In the previous chapters we have seen how God formed Israel, and called her out (separated her) for special blessings and purposes, but what of all the other nations?  What was their response to all of this? Did they rejoice in what God was doing or were they jealous? Did they cooperate with God’s plan or did they oppose it? Did they love the people of Israel or did they hate them?

Before we try to answer these questions let’s consider a basic principle that is important for understanding these matters; the significance of the concept and act of separation. If we read through the account of the creation of the world we can see that each stage involved a separation. First, light was separated from darkness, then the waters (seas) were separated from the firmament (land masses), then the plant life was brought forth (separated from the earth), and the lights of the heavens, the sun and the moon and the stars, were separated out in order to divide the light from the darkness, and to mark the day from the night and the seasons of the year. The animals were separated from the waters and finally mankind was separated from all other living creatures in that his role was to rule over them (Genesis 1:1-28). Indeed physicists today say that when our universe was formed matter was separated from antimatter and only because of their continued separation can the universe exist as we know it, because whenever a particle of matter and a particle of antimatter come together they annihilate one another3. Separation then would seem to be a fundamental and essential principle of creation, and without it we would not and could not exist. 

Throughout the history of God’s dealings with mankind we see that the act of separation continues and marks many significant events. Woman was separated from man (Genesis 2:22-23). Adam and Eve were sent out of the Garden of Eden and thus were cut off from the Tree of Life lest they eat of it and perpetuate sin and disobedience forever (Genesis 3:22-24). What is more, from this point forth we can see that human history very largely became the story of the separation of peoples. The first separation occurred when Cain, after he had killed Abel, was driven out from among his brethren and the presence of the LORD and he settled in the land of Nod, which means ‘wandering’, to the east (Genesis 4:16). He and his descendants became outcasts and wanderers, but they would all have been destroyed in the Flood in the times of Noah.

Noah and his family were separated out from the rest of mankind and rescued from the Flood (Genesis 6-8). Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, and from these three all the Earth was repopulated  (Genesis 9:18-19). Genesis chapter 10 tells us how the descendants of these sons established many nations.  It was from Noah’s eldest son Shem that the royal line leading to the Messiah-King was derived but not all of his descendants were part of that line. Shem’s sons were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram. It was through Arphaxad, his son Eber and his son, Peleg that the royal line of descent would pass (Genesis 10:22, Luke 3:35-36). What of the others? They founded the other Semitic peoples. Arphaxad’s eldest brother, Asshur, was one of the founders of the city of Asshur, which became the center of the Assyrian Empire that later conquered Israel and took captive her people. Research this to check

The descendants of Shem’s brothers, Ham and Japheth also founded many nations.  From Japheth the coastland gentile nations to the north and west came forth (Genesis 10: 2-5). From Ham came forth Cush (Ethiopia), Mizraim (Egypt), Put (Libya) and Canaan. One of Cush’s sons was Nimrod, the mighty hunter, and we’re told that the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad and Calneh in the land of Shinar (Genesis 10:8-11). He later went to Assyria and built Nineveh and other cities (Genesis 10:11-12). Thus Nimrod’s descendants not only founded the Babylonian empire but also played a part in the establishment of Assyria and Nineveh, all of whom later became fierce enemies of Israel. Mizraim’s descendants included the Caphtorim from whom came the Philistines, another thorn in the side of Israel for many years to come.

We have already seen how Canaan was cursed because of the sin of Ham. Here we are told that he gave rise to the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites and the Hamathites (Genesis 10:15-18) These were the Canaanite peoples who lived in the land that God was later to give to the people of Israel (Genesis 15:18-21) and they would be scattered (Genesis 10:18). It may seem unfair that these descendants of Canaan would be so treated but in Genesis 15:16 we are given a clue as to why God, in all righteousness cast them out of their land. When God spoke during the making of the covenant, He told Abram that he himself would not take possession of the Promised Land but rather it wouldn’t be until the fourth generation after him that his descendants would return and possess the land, because “the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete”. Here the term ‘Amorites’ is apparently used loosely to encompass all the occupants of Canaan. Moreover it seems clear that they were not being cast out from the land unfairly, but rather they were being punished for their ‘iniquity’.

