Our Scripture Of The Week Is:

1 John 2:3 KJVS
[3] And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

One way in which we display evidence of saving faith in Jesus is through obedience. However, as believers, we always have a choice whether to obey or disobey. This particular sense of "knowledge" comes at more than one level.

First, is that of salvation. Behavior is a reflection of belief. Actions, however, in and of themselves, are not an infallible test of one's salvation. This is especially true in regards to other people; only God knows exactly what happens in another person's heart (1 Samuel 16:7).

However, obedience to the commands of Christ is a primary marker, both for others and ourselves, which at least confirms our place in Christ.

The other, more immediate level of this "knowledge" is in fellowship with God. Even in an existing parent-child relationship, the level of fellowship depends on obedience and communication. A lack of communication does not prove that there is no relationship, but it is certainly not the way things "ought" to be (1 John 2:6).

A person who has put trusting faith in Christ is expected to obey (1 John 2:5), but whether or not they do is still up to them. Critical to understanding this passage is the connection between "knowing" and "keeping" as seen in the Old Testament.

The Jewish people were called to show their belief in God through obedience to the Mosaic Law. Even during that time, obedience was the result of faith, not the object of faith. Hebrews chapter 11 offers clear evidence of those godly people throughout the Old Testament who lived by faith, obeyed the Lord, and were recognized for it.

Faith was, and is, essential to knowing the Lord. Here, John places the condition at the end of the sentence. He emphasized knowing Christ as exemplified by obedience.

This is in contrasts to verses 5–10, where the conditions will come first.


Our topic today is:

Japheth's Sons Discussion

Genesis 10 is sometimes called the table of nations. It describes the generations that followed from Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with the nations that came from them and the regions in which they settled after the Tower of Babel.

This chapter is a slightly different take on genealogy; rather than focusing on lineage, this passage defines the boundaries of these different tribes of people. Instead of following a narrow chain of father-son relationships deep into history, this chapter explains a broad network of cousins, following a shallow chain of brotherly relationships.

The purpose is to establish the various kingdoms which will come into play later in Genesis.

The first section lists the sons and descendants of Japheth. Japheth's people apparently settled mostly in the lands to the north of the region that would become the Promised Land of Israel. While the Old Testament prophets sometimes mentioned them, they will not feature greatly in biblical events.

Thus, less is said of Japheth's successors. They were not cursed, in the way that Canaan was (Genesis 9:25).

Nor were they especially blessed, in the way Shem's descendants led to Abraham and the eventual Messiah, Jesus Christ (Genesis 9:26).

However, the names of Japheth's seven sons can be correlated with the names and peoples of specific geographic regions in the ancient world, some of whom would intersect with the people of Israel from time to time.

Some of these names would be associated with city-states mentioned later in Scripture, such as Magog (Ezekiel 38:2), Tarshish (Genesis 10:4; Psalm 72:10; Ezekiel 38:13) and Kittim (Genesis 10:4; Numbers 24:24; Daniel 11:30).

The previous verse listed Japheth's seven sons. This verse lists three sons of Japheth's son, Gomer. The descendants of these three sons became three tribes who settled to the north of the Promised Land. These people appear to be the Cimmerians, also known as the Scythians. This verse lists the sons of Japheth's son Javan.

These four sons are apparently connected to the peoples who would later become the Greeks. Though Israel would not have many dealings in the Old Testament with the northern peoples who came from Japheth, these names and people do seem to be included in Bible prophecies.

Some of these can be found in Ezekiel chapters 27 and 37—39. Culturally, the Greeks would become profoundly influential and would even conquer the territories of Israel under Alexander the Great.

All the ancient world's nations are described in this passage, according to their descent from Noah. Other genealogies in the Bible follow a chain of fathers and sons deep into history.

This text is broad, showing the various tribes which came from the major descendants of Noah. The previous verses named the sons and grandsons of Japheth. From Israel's perspective, the tribes and nations that formed from these men were located, for the most part, to the far north.

Most of these tribes would have little impact on Israel's history, until their descendants—the Greeks—conquered Israel's territory under Alexander the Great. It's helpful to remember that this spreading out and having separate languages came after the events surrounding the tower of Babel in Genesis 11.

Until that time, all the people of the earth were concentrated in one region and spoke one language.