Sons Of Ham - Africans, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Libyans, Etc. Discussion

Our Scripture Of The Week Is:

Psalm 51:10 KJVS
Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

David's heart had been full of lust for Bathsheba, murderous plans for Uriah, and rebellion against God. He desired a new heart, one that was full of love for God and abhorrence of evil. Sin in his heart had brought him nothing but guilt, grief, and remorse. He wanted spiritual heart surgery that only God could perform.

Jesus cited the heart as the source of either good or evil. He explained: "The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" (Luke 6:45).

Jesus also said that "everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Matthew 5:28).

David, therefore, had committed adultery with Bathsheba in his heart before the physical act of adultery took place. He needed a new heart. But he also asked the Lord to renew a right spirit within him (Psalm 51:10).

He wanted the kind of spirit that would obey the Lord at all times.

Our topic today is:

Sons Of Ham – Africans, Ethopians, Egyptians, Libyans, Etc. Discussion

The people and nations that come from Ham will become central to Israel's story, as told in the rest of the Bible.

Ham's descendants include the peoples who will eventually become Egypt, the great nation that will play a pivotal and ongoing role in Israel's history. Ham's grandson Nimrod (through Cush) will establish the powerful kingdoms of Babylon and Assyria, who will both become enemies of Israel.

And the descendants of Ham's son Canaan will eventually be (mostly) driven from the Promised Land by the Israelites. These peoples and nations will become integral to Israel's story and they are familiar names to this day.

Ham's first generation of sons included Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Each of their lines will be described in the following verses.

Egypt is also known as Mizraim and the original Hebrew text uses the word Misra'yim here. In ancient literature, the names of nations and their founders were often used interchangeably, such as with Edom and Esau (Obadiah 1:8–10).

Since the purpose of this passage is explaining the origins of the various ancient kingdoms, many English translations simply state this name as "Egypt."

Following the events surrounding the Tower of Babel described in Genesis 11, the descendants of Noah's grandson Cush settled in Arabia and in areas of present day Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia.
They include Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Sabteca, and Raamah, along with Raamah's sons Sheba and Dedan.

Initially, we're told that Nimrod was the first on earth to become a "mighty man" or "champion," indicating that he was a powerful and renowned ruler. The Hebrew phrasing here can mean that Nimrod simply "began" to be mighty, or it can be interpreted to mean that he was the first person to attain that level of might.

Interestingly, in many English-speaking countries, the term "nimrod" is used to imply that a person is stupid, slow-witted, or incompetent. Various popular artists in the 1920s and 1930s sarcastically referred to specific hunters as "Nimrod," and popular culture eventually overtook the original implications of the term.

Nimrod is described as a mighty hunter before the Lord. Some scholars suggest that perhaps Nimrod is associated with the kings of Mesopotamia or Assyria, who valued hunting as a greatly honored skill. It's unlikely that the phrase "before the Lord" means that Nimrod was faithful to the true God. It's more likely to mean that Nimrod was famous on the earth, where everything is before the Lord.

In fact, some scholars believe that Nimrod's skill in hunting might