Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Genesis chapter 10. Genesis chapter 10. Last two times we met together
on Wednesdays, the Holy Spirit was pleased to deal first with
the lineage of Japheth, And then last week we looked at the lineage
of Ham, through whom Nimrod preeminently came and built the city of Babylon. Now tonight, I'd like for us
to look at the lineage of Shem. Now this is one of those passages
of Scripture with a lot of names. These are the kind that you can't
hardly pronounce them, and it's very easy, because of the weakness
of our flesh, to just skim over it. But the Spirit of God put
this in here. And all Scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and it's profitable. It's necessary. So I pray that the Lord might
be pleased to bless this passage to our hearts. Shem was the son,
according to Luke 3.36, just in the lineage of our Lord Jesus
Christ. In Luke 3.36, Shem is mentioned
in there in the bloodline of the Lord Jesus Christ. But tonight
I want us to look as we did last week, some out of chapter 10,
some out of chapter 11, because these two chapters kind of overlap. And I'll make sure you've got
your Bible in front of you, and we'll look at these scriptures
together. Now, the scripture, I'm going
to start in chapter 10, and I'm going to begin in verse 21. But
I'm going to be going over. I'll show you. We'll get over
into chapter 11 and I'm going to just try to take it easy,
not labor it, not try to be long or anything, but I want to try
to make it where we can understand. In chapter 10 of Genesis, verse
21, the scripture says, Now unto Shem also, the father of all
the children of Eber, The brother of Japheth, the elder, even to
him were children born. Now, Eber, we'll see in a minute,
Eber. He was Shem's great grandson,
Eber. He was a man revealed to be an
example of God's grace in covenant mercy. This was a man that knew
God, loved the Lord, God's got a people, a people that he's
everlastingly loved and chosen in the Lord Jesus Christ, a people
that God has been pleased to be merciful and compassionate
to. And these people that he's everlastingly
loved are going to be born into this world. And so we're going
to consider this line, but this man Eber we're going to find
is a man that's prominent in the bloodline of the Lord Jesus.
It was through the line of Eber, from Eber we find how Abraham
was born. And we're going to see in a moment
that Abraham was a man that God would greatly bless, bringing
forth through natural generation the birth of many nations and
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. So Moses was moved, Moses penned
these books, the first five books of our Bible. He was moved by
the Spirit of God to give Shem, that's the son of Noah, Shem. He was pleased to give Shem a
very honorable title. He called him, in verse 21, unto
Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber. Now let me tell you the significance
of Eber's name. It's a word, it's a name from
which we get Hebrew. Hebrew. So Eber is that one set
forth with that honorable title. That's what he gave Shem, the
father of the children of Eber, Shem. And so here's the Spirit
of God moving and gonna show us how this race, the Hebrews,
chosen of God through which the Lord would send the law, the
prophets, and the Messiah himself. Verse 22, verse 10, chapter 10. And the children of Shem, Elam,
Asher, Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. Now, five boys. Shem, the son of Noah, had five
boys. Now, as we consider the lineage
of Shem, I want us to notice something. Chapter 10, where
I just read verse 22, if you look down through there, there's
a bunch of names that's coming. That's all these kids that came
down through this generation. In chapter 10 of the lineage
of Shem, it lists all the kids that were born, all of them.
In chapter 11, he's still going to be talking about the lineage
of Shem, but in chapter 11 it just names the ones that were
in the exact bloodline. There was a bunch of them born.
