Lists and God's Dominion: Genesis 10
All things are under the dominion of God. There was an old TV show called The Facts of Life. The lyrics of the theme song started with “You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both, and there you have the facts of life.” The good events of life – the mountaintop experiences – are under the dominion of God. The bad moments – the valleys of life – are also under the dominion of God. In every experience we have in this life, God is walking with us, right beside us.
The sons of Noah disperse. As their families move around to find resources, communities grow. Once they grow beyond the regions’ ability to support them, they move a bit and make a new settlement. It’s easy to follow rabbit trails of who went where and set up what community.
It’s not necessary, however. There are some general themes to be learned regardless of how deep we go. Lineage chapters give a great sense of the overall picture.
For example, this chapter reminds us of the power of God. This genealogy comes at the heels of the flood story. God threatened to wipe out all of creation. Yet, in the very next chapter after the flood story we hear about how the earth filled up. God can completely start over and still make His Word true.
This story shows God’s power over the entire creation. As populations spread across the globe, God is still aware of them. He knows Shem’s line, Ham’s line, and Japheth’s line. As civilization leaves the Fertile Crescent and heads into Europe, Asia, and places afar, God’s awareness goes with it. There is no escaping God’s power to know His creation.
Reading through these verses, familiar names crop up. We hear mention of the Canaanites, Amorites, and Philistines. These people will plague the development of the Hebrew people. There are names like Babel, Sodom, and Gomorrah. These places were filled with evil we’ll soon study in Genesis. There is mention of cities which become significant nations in Babylon and Assyria.
Knowing what we know about nation groups like the Canaanites, Assyrians, and Babylonians and the amount of trouble they would be for the Hebrew people, it is easy to wonder why God didn’t end the line before it could begin. That is a very slippery slope to go down, however. At what point does a nation’s good outweigh the bad? At what level is putting up with a kingdom’s flaws worth the gains the people make? Many of the troublesome nations made technological advancements that helped human civilization along. Should an entire people group be condemned because the leaders have a particularly warlike attitude? Even more, does God not use the Canaanites, Babylonians, and Assyrians to refine His people?
God is all-powerful. There is nothing He does not know and there is nothing He cannot use. All things can be used by God. All things are under the dominion of God.
