Ham – Nye Debate

3. Ham – Nye Debate “Bill Nye might have felt some moral obligation to debate the question, since he had launched a unilateral attack on creationist parents in a video that went viral last year. In that video, Nye told creationist parents: ‘If you want to deny evolution and live in your world that’s completely inconsistent with everything we observe in the universe, that’s fine, but don’t make your kids do it because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need people that can---we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems”

4. Ham – Nye Debate “The central question of the debate was this: “Is creation a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?” Ham stuck to the question tenaciously. Nye, on the other hand, tried to personalize the debate and kept changing the question from creation to ‘Ken Ham’s creationism.’ Ham was unfazed, and kept to his argument.” (Al Mohler.com, blog, Feb. 5, 2014)

5. Ham – Nye Debate “Nye’s main presentation contained a clear rejection of biblical Christianity. At several points in the debate, he dismissed the Bible’s account of Noah and the ark as unbelievable. Oddly, he even made this a major point in his most lengthy argument…Those portions of the debate (about fossils and ice rods) did not advance the arguments much past where they were left in the late 19th century, with both sides attempting to keep score by rocks and fossils”

6. Ham – Nye Debate “In this light, the debate proved both sides right on one central point: If you agreed with Bill Nye you would agree with his reading of the evidence. The same was equally true for those who entered the room agreeing with Ken Ham; they would agree with his interpretation of the evidence.” “…they do not live in the same intellectual world. Nye is truly committed to a materialistic and naturalistic worldview. Ham is an evangelical Christian committed to the authority of the Bible. The clash of ultimate worldview questions was vividly displayed for all to see” (Mohler)

7. Ham – Nye Debate “Ken Ham is a Young Earth Creationist (as am I), but the larger argument was over worldviews, and the debate revealed the direct collision between evolution and the recognition of any historical authority within Genesis 1-11. As if to make that clear, in making one of his closing arguments, Bill Nye actually went back to cite ‘this problem of the ark (of Noah).’ …The ark is not the real problem; autonomous human reason is.” “As it turns out, the reality and authority of divine revelation, more than any other issue, was what the debate last night was all about. As the closing statements made very clear, Ken Ham understood that fact, but Bill Nye did not”

8. Ham – Nye Debate Conclusion? “The central issue last night was really not the age of the earth or the claims of modern science. The questions was not really about the ark or sediment layers or fossils. It was about the central worldview clash of our times, and of any time: the clash between the worldview of the self-declared ‘reasonable man’ and the worldview of the sinner saved by grace” (Mohler, pg. 5)

9. Genesis 10 The Table of Nations The Sons of Noah – 3 ‘Races’

11. Genesis 10:6 6The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan.  • The account proceeds to the sons of Ham, whose descendants are given in somewhat more detail than those of Japheth. The grandsons of Japheth are listed for only two of his sons (Gomer and Javan), but those of three of Ham’s sons are given (Cush, Mizraim, and Canaan). • Why these are selected, omitting details of five sons of Japheth, one of Ham, and three of Shem is not clear

12. Genesis 10:6 6 The sons of Ham were(4) Cush - the same name as the Biblical name ‘Ethiopia’ Mizraim - the ancestors of the Egyptians and is the customary name for Egypt in the Bible; Egypt is also called ‘the land of Ham’ (Psalm 105:23, etc.), and some suggest that the semi-legendary founder of Egypt’s first dynasty, Menes, was the same as Mizraim Put - Put in the Bible is the same as Libya, applied to the region of North Africa west of Egypt. This identification is confirmed by Josephus. Canaan  - the ancestor of the Canaanites, living in the land of Canaan---Biblical Palestine---before the Exodus of Moses, and the conquest by Joshua. (Morris, p. 250)

13. Genesis 10:7 7The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamahwere Sheba and Dedan. 

14. Genesis 10:8-9 8Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; hebecame a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” 

15. Genesis 10:8-9 • Cush was the first-born son of Ham • Cush had 6 sons; Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca, and in verse 8, he became the father of Nimrod • Five moved south and west into Arabia and Africa • One, Nimrod, settled in the Tigris-Euphrates valley • Being the youngest son of Cush, he may have felt a moral (‘immoral’) kinship with his Uncle Canaan, who had been the youngest son of Ham, and cursed by Noah

16. Genesis 10:8-9 • Cush, the first-born of Ham, may have resented the curse placed upon his family line • Cush named his son ‘Nimrod’ which means ‘let us rebel’ • Cush may have trained Nimrod from childhood to be a leader in a planned and organized rebellion against God’s purposes for mankind • Had God destined them for perpetual servitude to the descendants of Shem and Japheth? They would rebel! ! !