Shem had five kids. But there was only one that was
in the bloodline of Christ. We'll see him over here in chapter
11 in just a minute. So I just wanted you to see verse
22 named all of them. But in chapter 11, we're gonna
see just the bloodline. So in 23 now, all right, now
you notice in 22, the children of Shem, Elam, Asher, Arphaxad,
Lud, and Aram. And verse 23 says, and the children
of Aram, Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. Now from one of his
sons, Aram, was born a man named Uz. Now that man is the man that
settled a land we know as Uz. A land found southeast of Palestine,
I found a track of land in the Arabian desert and it was a place
from where a well-known man was mentioned, was born, was found,
Job 1-1. There was a man in the land of
Uz whose name was Job and that man was perfect and upright and
one that feared God and eschewed evil. So of all of Aram's other
sons, there was Hull, Gether, Mash, that was in verse 23, but
nothing of note was found of all those others. except I found
where they lived in the land of Armenia, Arabia, and Mesopotamia,
which is where Uz was found. Then in verse 24, it says, and
Arphaxad begat Selah, and Selah begat Eber. Now this son, Arphaxad,
there's a special notice given. He was revealed to be the father
of Selah. And Selah, his son, had a son. His name was Eber, the one we
just started considering back in that first verse of scripture
that we looked at. And the one that we've considered
is Eber. He's in the line of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, just look over in chapter
11 and look in verses 12 to 15 concerning this man. Now, in
Genesis 11, now this is where just the bloodline. As I said,
chapter 10 gives all the names, you know. There was this one,
this one, this one, this one, and this one. But this one right
here, he's mentioned over here in chapter 11. He's in the bloodline. So look over here in chapter
11, verses 12 to 15, what it says about Eber. And Arphaxad
lived 5 and 30 years and begat Selah. And Arphaxad lived after
he begat Selah 403 years and begat sons and daughters. And
Selah lived 30 years and begat Eber. And Salah lived after he
begat Eber 403 years and begat sons and daughters. Now, here
we see the certainty of the truth of the blessing of God. His blessing,
His mercy, His compassion is always distinguishing. It's always
particular. It's always according to His
will. What was it about these boys over here? What was it about
Eber? that was any different than, say, HUD or MASH. What was it? What was the difference?
Nothing but the grace of God. God chose this one and left this
one to himself. Verse 25, back in chapter 10,
it says, And unto Eber were born two sons, the name of one was
Peleg in the margin there. His name means division. That's
what his name means. Peleg. For in his days was the
earth divided. Now that division right there,
all the commentaries, which I can see this. It was during that
time we looked at last time when Babylon, when Nimrod was there
and God came down and divided and confounded all the languages
all of them split up. This is where this boy right
here, Pelag, that's what his name meant. It meant division,
for in his days was the earth divided and his brother's name
was Jokdan. Now unto Eber, the blessed of
the Lord, was born two sons. Pelag, his name means division,
And in these days, the earth was divided, which was that time
we looked at. And Peleg was found to be in
the bloodline of Christ. Now look back over at chapter
11, verse 16 and 17. And Heber lived 4 and 30 years
and begat Peleg. And Heber lived after he begat
Peleg 430 years and begat sons and daughters. Now, did you notice
something? Jockton wasn't mentioned over there in chapter 11. Why?
He wasn't in the bloodline. The Spirit of God is showing
this is the line of the Messiah. And so Peleg, the one to be found
in the bloodline, is mentioned over there, but while his brother
Jockton was known to be the father of the Arabians. Jockton's name
means, he will be little. That's what Jochdan means, he
will be little. A name that comes from a root
word that means to diminish, of no account, be not worthy. Why? Because the Lord left him
to himself. He doeth as he will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and no man has
any right to question him. When we stop for just a minute,
now right now realize something. If there's any of us here that
knows Him in saving grace, do we not realize it is by the grace
of God that we know Him? If the Lord was pleased to leave
us to ourselves, where would we be? He would be just to leave us
to ourself, but look at the mercy of God. I will have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So it's not of him that will it, not of him
that run it. God shows mercy. Well, look now back in chapter
10, verse 26 to 30. And Jocton began Al-Mo's dad,
Al-Mo's dad, and Steleph, and Hazarmath, and Jera, and Hadorim,
and Uzal, and Dikla, Obal, and Abiahel, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah,
Jobah, all these were the sons of Jocton. And their dwelling
was from Mesha, as thou goest into Sephir, a mount of the east."
There's no doubt that that lineage has good and proper purpose according
to the will of the Lord. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11
says, "...in whom we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will." The Lord's will was certainly
bound up some way in the lineage of Jotun. But everything we know
about those men right there is right there. The rest of it,
the Lord was silent. The secret things belong unto
the Lord our God. But those things which are revealed
belong unto us and to our children forever that we may do all the
words of this law. Let me ask you something. The
purpose of that person that was driving that car that just went
by, what is his purpose in this life? If the Lord never brings
him or draws whoever was driving that car under the sound of the
gospel, what's the purpose of him? God's got a purpose. God
doesn't do anything without a purpose. He works all things after the
purpose of His own will. How do we know what the purpose
of the Lord was? How do we know what the purpose
of the... But the Spirit of God was pleased to not say anything.