After Abram and Lot came into the land of Canaan their possessions, flocks and herds became very great and the land was not able to support them both. Their herdsmen began to fight. Therefore Abram asked Lot to separate from him and with great generosity granted Lot first choice as to which part of the land he would settle. Lot chose the well-watered and lush Jordan Valley, leaving Abram the less fertile and comparatively barren high country of Samaria (Genesis 13:5-12).

Lot settled in the Jordan Valley and pitched his tent in Sodom. Now the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were extremely wicked and sinful and the LORD could not find even ten righteous people in them (Genesis 13:13, 17:16-33). When the two angels of the Lord came to Sodom and were guests in the house of Lot, all the men of the city demanded that Lot bring them out so that they could have sex with them. He refused and the angels protected him and prevented the men from entering the house (Genesis 19:1-11). Nevertheless the enormity of their sinful intent sealed the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plain. The next day God rained fire and brimstone, probably a volcanic event, on the plain destroying all except the small town of Zoar to which the angels had sent Lot and his two daughters to safety (Genesis 19:12-29).

Lot and his two daughters went out from Zoar and were living in a cave in the mountains. The two daughters, having lost their husbands in the destruction of Sodom, despaired of finding new mates. They therefore made their father drunk with wine and had sex with him without his knowledge. As a result they both became pregnant, the elder gave birth to a son, and called him Moab (meaning in Hebrew ‘from the father’, and the younger also gave birth to a son, whom she called Ben-Ammi (Genesis 19: 30-38). Moab was the father of the Moabites and Ben-Ammi the father of the Ammonites, who lived on the eastern flank of Israel across the Jordan River.

The next important separation from the royal line is that of Ishmael. Although he was Abraham’s eldest son Ishmael was born to his wife’s Egyptian maidservant, Hagar, as a result of Abraham and Sarah’s unbelief and lack of trust in God. He was not the son of the promises. When Abraham begged God to recognize Ishmael as his heir, God said,

No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.

And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes and I will make him a great nation.

But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year (Genesis 17:18-21).

It could not be clearer. Ishmael would be blessed and the father of a great nation but he was not to be the heir to his father’s covenant with God. That inheritance belonged to the legitimate, legal heir, the son of Abraham’s wife, Sarah, namely Isaac.

What would happen to Ishmael? The Angel of the LORD had spoken to Hagar concerning Ishmael saying,

He shall be a wild man;

His hand shall be against every man,

And every man’s hand against him.

And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren” (Genesis 16:12).

It seems that Ishmael would hate all others and they would all hate Ishmael. Why? I suspect that he would not have been terribly happy to be excluded from his inheritance as the eldest son. It is likely that he would have been extremely jealous and angry. Such strong negative emotions poison the soul and cause a man to become violent and aggressive – a wild man.

After Isaac was born conflict developed between Sarah and Hagar over their sons and Sarah pleaded with Abraham to send Hagar and Ishmael away. Now Abraham was reluctant because he loved Ishmael but God spoke to him saying,

Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of the lad or because of your bondwoman. Whatever Sarah has said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called.

Yet I will also make a nation of the son of the bondwoman, because he is your seed (Genesis 21:12).

So Abraham sent Hagar and Ishmael away into the wilderness near Beersheba. God watched over them and Ishmael grew and became an archer. When the time came his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt. They lived in the Wilderness of Paran in the southern Negev (Genesis 21:14-21). The genealogy of Ishmael’s descendants is recorded in Genesis 25: 12-18. It also says that he and his descendants dwelt from “Havila as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt as you go towards Assyria”. This region is understood to represent the general area of the Arabian Peninsula and Ishmael is considered the father of the Arabs.

Another separation occurred in the time of Abraham. After his wife Sarah died, Abraham took another wife, Keturah. She bore him six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan, who also dwelt in the Arabian Peninsula. Midian was the father of the Midianites who lived east of the Jordan River. Abraham also had other sons by his concubines. But we are told that he gave all that he had to Isaac. The other sons were given no inheritance but Abraham did give them gifts while he was still alive and sent them away to the country to the east (Genesis 25:1-6).

Isaac and Rebekah had two sons, Jacob and Esau. As we have seen previously, Esau was the elder but he sold his birthright for a bowl of stew, and then Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the blessing of the elder son. When Esau found out he was deeply distressed. He cried out with an ‘exceedingly great and bitter cry’ and begged his father to bless him also (Genesis 27:34). Isaac responded and said to him,

Behold, your dwelling shall be of the fatness of the earth,

And of the dew of heaven from above.

