Psalm 5 - Petitions Based on God's Holiness

These articles are the product of a labor of love. I write these in the fear of God and the love for the church. Since God has spoken and acted in history and has left us the inspired record of these events, it is our solemn duty and pleasure as His children to study to be diligent to present ourselves approved to God as workmen who do not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth (cf. 2 Tim 2:15). Find more resources at www.fbcroxana.com.

God’s people are marked by prayer. We appeal to Him based on who He has revealed Himself to be and on what He has done for us. He is the almighty God. He is perfectly holy and righteous. Those who love God are being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ, His Son so that they love the things that God loves and hate those things that God hates. Therefore, we groan on account of the sin that fills this world, because we long for the day when the earth will be filled with His righteousness. This is why the Lord’s prayer begins with the petitions that God’s name would be hallowed, His Kingdom come, and His will be done.

Thus, this prayer is a prayer that every believer should pray. For this reason, it was used by the choir director for corporate singing.

For the choir director; for flute accompaniment.

A Psalm of David.

First, David writes of his determination to pray.

¹ Give ear to my words, O LORD,

  Consider my groaning.

² Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God,

  For to You I pray.

We can be assured that God hears prayer. Jesus and the apostles assured us over and over that God hears and answers the prayers of His people. Who are the ones that He hears and answers? Here, it is those who have sworn their allegiance to Him as King and who bow to Him alone as God. Believers come into His presence with confidence that He will give ear to their words and consider their groanings and heed their cry for help. For He is a great King and a powerful God. He knows all, and will deal kindly with those who trust in Him.

Since God is the sovereign King to whom believers appeal, David determines to persist in prayer and wait for the answer:

³ In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice;

  In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Morning by morning, David said that his prayer would rise up to the LORD. And morning by morning, he would eagerly watch for God’s answer. This is the pattern that the Bible sets for trusting prayer: persistence and expectation. We pray and we watch. And we continue to do so, for the more that we do, the more we demonstrate to God, ourselves, and the watching world, that we depend on God and trust Him to answer prayer.

Why does David turn His prayer to God so persistently?

First, because of God’s character:

⁴ For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;

  No evil dwells with You.

⁵ The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;

  You hate all who do iniquity.

⁶ You destroy those who speak falsehood;

  The Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

Biblical prayer is also according to the will of God, and God’s will is consistent with who He is. The Scripture reveals God as holy. He is light, and in Him no darkness dwells (1 John 1:5). He cannot tolerate wickedness, for no evil dwells with Him. Because of that, the boastful and doers of iniquity and liars and murders are abhorred by Him. They will not live before Him. David persists in His prayers, for He is praying that God’s holiness, righteousness, and justice would be brought against the wicked. He earnestly desires that those who rebel against God would be judged. David sees the wickedness and iniquity of the world as they persist in doing those things that God hates, and he is agitated in his spirit, for He loves God’s character and cannot bear to see sin and iniquity persist.

Second, David turns His prayer to God so persistently because of God’s grace:

⁷ But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,

  At Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.

God bestows His lovingkindness upon those whom He chooses that they would enter into His presence to worship Him. He recognizes that it is only because of God’s lovingkindness that He is able to bow before God. David knows that he is not righteous in himself, but that righteousness bestowed by God through faith. We know, with the fullness of revelation, that righteousness comes from God on the basis of the propitiation of His Son, Jesus Christ, who died for the sins of the world. Through faith, we are justified, declared righteous before God, so that we may approach Him and serve Him. It is because of this that David determines to persist in prayer and eagerly wait.

Now we move from the determination to pray to the contents of the prayer.

There are eight petitions that David makes to the LORD.

⁸ O LORD, lead me in Your righteousness because of my foes;

  Make Your way straight before me.

How we must pray this prayer: to be kept in the ways of the LORD and to not succumb to temptation or the wiles of the evil one. When we are surrounded by the wicked, we must petition the LORD to keep us from their ways and to protect us against their actions. For:

⁹ There is nothing reliable in what they say;

  Their inward part is destruction itself.

  Their throat is an open grave;

  They flatter with their tongue.

In their speech, they seek to entrap the godly. But David prays,

¹⁰ Hold them guilty, O God;

  By their own devices let them fall!

  In the multitude of their transgressions thrust them out,

The basis on which David makes these petitions is God’s holiness:

  For they are rebellious against You.

They live in contradiction to the perfection of God, and though they know His ways, they do those things which are wicked in His sight.

