Book Club: An Outline of Bible History Revised Edition by Bailey Sutton Dean A.M. Outline of Bible History, An. Chapter Two the Post-Diluvian Period, b.c. 2348-1921. from the Deluge to the Call of Abraham, Genesis 8:10-11:26. 1. The Second Beginning (Genesis 8:15-9:29): The ark became the second cradle of the race. From it Noah and his family went forth to a new probation. a. The Altar and the Covenant.—Noah had preserved seven of each kind of clean animals. His first act after leaving the ark was to build an altar and make an offering unto God of every clean beast and fowl. In acceptance of his worship, God makes a covenant with Noah, and seals it with his beautiful bow of promise. The main points of the covenant were: (1) no more flood; (2) man to multiply and replenish the earth; (3) animal food confirmed; (4) the death penalty for murder enforced the sanctity of human life. b. Destiny of Noahs Sons.—The closing incidents of Noahs history are his being overcome with wine, Hams shameless disrespect, and Shems and Japheths more modest conduct. The natural contrasts became the occasion of Noahs prophetic portrayal of their diverse destinies: (1) the curse of Canaan (Hams race), (2) the blessing of Shem, (3) the enlargement of Japheth. 2. Genesis of the Nations (Genesis 10:1-32).—The tenth chapter of Genesis is the oldest authority on ethnology. It gives the descendants of Noahs sons and their distribution. (1) Ham had four sons, who settled the lower Euphrates and Nile valleys. The earliest civilizations were Hamitic. (2) Shems five sons settled south-western Asia. They were ancestors of the Chaldeans who conquered the earlier Hamitic race on the Euphrates; the Assyrians, Syrians, Arabians and Hebrews. These founded the next great group of empires. (3) Japheth had seven sons, from whom sprang the Medes, Greeks, Romans, and all the modern races of Europe. They scattered widely, were in Obscurity for thousands Of years, but for twenty-four hundred years have been the ruling races of the world. 3. The Tower of Babel and the Confusion of Tongues (Genesis 2:1-9).—Centuries pass. Population begins to concentrate at Shinar, upon the lower Euphrates. They begin a great tower with the double purpose of making a great name and preventing dispersion. Gods plan, expressed in his covenant with Noah, was for them to distribute and people the earth. Their sin was not in their tower, but in their hearts. God defeated their purpose by confounding their speech, which dispersed them; whence Babel, confusion. 4. The Generations of Shem (Genesis 11:10-26).—These verses contain the counterpart and culmination of the fifth chapter. That gives the line of Seth from Adam to Noah inclusive. This follows the line of Shem from Shem to Abraham inclusive. Each line contains ten names. These genealogical Tables are much more than family registers. They connect closely with the primary purpose of Bible history. That purpose is to trace the rise and development of true religion. That development follows the line of promise which is also the line of men Of faith. The promised Messiah is the star of hope at the dim and distant end Of the line; while Enoch and Noah and Abraham are the heroic figures that rise above the dull level Of these early centuries.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 09:01:10 +0000
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