THROUGH THE BIBLE IN THREE YEARS
This program of daily devotions is designed to take you through the Bible in three years. It is our desire to help you gain a better general understanding of God's Word.
Please understand that in a study this brief, we will be concerned with only the major emphases and context of the Scriptures.
Each day a devotion for one or two chapters is posted, beginning with chapter one of Genesis and going through chapter twenty-two of Revelation. You are free to print each page as it appears. If you miss a day, you may go to the archive at the bottom of the main web page and find it.
Bruce McGee
P.O. Box 69
Columbia, LA 71418
The commentaries for Genesis through Mark are now available.
Send $7.50 per book (plus shipping and handling - about $2.00 each)
to the address above. Please designate which book(s) you desrire.
GENESIS
CHAPTER 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.
Here is one of those places where the Bible records history.
The Bible is not a history book, it is the self-revelation of God.
But when the Bible speaks concerning history it is always accurate.
Japheth's descendents spread West and North and became the European & Germanic peoples (vs 3).
Also, "Magog" is usually considered the Scythian or Russian people (vs 2).
Tarshis (vs 4) was the city to which Jonah tried to run from the "presence of the Lord."
(See Jonah 1:3) He was trying to escape doing what God called him to do.
6 And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. 7 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtecha: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. 8 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Babel: Gr. Babylon) 11 Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, 12 And Resen between Nineveh and Calah: the same is a great city. 13 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, 14 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim. 15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth, 16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, 17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, 18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha. (Gaza: Heb. Azzah) 20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.
Ham's descendents went down into Africa and West along the Mediterranean coast
of North Africa.
Note that Canaan was to become Shem's "servant." (vss 25-26)
Canaan actually stopped in Canaan while his father and others went on into Africa.
Canaan developed Shem's land FOR him. He and his descendents settled the land
and, later, Abraham and his descendents OCCUPIED the land.
Abraham was a descendent of Shem; Canaan was a descendent of Ham.
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. 22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. 23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash. 24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. 25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, 28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, 29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.
Shem's descendents became known as "Shemites," "Semites," or the
Semitic people. Basically they were Asian, and were settled in the Mesopotamian region.
Note in verse 21 that Shem was the "father of all the children of 'Eber.'
EBER is the first derivative of the word "Hebrew."
It was Shem's descendents who were chosen of God to carry the gospel of
the Messiah.
32 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 whole population of the earth has descended from these three men and their wives.
The whole population of the earth has descended from Noah and his sons.
CHAPTER 11
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
According to chapter 9:1, God's command was to spread out and populate the
earth. But Noah's family began to dwell all together in "Shinar," which is the
Mesopotamian area.
And they all spoke the same language.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
These people all determined to stay together, and build a tower to exalt
themselves. They wanted to become important, like God. Wasn't that the FIRST
sin? Isn't that what Adam and Eve wanted when they ate the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil?
This tower became a sort of "rallying point" where they could gather and praise
themselves.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Notice this AMAZING statement from God: "..nothing will be restrained from them."
WOW! THINK about that!!
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
When men set out together to do God's will, He will bless and empower and "..nothing will be restrained..."
But these weren't doing God's will -- they were acting opposite of His will.
This tower became known as the "Tower of Babel," because it is where God confounded their language. He made them speak in different languages.
What was the result? They were FORCED to spread out and repopulate the earth.
10 These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: 11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 12 And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah: 13 And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 14 And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber: 15 And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters. 16 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: 17 And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. 18 And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: 19 And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters. 20 And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug: 21 And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters. 22 And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor: 23 And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. 24 And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah: 25 And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters. 26 And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
All this geneological history is given for one reason: to intorduce the story of Abram. Abram was the first "called out" Hebrew.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees. 29 And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah died in his 205th year - the last to live over 200 years.
Abram left Haran when his father died (Acts 7:4).
Abram was 75 at that time (Gen. 12:4).
So Abram must have been born in Terah's 130th year.
I believe this tells us that Abram was Terah's youngest son.
And that would mean that Lot was the son of the oldest.
That's why Lot was important enough for Abram to take with him.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.
Sarai had no children at this time, and she was already 65 years old.
They had left Ur upon God's call to Abram (Gen. 12:1), and Nahor stayed
behind in Ur.
The place where they moved was named Haran after Nahor's oldest son.
This is the place where Terah died. Evidently, Terah and Lot knew of God's call to Abram, and they went willingly with him. (Gen. 12:1-3)
CHAPTER 12
1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee: 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: 3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.
Then Abram left Haran, because of God's reiterated promise and call.
He began to follow God's leadership daily.
This is what we ALL should do.
4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
Note that Abram took Lot even though this was a special burden to him.
Family is VERY important.
Later, Abraham, even though he is chosen and called of God, will defer to Lot. He will give Lot the CHOICE of the land.
Also Abraham will risk his life to rescue Lot when he is captured.
And Abraham will stand personally before God and plea for Lot to be spared from Sodom.
Family IS important!!
6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. (plain: Heb. plains) 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him. 8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD. 9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.
As Abram did God's will, the Lord "appeared" to him. There is special assurance of God's PRESENCE and GUIDANCE, and PROTECTION, and PROVISION.
God will give that to ANYONE who will follow Him.
10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon: 12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.
Famine caused a need to move temporarily. We should be aware of the circustances of the world and act correctly toward them.
They moved down to Egypt. And Abram LIED! Would a Christian do such a thing? Friend, the Bible tells it like it is!!
When people get saved, they are saved FROM sin; they are not saved TO sin!
But saved people ARE sinners. The difference between them and unsaved people is that they don't live a LIFE of sin.
Would you call this an outright LIE or a "half-truth?"
Well, what's the DIFFERENCE? Less than truth is still a LIE!
((See verses 13 and Gen. 20:12))
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee. 14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. 17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.
Abraham and Sarah were protected by God's grace, even though they had sinned. WHY? Partly because they were trying.
But more than that, God had promised. And Abraham had committed himself on the basis of that promise.
We can expect God to always help us, even though we sin, IF we commit to Him based on His promise of salvation through faith in Jesus.
18 And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife? 19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her , and go thy way. 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.
Even though the illness upon Pharoah and his people was
because of God's power, Pharoah sent Abram away with "..all he had."
Abram lost nothing.
Friend, you can lose NOTHING by surrendering to God!
((See God's promise again: Gen. 12:1-3))
((Then look at Philippians 1:6))
Please continue in Bible study with us tomorrow.