Genesis 6

Chapter 6. The Beginning of the Hebrew RaceGen_11:16 to Genesis 12:9The time has now come when humanity is to make its third departure. The first was under Adam, the head of the entire race. The second was the Covenant with Noah. And now the third begins with Abraham, the 10th generation after Noah, who becomes the head, not of the entire race, but of a separate people, chosen out of all the families of men, to be the special depository of divine truth and the witnesses for God and the true religion throughout the coming ages; and also to form a clear genealogical line for the advent of the promised Seed.

Section I: The Origin of the Hebrews

Section I—The Origin of the HebrewsThe Ancestry

1. Their most distant ancestor was Eber, the grandson of Arphaxad, and the great-great-grandson of Shem, on the one side; and on the other the sixth lineal ancestor of Abraham. The name Eber has given to the race their name of Hebrews. It signifies emigrant, or one who has crossed the river, the reference being to those who had come over the river, or from beyond the river Euphrates, westward and southward. The Call of Abraham
2. The call of Abraham was the next step. It came to him in Mesopotamia, where he had already acquired valuable possessions and occupied a position of influence. The remains which recent excavations have discovered have shown that the region of Mesopotamia, from which he emigrated, had at that time reached a very high degree of culture and wealth. And Abraham’s city, Ur, was one of the two chief centers of Chaldean civilization. His ancestors, however, and family, were idolaters, as we learn from Joshua 24:2, “Long ago your forefathers… lived beyond the River and worshiped other gods. But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the River and led him throughout Canaan, and gave him many descendants.” God came to Abraham in a special divine revelation, as we learn from the words of Stephen (Acts 7:2): “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’” This call was accompanied by the promise, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:2-3). Separation
3. This call involved Abraham’s separation from his country, from his friends, and from his home. And henceforth the word separation is one of the keynotes of the patriarch’s life, as it is the specific idea of the Jewish people. Separated first from all his former ties, he is afterwards separated, step by step, from every earthly thing: from the inhabitants of the land to which he came; from his nephew Lot; from Hagar and Ishmael; and even at last, from the child of promise, in the final sacrifice of his dearest affections and hopes on the altar of Moriah. He was thus the fitting ancestor of a people who were to embody the idea of separation from the world and dedication to God as His peculiar people. Covenant
4. Next followed the Covenant promise, which included three great particulars, namely: First, the literal seed, which should be as numerous as the sand upon the seashore (Genesis 13:16), meant, undoubtedly, to be the type of the earthly seed. Secondly, the great Personal Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ and His spiritual offspring, including the children of faith to the latest generation, signified by the stars of heaven (Genesis 15:5). Thirdly, the land of Canaan as an everlasting possession (Genesis 13:15). This is yet to be literally fulfilled in the restoration of Israel, and their eternal possession of the land of covenant promise (Genesis 15:18, Genesis 17:8, Genesis 24:7, Genesis 26:4; Numbers 34:12; Deuteronomy 34:4; Acts 7:5; 2 Chronicles 20:7; Psalms 112:2).

Section II: The Purpose of God in the Separation of the Hebrew Race

Section II—The Purpose of God in the Separation of the Hebrew RaceA Peculiar People

