10–3: Who was the first Hebrew?

In Genesis 10:21 we come to the blessed line of Shem.

From this line came both the Arabs and the Israelites, from whom the Messiah would be born.

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And although I cannot say this with 100% accuracy, possibly the far eastern asian races (the Chinese and Japanese) come from this line as well.

Notice that in verse 22, the name Asshur appears again.

However, this is a different person than the conqueror of empires we were introduced to a few verses earlier.

Again, just as in our day, the same names for different people can appear a number of times.

Notice it says that Shem was the father of the descendants of Eber.

“Eber” is the forerunner of the word Hebrew and it means to “cross over” or “pass through."

Abraham, who we are going to be introduced to soon, is the first individual called a Hebrew.

The name was applied to him because he left his native land to “cross over” to a new land that God would show him.

Next it says that Eber had two sons named Peleg and Yoktan.

The word Peleg means division.

From the line of Peleg would come Abraham from whom would come the Israelites.

So we can see that God places great importance on family lines and that He is continually in the process of dividing and separating a holy nation unto Himself.

This is quite opposite to today’s political climate which is always attempting to harmonize and unify every religion and belief system under the sun.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

…the son of Abraham,

the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

the son of Serug, the son of Reu,

the son of Peleg, the son of Eber,

the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan,

the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem,

the son of Noah…, -Luke 3:34–36

© Richoka