¹¹ But let all who take refuge in You be glad,

  Let them ever sing for joy;

  And may You shelter them,

The purpose that David asks that those who take refuge in God be made glad and joyful through His shelter is:

  That those who love Your name may exult in You.

¹² For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O Lord,

  You surround him with favor as with a shield.

Because God is who He is, He loves the righteous and surrounds them with His favor and blessing. All of those who love Him as He is and trust in Him will be saved, for He sent His Son to die for their sins. But the wicked will receive condemnation. He will hold them guilty, let them fall, and thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions and by their own devices, since they are rebellious against Him.

Conclusion

When the people of the LORD cry out to Him, He hears them and knows their groaning. God heeds the sound of their cries for help, for He is their King and their God. What a great King He is, for He hears the prayers of His saints. May the church commit herself to lift up their prayers to Him in the morning and eagerly watch. O that the church would be devoted to knowing who God is, and what He desires. O that the church would know God’s holiness and His abhorrence of evil. Would that the church would despise sin and yearn for the day when it is eradicated. And O that the church would have its eyes set upon the blessed hope that God will protect and bring them into His eternal Kingdom.

Genesis 12 - The Call of Abram

This article is part of a series of articles that resulted from my time preaching through the book of Genesis. The commentary on the passage is my own, resulting from hours of research and exegetical study. It is my intent to draw a biblical theology chapter by chapter through the book of Genesis that places the events of the narratives into the broad picture of the entire Bible, demonstrating the progressiveness of theology and the sufficiency of every Word of Scripture. It is my prayer that these articles are helpful to those seeking a better understanding of the book of Genesis and of the Bible as a whole. The sermon series and other resources can be found at www.fbcroxana.com.

Abram was introduced in Genesis 11 as the son of Terah who accompanied his father on a move from Ur to Canaan. They never made it to Canaan, but settled in Haran, approximately halfway between Ur and Canaan. Perhaps Abram had heard stories from his ancestors (all of whom he may have met, all the way back to Shem) about the seed promise given to Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:15. As the people were multiplying over the face of the earth, separated by the development of borders and languages, finding the expected seed would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Now the focus of the text narrows from a worldwide perspective to one man and his family. As revelation progresses, it will become clear that God is singling this family out in order that through them all the peoples of the earth would come to the knowledge of God and that through them would come the seed who would bring redemption.

¹ Now the LORD said to Abram,

“Go forth from your country,

  And from your relatives

  And from your father’s house,

  To the land which I will show you;

² And I will make you a great nation,

  And I will bless you,

  And make your name great;

  And so you shall be a blessing;

³ And I will bless those who bless you,

  And the one who curses you I will curse.

  And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”

God told Abram to leave his country, family, and all he had ever known in order to travel to a different land and sojourn there. He promised Abram that in that land He would make him into a great nation, bless him and make his name great. This is everything that the people at Babel claimed for themselves as they sought to make a name for themselves by building a large tower and empire that was in opposition to God. But God thwarted their efforts. Now, He Himself intended to bless Abram and make his name great by enlarging him through his descendants. He also promised to make Abram a blessing to all the families of the earth, that if they bless him, they would be blessed; but if they curse Abram, God promises to curse them.

⁴ So Abram went forth as the Lord had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. ⁵ Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his nephew, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the persons which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; thus they came to the land of Canaan.

Abram obeyed God’s direction and left for Canaan, going out by faith in the promises he had received from God.

⁶ Abram passed through the land as far as the site of Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanite was then in the land. ⁷ The LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” So he built an altar there to the LORD who had appeared to him.

God told Abram that the land of Canaan would be the land that He would give to his descendants. In response to the promise of God, Abram worshipped by building an altar.

⁸ Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the LORD and called upon the name of the Lord. ⁹ Abram journeyed on, continuing toward the Negev.

Abram continued to move through the land, and continued to worship the LORD as he moved his camp from place to place. He did not stop for long, but he continued south toward the Negev.

¹⁰ Now there was a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to sojourn there, for the famine was severe in the land.

Just as his descendants would do in a few generations, Abram escaped a famine by going to the land of Egypt. Egypt was able to survive famines, because they were not dependent on rain. They were dependent on the Nile. As long as the Nile flooded to the necessary levels at the right times, Egypt was safe from famines.

So far, Abram has been a man of exemplary faith. He left the safety and security of his home and relatives to obey the word of the LORD. Lest it be thought that Abram himself was the seed of the woman, the Messiah, we are shown his fears. Over the years, God would strengthen Abram’s strength and dependence on Him, but at this time in his walk with the Lord, he takes matters into his own hand.