1. To preserve and educate a holy and peculiar people for Himself. The original purpose of God, announced in the first promise of redemption that there would be enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, had been constantly disregarded hitherto. The race of Seth had soon become blended by intermarriage with the godless world, and the deluge was chiefly caused by the wickedness which resulted from this intermingling. In a little while the memories of that awful judgment were obliterated; and a knowledge of the true God, and a life of faith and godliness, seemed likely to perish from the earth in the overflowing tides of human selfishness and ungodliness. It was, therefore, indispensable that some portion of humanity should be separated from the mass, if the true religion was to be preserved. This was for the next 2,000 years the design of the Jewish Theocracy, and this is the specific character of the Christian Church. Its very name, “Ecclesia,” means “called out,” and it ceases to be the Church of Christ when it becomes conformed to and mingled with the ungodly and evil world. The Jewish people are still separated from other nations as one of the miracles of divine providence, for the further ends which are still to be accomplished in connection with the divine plan. The Oracles of God
2. To receive and preserve the oracles of God, the revelation of His will, His covenants with His people, His written word, and the ordinances of revealed religion. The service rendered to future ages in this regard by the Jewish people is invaluable and incalculable. This the apostle mentions as the chief advantage of the Jews, that “they have been entrusted with the very words of God” (Romans 3:2). We owe to them the very records we are now studying, and the later Scriptures which they so reverently guarded and so zealously transmitted to succeeding generations. To them also we owe the divine law, the types and ordinances of divine worship, the holy Sabbath, and, indeed, all we know of the true and living God. The Lineage of Christ
3. To furnish an ancestry for the Lord Jesus Christ in a clear prophetic line which could be a divine credential to His heavenly character and true commission. This is the highest distinction of the Jew—that he has given to us the ideal Man, the true Head of the human race, and the Hope of all races, the Desire of all nations; and that by his own sacred writings and the genealogical tables of the past, he has made it certain to us that this Man is the very one that has been promised from the beginning, as the true Head of humanity and the very Heir of Israel’s highest honors and royal throne. Let us never forget, as we look upon the Jew, that he is the brother of Jesus of Nazareth and has given to us our precious Savior and dearest Friend. The Light of the World
4. To be not only the depository of truth and religion for future times, but also the light of the world in their own times, and throughout the dark ages of the Old Testament. From Jerusalem went forth all the light the world possessed for 10 centuries. It is probable that the teachings of Moses had a much wider influence on surrounding nations and on the ideas and philosophies of ancient heathen people than can be now fully traced, so that much of what seemed an approximation of truth in the writings of ancient literature was a reflection of the divine light which shone through God’s ancient people. The influence of their national life in its purer days under Joshua, Samuel, David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Josiah and the results of the teaching and example of their great prophets, and even isolated individuals, such as Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Daniel in Babylon, Esther in Persia and others like them were immeasurably important, and influenced the history of these nations to a degree of which we can form some idea from the place which Daniel occupied in Babylon, and the regard which Cyrus showed the captive Jews of his mighty empire. An Object Lesson to the Ages
5. To be a monument and an example of God’s faithfulness, holiness, and mercy, and of the principles of divine government as exemplified in His dealing with this nation through all the period of their history. Even in their bitterest trials they are the divine epistle read and known of all men, showing forth to the world and the future the righteousness of God in His judgments upon sin, the faithfulness of God in fulfilling His promises, and the long-suffering and patience of God in bearing long with sin and making His grace more signal in the light of man’s provocations and unworthiness. What invaluable lessons and illustrations of truth and righteousness have been given to the world in the record of His dealing: with the patriarchs; with Israel in their redemption from Egypt and their life in the wilderness; with Joshua and those that entered into the land; amid the declensions of His people during the 400 years of the Judges; with Saul, David and Solomon; amid the innumerable vicissitudes of the later stages of the divided Hebrew kingdom down to the captivity of Judah and the dissolution of Israel, and still later in the varying scenes of the Captivity and the Restoration. How vividly can we see the great principles of divine righteousness, the fruits of sin, the glory of true living, the mercy and faithfulness of God, as this ever-changing kaleidoscope of human character and divine government moves before the eye of faith as a drama of life and a living object lesson of a moral and spiritual teaching. Not even the New Testament contains anything like the fullness of character teaching and personal illustration of the principles of divine truth, which we find in these records. The New Testament contains the principles which they illustrate much more fully and clearly. But we must go back to the Old for their vivid and varied illustration. Not for themselves did these ancient generations move across the stage of time. They have been made a spectacle unto angels and unto men. For us they erred and suffered. For us they lived and died. And even their sins and sorrows have become an invaluable heritage of holy instruction for us “on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