17. Genesis 10:8-9 • Nimrod ‘began to be a mighty one in the earth,’ and he soon had all the Hamites---and possibly many of the Shemites and Japhethites---under his influence and leadership. • They settled in the fertile plain of Shinar and began to build a great complex of cities, with ‘the beginning of his kingdom Babel.’

18. Genesis 10:8-9 Q: Was Nimrod a ‘mighty hunter’ of animals, or of men (‘a mighty warrior’)? “If the expression ‘a mighty hunter’ relates primarily to hunting in the literal sense, we must add to the literal meaning the figurative signification of a ‘hunter of men’ (‘a trapper of men by stratagem and force,’); Nimrod the hunter became a tyrant, a powerful hunter of men. This course of life gave occasion to the proverb, ‘like Nimrod, a mighty hunter against the Lord,’ which immortalized not his skill in hunting beasts, but the success of his hunting of men in the establishment of an imperial kingdom by tyranny and power” (K & D, p. 166)

19. Genesis 10:8-9 Q: Could the proverb be translated ‘in the face of Jehovah’ – in defiance of Jehovah? Yes. The proverb must have arisen when other daring and rebellious men followed in Nimrod’s footsteps, and must have originated with those who saw in such conduct an act of rebellion against the God of salvation, in other words, with the possessors of the divine promises of grace (K & D, p. 166) “This view of Nimrod and his deeds is favored by the Eastern legend, which not only makes him the builder of the tower of Babel, which was to reach to heaven, but has also placed him among the constellations of heaven as a heaven-storming giant, who was chained by God in consequence” (K & D, p. 166 footnote)

20. Genesis 10:8-9 “He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, ‘Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!’ Therefore it is said: “As Nimrod the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord.” ” (Jerusalem Targum, quoted in Morris, p. 252)

21. Genesis 10:8-9 Q: Could the reference to Nimrod as a ‘mighty hunter’ have begun as a hunter of vicious, wild animals, which multiplied over the earth after the Flood, and threatened the lives of mankind? Yes, possibly • He may have gained a hero’s reputation by protecting the population against them • After the Flood, there would be a proliferation of wild animals. • Before the Flood, there was lush vegetation everywhere, but not after the Flood

22. Genesis 10:8-9 • After the Flood, the fossil record, in both the Flood sediments and the post-Flood Ice Age deposits, indicates that there were tremendous animals living at the time that might well have been feared as a potentially serious danger to mankind in the early centuries after the Food, until they became extinct. • Consequently a strong man who could hunt and slay such great animals would assume the role of hero and benefactor to mankind, and would easily acquire a great following.

23. Genesis 10:8-9 Q: But wasn’t the ‘fear and dread’ of mankind upon the animals? (Gen. 9:2) Yes, but the deliberate hunting and slaughter of them could have provided Nimrod with his great reputation.

24. Genesis 10:10-12 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.  11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.

25. Genesis 10:10-12 Babel – (Gen. 11:4, 8, 9) formed the capital city of the region, and Nimrod became the King Erech - (Uruk) is 100 miles southeast of Babylon, the home of the legendary Gilgamesh, hero of the Babylonian flood story; its excavation yielded examples of ancient writing, long antedating the time of Abraham Accad – immediately north of Babylon (Akkad or Agade) which later became the Akkadian empire (also the Sumerian empire) Calneh, in the land of Shinar- unidentified as yet

26. Genesis 10:10-12 11 From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. • Nineveh – 200 miles north of Babylon, later the capital of the Assyrian empire; it was situated on the Tigris River, as Babylon was on the Euphrates River • Both Babylonia and Assyria were later conquered by the Shemites, but the Hamite Nimrod was the founder and first emperor of both of them

