The City of Man and Its Discontents Text: Genesis 10:6-20
Introduction: Two Humanities
The modern world, in its high-minded rebellion, likes to talk a great deal about the unity of the human race. And in one sense, they are accidentally correct. We are all of one blood, as Paul told the Athenians. But our secularists want the unity without the common ancestor, Adam, and they certainly want it without the common problem, which is sin. They want a global brotherhood of man without the Fatherhood of God, which is another way of saying they want to be a family of orphans. But the Bible gives us the true and rugged history of mankind, and it is not a story of simple, organic unity. It is the story of an antithesis, a great division that runs straight through the heart of history. It is the story of two seeds, two lines, two cities. The seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. The city of God and the city of man.
In Genesis 10, often called the Table of Nations, we are given a map of the ancient world, laid out according to the descendants of Noah's three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. These are not dusty, irrelevant lists of forgotten tribes. These genealogies are the framework of redemptive history. They show us God's sovereign hand in scattering the nations, setting their boundaries, and preparing the world for the central conflict of the ages. God is the one who determines the times and places for men to live. He is writing the story.
Our text today focuses on the line of Ham. And in this branch of the family, we see, in high definition, the spirit of the city of man. It is a spirit of rebellion, of self-aggrandizement, of empire-building, and of a lust for a counterfeit unity that stands in defiance of God. In the line of Ham, we find the first great tyrant, Nimrod, the founder of Babel. We find the Canaanites, who would become the quintessential enemies of God's people, steeped in idolatry and sexual perversion. We see the raw materials of Egypt, Babylon, and Philistia, all of whom will feature prominently as antagonists in Israel’s story. This is not just a list of names; it is a rogue's gallery. It is a preview of the conflict that will define the Old Testament and find its ultimate resolution at the cross.
We must understand that the spirit of Ham, the spirit of Nimrod, is very much alive today. It is the spirit that seeks to build a global, humanistic empire, a new Babel, where man makes a name for himself and declares his independence from Heaven. It is the spirit of political messianism, which promises salvation through state power. As we walk through this text, we must have our eyes open to see not only ancient history, but the patterns of rebellion that are playing out on the evening news.
The Text
6 The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. 7The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8Now Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.” 10The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11From that land he went out to Assyria and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13Mizraim was the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim 14and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines) and Caphtorim. 15 Canaan was the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth 16and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite 17and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite 18and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were scattered. 19The border of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their tongues, by their lands, by their nations. (Genesis 10:6-20 LSB)
The Seedbed of Empire (vv. 6-12)
We begin with the descendants of Ham, and particularly the line that leads to the first great post-flood rebel.
"The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan... Now Cush was the father of Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before Yahweh; therefore it is said, 'Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh.'" (Genesis 10:6, 8-9)
The roll call begins simply enough. Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt. Put is likely Libya, and Canaan will occupy the promised land. But the narrative pauses on one figure: Nimrod. The text makes a point of singling him out. He "began to be a mighty one on the earth." This signals a new and ominous development in human history. The word for "mighty one" here is gibbor, the same word used for the giants in Genesis 6. It carries the sense of a warrior, a tyrant, a man of renown achieved through conquest.
He is called a "mighty hunter before Yahweh." This is not a compliment. The phrase "before Yahweh" can mean in God's sight, but in this context, it carries the sense of "in defiance of Yahweh." He was a mighty hunter, not just of animals, but of men. He was a warlord, a man who consolidated power through violence and intimidation. He was building a kingdom, and he was doing it in God's face. The proverb, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Yahweh," was not praise; it was a description of arrogant, godless ambition.
And where does this ambition lead? To the city of man.
"The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went out to Assyria and built Nineveh..." (Genesis 10:10-11)
Nimrod is the founder of Babylon (Babel) and Nineveh, the two great capitals of the empires that would later take God's people into exile. This is not a coincidence. The spirit of empire, the lust for centralized, coercive power, is born here in the line of Ham. The project at Babel, which we will see in detail in chapter 11, was an attempt to create a one-world, humanistic order to "make a name for themselves" and prevent being scattered. It was a direct rejection of God's creation mandate to fill the earth. It was man's attempt to build his own salvation project, his own kingdom, with brick and mortar and political coercion.
This is the perennial temptation of the city of man. It is the promise of unity, security, and glory apart from God. It is the desire to build a heaven on earth with godless hands. Whether it is the Tower of Babel, the Roman Empire, the Soviet Union, or the modern push for global governance, the spirit of Nimrod is the same. It is the spirit of antichrist, which seeks to supplant the kingdom of God with a kingdom of man.
A Rogues' Gallery (vv. 13-14)
The genealogy continues, and it reads like a list of future troubles for Israel.
