Lesson
3
The
Origin of Languages/Beginning of Nations
I. After the
Flood
After the flood, God
had commanded Noah and his sons to replenish the earth. Inherent in this
command was the fact that the human race should spread out gradually over the
face of the entire earth to repopulate it. Once again, however, the
overwhelming majority of humanity disobeyed the voice of God. Instead of
spreading out over the earth, mankind located in one specific area and decided
to stay there and build a city.
A. The Tower of
Babel
"And
the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 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. 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. 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"
(Genesis 11:1-4).
1. The
Self-centeredness of the People
Notice the
self-centeredness of these people, and their disregard for God's commandment.
He wanted them to scatter over the whole earth to replenish it, but they wanted
to build a city and a tower as a center of humanity, to prevent mankind from
scattering! In other words, their desire was just exactly the opposite of God's
Word.
2. Different
Languages Introduced
Up until
this time, everyone on the earth spoke the same language. Essentially, there
was only one nation
upon the face of the earth. This made their goal of constructing a great city
all that much more possible. But the
Lord observed their disobedience, and 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. Go to, let us go down,
and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech" (Genesis 11:6-7).
By introducing
different languages among the people, the Lord stopped their sinful effort.
They could no longer communicate sufficiently to complete such an ambitious
project, and they began to spread over the face of the earth, each person
finding his place with those with whom he could talk.
B. The Judgment of
God in Dispersing the People
The judgment of God on
the effort of men was the origin of languages and the beginning of nations. The
earth was repopulated by the sons of Noah in the following fashion:
1. Shem's Sons
Shem's sons were Elam,
Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. The major nations which sprang from these sons
were the Persians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Lydians, Armenians, and Syrians. They settled in Assyria, Syria, Persia,
Northern Arabia, and Mesopotamia.
2. Ham's Sons
Ham's sons were Cush,
Mizraim, Phut, and Canaan. The principal nations to spring from these men were
the Ethiopians, Egyptians, Libyans, and Canaanites. Ham's sons settled the
continent of Africa and Arabia.
3. Japheth's Sons
Japheth's sons were Comer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal,
Meshech, and Tiras. These men gave birth to the Russians, Germans, Britons,
Scythians, Medes, lonians, Athenians, Iberians, Muscovites, and Thracians. The
settlement of Japheth's sons was in Asia Minor, Armenia, Caucasus, and Europe.