¹¹ It came about when he came near to Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “See now, I know that you are a beautiful woman; ¹² and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. ¹³ Please say that you are my sister so that it may go well with me because of you, and that I may live on account of you.” ¹⁴ It came about when Abram came into Egypt, the Egyptians saw that the woman was very beautiful. ¹⁵ Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. ¹⁶ Therefore he treated Abram well for her sake; and gave him sheep and oxen and donkeys and male and female servants and female donkeys and camels.

We can identify both with Abram’s faith and his fears. And we can be encouraged that God strengthens our faith and allays our fears. Let us be confident that God will be faithful to complete his work in us.

That Abram passed Sarai off as his sister is at least a half-truth, for she was his half-sister (Gen 20:12), but his lie brings about near-disaster. Pharaoh takes Sarai as his concubine (not bad for a woman of 65). God still blessed Abram by prospering him in the land of Egypt. But He would not allow the mother of the son of promise (Gen 17:15-27) to be taken away from Abram.

¹⁷ But the LORD struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.

Somehow Pharaoh perceived that the great plagues that were happening were on account of Sarai. Scripture also blanks how he put it together that Sarai was Abram’s wife. Perhaps God spoke to Pharaoh in a dream as He did to Abimelech (Gen 20).

¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for my wife? Now then, here is your wife, take her and go.” ²⁰ Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.

So Abram is sent out of the protection of Egypt, but he leaves with more wealth than when he went. Even so, God would bring Abram’s descendants out of Egypt, striking Pharaoh’s house and all of Egypt with great plagues, and they would plunder the Egyptians as they left, so that they increased greatly in wealth. God emphatically demonstrated that He intends to bless Abram and his descendants in all respects.

Conclusion

God had plans for Abram and his family. He would not allow His promises to be thwarted, for what He was/is going to accomplish through Abram and the Jewish people is of ultimate importance. Through the Jews came the words of God, as the prophets received and recorded the word of the LORD. Through them came the Law and the covenants. Through them came the Messiah. One day, all will be fulfilled when Jesus Christ (the seed and Messiah) sits on the throne of David, his father according to the flesh, over the people of Israel in the Promised Land. He will rule over all the world, and His kingdom will be one of peace. Whoever blesses Him will be blessed, but whoever curses Him will be cursed.

Ruling alongside Jesus in that Kingdom will be those who are being called during this age to eternal life through believing in His name. They are saved from sins, and will never be condemned, for Jesus Himself paid the penalty for their sins. At His first coming, Jesus was born of a virgin and lived a righteous life, obeying God in everything. He was obedient also to the point of death on a cross where He was the lamb slain for the sins of the world. Whoever believes in Him will be saved and will be blessed with incomprehensible blessings in this age and in the one to come.


Read Chapter 11
Read Chapter 12

Genesis 11 - The Confusion of Languages

This article is part of a series of articles that resulted from my time preaching through the book of Genesis. The commentary on the passage is my own, resulting from hours of research and exegetical study. It is my intent to draw a biblical theology chapter by chapter through the book of Genesis that places the events of the narratives into the broad picture of the entire Bible, demonstrating the progressiveness of theology and the sufficiency of every Word of Scripture. It is my prayer that these articles are helpful to those seeking a better understanding of the book of Genesis and of the Bible as a whole. The sermon series and other resources can be found at www.fbcroxana.com.

In Genesis 3, Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, bringing the curse of sin and its fruits into the world. God was gracious to promise a Redeemer who would come to crush the head of the serpent and deal with the sin problem. The depravity of man was shown to be a massive problem that evoked God’s righteous judgment when God wiped out all of the earth in the Flood except for eight people who were righteous in His eyes. As these eight repopulated the earth, Genesis 10 highlighted the fact that people were spreading out over the earth into isolated people groups, leaving the reader to wonder how the Seed of the woman, the Redeemer, will be found when He appears. Chapter 11 presents another aspect to this problem: the language barrier.

¹ Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. ² It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

The people did not obey the LORD’s command to spread out over the entire earth, but grouped themselves together and built a city. In this city, they also built a tower that would reach high into the sky. The point of this was to make a name for themselves instead of being scattered throughout the earth. In defiance against God, they wanted to establish their own name over His.

⁵ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶ The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.