"Mizraim was the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines) and Caphtorim." (Genesis 10:13-14 LSB)
Mizraim, as we noted, is Egypt. The nation that would enslave Israel for 400 years comes from this line. The Lord would deliver His people from their hand with a mighty display of power in the Exodus, establishing the central redemptive event of the Old Testament. But the conflict with Egypt and its paganism would be a recurring theme.
And then, almost as a parenthesis, we are told that from this line came the Philistines. Goliath, the giant who defied the armies of the living God, was a Philistine. They were a constant thorn in Israel's side throughout the period of the judges and the early monarchy. They captured the Ark of the Covenant. Samson fought them. Saul died fighting them. David finally subdued them. This is not just a family tree; it is a battle plan. God is showing us where the front lines of the conflict are going to be drawn.
The Cursed Line (vv. 15-20)
Finally, the text turns to the fourth son of Ham, Canaan, and his descendants.
"Canaan was the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite..." (Genesis 10:15-18 LSB)
This is the list of the inhabitants of the promised land. These are the "ites" that Israel was commanded to drive out. The Jebusites held Jerusalem until the time of David. The Amorites were notorious for their wickedness, a wickedness so great that God said their iniquity was "not yet complete" in the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:16). This tells us something crucial about God's judgment. He is patient, but His patience has a limit. He gave the Canaanites centuries to repent, but they used that time to fill up the measure of their sin. Their idolatry was grotesque, often involving child sacrifice and cultic prostitution.
The borders of their land are then described, and the list of cities is telling.
"The border of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha." (Genesis 10:19 LSB)
Sodom and Gomorrah. These cities, located within the territory of the Canaanites, would become proverbial for their depravity and for the fiery judgment of God. Their sin was not simply one thing; it was a whole cultural matrix of pride, arrogance, abundance, idleness, and a refusal to help the poor, which culminated in haughty, abominable sexual perversion (Ezekiel 16:49-50). They stand as a permanent warning that there is a point at which God's patience runs out and judgment becomes inevitable. This judgment was a foreshadowing of the judgment that would fall on all the Canaanite tribes for similar sins.
The section concludes by summarizing the descendants of Ham: "according to their families, according to their tongues, by their lands, by their nations" (v. 20). This is the result of the judgment at Babel. God scattered them, confounding their rebellious unity project. But notice that even in this scattering, the seeds of rebellion and conflict are sown across the map, setting the stage for the great drama of redemption.
The Antithesis and the Gospel
So what are we to make of this? This chapter lays out the geography of the great antithesis. On one side, we have the line of Ham, characterized by the spirit of Nimrod and the culture of Canaan. This is the city of man. Its hallmarks are pride, rebellion, empire-building through coercion, and sexual and religious perversion. It seeks to build a name for itself, to achieve a counterfeit salvation through political power and human effort.
On the other side, which we will see in the line of Shem, is the city of God. It is not built on conquest but on covenant. It does not make a name for itself, but rather receives a name from God. Abraham will be told, "I will make your name great" (Genesis 12:2). This is the godly antithesis to the project of Babel. The city of man says, "Let us make a name for ourselves." The city of God is built on the promise, "I will make a name for you."
The entire Old Testament is the story of the conflict between these two cities. It is the story of God's covenant people, the descendants of Shem and Abraham, living in a world dominated by the sons of Ham: Egypt, Babylon, Assyria, Philistia, and Canaan.
But the ultimate resolution comes not through a mighty hunter, but through a sacrificial Lamb. Jesus Christ, the true seed of Shem, the son of Abraham, the son of David, enters into this history. He confronts the spirit of Nimrod in the rulers of His day. He confronts the spirit of Canaan in the rampant sin of the people. And He does not build a kingdom with the sword, but by going to a cross.
At the cross, Jesus defeated all the sons of Ham. He disarmed the principalities and powers. He took the curse of Canaan upon Himself. He endured the judgment of Sodom for us. He is the true King, and He is building a different kind of city, the New Jerusalem. And how does He reverse the curse of Babel? Not by imposing a single, tyrannical language, but by the miracle of Pentecost, where the Holy Spirit enabled men from every nation to hear the gospel in their own tongue. God's unity is not a gray, monolithic uniformity. It is a glorious, symphonic unity in diversity, where every tribe, tongue, and nation brings its unique glory into the city of God (Revelation 21:24).
The spirit of Nimrod is still with us, promising a globalist utopia. The spirit of Canaan is still with us, celebrating depravity as a civil right. But the kingdom of Christ is advancing. The meek, not the mighty hunters, shall inherit the earth. Our task is not to build a new Babel, but to be faithful citizens of the New Jerusalem, proclaiming the good news that Jesus is Lord over all the sons of Ham, and inviting them to repent and find their place, not in the city of man which is doomed to fall, but in the city of God, which will stand forever.