How does Genesis 10:4 connect with the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19? Connecting Genesis 10:4 with the Great Commission “The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim.” “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The Nations Named in Genesis 10:4 • Elishah – early seafaring people linked to the coastlands of the Mediterranean, possibly Cyprus or parts of Greece. • Tarshish – a distant trading port, later associated with Spain’s coasts (1 Kings 10:22; Jonah 1:3). • Kittim – usually identified with Cyprus and, by extension, other western islands (Isaiah 23:1). • Dodanim (or Rodanim) – connected to Rhodes and the Aegean isles. These four clans represent the spread of humanity toward the far horizons of the known world—ships, coastlands, and islands. God’s Global Vision from the Beginning • Genesis 10 is often called the “Table of Nations.” It traces every family line so that no people group is left outside God’s storyline. • Immediately after the Flood, God records where everyone went, establishing boundaries and languages (Genesis 10:5). • This careful catalog shows that from the very start, each ethnos—every distinct people—matters to Him (Deuteronomy 32:8; Acts 17:26). Foreshadowing the Mission of Christ • The promise to Abram followed this table: “All peoples on earth will be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:3). • Prophets echoed it: “The coastlands will wait for His law” (Isaiah 42:4); “Those from afar, the islands of Tarshish…” (Isaiah 66:19). • Psalm 72:10 pictures “the kings of Tarshish and of distant shores” bringing tribute to Messiah—fulfillment language that anticipates Gospel expansion. The Direct Line to Matthew 28:19 • Matthew uses the phrase “all nations” (Greek: panta ta ethnē), the same category first laid down in Genesis 10. • When Jesus issues the Great Commission, He names the very peoples traced from Noah’s sons—Greeks, Cypriots, Iberians, islanders, and every other clan. • Pentecost begins to bridge that gap; visitors from “the regions of Libya near Cyrene” and “the parts of Rome” hear the Gospel (Acts 2:10). Paul later sails past Cyprus, preaches in Greece, and declares, “From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ” (Romans 15:19). Why This Matters for Us • Scripture’s first genealogy of post-Flood humanity already had you and your neighbors in view. • The Great Commission isn’t a new idea; it completes an ancient blueprint. • Every island, port, and language group listed in Genesis 10:4 still needs disciples today—some now sending missionaries of their own. • Taking the Gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8) echoes the very words that once mapped those ends. Living It Out • Celebrate the faithfulness of God, who remembered each family from Genesis 10 and calls us to reach them still. • Pray for modern descendants of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim—Mediterranean Europeans, North Africans, islanders—to know Christ. • Engage in giving, going, or welcoming so that the ethnē listed at the dawn of history stand with you before the throne (Revelation 7:9). |
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