WHO SEPARATED THE "RACES"? Genesis 5-9

Below are some of the highlights from Jehovah’s dealing with Noah, a 
preacher of righteousness, who found  favor  in God’s  sight.  To get a
complete picture of these events read chapters 5 through 9 of Genesis.

"And God saw that the wickedness of  man was great in the earth, and 
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil contin-
ually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and
it grieved him at his heart.  And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom 
I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the 
creeping thing, and  the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have 
made them.  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." 
                                        Genesis 6:5-8.

     "And behold, I even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to 
destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and 
every thing that is in the earth shall die.   But with thee will I establish 
my covenant; and thou shall come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and 
thy wife, and thy sons wives with thee."  Genesis 6: 17-18.

"And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark, 
for  thee have I  seen righteous  before  me in this generation.  In the six 
hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month,  the seventeenth day 
of the month, the same day were all the fountains of  the great deep bro-
ken up, and the windows of  heaven were opened. And the rain was upon 
the earth forty days and forty nights.  In the selfsame day entered Noah, 
and  Shem,  and  Ham,  and  Japheth, the sons of Noah,  and Noah’s wife, 
and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark. And all flesh died 
that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of  beast, and 
of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth and every man.  All 
in whose nostrils  was the  breath of  life, of  all  that was  in the dry land, 
died."                                       Genesis 7: 1, 11-13, 21-22.
                                                                              

     It is clear from reading these passages that the sons of Noah and their 
wives populated the whole earth from “scratch.”  Read Genesis 9: 18-19 
for the clear statement concerning this. “And the sons of Noah, that went 
forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japeth: and Ham is the father 
of Canaan.  These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole 
earth overspread.” We must deduce from these narratives from the Word 
of  God the fact of  the earth  being  populated by a single people of which 
Noah was  head.  There  were no other  people on the earth.  There are no 
suggestions of  racial  division  in  the Holy Scripture, and the word race in 
the  Bible  always  refers  to  a contest,  never to a  people.   Even the best 
“secular” dictionary I have found refers only to  the human race as a given 
and other references have to  do with geography,  color,  and genetic char-
acteristics from  living in  close proximity,  rather  than a separate "race."  
So,  according to extensive study and  reflection on the matter there is but 
one  conclusion.  (As I see it)   Racial  labels,  connotations and  prejudices
are a concoction of  people of  ill  will seeking  to divide mankind into sepa-
rate groups for their own nefarious  purposes.  There  is this,  however;  it
is clear as  mankind  became numerous after the flood and joined together
to  build the Tower at  Babel,  the Lord God confused their  languages and
with this mankind went in different  directions.  This is covered in Genesis
11: 1-9.  Would  it not  be  hilarious to  go into work tomorrow and find the
employees  speaking several different  languages as  they try to get  some-
thing done?  No way the tower would be built under these conditions.

     In Scripture there are instances of "curses" placed on individuals and
groups.   To the best of my understanding, these "curses" were removed
by  our Lord Jesus Christ during his  life  here on  the earth  through  His
sacrificial death on the cross, His burial,  His  resurrection and  ascension
back to the Father.  The reason he came to earth in the first place was to
deal with the "curse" of SIN in the life of His people.

     One aside, concerning my own background with reference to this mat-
ter.  My Godly parents did not display any of  the “racial” prejudice ram-
pant on this earth during my  lifetime and before.  Our  home atmosphere 
encouraged full acceptance of others according to their character.  After 
Scripture became my very bread, my understanding in the matter became 
clear. The Lord God does not see a difference in people groups or “race,” 
so how can I.  There is also this; The constitution of  this  nation does  not 
make a  difference  in ethnic,  color,  physical or  cultural  differences.   A 
citizen is a citizen with full rights and privileges, but it seems we have got-
ten it wrong on many fronts, and I will,  under God,  make  it a  mission of 
my life to make sure “ethnic" prejudice in all it’s forms shall not be a part 
of my life and to use any platform afforded me to inform my  brothers and 
sisters who inhabit this planet of the truth of this critically  important way 
of perceiving and relating to those who might be somewhat different from
me.                                    They are in the majority.

     In Ephesians 4, we find in reference to the church,  or body of  Christ; 
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of 
your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, 
who is  above all,  and through all,  and  in you all.  But to  each one of  us 
grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." (vs. 4-7)

     One other note;  There are people in my part of this great country who 
believe, sincerely, in separation of the "races."  Some are,  as I am,  belie-
vers in the Lord God and  Holy Scripture.  At one time,  this belief  had an 
influence in my life, but  training from  Godly  parents  kept  me from ever 
being unfair to a person  because  of  perceived differences.   In  my  mind, 
there were  reservations  about how close one  might  be to  a  person who  
was different from me.  The  idea  of  marriage  between people who were 
unlike in  certain  ways  was  thought to  be unwise.   This was  pure ethnic 
prejudice.   Because of this, there  is  an understanding, on my part, of one 
who might harbor the same prejudice that influenced me.  This piece is not 
offered to alienate anyone,  and if  your  understanding  remains  different 
from  mine,  please  communicate  your  reasons with  me,  with awareness
of my conviction and knowledge that I do not have a corner on truth.                       
 don porter, sr                                                 jlrsbnch@msn.com...

     In retrospect,  all of life, as I see it, is a process of  growth.  There will 
be many changes in  thought patterns,  attitudes and  relationship skills as 
we mature in a life centered on Jesus Christ and His Word.  If we neglect
this Word and fail to make  it's principles basic to our  understanding,  we 
will  become stagnant,  the changes our  Lord would make for our benefit 
will  be retarded, and we will fall  in with folks who drift  through this  life 
without purpose.  We will then fail to accept the changes for the better of 
ourselves, friends and family.  God Bless you as you stay in the Word and 
become all you were meant to be in Christ Jesus.  

       Understand this:   Nothing written in  this  blog is considered by this
blogger to be a definitive exposition of the Scripture referenced. There is 
no way we may even grasp the main facets of the Mind of Christ as recor-
ded in His Word  and for a person to set  himself to be some authority on 
the  Bible is ludicrous.  We are  disciples, or learners  and are, hopefully, 
led by the Holy Spirit of God.   I ask your constant  indulgence, and com-
ments are always welcome.    

      Thanks for reading.                              edited... donporter 7.17.16