Chapter 12 of Genesis
Sermon notes by Pastor Jim Jester
January 9, 2022
Scripture Reading: Isaiah 51:1-2
Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.
Introduction
Picking up from where I left off in the previous sermon, there are some other points to make concerning “the curse of Canaan” in Genesis.
The term “uncover nakedness” in Scripture usually refers to sexual contact, thus in this case, Ham had relations with his mother. Whatever actually happened in Genesis 9:20-25 we cannot be sure, but is left to speculation. It is true that when people are drunk and possibly passed out, they can easily be taken advantage of in a sexual way. But it is hard to prove if either Ham or his son Canaan did something like this. It could be that this case may not have been a sexual event at all.
Another theory is that when Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” (v. 22), the whole undertone was that he was in rebellion against his father, i.e., he more or less delighted to see his father in this drunken condition, and then went out and told his two brothers in such a way as to bring a reproach and disrespect to his father Noah. Of course, Shem and Japheth took a garment and covered the nakedness of their father. In other words, they had respect for him.
And Noah awoke from his wine, and he knew what the younger son had done [derision/disrespect] to him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be… (Gen. 9:24-25)
Now notice, he didn’t say “cursed be Ham.” But he refers on down to the youngest son of Ham and says, “Cursed be Canaan.” Why? Why would Noah curse Canaan when it was actually Ham who made fun of Noah’s condition? Look at what Noah said next:
And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. And God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. (Gen. 9:26-27).
This is a prophecy. Much of prophecy is predicated upon observation of human characteristics. One can pick out characteristics and can more or less make a determination of what a person’s future holds. Noah, no doubt, had observed in Canaan many of the traits of his father, and he knew that these traits would lead to a certain kind of future. In other words, when Noah found out Ham’s derision (from his two sons), he realized “there goes the neighborhood,” referring to Canaan. This was the prophecy of a three-way split in the family; a very plausible theory.
Therefore, the curse was passed to Canaan, who became the father of those nations that established the land of Canaan; the Amorites, the Jebusites, etc. This land later was given as God’s promise to Abraham and his seed.
Easton’s Commentary says of Canaan:
The fourth son of Ham (Gen. 10:6). His descendants were under a curse in consequence of the transgression of his father (Gen. 9:22-27). His eldest son, Sidon, was the father of the Sidonians and Phoenicians. He had eleven sons, who were the founders of as many tribes (Gen. 10:15-18).
Noah’s prediction of favor upon Shem and Japheth, and the lower status of Ham and his progeny may be taken as an outline of the religious history of the world:
- The Shemitic races are the source of religious light to the rest. “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem.” The Shemitic revelation is the true gospel.
- The Japhetic races are the great colonizers and populators of the world, overflowing their own boundaries, dwelling in the “tents of Shem,” both as inquirers after Shemitic light and in friendly co-operation with Shemitic (Christian) civilization.
- The Hamitic races are “servants of servants” unto their brethren, partly by their degradation, but partly also by their achievements. The Phoenician, Assyrian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, and Canaanitish races, although not always in a lower political state than the rest of the world, have yet been subdued by Japhetic and Shemitic conquerors, and handed down their wealth and acquisitions to the Northern, Western, and Eastern world.
Genesis 10:6-20 lists the nations of Ham. Most of these were trouble for Israel, especially those nations descended from Canaan. The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature indicates that Ham was swarthy and sun-burnt, the first to invent idols; the most degenerate. The Cyclopedia says:
One of the most prominent facts alleged in Genesis 10 is the foundation of the earliest monarchy by the grandson of Ham in Babylonia. “Cush [the eldest son of Ham] begat Nimrod the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel [Babylon], and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar” (vs. 6, 8, 10). Here we have a primitive Babylonian empire distinctly declared to have been Hamitic through Cush.
The chosen family was warned many times about the daughters of Canaan. Isaac charged Jacob in Genesis 28:1, “Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan.” Eventually, all the Canaanites were destroyed. Judging by these facts, it appears there was some “bad seed” in the progeny of Ham.
The race now split along three racial lines, the Lord God begins again with one man (Abram) from the family of Shem.
The Abrahamic Covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant is fundamentally one of the most important covenants of the Bible. No subject in all of Scripture is more packed with spiritual power and truth than this. From Genesis 12:1 to the final word in the Revelation Letter of the Lord Jesus Christ, this covenant provides the framework around which the narrative of the Bible is written. From Genesis 12 forward, there is no subject in the Bible that does not impinge upon the covenant which our God made with father Abraham. The total summation of God’s Word is woven into the fabric of this Abrahamic Covenant.
