Bible read.

[Giaour]

Genesis 11

1. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3. And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

4. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6. And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

13. And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15. And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat lot.

28. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

[Giaour]

I think THIS is where God made the different races. By scattering the people and confounding their language, He caused them to be different colors. Different areas required different skin types. Just a theory, dont beat me up over it.

[Openly Curious]

That certainly is an interesting theory Giaour as I've heard alot of theories regarding this.

So here is my theory on it. This may sound a little odd but I think it makes sense over all. God made man from the dust of the ground we are told and if you look in the dirt of the ground it is there you will find all different colors of dirt red, yellow, black, white, etc. And if you'll recall the story of Jacob and Esau how that one was red and hairy while the other wasn't. I think that God formed the races within the womb and they were born that way because Adam who was the first man was formed from the dirt of the ground which had all colors in it to start with if that makes any sense. I just think God formed each of the races within the womb as He saw fit as in the case you see with Jacob and Esau the red man came forth. As far as the chapter 11 goes it was the language that was confounded at this time it is where all the languages in the world came about.

What had happened was back in chapter 10:8-10 you read about Nimrod who was a mighty hunter he was well known for being a mighty hunter and he was the one who built Babel in the plain of Shinar. And it seems in Genesis 11:1-9 that the people of the earth at that time had gotten a mindset to stop spreading throughout the earth like God had wanted them to continue to do and they all got together down there in Shinar and seemed to be looking to Nimrod to lead them in a revolt against God as I have heard according to history that because Nimrod was a mighty hunter that the people's plans were to build a tower in order to make a name for themselves as scripture does say in vs 11:4 so they wouldn't have to be scattered all over the earth like God wanted them to be. But history goes that they planned to build this tower all the way up to where God was at and they planned to shoot arrows at God to overthrow His will in the earth. Now weather that is true or not I do not know but it was interesting to say the least.

But the Lord did come down and see what the people of the earth was a doing and said they would be nothing that the people of the earth wouldn't try to do in vs 11:6 that they would dream up in there imaginations if they all stayed together and consulted one another so in vs 11:7-9 God confounded their languanges so they could no longer understand one another and couldn't finish this wicked plot and schem of theirs to build a tower all the way up to heaven where God was at.

I like the language it uses in vs 11:7--Go to "let us" go down, this shows the eternal Godhead working in unity together as it was back in Genesis 1:26

Some other verses to ponder in relation to Genesis 11:7-9

Genesis 42:23

1 Cor. 14:2, 11

Luke 1:51; Psalm 33:10-15

Genesis 10:25, 32 -- for in his days was the earth divided.--and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

(I take this to mean that in vs 25 that all the earth was one land mass at that time and it was in the days of Peleg the earth was literally divided or seperated into various continents at that time. And then in vs 32 that God used the sons of Noah to create all the different nations that are in the earth as they spread abroad and created the different nations in the earth. So this is where our continents and nations derived from or at least that is the way it appears to me)

1 Cor. 14:23

Well anyways this is my two cents. I wish I could have seen this thread at the beginning in Genesis chapter one. Sorry I must have had my head in the sand or something but this is a good work you have begun.

blessings

OC

[chattymae]

Ok, I am on board. Caught up all in one day. A lot of reading, and a lot of begatting in one day....lol. It will be easier one at a time. Looking forward to todays. God Bless ya all.

Edited September 18, 2006 by chattymae

[Giaour]

Genesis 12

1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.

8. And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.

9. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

10. And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

11. And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

12. Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife: and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

14. And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

15. The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

16. And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels.

17. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

18. And Pharaoh called Abram and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife: now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

20. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

[Giaour]

I wonder if God punished Abram for lieing about Sarai being his wife and not his sister.

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

I love this line!

It says FAMILIES not nations.

[Openly Curious]

I don't think God punished Abram because Sarah was really his half sister so he didn't technically tell a lie and she was also his wife. He did it to protect himself as they would have killed him in order to take Sarah his wife cause she was a very beautiful women and they would have killed him and taken Sarah to give to the Pharoah's pleasure.

Also I can see how God bless Abram as they didn't have any provisions to start with as they was a famine in the land and that's why they had to go down to Egypt to start with and when the people of Pharoah saw Sarah they gave Abram all kinds of livestock for her. And in the latter verses you can see when Abram left Egypt he still had all those provisions and livestock they gave him. vs 15-20

I like the wording also as it goes from making nations to making families once the earth got all populated. I imagine it was extremly hard back in those days.

OC

[Giaour]

Great points OC

[Giaour]

Genesis 13

1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

3. And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai;

4. Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.

5. And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.

6. And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.

7. And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land.

8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

9. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left.

10. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar.

11. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

13. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

14. And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward:

15. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever.

16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.

17. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

18. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.

[Giaour]

I like it that Abram thought it better to seperate himself from Lot rather than to live in strife.

It seemed to be a mutual and pleasant departure. They didn't leave as enemies but rather as brothers.

Abram also let Lot choose his direction.

A way for Lot to determine his own future and fate.

Abram didnt automatically choose the best land, he let lot decide.

Also it shows that things are not always as they seem.

The land was beautiful and plenty that Lot chose but underneath, it was wicked and full of evil people.

Abram took the less plentiful of the land and yet it would be a blessed land for him and his people.