He was silent on that. But the Lord was pleased to reveal
something about Eber's other son, Peleg. That lineage that
we find now back in Genesis chapter 11 and verse 18. It said in Genesis
11, 18, and Peleg lived 30 years and begat E-U, E-U. Now, the name E-U, now here's
a man now, another one, R-E-U, I'm sorry, R-E-U. R-E-U is in
the line of Christ. There's a reason for this man
to be here. God's purpose. And reused name
means friend or friendship. And oh, what a blessing. Now
here's a man in the line of Christ, in the bloodline of Christ. And
his name means friend or friendship. And what a blessing to consider
him who is the friend of sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what reused name meant. A friend is coming. There's a
friend. A friend of sinners, a friend
that stick closer than a brother, a friend in whom is life itself,
for he is life. A friend is coming. And think
of the blessing of being, by the grace of God, his friend.
The Lord said in John 15, 14, he said, you're my friend. If
you do whatsoever I command you, and what is the command of the
Lord? What is the command of God for us toward Christ? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So here
was this man back in, you know, this fella had two sons, you
know, one of them, was blessed of God, the other one was left
to himself. So reused name, it means friend
or friendship, but it comes from another word that is a root word
that means to pasture. I bet you anybody in this congregation
could just about tell me what I'm about to say here. to pasture. What is it? Can we not see the
foreshadowing of the great shepherd himself, shepherd of the sheep?
He leadeth me beside, you know, the clean waters, green pastures. I lay down in the rest of our
precious Savior. We see the foreshadowing. There's a shepherd coming. one
in whom we find our quiet pasture. It's the one that the father
said, I will set up one shepherd over them and he shall feed them,
even my shepherd, David. He shall feed them and he shall
be their shepherd. So now we see this lineage, this
bloodline. Then look at continuing in chapter
11 now, verses 19 to 21, and Pelag, after he begat Riu, a Peleg,
Riu's daddy, lived after he begat Riu 209 years and begat sons
and daughters. And Riu lived two and 30 years
and begat Sirug. And Riu lived after he begat
Sirug 207 years and begat sons and daughters. Now Riu, that's
the one that means It means friend, comes from a root word, means
the pastor. Reu. He had a son, and his son's name
was Serug. And his name means a vine that
shoots, a branch, strength and firmness. Now from that name
right there, from Serug's name, look at the prophecy. All these
names are prophesying something. A friend is coming. A shepherd's
coming. C. Ruggs' name means vine, a
shoot, a branch, strength, and firmness. Now first of all, do
we not see him who is the root out of dry ground? This is what
C. Ruggs' name. He's a root out
of dry ground. This friend that's coming. These
shepherds that's coming. He's going to, Scripture says
in Isaiah 53, He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness,
and when we shall see Him, there's no beauty that we should desire
Him. Now here's the way the Messiah
is going to appear. Appear to men. Just a tender,
exposed plant. Just a little old dry stick.
stuck out there in the ground, just a root, a dry root, a dry
ground. One that was said to be growing
up before Jehovah. One that came from a birth that
progressed into a young man that seemed to be nothing more than
just a dry root. Nothing magnificent, nothing
attractive, but of him Jehovah declared in those days And at
that time, I will cause the branch of righteousness to grow up under
David, and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land,
just Jeremiah 33, 15. So Rehuzun, Seerug, his name
meant vine, shoot, just a stick, branch. But his name also meant
strength and firmness. These were all in what his name
meant. Strength and firmness. So here,
this one, it looks like to the world, is just a dry stick. No appearance, nothing appealed
to us. Here was one that we realized
that was the one that was magnificent according to God's word, God's
standard. The scripture says of this one
that the world saw is just a dry stick. Nobody. For unto us a child is born and
unto us a son is given. and the government shall be upon
his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace."
That's Isaiah 9, 6. And then in verses 22 and 23,
in Serug of chapter 11, Serug lived 30 years and begat Nahar. And Serug lived after he begat
Nahar 200 years and begat sons and daughters. Now, Nahar, now
here's one born to Serug, Serug boy. His name was Nahar. Nahar's name means to pant, P-A-N-T,
to pant. Now is that not the attitude
of the enlightened sinners, the vessels of God's mercy. Is that
not their attitude after the Lord calls them out of darkness?
