genesis 10:21-32, the sons of Shem

Read Gen 10:21-32 at the Bible Gateway.

From this parsha we can see that the oldest son of Noah was Japheth, while Gen 9:24 showed us that Ham was the youngest. Why then in every place in Scripture, does it list the sons of Noah as Shem, then Ham, then Japheth? Brad Scott of Wildbranch Ministry explains why this is so in Bricks for Stones: the critical context of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The name Shem is shem in Hebrew, Strong's H8035, from the primitive root shem, Strong's H8034, meaning name, reputation, fame, or glory. “HaShem” or “the Name” is how Jews refer to God. They dare not speak His name YHVH for fear of blasphemy.

Shem is in the ancient Hebrew pictographs m?, the shin - mem. The shin is the two front teeth, so also sharp, press, eat, or two. The mem is water, so also chaos, might, or blood. The story the pictographs tell is that which issues through the front teeth mightily, so the verb form means to breathe, the concrete noun is breath, and the abstract concept is renown or reputation, as the breath of a man contains his identity. Thus shem also means “name” in Hebrew. This is a very important Hebraic concept. Our breath, thus our life, we learned from Gen 2:7, was breathed into us by Elohiym, Creator of heaven and earth, and then we became a living being. The Lord God is The Living Being, as His personal name YHVH (I AM THAT I AM) attests. He is the source of life, and He imparted His life to us on the day He created us.

So that shem means breath, while also meaning identity, name, renown, and reputation, tells the story that our name and our identity, and thus, our character, flows from our source of life who is God. When God says in His Word something about us, we need to listen and believe it for it is the truth, and not believe the lie the enemy tells us about ourselves. This is why the enemy lies about who we are! It is to dam up the river of the life out from which flows our identity and character! When we believe God in all His statements, we tear down that dam!

“For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Pro 23:7

Notice the Word does not say, as a man believes in his heart. This is on purpose, to tell us that it is by our thoughts, the fact statements that fill our minds, what we allow to dwell there and not dwell there, that creates belief in the heart. This is why we must fill our minds with His Word, through the entry way of our eyes (reading the Word) and ears (hearing the Word spoken and preached and sung)! It transforms our thoughts, which in turn transforms our belief!

Please also study Brad Scott's wonderful teaching on the mountain top meaning of shem.

Elam the firstborn of Shem was the father of the Elamites, who settled west of Shinar along the foothills of the Zagros Mountains. The Elamites intermarried with the Medians (of Madai of Japhath) and became the Persians (modern day Iranians and Jordanians).

Asshur the son of Shem was the father of the Assyrians who settled the northern reach of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley (Iraq).

Arphaxad the son of Shem was the father of the Chaldaeans who settled the southern reach of the Tigris and Euphrates river valley (Iraq). The Babylonians were Chaldaeans as Babylon was the principle city of Chaldaea. However, not every Chaldaean was also a Babylonian, but often the terms are used interchangeably to mean the same people.

Eber was a grandson of Arphaxad. He was the father of the Hebrews, as Eber's descendant was Abraham. Eber's two sons were Peleg and Joktan. Abraham was born of Peleg, while all the peoples who Joktan fathered settled the Arabian peninsula with the sons of Abraham by Hagar and Keturah (modern day Arabians).

Lud the son of Shem was the father of the Lydians, who were a powerful and wealthy nation for a time, before the advent of the Romans, in Asia Minor (modern day Lebanon and Turkey).

Aram the son of Shem was the father of the Aramaeans who settled Syria.

Now it is interesting to me that Noah said that Elohiym was the God of Shem, in Gen 9:26. And yet except for Israel, a small branch of Shem, all the nations which Shem produced - the Iranians, the Jordanians, the Iraqis, the Arabians, the Turks, the Lebanese, and the Syrians - are all today followers of Islam who have vowed Israel's destruction. This is the enemy's doing, to take that which is God's province and make it his special stronghold for all which is most vile in the eyes of God. The hatred the enemy has for God is overwhelming. That is why we want NOTHING to do with anything which is of the enemy, especially lies, his choice vehicle for wreaking theft, destruction, and death.

But I believe the prophecy of Noah tells us the end from the beginning, that YHVH Elohiym is the God of Shem. I believe a great revival is coming on all those people descended from Shem who are in bondage today to the lies of the enemy, and the Spirit of God will sweep through those nations and completely transform them. Their overwhelming love and self- sacrifice for Israel as God's beloved, after so many years of virulent hatred, will bear such witness to the world that God is God in heaven and on earth, that no one can deny His existence before His return. And this witness of love, coming as it will from Messiah Yeshua, will so shake Israel to its foundation, that the blinders will be removed from their eyes, and they will see that Yeshua is YHVH the Lord incarnate, the son of David and their promised Messiah. And then Yeshua will return. For Israel will be the last to come to faith, Paul tells us in Rom 11. The second to the last are the Muslims who hate Israel - they are the last nations on the face of the earth who have yet to hear the Gospel, for they have been closed until the time appointed by God. And as we are hearing, the time is now, and great revival is already pouring out on those lands and people!