Family trees branch into all forms of personalities, physical looks, unique abilities and talents, moods and aspirations.  Take a look at your own family tree and you’ll begin to understand.  God created each one of us in a unique way, His “masterpiece” of humanity.  We have certain traits that carry on as we are “formed in the womb”. Who knows us better than our Creator?  No one!

 “You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
    and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
    Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
    as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
    Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
    before a single day had passed.”  Psalm 139:13-16, NLT 

Read the entire Psalm for encouragement today! God made you, knows you and loves you just the way you are now and cares enough not to leave you on your own but to grow and mature you.  There is no one like our God!

Let’s recap:  Our family tree originally began with Adam and Eve.  They made a choice to follow evil, giving up their blessed communion with God in disobedience to God, their Creator.  Though “made in the image of God”, Adam and Eve had free will to choose God or go against God (evil).  Their choice affected everyone in the subsequent family tree.  We are all born into sin because of the choice made by Adam and Eve. Sin ran rampant as the family tree branched over the earth.

After several generations, only Noah was right with God (righteous) and obeyed God.  That doesn’t mean he was perfect but his inclination was to do exactly what God told him to be and do.  God knows his heart.  God is drawn to hearts who abide in Him.  2 Chronicles 16:9 gives us an understanding of this attribute of God, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  God saw Noah’s heart in His search.

Because of Noah’s obedience and faith in God He found favor with God.  Noah and his family were saved as The Cleansing by God was done to rid the world of evil that plagued humanity.  God provided salvation for Noah and his family.  Now the family tree begins to branch out again through the sons of Noah.  Highlighted are names and places that will be mentioned later in the Story of God through his created humanity.  Because of free will to choose, some will obey God and follow Him and some will not.

“We love God because He first loved us”, John teaches us in his gospel account of Jesus.  From a place of pure love, God knew from the beginning of time, that He would send His Son, a part of Himself, to earth to save us once and for all for all sin.  God’s Plan of salvation is Jesus, His Son.  “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, the final sacrifice to pay for all sins.” (John 3:16, NLT)

No more floods, as promised by God.  There will be ways back to God through animal sacrifices as we will learn throughout the Old Testament with specific instructions from God.  But the Ultimate Plan will be Jesus who will lay down his life to pay for our sins.  We must hold these thoughts in our minds as we learn the culture and ways as God’s chosen replenish the earth.  Choices will be made—good and bad—the family tree will reflect those choices along with the consequences.

Dear Friends, be encouraged.  Cling to Truth:

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2:10)

Noah’s sons individually begin putting branches on our family tree.  They did what God told them to do, “Reproduce, Prosper”!  Here are the results…

Genesis 10, The Message

This is the family tree of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. After the flood, they themselves had sons.

² The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah.

^4-5 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, Rodanim. The seafaring peoples developed from these, each in its own place by family, each with its own language.

⁶ The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah: Sheba, Dedan.

^8-12 Cush also had Nimrod. He was the first great warrior on Earth. He was a great hunter before God. There was a saying, “Like Nimrod, a great hunter before God.” His kingdom got its start with Babel; then Erech, Akkad, and Calneh in the country of Shinar. From there he went up to Asshur and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and the great city Calah.

^13-14 Egypt was ancestor to the Ludim, the Anamim, the Lehabim, the Naphtuhim, the Pathrusim, the Casluhim (the origin of the Philistines), and the Kaphtorim.

^15-19 Canaan had Sidon his firstborn, Heth, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Later the Canaanites spread out, going from Sidon toward Gerar, as far south as Gaza, and then east all the way over to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and on to Lasha.

²⁰ These are the descendants of Ham by family, language, country, and nation.

²¹ Shem, the older brother of Japheth, also had sons. Shem was ancestor to all the children of Eber.

²² The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram.

²³ The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, Meshech.

^24-25 Arphaxad had Shelah and Shelah had Eber. Eber had two sons, Peleg (so named because in his days the human race divided) and Joktan.

^26-30 Joktan had Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab—all sons of Joktan. Their land goes from Mesha toward Sephar as far as the mountain ranges in the east.

³¹ These are the descendants of Shem by family, language, country, and nation.

³² This is the family tree of the sons of Noah as they developed into nations. From them nations developed all across the Earth after the flood.

HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Read, think, pray and live for God with His Holy Spirit guiding us.  We cannot do life without God for God is Life.  Because of Jesus, we are redeemed.  Believe and be saved. 

Lord,

I love how you love us, teach us with compassion, with a longing for your best in us.  I believe in You and what you say to be true.  I believe and trust that you desire your best in me for I am wonderfully “made in your image”.  Thank you for calling me and others who believe in your Son, your “masterpiece”. Some days we don’t feel like a work of art.  Then you work in us to make us a work of Your heart!  You are amazing.  Your love is amazing.  Continue to work on me for I’m not finished yet!

In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen!