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language.  And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.'  So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city.  Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the earth." (Gen.11:5-9)
Up until that point in time, all people were of one kind, simply "generic" children of Adam, the Man.  The children of Adam were united in their rebellion against their Creator. There was great power in their unity - "nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them."  So God divided them.  That division and dispersion marks the beginning of the nations, i.e. the Gentiles, the heathen, the goyim.


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(go back)
 
 In the Beginning
The Goyim Were First
Hopeless Gentiles
The Origins of Israel's Separation
The Gentiles who joined themselves to Israel
A People Set Apart
Jews and Hebrews
You Shall Be Cut Off
The Faithful Remnant of Israel


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