Shem, Noah, Abraham, and Job

In yesterday's post, I showed how Canaan (Ham's son) was cursed because of what Ham (and Canaan?) had done to Noah and how Ham's descendants included sodom and gomorah.  Today's topic will be Shem and how he is related to both Abraham and likely to Job.

Genesis 9
20  And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21  And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22  And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23  And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24  And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25  And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

After the above incident, Ham's son Canaan (why not Ham and why not his other sons?) was cursed and Shem was blessed.

Shem's line:

Genesis 10
21  Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.
22  The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23  And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.
24  And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.
25  And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
26  And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah,
27  And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,
28  And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,
29  And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Joktan.
30  And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest unto Sephar a mount of the east.
31  These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

Condensed, here is the line from Shem to Abraham (see Genesis 11 as well) :

Shem-> Arpachshad ->  Shelah ->    Eber  ->  Peleg ->   Reu ->  Serug ->   Nahor ->  Terah ->  Abram 

More on the ages and ancestry is in Genesis 11

Genesis 11
10  These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11  And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12  And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13  And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14  And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15  And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16  And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17  And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18  And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19  And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20  And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21  And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22  And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23  And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24  And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25  And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26  And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Abraham (and therefore King David and Messiah Yeshua) were descended through Shem's son Arphaxad.  Noah lived for 58 years after Abraham was born and Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years and was alive for the first 110 years of Isaac's life.  If you read commentaries such as the book of Jasher, Abraham studied with Noah and both Abraham and Isaac studied with Shem.  Since Noah and Shem were direct ancestors of Shem (and therefor Noah), this could likely be assumed even without the commentaries.  Someone had to teach Job and Abraham about Yahweh and how and what to sacrifice (read further)

Adam was the first man, then his son Seth, and then Enosh.  Enosh lived for 84 years after Noah was born and was alive for 695 years of Adam's life.  So one can see that information about the Garden of Eden could have been given from Adam to Enosh, to Noah, and to Abraham and what it was like before the flood could have been given directly from Noah and Shem to Abraham.

The stories from mythology likely originated from what was taught by Noah and his sons - and, if you believe the nephilim were the offspring of fallen angels and women and that genetic manipulation was going on before the flood, likely the stories were true - the fallen angels and hybrids were worshiped as "gods" and is what brought the judgment of the flood.  Many who rebelled against Yahweh after the flood turned to idol worship due to what they learned about the false "gods" that existed before the flood and is why there was idol worship after the flood Even Abraham's family had idols:

Joshua 24:2  And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

Now as for Job who most commentaries believe lived at the time after the flood and before Ancient Israel was in Egypt:

Shem's son Aram had a son named Uz.  Job lived in Uz so very likely Job was a descendant of Shem through  Job may have very well been alive at the time of Abraham.

Genesis 10
22  The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.
23  And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

Job 1:1  There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.

What is most interesting is that Noah knew what animals were clean and unclean to bring on the ark and offered sacrifices of the clean animals to Yahweh after the flood:

Genesis 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Job also offered sacrifices :

Job 1:5  And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.

So obviously clean and unclean was before the law was given to Moses centuries later.  The need to sacrifice was also known before the Exodus.   Moses also told pharaoh Ancient Israel wanted to go to the wilderness to sacrifice to Yahweh BEFORE he was given the law on Mt. Sinai. So what is with "the law is for the Jews" when Noah and Job were not Jews? (they were pre-Jews) --- the law was given before the flood and known after the flood.