Section III: Subdivisions of Hebrew History and Subsequent Developments

Section III—Subdivisions of Hebrew History and Subsequent DevelopmentsThe history of the seed of Abraham has been variously divided by different expositors and historians. The following seems to be as simple and complete as any analysis that can be made: First—The Patriarchal Stage, in which God dealt with them as with a family. Second—The Mosaic Period, in which God emancipated them as a race. Third—The Theocratic Period, from Joshua to Samuel, in which God dealt with them as a nation of which He was the direct King. Fourth—The Monarchial Period, from Saul to Solomon, in which God constituted them into a human kingdom. Fifth—The Divided Monarchy, from Rehoboam down to the dissolution of Israel, and the captivity of Judah, in which God suffered them to be broken into two kingdoms, and yet maintained covenant relations and dealings with both, through His prophets and messengers. Sixth—The Captivity during a period of 70 years, in which God dealt with them in discipline as disobedient people. Seventh—The Restoration Period under Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and the centuries following, which might be called the time of Expectation. Eighth—The Messianic Period, during which God came to them personally in His promised Son, fulfilling the prophecies of the past and offering to them the blessings of the gospel, only to be rejected and crucified and compelled to reject His apostate people and deliver them over to the ages of judgment and sorrow, which have since been completing the record of their strange and eventful history.

Section IV: Present Condition of the Hebrew Race

Section IV—Present Condition of the Hebrew Race1. They are still preserved as a separate people, distinct from all other races; and manifestly preserved in their isolation for some great, divine purpose yet to be fulfilled. 2. Notwithstanding ages of unparalleled cruelty, injustice and inhumanity, they remain in undiminished numbers, one of the most vigorous races of the human family. Indeed, they are rapidly increasing, and their population today probably equals that of their most prosperous history at any period in the past, while their influence and wealth are preeminently beyond proportion as compared with the nations among whom they dwell. They are the leaders in literature and journalism in many of the European nations. They are the financial kings of the world, and they are compelling the respect, and even fear, of the Gentile communities where they are scattered abroad. 3. They are distributed in almost every nation under heaven, as an evident part of the divine plan in their future destiny. Thus they touch all the springs of modern government, know all the languages of earth, have access to all the channels of human life and influence. Should they be converted to Christianity, there is no instrumentality on earth that could so suddenly and effectually be made available for the evangelization of the entire world. 4. The great leaders of the nation still remain in unbelief, growing still more persistent in their antagonism to Christianity, or their indifference to any truly spiritual religion, and yet remaining steadfast to the faith and traditions of their ancient covenant. 5. According to the divine Word there remains and has ever existed during the Christian centuries, a little remnant according to the election of grace; a few out of the many who from time to time are led to turn from unbelief and accept the true Messiah. This number has been considerably increased in recent years. And several truly remarkable movements of entire communities toward the Christian faith have been among the most marked signs of our own times, and anticipation of the day when the entire nation will look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn with evangelical repentance and true Christian faith.

Section V: Future Prospects

Section V—Future Prospects1. They are yet to be restored to their own land, and inherit according to the Abranamic covenant the possession which was given as an eternal and inalienable patrimony (Romans 11, etc.). 2. They are also to be converted to the true Messiah and to accept Him whom they crucified, as their King and Lord (Zechariah 12:10). 3. They are to be severely tried in the furnace of persecution and suffering in the last days, and a large portion of the race will perish in the fearful ordeal (Zechariah 13:9; Daniel 12:1). 4. They are to be delivered by the personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and to be restored during the millennial age to the sovereignty of the world as the queen of the nations, under Christ Himself, their personal and visible King. And all the glories of David’s and of Solomon’s throne will be fulfilled in a peaceful, righteous and happy millennial age, during which they themselves will doubtless be employed as the divine witnesses and instruments of testimony and salvation to the world, and so through them “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring” (Genesis 28:14). (See also Zechariah 8:13; Romans 11:26, etc.)