These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood. (Genesis 10:32)
Genesis 10 gathers together the names of the descendants of Noah, from whom came all the nations of the earth. It’s a remarkable chapter, and some scholars call it “The Table of Nations” – that’s “table” like a chart, not something you sit at. The great archaeologist William F. Albright often did not take the Bible literally, but of Genesis 10 he wrote: “The tenth chapter of Genesis…stands absolutely alone in ancient literature, without a remote parallel, even among the Greeks, where we find the closest approach to a distribution of peoples in genealogical framework.… The Table of Nations remains an astonishing accurate document.”
There is value in looking at each name and working to understand which people group came forth from that ancestor, but there is also value in simply drawing out three significant ideas from Genesis 1.
The Unity of the Human Race. Genesis 10 tells us that all humanity came from Noah and his family, and the book of Genesis also explains we have a common origin in Adam and Eve. As the apostle Paul explained to the philosophers on Mars Hill, God has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth (Acts 17:26). We truly are collectively of “one blood,” and while there are some differences between generations and races and ethnic groups, what they have in common is far greater than their differences. We are all made in the image of God.
The Generosity of God. Genesis 10 makes us consider just how wide all creation is, and how there are billions of people on the earth today, even more in the past, and should Jesus tarry, there will be many more in the future. Yet the love of God is broad enough to include all humanity. Remember that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16), and that in some way God shows His love to all humanity, and the blessings of sun and rain are just one example of this (Matthew 5:45). Since God is this generous with all humanity, we can rest with even greater confidence in His generous love to His people, those who trust in, rely on, and cling to the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The Reason for a Missionary Heart. God divided and spread-out humanity, but not for the purpose of taking people away from His good news and salvation in Jesus Christ, who is the Savior of the World (John 4:42). Rather, Jesus gave His disciples specific instructions before He ascended to heaven: go and make disciples of all the nations, teaching them to observe all that Jesus has commanded His disciples (Matthew 28:18-20). We must have the missionary heart to reach the world as Jesus commanded.
