Section 2 Chapter 6 – Noah’s 3 sons
Just what kind of thinking prevailed pre-flood so that only eight individuals would survive the global reset. The population had been growing for 1650 years, this would be the time period from the fall in the Garden of Eden, when Adam made his fateful decision to follow his wife’s deception and satan’s ploy. Some calculate more specifically 1656 years, which is based on the linages found in the Scriptural record however, I believe 6 of those years allotted to Adam’s life were 6 years before their fall. This would mean the first pair had 6 years together in paradise before sin abounded and I have a specific reason for my calculations. Despite the 1650 years of sinful rebellion, the population must have grown significantly. Some estimates place the population at nearly one billion. Certainly, the planet was ripe for such a number, but I’m thinking in was somewhere in the millions. Whatever the exact number something was totally off-the-charts to end up with only 8 survivors.
We may not ever know the exact reasons however, one thing is crystal-clear, the philosophy of the day, spouted from the men of renown (Gen. 6), was the antithesis of God’s revealed will and they were certainly not at all alarmed by Noah’s sounding of a warning message. Sin caused more than just a separation from God, it caused a disregard and apathy towards Him, a total mistrust (faith) of Him. And so, the natural course without a knowledge and interest in the wisdom and knowledge of God, is a path to destruction. The vast majority choose the wrong path and probably because so many were going in that direction, let that be a profound lesson to us all.
The disbelieving world, those choosing to be outside of the Ark of safety, would be sweep away in the waters of the flood, reducing the world population to 8 souls. Two would die within 350 years from this new re-start, the 3 remaining families would be responsible for repopulating our world. “And the sons of Noah that went forth of the Ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth… These are the sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread (Gen. 9:18,19).
Jack Zavada in his 2020 article lays out a summary of the boys:
“Shem means “fame” or “name.” He fathered the Semitic people, which included the Jews. Scholars call the language they developed Shemitic or Semitic. Shem lived 600 years. His sons included Arpachshad, Elam, Asshur, Lud, and Aram.
Japheth means “may he have space” or “may God enlarge.”
Blessed by Noah along with Shem, he fathered seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. Their descendants spread to the coastlands around the Mediterranean and lived in harmony with Shem’s people. This was the first hint in the Bible that the Gentiles would also be blessed by the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Ham means “hot” or “sunburnt.” Cursed by Noah, his sons were Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. One of Ham’s grandsons was Nimrod, a mighty hunter, king over Babel. Nimrod also built the ancient city of Nineveh, which later played a part in the story of Jonah”.
The sons of Noah were born in a pre-flood environment and were close to the age of 100 when the flood event occurred, so they would of necessity been assisting Noah with the construction and preparations of the ship and deluge to follow. Scripture seems to always refer to the boys in this order: Shem – Ham – Japheth. However, Scripture also lists Japheth as the oldest (Gen. 10:21), “Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born”. And Ham as the youngest (Gen. 9:24), “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger (margin – youngest), son had done unto him”.
Typically, the oldest son was referred to first and would become the priest of the family in the father’s absence. This is not the case here and likely for the reason that Noah’s middle son, Shem, reflected more closely his father’s character and spirit. Shem’s descendants would settle around the middle east which would eventually lead to the establishment of Jerusalem. It is through Shem’s line that the Messiah would come and so in makes sense that he would be regarded above the other two.
The meaning of Hams name seemed to play a role in the direction they migrated too. As they spread out, they would follow bodies of water in their migration, the Euphrates would lead them all the way into what would become the continent of Africa. The post-flood climate in this area would demand a darker skinned people just to be able to tolerate the extreme heat. Ham’s descendants would literally become a sunburnt people.
Scholars have tracked the migration of the various tribes that developed and indeed they fulfilled the scriptures by eventually spreading throughout the world. This was in keeping with God’s foreknowledge that when we congregate to close together problems and conflicts develop. God would ensure that we would spread out and thus by simply interrupting the universal communications after the flood event, the necessary migration would take a giant step forward.