What did he say

DEVOTION

GENESIS

WHAT DID HE SAY

Gen 10:6-20

6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Mizraim, Put and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush was the father of Nimrod, who grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; that is why it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10 The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh, in Shinar.   11 From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah 12 and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Mizraim was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, 14 Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, 16 Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17 Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, 18 Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered 19 and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

NIV

Another who begot who from the line of Ham, the son who had disrespected his father, Noah and whom Noah cursed his son Canaan that he would be a slave to the others. Yet Ham had many other sons who did not have that curse upon them. So what do we learn from this line of descendants? For a starter there is one man that appears who God saw fit to make a commentary regarding him. This man, Nimrod, grew to be a mighty warrior on the earth. We know little about him, as his name only appears here and in 1 Chronicles where it says the same thing about him. Our scholars and historians have made more of this man then the Bible tells us about him. Some say he was a very bad man. But here in this text we are told he was a mighty hunter before the Lord. From the text we have to believe Nimrod walked with God and this is why he was singled out to have a commentary about his life. Although our scholars spent much time determining which lands and nations come from each of the descendants, it would be a good lesson for us to observe this statement about Nimrod. All throughout the scriptures we find various men whom God makes a commentary about. For example we already have seen him say that Noah found favor in his eyes. We know he said he counted Abraham's faith as righteousness. We are told that David was a man after God’s own heart. Isaac is another man whom God declared he would make his covenant with. We could find many men whom God said something about, but the point is this. Will God say something about us? What would he say? Would he say: there is a man of faith? Would he declare that this is a man who believed God? Would he say, this man wanted his own way? We know he could certainly say, this man accepted my Son. This is a man whom I can call my child. This is a man who will be a co-heir with my Son, Jesus. This is a man, although not perfect in his humanity is a man after my own heart. This is a man in whom I am well pleased. These are all commentaries that would be great to have told about us. But what is the true commentary? Which would he say about us? Maybe he could say we are a mighty warrior before him, a hunter of souls. So often we are concerned about what other people say about us. When in all truth we should be concerned what God would say about us. Sometimes some people might think we are a little fanatic about our faith. We get too passionate when we talk about God, about Jesus, about the truth. Some would say we are closed-minded to new ideas, new doctrines, and new concepts regarding the scriptures. Some would say we get too preachy. Although we are told that Jesus grew in favor with both God and men, he spent his time showing men God.

Luke 2:52

52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

NIV

We too should show men God. This is our calling from God, our command to go out into all the world proclaiming the gospel. Is this something God would say about us? Are we doing his command? Yes, we should live a life before others which brings glory to God. Yes, it is important in a sense what others think of us because we represent God, we are his ambassadors in a foreign land. Yet in the final analysis it is about what God says about us? It is not about what man says, but what did God say.