Just as in Genesis 6, the LORD comes to observe what the people were doing. He observed that the people, acting in concert, were capable of great evil. At this time, all the people spoke the same language and dialect (v.1 – same words). So God said,

⁷ Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.

God, in an inter-Trinitarian dialogue (“let Us”), decided to confuse the language of the people so that they could no longer act in concert. In doing so, God scattered them throughout the earth, just as He had commanded them to do. So the people spread out according to their families, tribes, and nations. According to Genesis 10, this occurred during the days of Peleg.

This also creates another problem for the Seed promise of Genesis 3:15. God promised that the Seed of the woman would come and crush the serpents head, taking care of the sin problem that Adam and Eve had brought into the world. Genesis 10 introduced the problem of the people multiplying exceedingly and spreading out over the earth, and now Genesis 11 amplifies the problem, for the people groups cannot even understand one another. The problem is not simply finding the Messiah in a sea of people spread out over the entire earth. The problem is intensified by the confusion of languages, for how will the peoples communicate to one another when the Messiah is found? The remainder of the book of Genesis (and the Old Testament) begins to answer this question.

To answer the question of how the Messiah will be found in a world full of people who are separated by language and geography, Moses narrows our attention to one family.

¹⁰ These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood; ¹¹ and Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and became the father of Shelah; ¹³ and Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Shelah, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber; ¹⁵ and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷ and Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and he had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu; ¹⁹ and Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug; ²¹ and Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and he had other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor; ²³ and Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah; ²⁵ and Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and he had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.

Now we meet Abram, who was descended from Shem. What is notable about this genealogy is that Abram was born when all of his ancestors in this list were alive. Shem would have been 390 years old when Abram was born. In fact, according to this genealogy, Shem would have outlived Abram by 35 years. Not only that, but Abram would have been 60 years old when Noah died!

Whether it was genetic or a result of the Post-Flood atmosphere, lifespans decreased dramatically, so that by the end of the list, the lifespans are only around 200 years. Abram himself only lived 175 years. By the time of Moses, the expected lifespan was between 70 and 80 years (Psa 90:10).

²⁷ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran; and Haran became the father of Lot. ²⁸ Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Here we are introduced to characters that will be important to the upcoming narratives. Out of all the masses of people on the earth, the Scripture now narrows down to the family of Terah.

³¹ Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans in order to enter the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran, and settled there. ³² The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.

It is recorded here very simply that Terah had plans to travel to the land of Canaan, but stopped for some time in Haran, which was about halfway on their journey. Terah died there in Haran.

Conclusion

Now the focus will be on Abram, who will receive a covenant from God to receive a kingdom: land, people, and kings. Most importantly, the promised Seed would come through the line of Abram to one day reign over the people in the land and bless the whole earth. Of course, it must be apparent that before He could take the throne, the Seed would have to deal with the sin problem. He did this when He came, being born of a virgin, and dying on the cross at the hands of godless men in order to pay the penalty of sins and make full atonement for all those who believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins. This, of course, is Jesus the Son of God. To all those who trust in Jesus Christ, He gives eternal life and citizenship in His kingdom which is to come.

Read Chapter 10

Read Chapter 12

Genesis 10 - Handout

Genesis 10 – The Table of Nations

I.                    Introduction (10:1)

II.                 The Family of Japheth (10:2-5) – Moved North and West into the Indo-European Parts of the World

a.       Gomer – Modern Ukraine and Southern Russia (Josephus records some descendants as the people of Galatia.

                                                              i.      Ashkenaz – Scandinavia and Germanic Tribes. The origin of the term Ashkenazi (e.g. Ashkenazi Jews.)

                                                            ii.      Riphath – Unknown. Josephus identifies them as the Riphasians (Gr. Paphlagonians) north of Galatia along the south-central coast of the Black Sea.

                                                          iii.      Togarmah – Theodoret (and many modern scholars identify him with Armenia. Josephus identified Togarmah with Phrygia (S of Galatia).

b.       Magog – Unknown. Many interpreters favor a northern location (cf. Ezek 38). Josephus lists them as the Scythians who lived in modern-day Ukraine, Southern Russian, and Crimea.

c.       Madai – Josephus records that the Medes (NW Iran) were his descendants.

d.       Javan – Greece (The term “Ionian” is a derivation of Javan).

                                                              i.      Elishah – Josephus calls them the Aeolians, who occupied an area on the west coast of modern Turkey, and whose most famous city is Smyrna (modern Izmir).