27. Genesis 10:10-12 • Calah is 20 miles south of Nineveh on the Tigris and is called ‘Nimrud’ today • Resen – was said to be between Nineveh and Calah, so they made a large complex of cities called ‘a great city’ • The Assyrian legends speak of ‘Ninus’ as the founder of Nineveh, apparently a form of ‘Nimrod’

28. Genesis 10:13-14 13 Mizraimbecame the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim14 and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim. • Note: the ending ‘im’ is a plural ending, referring not to an individual, but to a group of people, or a tribe • ‘ite’ is also a plural ending, as will be seen in verses 16-18 (Jebusite, Amorite, Girgasite, Hivite, Arkite, Sinite, Arvadite, Zemarite, Hamathite, Canaanite)

29. Genesis 10:13-14 • Mizraim- the founder of Egypt • Ludimand Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim - are yet to be identified from historical records or archaeological finds • Pathrusim– dwelt in Pathros, or Upper Egypt • Casluhim– is unknown, except the Philistines are well known from Biblical texts, and this verse says the Casluhim were the ancestors of the Philistines • Caphtorim– also identified with the Philistines (Amos 9:7; Jeremiah 47:4)

30. Genesis 10:13-14 Secular writings place the origin of the Philistines on the island of Crete, and identify Caphtor as Crete. It seems probably that these two sons of Mizraim, ancestors of the Casluhim and Caphtorim, kept their families together, later migrating to Crete and still later, in successive waves, to the eastern shore of the Mediterranean to the land later know as Philistia [Southwestern Palestine, along the Mediterranean Sea] (Morris, p. 254)

31. Genesis 10:15 15 Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth • Ham’s youngest son, Canaan, was prolific, having eleven sons and an unknown number of daughters • The eldest son was Sidon, the progenitor of the Phoenicians • This account was written long before the founding of Tyre, the sister city of Sidon

32. Genesis 10:15 • Heth – the ancestor of the Hittites (Genesis 23:10) who ruled a great empire centered in Asia Minor for over 800 years, apparently migrating there originally from the home of their brothers in Canaan • Hittites were present in the land of Canaan during the time of Abraham (Genesis 15:19-21), and apparently reached the heights of their power in Asia Minor sometime later • They were still a great power at the time of Solomon 1000 years later (2 Chronicles 1:17)

33. Genesis 10:15 • When the Hittite empire crumbled, the remnant fled eastward. • The Cuneiform monuments record the name of the Hittites as ‘Khittae’ and this may well have been modified later to ‘Cathay’ as they settled again in the Far East. • Archaeologist have noted a number of similarities between the Hittites and the Mongoloids; both are known to have pioneered the art of smelting and casting iron and the breeding and training of horses

34. Genesis 10:16-18 16 and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite17 and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite18 and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. 

35. Genesis 10:16-18 The other 9 sons of Canaan were the progenitors of the Canaanite tribes that inhabited the land when the Israelites arrived (recorded in Exodus – Joshua) Jebusite – descended from Jebus, an early inhabitant of Jerusalem (Joshua 15:63) Amorite – one of the most prominent tribes (Gen. 15:16); these tribes were all sometimes called the ‘Amurru’ Girgashite - often mentioned, but the location is unknown Hivite– archaeologically found from Sidon to Jerusalem Arkite– centered around Tell Arka in Syria

36. Genesis 10:16-18 Sinite - “The Sinites are intriguing. It is possible that they may have been an insignificant Canaanite tribe, but the similarity of the name to other Biblical names (the wilderness of Sin, Mount Sinai, Sinim) suggests that their influence may have been greater than commonly realized • Ancestor worship was common ‘Sin’ is a frequent name of a god, used in Assyria, Canaan, and Sumaria

37. Genesis 10:16-18 • The Biblical mention of people in the Far East named ‘Sinim’ (Isaiah 49:12), with the references in secular history to people of the Far East called ‘Sinae,’ suggest the possibility that some of Sin’s descendants migrated eastward, while others went south into the land of Canaan • The prefix ‘Sino’ is a name identified with the Chinese (Sino-Japanese War), used as the name ‘Siang’, etc.