By your sword you shall live,

And you shall serve your brother;

And it shall come to pass, when you become restless, that you shall break his yoke from your neck (Genesis 27:39-40).

Esau was furious and determined in his heart to kill Jacob (Genesis 27:41). Again we can see the Cain principle at work. Esau allowed jealousy and anger to corrupt his heart and he became a man of hatred and violence as a result. Even his father prophesied that Esau would live by his sword, a violent and warlike man.

Fearing his brother’s wrath, Jacob fled to Haran to the house of his uncle, Laban. He took Leah and Rachel, Laban’s daughters, as his wives and many years later returned to his family and his country. In the meantime Esau had left Canaan and  was living east of the Jordan River. Before settling in the region of Shechem in Canaan, Jacob first crossed the Jordan and made peace with his brother, Esau (Genesis 27:42 – Genesis 33:20). Esau lived east of the Jordan, in the region known as Edom and Esau was the father of the Edomites (Genesis 36: 1-43).

We can see then that as God developed his plan and established the royal line of descent he separated out the chosen people, Israel, from all others. Abram (Abraham), who was a descendant of Shem and Arphaxad, was chosen by God to establish his holy people Israel. Abram and his wife Sarai (later renamed Abraham and Sarah) traveled from Ur and Haran in the company of Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, but Lot was not of the royal line either. Therefore he and his descendants were also separated out. The others all were sent or moved away to the lands to the east and north, and from them were descended many of the nations which would later become the enemies of Israel, among them the Canaanites, the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the Ishmaelites, the Midianites, the Amorites, the Edomites, the Philistines, the Assyrians, the Persians, the Greeks and the Romans. It is my thesis that these nations were all established in bitterness and jealousy as they were excluded from the chosen line and allowed these strong emotions to develop into anger and hatred and ultimately violence, according to the Cain Principle already discussed. A graphic summary of the lines of descent can be seen in Figure 1.

We have spoken about the principle of separation. God took pains to keep the chosen line separate from the surrounding peoples to prevent its corruption and also to protect the people from the temptation to fall back into pagan idolatry. This separation was maintained by three main practices:

  • circumcision,
  • the prohibition against intermarriage, and
  • the dietary laws.

We have already seen that God demanded circumcision of all boys on the eighth day as a sign of the covenantal agreement between Himself and Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:10-14). This would have set the Israelites apart from the peoples around them.

The prohibition against intermarriage was not formalized until the giving of the Law to Moses but the principle seems to have been clear from the time of Abraham. We have already seen this in that Isaac and Jacob both took wives from among their monotheistic kinsmen and not from the pagan Canaanite population amongst whom they lived. We can also see that they kept themselves separate when we read of the incident concerning Dinah (Genesis 34).

Dinah was the daughter of Jacob and Leah. Sechem, the son of Hamor the Hivite, took Dinah and violated her. He loved her and wanted to make her his wife so his father, Hamor, came to Jacob to ask for her as a wife. He made what seems like a reasonable request and says, “ make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves” (Genesis 34:9). But Dinah’s brothers, angry that their sister had been defiled, replied “ We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us” (Genesis 34:14). But they acted deceitfully promising to give Dinah to Shechem in marriage if the Hivites would consent to being circumcised. When the men of Hamor agreed and were circumcised, and were still in pain as a result, the sons of Jacob attacked and killed them all and plundered the city.  It is therefore clear that, until that point at least, intermarriage between the descendants of Abraham and the Canaanite population did not occur.

The dietary laws were not established until the giving of the Torah, the Mosaic Law. In Leviticus 11 these laws are spelled out in detail. There is much debate as to the purpose of these laws since no reason is given in Scripture. Theories range from health considerations, to the teaching of self-control and awareness, to the exercising of piety and devotion to God, or to ensuring the separation of Israel from those nations around them. I am not sure what God’s primary reason was but it is certain that the dietary laws would have made it difficult for Israelites to eat with their pagan neighbors, and therefore difficult if not impossible to enter into contracts or intermarry, and therefore the dietary laws would have forced them to maintain a separate identity and character.

Figure 1.