The terms of the Abrahamic Covenant are unconditionally the presuppositional foundation upon which the revelation of God unfolds. The covenant made with Abraham is the trunk of the biblical tree. All the other branches of truth are connected in some way to this trunk. Without clear understanding of the Abrahamic covenant, the complete Word of God is diminished in its power and meaning. (Dan Gayman, Covenants of the Bible, p. 75-76)
Abraham and Sarah are two of the most important characters in Scripture. God, by way of Isaiah, says this of them:
Give ear to me, you who are searching for righteousness, who are looking for the Lord: see the rock from which you were cut out, and the hole out of which you were taken. Let your thoughts be turned to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth: for when he was but one, my voice came to him, and I gave him my blessing, and made him a great people. (Isa. 51:1-2, BBE)
From the genetic stock of Abraham and Sarah have come the millions of people numbered in Israel. Abraham and Sarah were pure Caucasians of the race of Adam.
After the confusion of language at Babel and the scattering of the nations of men, Genesis gives us the genealogy of Shem. So at this point we have Adam, Noah and Shem as the progenitors of our race. Chapter eleven ends with the family of Terah, of whom Abram came. It is evident from this genealogy that other Adamic families of the line of Shem were dispersed across the globe. I don’t know if anyone has done it, but it would be an interesting study to know where these families went and what nations came from them.
God’s call and promise to Abram:
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. (Gen. 12:1-3)
This is a passage often ignorantly applied to the “Jews.” We have heard talk show hosts and fundamentalist preachers say we must be careful what we say about the jews because of this promise of God to Abram. Some of them have said the reason Germany was so devastated in World War II was because of how they treated God’s chosen people (jews), thus fulfilling the promise of God to Abram. But who wasn’t devastated by that great world war? Let it be clarified here and now that the reason Germany was so devastated in the world wars was because the sons of Satan (the jews) were able to force Christian Americans to fight and kill their Christian brothers in Germany. Without an ounce of scholarship, the vast majority of these “pro-Israel” spokespersons apply to the serpent seed all the promises and blessings that God has given to His seed.
In chapter 12 through the middle of chapter 18, God deals with Abram, the name which means “exalted father.” In these chapters, God speaks several times of the descendants, or seed, of Abram, until His covenant in chapter 17, where He changes Abram’s name to Abraham, which means the “father of a multitude of nations.”
And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. 3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, 4 As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. 5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. (Gen. 17:1-6)
The Christian should understand three points regarding this covenant:
- God never made nations out of the jews. Even after these few thousand years, the jews have remained a parasitic people, never many nations. The jews have always lived off the life-blood of their host nation. Germany has been the classic example of this milieu (anomaly), and now the parasite has overwhelmed America. Jews cannot be identified with this covenant.
- The jews are not known for their kings. They have never had a king, which therefore, further disqualifies them regarding the covenant.
- God has never been King over the jews, nor do they accept Him. Proof of this is seen in their rejection of Jesus as the incarnation of God.
This covenant promise of many nations was not to come through Abraham’s son Ishmael through Hagar (Sarah’s servant), for this line was rejected. God insisted that Sarah would bear a son, “…Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.” (Gen. 17:19) So, at the ages of 100 and 90, Abraham and Sarah had the promised child and named him Isaac. Through this seed line, God chose to carry on his family. God said to Abraham, “…it is from Isaac that your seed will take its name.” (Gen. 21:12, BBE) From this statement, the term “Saxons” comes. It is the slang form of the term “Isaac’s sons.”
Selective Seed
In Genesis chapter 24, we come to a curious statement by Abraham that should be very plain to anyone of the humanistic judeo-Christian church which believes in the equality of all races. It must not be taken lightly:
And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, “Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh: 3 And I will make thee swear by the LORD, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell: 4 But thou shalt go unto my country, and to my kindred, and take a wife unto my son Isaac.” (Gen. 24:2-4)
If all races are equal, then why did Abraham direct his chief servant not to take a wife for Isaac from the Canaanites? Was he a racist? He said to go to his country and kindred (race) and obtain a wife for Isaac. An additional clue that this has to do with race is that the vow was taken with his (likely Eliezer) hand under his thigh. Under the “thigh” is very close to the male genital organ (and possibly a euphemism for it). The word “testicle” means “a witness,” and in the ancient Roman Empire only the man could “testify” or be a witness in court. Thus, our word “test” came to be.
Abraham knew God’s will was to continue a pure seed line through Isaac. This could never come to pass if Isaac had married a racial Canaanite. Isaac must marry a pure Adamite! The farther we drift from the purity of our race, the farther we are from a right relationship with God.