                                                            ii.      Tarshish – Exact Location Unknown. Probably near Greece. Often identified with ships and the sea (cf. 1 Kings 10:22; 2 Chron 9:21). Most familiar as where Jonah was fleeing (Jon 1:3; 4:2).

                                                          iii.      Kittim – Associated with Cyprus.

                                                           iv.      Dodanim – Possibly the Island of Rhodes in the Aegean Sea

e.       Tubal – Unknown. Josephus suggests Tubal’s descendants were in Iberia (Spain/Portugal). Theodoret and Jerome identified them with Italy. There are many Catalan traditions of Tubal building cities in Spain. Modern scholars also list modern Georgia/Southern Russia, but this is solved by the fact that Georgians are descended from Iberians.

f.        Meshech – The Mushki People. Josephus identifies Meshech’s descendants as the Cappadocians. There is also a legend identifying Meshech as the founder of Moscow.

g.       Tiras – Much conjecture. Unknown. Josephus identifies them as Thracians (modern-day Albania, Macedonian, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia; a large area north of Greece).

III.              The Family of Ham (10:6-20) – Moved South into Africa and East into Asia

a.       Cush – Ethiopia – Family Spread Throughout Arabia

                                                              i.      Seba – The Sabeans who lived in the Arabian Peninsula (Modern Saudi Arabia, Yemin, and also in Sudan). Possibly to be identified with Sheba.

                                                            ii.      Havilah – Josephus identifies them with the Getuli who lived in modern Algeria.

                                                          iii.      Sabtah – Josephus identifies them with the Astaborans which seems to be an area in eastern Sudan.

                                                           iv.      Raamah – Josephus identifies them with the Ragmeans in western Ethiopia.

1.       Seba

2.       Dedan

                                                             v.      Sabteca

                                                           vi.      Nimrod – (‘Rebel’) Became the first king of a kingdom in the land of Shinar.

b.       Mizraim – Egypt. About many of Mizraim’s sons and their lands, Josephus writes, “we know nothing of them besides their names; for the Ethiopic war. . .was the cause that those cities were overthrown.”

                                                              i.      Ludim

                                                            ii.      Anamim – Unknown. An Assyrian text during the reign of Sargon II calls the Egyptians “Anami.”

                                                          iii.      Lehabim

                                                           iv.      Naphtuhim – Middle Egypt?

                                                             v.      Pathrusim – Pathros (Upper Egypt)?

                                                           vi.      Casluhim – Progenitors of the Philistines

                                                         vii.      Caphtorim

c.       Put – Josephus identifies his land with Libya

d.       Canaan – The Promised Land – Many of these are known through the biblical text, but locations are uncertain because the Jews overthrew their cities.

                                                              i.      Sidon

                                                            ii.      Heth

                                                          iii.      Jebusite – Inhabited Jerusalem before 2 Samuel 5 (About 1000 BC).

                                                           iv.      Amorite

                                                             v.      Girgashite

                                                           vi.      Hivite

                                                         vii.      Arkite - Libanus

                                                       viii.      Sinite

                                                           ix.      Arvadite - Aradus

                                                             x.      Zemarite

                                                           xi.      Hamathite – Epiphania

IV.              The Family of Shem (10:21-31) – Spread out in the Middle East

a.       Elam – Susa of Persian Empire. Daniel and Nehemiah lived there. Modern Day Iran.

b.       Asshur – Assyria.

c.       Arpachshad - Chaldeans

                                                              i.      Shelah

                                                            ii.      Eber

1.       Peleg – The dispersion from the Tower of Babel happened in his days.

2.       Joktan – According to Josephus, his sons inhabited from Cophen, an Indian river, and in part of Asia adjoining to it.

a.       Almodad

b.       Sheleph

c.       Hazarmaveth

d.       Jerah

e.       Hadoram

f.        Uzal

g.       Diklah

h.       Obal

i.        Abimael

j.        Sheba

k.       Ophir

l.        Havilah

m.     Jobab

d.       Lud - Lydians

e.       Aram - Syrians

                                                              i.      Uz – cf. Job 1:1. According to Josephus, Uz founded Trachonitis and Damascus.

                                                            ii.      Hul – According to Josephus, Hul founded Armenia.

                                                          iii.      Gether - Afghanistan

                                                           iv.      Mash – According to Josephus, these are to be identified with the Charax Spasinu who dwelled somewhere along the north coast of the Persian Gulf

                                                             v.       

V.                 Conclusion (10:32)