Although this may not be the exact date, it is in range because Peleg was in the fourth generation after the Flood.” www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/was-babel-dispersion-real-event, as accessed February 2017.
2 “. . . it appears that volcanic eruptions and earthquakes were greatest during the Flood and then gradually weakened to today’s intensity. These early post-Flood catastrophes had the power to cause enormous geologic change, including massive erosion, altered landscapes, and deposits of sediment layers thousands of feet thick.” From Answers magazine, “Continuing Catastrophes,” by geologist Dr. John Whitmore, accessed February 2017, at https://answersingenesis.org/geology/catastrophism/continuing-catastrophes.
3 Author’s draft calculation: The base generation (gen0) consisted of Noah and three sons and their four wives; gen0 = 8 adults. Then within only about 106 years from Flood to dispersion at Tower of Babel, four generations were born (Genesis 10:25). Following extrapolates 4 generations of population, using the known number of children born to Noah’s children as the basis. Gen.1 — Shem, Japheth, Ham — had 16 sons + presumably 16 daughters = 32 gen1 kids so an average of 10.75 children to each of Noah’s 3 sons. Then if the 16 gen1 couples each also had 10.75 children = 172.25 gen2 kids (86 couples), then 10.75 x 86 gen2 couples = 924 gen3 kids (462 couples), then 10.75 x 462 gen3 couples = 4966 gen4 kids (2,483 couples), which totals 5,890 people at time of dispersion (4966 + 924 = 5,890 total of gen4 + gen3). For generations 5–9 (up to the time of Abraham’s generation) the number of offspring is reduced here by 33% to allow for the assumption that the dispersed families would have fewer children during the harsh conditions of migration/moving and the stresses of the rapid Ice Age. During the rapid Ice Age; gen5 kids after dispersion could have been 7.203 x 2483 gen4 couples = 17,885 gen5 kids. NOTE: Draft calculation is continued to Gen.10 in endnotes associated with chapter 10, “God’s Covenant with Abram.”
4 Genesis 2:20; Ephesians 5:22–6:4; Colossians 3:18–21. The spiritual principle of male leadership and responsibility clearly began in Genesis 3 when Eve was created as Adam’s helpmate, and Adam was the one charged with bringing sin into the world, even though Eve was the first to eat of the forbidden fruit. In addition, Deuteronomy 6:1–9 notes the special responsibility that fathers and grandfathers would be given to communicate the commandments of God to the Israelites.
5 Genesis 11:2. Some translations call the region a “plain” in the land of Shinar, while the YLT (Young’s Literal Translation) translates it as a “valley” in the land of Shinar.
6 See also, “Why Did People Start to Have Shorter Lives After the Flood?” by Bodie Hodge (www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2010/07/16/feedback-why-did-people-have-shorter-lives-after-flood) and “Did People Like Adam and Noah Really Live Over 900 Years of Age?” by Drs. Georgia Purdom and David Menton (www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/adam-and-noah-live), both accessed February 2017.
7 Genesis 4:17–22
8 Genesis 10:25. In the days of Peleg “the earth was divided” (likely referring to the division of peoples to different parts of the earth at Babel).
9 Genesis 11:1–9
10 Genesis 11:4
11 Don Landis, The Genius of Ancient Man (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2012), p. 32. Also see Bodie Hodge, The New Answers Book 2, chapter 28, www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/was-babel-dispersion-real-event/, accessed February 2017. A ziggurat is how ancient Greek historian Herodotus described the tower in 440 B.C. after he had the opportunity to climb what he believed to be its ruins.
12 Genesis 11:8 says they ceased building the city. Most conservative Hebrew language scholars are adamant that the tower, as well, was not finished when God came down and judged the people. (This includes ancient language specialist/archaeologist Dr. Douglas Petrovich, in comments verbalized to hundreds of viewers during a Q&A session after a premier screening of the documentary “Is Genesis History?” at Answers in Genesis’ Petersburg, Kentucky headquarters before it’s release in February 2017.)
13 See the subsection, “We Don’t Speak the Same Language Anymore,” at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab2/was-babel-dispersion-real-event by Bodie Hodge.
14 Here is a short video about the Tower of Babel, as displayed daily at the large Creation Museum, near Cincinnati, Ohio. See www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v3/n2/babel-rebellion.
15 See also, “Are There Really Different Races?” by Ken Ham, at www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/are-there-different-races.
—9—
GOD’S COVENANT WITH ABRAM
(c. 1921–1897 B.C.)
Through both the faith and faithlessness of this one man, three major religions — Christianity, Judaism, and Islam — were conceived.
When first introduced in Scripture, Abram is 75 years old and lives in Haran. He moved here from Ur, a busy city on the Euphrates River near the southern coast of modern-day Iraq.1 It has been nearly 370 years2 since the worldwide Flood, and about 260 years since the dispersion at the Tower of Babel.3
It is possible that millions of people now lived throughout the earth.4 Abram is the tenth generation after Noah, who died only two years before Abram’s birth. Noah’s son Shem is still living.
We know very little about Abram’s life prior to age 75, but the Bible does state that years earlier his father Terah set out from Ur with Abram, Abram’s wife Sarai, and his nephew Lot. Terah’s destination was Canaan (later called Israel) but when he reached the city of Haran — about two hundred miles northeast of Canaan — he settled there instead. In Haran, idolatry was rampant and Abram’s father worshiped false gods.5 But by His grace, God called Abram and pursued him, for God’s glory!
Abram was very ordinary. He had stresses with work and family,6 was sometimes a less-than-ideal husband,7 and struggled to stay consistent in his walk with the Lord.8 Nevertheless, the Creator loves to show His grace and power through ordinary people, and He had big plans for Abram!
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