If God was particular in choosing a wife for Isaac, He was even more particular with the next generation. Isaac married Rebekah and she conceived.
And the LORD said unto her, “Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.” (Gen. 25:23)
Esau was the first born, then Jacob. When they were grown, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. His birthright did not seem important to him at the time. He had a hedonistic attitude! Further proof of this is that he married two Hittite wives (q.v., Gen. 26:34-35), which brought “grief of mind to Isaac and Rebekah.” God saw the character of Esau.
The time came for Isaac to pass on his blessings to the next generation, traditionally through the oldest son, which was Esau. But Rebekah overheard her husband’s call for Esau and thought to herself: no way, not with these heathen wives; Jacob deserves this blessing. So she has a plan, since Isaac had become blind she sends him disguised as Esau. Perhaps she also recalled what God had told her many years ago about two nations and that the elder shall serve the younger. Thinking he was speaking to the eldest, Isaac blessed Jacob with all the promises of God. Of course, all this soon came to light and Isaac said to Esau, “Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy blessing.” (Gen. 27:35)
Before dying,
Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto him, “Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Padanaram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother’s father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother’s brother.” (Gen. 28:1-2)
Once again, we have the parents selectively finding a pure seed to continue the covenant family of God. Praise God that Rebekah had her fill of Canaanite women and did not allow her son to marry one. She also encouraged Isaac to send Jacob to Paddan-aram. Surely the humanist must see that God did not, and does not, see all men and women on earth without huge differences.
There in Paddan-aram, Jacob lived and served his uncle, Laban, for twenty years; and married Leah and Rachael. His wives and their two maids bore him eleven sons. His twelfth son, Benjamin, came after Jacob moved back to Canaan. Unfortunately, Rachael died because of complications from the birth. These sons became the twelve tribes of Israel. The name “Israel” was another name for Jacob; “And he [the angel] said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen. 32:28)
This verse also has racial significance — “…power with God and with men.” The word “Israel” means to “rule with God.” It is evident from the text, that Jacob/Israel was to rule men as well. Thus, Israel is to be God’s servant race, seeing to it that society is run under a Godly order. Although Israel is called a “servant” (to God), she does not hold a low position of authority, she holds a very high position as governor of the kingdom. Obviously, this philosophy cuts to the very heart of humanism/globalism; and should forever lay to rest the blasphemous teaching that “we are all created equal.” The humanist has a quarrel with God, not with White folk.
Identity
The Bible gives an account of proving one’s identity when a remnant of Israel returned to Jerusalem in 537 B.C.
And these were they that went up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addan, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses, and their seed, whether they were of Israel…[then they were listed, and it says] 62 These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they deemed polluted and put from the priesthood. (Ezra 2:59, 62)
The Bible indicates that knowing who we are is important. It is instinctive for a nation to know who they are, where they came from and where they are going. We know that the word Israel and Israelite have their origin in Jacob, no one else. Without a link to our past we lose our way spiritually and ultimately lose our nation/race.
The judeo-Christian should note that both the title and the context of the book of Hebrews identify Hebrew Christians as Israelites, not jews. Chapters 8-10 identify them as people who have accepted Jesus and the New Covenant. The book of James likewise, “to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad” (James 1:1) was written to Christian Israelites. The books of Acts, Romans, and Revelation refer to “Jews” (should be Judeans) who accepted Jesus. Acts 4:4 says 5,000 men believed, but the previous chapter refers to them as “men of Israel” (the word “Jew” does not appear). Acts 18:24-28 tells us about “a certain Jew named Apollos… instructed in the way of the Lord.” Romans 1:16; 2:9-10 tells us that the gospel was preached “to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” It also speaks of “a Jew, which is one inwardly” (2:28-29). Finally, Revelation 2:9; 3:9 refers to those who “say they are Jews and are not.” These various terms can be confusing to the Bible reader and one will likely lump these terms together as being synonymous. The confusion comes in when we identify “Jew” as it is used today, i.e., “Israeli” (from the Middle East), as compared to what the Bible truly means (Judaean or Judahite). These Israelis are a completely different ethnic group, in no way connected to biblical history other than their partial connection through Esau and the Edomites (q.v., Gen. 36).
The “Jews” spoken of in the verses above are converts to Christianity and no longer followers of Judaism. The word “Jew” in the above references is wrong – it is a mistranslation! It should have been more accurately translated (depending on its context), Judean (a geographic term – a person from Judea; not indicating any racial descent) or Judahite(a racial term – a person descended from Judah, the father of that particular tribe). Insert either of these terms into the above verses and it makes much more sense. These terms were the sole meaning and intent of our Bible over the centuries.