Those who love the Lord and need the Lord. Does not the scripture
say concerning David, when he said concerning his desire for
the Lord Jesus Christ, as the heart, the deer panteth after
the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee. There's one
coming. He's a friend. He's the shepherd. He's the one that appears to
the world to be a stick, just to root out a dry ground. But
this is the mighty God. And He's going to be the heart
pant of His people. They're going to hunger and thirst
after Him. Now I want you to notice though, C-Rug C. Ruggs, Nahar's dad, he lived
200 years after he had Nahar. He had some other children, and
that's all it said. None of them were mentioned.
But of this man, Nahar, he was the grandfather of Abraham. And the scriptures declare in
24 and 25 of chapter 11, and Nahar lived 920 years and begat
Terah. And Nahar lived after he begat
Terah 119 years and begat sons and daughters. Now we've come
down now, Terah, I'll tell you who Terah was. Terah was Abraham's
daddy. All right, now here we're coming
now in the bloodline and it's gonna come right on down to Abraham.
We come down to the father. of Abraham, Terah, he said to
have lived 119 years. He had sons and daughters, but
there was one son in particular that God had everlastingly loved
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That man was pleased. God was
pleased to show him mercy and compassion. His name was Abram,
Abram. Verse 26 says, Terah lived 70
years and begat Abram, Nahar, Now, we've come down to Abraham's
birth. Abraham had two brothers, Nahor
and Haran. That was his two brothers' names.
Two brothers that the Spirit of God was pleased to mention.
We might understand what actually happened when God dealt with
Abram concerning his family. Verse 27 to 32, and I'll begin
to wrap this up. Now, these are the generations
of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahar, and
Haran, and Haran begat Lot. And Haverin died before his father
Tira in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahar took them
wives. The name of Abram's wife was
Sarai, and the name of Nahar's wife, Milca. and the daughter
of Haran, the father of Milca and the father of Iskar, but
Sarai was barren. She had no child. 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. 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 in the
days of Terah for 205 years. And Terah died in Haran." Now
I'm going to try to wrap this up, but I'm going to try to make
it simple. So we can understand what we just read. I know there
was a lot of names, I got that. I know there were some places
mentioned, but let's see if we can just make good as we look
at this. How the Lord dealt with this
man, Abram. In those verses that we read,
there was the account given of the family of Terah, Abram's
daddy. And Abram became Abraham. He had two brothers. Brother's
name was Nahar and Haran. Three sons from Tira. Now Haran, one of Abraham's brothers,
had a boy. And his name was Lot. So Lot
is Abram's nephew. Well, Lot's dad, Abraham's nephew,
Lot, his dad, Abraham's brother, Haman, he died before his daddy,
their daddy, Terah, died. Terah, the daddy of these three
boys, one of his sons died before his daddy died. And they were
all in the city of Ur, their native land. Now Abraham, Abram,
and his surviving brother, Nahar, they took wives, they got married. Now Sarai married Abram. And we find out, I want you to
just hold this, this is just, Lord willing, we'll look at this
when we get to that, in Genesis chapter 20, and verse 11 and
12. Let me tell you who Sarai was. You remember when Abraham was
afraid to tell they'd gone into this country and he said, tell
them you're my sister. Tell them you're my sister. Because
if you tell them you're my wife, they're going to kill me. Remember
that story? I want you to find out who Sarai
was. Genesis chapter 20. Verse 11
and 12. And Abraham said, because I thought,
surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will
slay me for my wife's sake. And yet, indeed, she is my sister. She is the daughter of my father,
but not the daughter of my mother. And she became my wife. So let
me tell you who Sarah Ai was. She was Abraham's half-sister.
They had the same daddy. but they had different mothers.
Tera had Sarai by another wife. So she was Tera's daughter by
another wife. He said, she really is my sister,
half-sister, but just don't tell her that you're my wife because
they'll kill me. But now Milka, there was another brother, a
surviving brother, and his name was Heron. And Haren, his wife
was Milka, Abram's brother, had died. He married, I mean wait, Milka
is the daughter of Haverick, that's the one that died, and
Abraham's brother died, she was married to Nahar. So this is
going to make, let me tell you who Nahar's wife is. It's his niece. And somebody
said, well, it looks like that's just a little bit too much intermingling. Well, you have to understand.