38. Genesis 10:16-18 • The evidence is tenuous, but of all the names in the Table of Nations, it does seem that two sons of Canaan, Heth (Hitties – Khittae – Cathay) and Sin (Sinites – Sinim – China), are the most likely to have become the ancestors of the Oriental peoples • Since it seems reasonable that divine inspiration would include in such a table information concerning the ancestry of all the major streams of human development, it is reasonable to conclude that the Mongoloid (Oriental) peoples (and therefore the American Indians) have come mostly from the Hamitic line.

39. Genesis 10:16-18 Arvadite– they lived in Arvad, a port city of the Phoenicians Zemarite - 6 miles south of Arvad, in a down identified in the Amarna letters as Sumur, and known today as Sumra Hamathite – the Syrian city of Hamath, mentioned frequently in the Bible

40. Genesis 10:16-18 18b - “and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad.” • After naming the tribes descended from Canaan, the Bible makes the significant statement that ‘afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.’ • The Hittites spread to Asia Minor • The Sinites to China • It is only of the Canaanites that this statement is made, suggesting thereby that these tribes eventually spread out more than any of the others

41. Genesis 10:19-20 19 The territory 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. 20 These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations.

42. Genesis 10:19-20 • The dimensions of the Canaanite boundaries, at the time of the writing of Genesis 10 were from Sidon on the northern coast of Phoenicia down almost to Gerar, as far as Gaza in Philitia, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and then east and south to the Dead Sea (which wasn’t dead at that time) • Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim were four cities of the plain around the Dead Sea • Lasha has not yet been identified

43. Genesis 10:19-20 Ham’s descendants are summarized, as Japheth’s had been, by the statement these were grouped by ‘families, tongues, countries, and nations.’ • Genesis 10 was written after the Tower of Babel • Before the Tower of Babel, there was a common language • Apparently the division by ‘tongues’ was made by God to correspond to ‘families’ and each such division presupposed there would be a ‘country or land’ where the family could live and work, and would develop into a ‘nation’

44. Genesis 10:21 21 Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born.  • After listing the nations descended from Japheth and Ham, Shem then proceeds to his own family (if he is the author of Genesis 10-11). • Shem knew of Noah’s prophecy (9:26) • Shem’s line would be the one chosen to transmit the knowledge of the true God, and His promises to later generations (through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…)

45. Genesis 10:21 • Shem lists his own descendants to the fifth generation in some cases • (Ham’s genealogy extends only to the 3rd; and Japheth’s to the 2nd) • Shem probably lost touch with many of his relatives, especially after the confusion of languages and the great dispersion at Babel • If this took place shortly before the days of Peleg, the land and continents might have become very different, and difficult to find or communicate with others

46. Genesis 10:21 Q: Who are the “Children of Eber?”(21Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born) A: The Hebrews Abraham is a “Hebrew” (Gen. 14:13), indicating he was a descendant of ‘Eber’ It is applied to a larger group than just to the descendants of Abraham

47. Genesis 10:21 Q: Why does Shem not mention Ham, just Japheth? • Perhaps because he was associated more directly with Japheth (Gen. 9:27) • Perhaps he is just being more kind to his brother Japheth • Perhaps he is distressed by the wickedness in the line of Ham, and wants to distance himself from them

48. Genesis 10:21 Q: Is the KJV wrong in translating this ‘the brother of Japheth the elder’? Q: Is the NIV wrong in translating this ‘whose older brother was Japheth’? Q: Is the NASB correct when it translates “Shem, the elder brother of Japheth”? Genesis 6:10 and 7:13 list Shem, Ham, and Japheth’, apparently in the order of birth. The NASB is probably the correct reading (although it makes a footnote of the other translation – ‘the brother of Japheth the elder’)

49. Genesis 10:21 Q: Is there some reason to believe that Japheth was the older of the three sons of Noah? Perhaps. Shem was born 97 years before the Flood (Genesis 5:32 “Noah was 500 years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth”; and 11:10 “Shem was 100 years old, and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood”). But Noah is said to have begat the first of his three sons 100 years before the Flood, when he was 500 years old, but it also just says he has all three sons at that time, and lists Shem first (Genesis 5:32 with 7:11)

50. Genesis 10:21 Q: Were the three sons triplets? Probably not