Esau’s genealogy is found in chapter 36 of Genesis, for God Almighty wanted Israel to know about the land of Edom and the beginning of our worst enemies, including the jews. Judeo-Christian, have you noticed that throughout the book of Genesis, we have not seen the word “Jew?” Neither Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or any of his twelve sons are ever called a jew.
Another group of Israel’s early enemies came from Lot and his two daughters (q.v., Gen. 19:30-38). After Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed Lot and his daughters lived in a cave. The daughters were distraught because they felt that there were no men in the area that would take them to wife. So they decide to get their father drunk overnight and have sex with him so they could continue the lineage of their father. The eldest one went first and the younger repeated the process the next night. Lot had no idea what happened. The two sons that resulted brought about the Moabites and the Ammonites, two tribes that brought much trouble to ancient Israel.
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him. (Judges 10:6)
Certainly not a very good legacy for Lot.
Conclusion
What is the forgotten doctrine of our age? The judeo-Christian world (and other “fundamentalists,” including the Answers in Genesis corporation) claims to support creation yet rely heavily upon a fast evolutionary theory that requires very little time – a little less than 300 years – to “create” the races! Then they turn around and contradict themselves by saying there are no races, for “races” are only “social constructs.” Judeos have their own various views about Genesis and mostly stress the first eleven chapters; but when it comes to chapter twelve and beyond, they practically ignore the book.
After all the race-related events in Genesis: the renovation, the fall, the flood, the confusion of language; something significant happens. God picks out one man, Abraham. This man, a descendant of Adam according to the genealogy found in the Bible, is chosen to become a great nation (or race) and who will be a blessing to all of Adam’s families (or nations). To modern readers who see the word nation, they think it means a political/geographic country because that is how it is used in modern culture. However, this is not true of the Bible. Words in the Bible such as family, kin, tribe, and nation carry with them a racial connotation. The Greek word for nation is “ethnos.” We get “ethnic” from the same word. From Strong’s Dictionary:
eth'-nos – Probably from G1486; a race (as of the same habit), that is, a tribe; specifically a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan): Gentile, heathen, nation, people.
The primary meaning of “ethnos” is race. Obviously, family, tribe, kin, and nation would also be of the same race. The other attached meanings such as “non-Jew” or “pagan” are irrelevant and not necessarily true. One must discover from the context what kind of nation is meant. Therefore, when God picks one man and says He will make him a great nation, He is making him a great race, not a political nation. When God says because of him all the families of the earth will benefit, He is speaking only of Adamic families (nations).
Later on, in Genesis 15:9-18, we see that God made a covenant while Abram was asleep. This is a significant event and one that is not recognized as an important doctrine for the Christian church. God made this covenant of His own will. Abram had nothing to do with it, at this point, for he was fast asleep. Therefore, the doctrine of the covenant should be the most important of all the doctrines of the church. This is what is missing in our age.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God. (Gen. 17:7-8)
The key here is that this covenant is forever, and it only applies to the racial descendants of Abraham. Modern Christianity should note that when they promote a God who loves everybody, wants unity with everyone, promotes fellowship with all races, and supports a multi-cultural society instead of a Christian one, they have more in common with the events at the Tower of Babel than they do with the events surrounding the covenant.
In my opinion, this is why the covenant is such a forgotten doctrine, and why so many “fundamental” (not) churches tend to ignore the significance of God’s choice of one man beginning in chapter 12 of Genesis. Many of the leaders of these churches are interracially married, and therefore have mixed congregations. No wonder they do not care about such an exclusive covenant. It would contradict everything they teach! The concept of God’s covenant with a particular race is essential to the understanding of the Scriptures. It cannot be ignored or forgotten without drastic repercussions for the nation.
I have some questions for judeo-Christians regarding our Scripture reading from Isaiah:
1. Who are those that the prophet is referring to, who are seeking righteousness, seeking God, and seeking His kingdom?
2. Who is referred to as “increased” and “a great people?”
3. Who are they that are told to look to Abraham and Sarah in order to remember their origin and race?
The answer to all these questions is Israel, the covenant people of God. They alone truly seek righteousness and our Lord’s kingdom (Matt. 6:33); they alone became a great people, both in number and accomplishments (Deut. 4:6); they alone are directed to keep their race pure by remembering where they came from (Isa. 51:2).
It is time for the Christian church to reject the doctrine of Racial Reconciliation and Critical Race Theory; for it is an abomination to our God. It is time, once again, like our forefathers, to embrace Biblical Race Theory.