Back then, they were all still from one family. They all came
from Noah. And there wasn't the intermingling
that we think of today. It was just this is the way they
are. They were all related some way. So here we find how these marriages
took place. And Sarai, Sarah, she was without
child, and Terah, Abram's dad, took Abram, his son, and Lot,
Abram's nephew, and the scripture says in verse 31, now they're
going to go They're going to Canaan, that's what it says,
verse 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 to the land of Canaan. And they came to Haran and dwelt
there. Now, basically this is what it's
saying. They're all from Ur. This is
their hometown. They all live in Ur of the Chaldees. And they're going to go, they're
going to Canaan. But before they get to Canaan,
they come to a city called Haran. And that's where Tera, Abraham's
daddy, he dies. But in closing, I want us to
notice something that was the indescribable mercy of God. Something that we need to consider.
Before Terah, Abraham's daddy, before he took his city, his
family, and left that city of Ur in their native country, before
they came to Haran, they left Ur of the Chaldeans, they all
left. Before they ever left, God had already spoken to Abraham and told Abraham, I want you
to leave your family, leave your father. I want you to leave.
Now I'm going to show you. We would have never known this
if it wouldn't have been recorded by the Spirit of God through
a man named Stephen. Hold your place. I'm wrapping
this up. Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7, verses 1 to 3. Here was all this, you know,
Tiber had these three boys, one of them died, and Abraham married
his half-sister, and Haman, the other one, married his niece,
and they were, God had spoken to Abraham before. Tiber's leaving,
they left, they all left together. But God had already spoken to
Abraham. Acts chapter 7, verses 1 through 3. Stephen is preaching the very
message that's gonna get him killed. At the end of this message
right here, this is where he starts, right here. They're gonna
stone him at the end of this message. But here's how it started,
Acts 7, 1 to 3. Then said the high priest, are
these things so? And he said, Stephen said, men,
brethren, fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. before he dwelt,
you see where it says Charon? That's Haran. That's the same
place. The God of glory appeared unto
our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia. You know what's
in Mesopotamia? Ur. He was in Ur before they
ever left, before they ever got to Haran, before they ever got
to that town. Before he dwelt in Havren, and
said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and come into the land which I will show thee. Before they
left Ur of the Chaldees, before Terah, his daddy said, we're
going to Canaan. God had already spoken to Abraham.
They left. And they went to Haran, and by
all calculations, Abraham stayed in Haran five years until his
daddy died, showing us first that Abraham's faith wasn't perfect
faith. You know, we believe God, but
Lord, help our unbelief. God had already spoken to Abraham.
He'd already told Abraham, you leave your daddy, and he didn't.
Now, he's gonna go through some trials and tribulations, you
know, but Stephen, the spirit of God through Stephen said God
had already spoken to Abraham before he ever left, before his
daddy ever left. So when his daddy left, they went to heaven
and lived there five years and his daddy died. Abraham's faith
was true faith. but it wasn't perfect faith,
and we don't have perfect faith either. Abraham believed God,
that's what the scripture says, and it was counted unto him for
righteousness. Oh, the encouragement of this. Did Abraham do exactly
as the Lord told him to do? No. No. He went to Havren and his daddy
died. Somebody said, well, his daddy
died because, you don't know that. His daddy died. You know, we start jumping to
conclusions and decide, well, we know the mind of God. But
the truth of the matter is, Abraham was told of God to go. Now, from
that truth, we're beholding not only that even a believer who
has faith, true faith, he still struggles. He struggles. It's
not perfect faith. But I'll tell you what is perfect,
the grace and mercy of God. that didn't cast him off. God
had cast off others for less than what he did. God kept him
and maintained him. The Lord is merciful. I will
have mercy on whom I have mercy, whom I will out-harden. Grace
in the midst of our failings, grace that never wavers, though
we do. What encouragement it is to creatures
like us. And may the Lord be pleased to
show us and give us encouragement. We want to be faithful, but when
we fail, He never does. When we waver, He never does.
When we falter, He said, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake
you. What encouragement. To see the
Lord has brought them all the way down. Lord willing, we'll
start next time. We'll start on with Abraham. But look how God in his distinguishing
grace chose this one and passed this one by. The lineage just
comes right on down, comes right down to Abraham. Abraham believed
God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.