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8eginning of World History:

The Ancient.Middle East

The Beginning
creations of God. In order of importance, how-
ever, they were first. God had made everything
• Creation • Flood else-even the sun, moon, and stars-within
• Fall of Man • Dispersion view of man's habitation on Earth.
Man is special to God beca use he alone was
created in the image of God. Man is definitely not
God or "a god." Man is mano But man possesses
some characteristics similar to God's that permit
Creation fellowship with God. Man's special characteris-
tics include (1) language and thought, (2) aware-
The Beginning of the World ness of the difference between right and wrong,
World history is a story: it had a beginning, and (3) freedom to make choices.
and it will have an end. What we believe about We must never forget man's special char-
the beginning affects how we understand history. acteristics in our study of world history. No
The patterns we see, the lessons we learn, the plant or animal possesses these characteris-
estimates we make of the goodness or badness tics.We can have a kind of relationship with
of men and situations-these things and more one another that 'no other creatures can share.
depend upon our beliefs about the beginning. Most important, we can relate to God in a way
Genesis, the first book of the Bible, is the that no other part of creation can.
most reliable source for what we need to know Our freedom to make choices is also impor-
about the beginning of world history. If you tanto Men are responsible for what they have
have read it, you have already begun to study done in history. How we choose to use language
history. The word Genesis means "beginning" and thought and how we choose between right
or "origin." The book of Genesis tells us that and wrong make "all the difference in the world."
"in the beginning God created the heaven and The first human beings were highly intel-
the earth," including the universe and mano ligent. Adam, for example, classified all the
varieties of animals, giving each kind a name.
The Beginning of Man He knew language well; it was he who named
Adam, whose name means "man," and Eve, his wife so appropriately as the mother of all.
whose name means "mother of all," were the last Of course, the pair could have learned much

In the beginning God


created the heaven lunHttli
and the earth. Gen.1:1 Dates based on Ussher's chronology
Tower 01 Babel-Dispersion 01 mankind

1. 1 Creation 1
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Section 1.1 Review
lowship with God, what God might have chosen
to reveal to them about the workings of the 1. Why do we begin our study of world
universe can only be imagined. history with the book of Genesis?
Adam and Eve lived at peace with one 2. Why is man special to God? /
another and in a relationship of perfect equality. 3. List three special characteristics of mano .
They were not disturbed with quarrels provoked Identify: Genesis, Adam, Eve
by jealousy and selfishness, for they did not know
these sins. They could always reach complete
agreement on any matter because evil desires did
not interfere with their powers of reason. They
could share equally in all matters of decision. Fall ofMan
God placed all of creation under the domin-
ion of mano The world was his to rule, not to The Beginning of Human Sin
waste or destroy, but to develop for the benefit God the Creator laid down but one com-
of mankind. God expected this dominion to be mand to Adam and Eve. They were not to eat
great, for He specifically commanded Adam and the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good
Eve to be fruitful and multiply and fill (popu- and evil. If they ate the fruit, they would die.
late) the earth. But Satan appeared to Eve in the form of
We can only guess what the results would a serpent and tempted her to eat of the forbid-
have been had Adam and Eve continued to obey den fruit. She yielded to the temptation, and
God. World history as we know it resulted from Adam followed suit. Adam and Eve had com-
a choice that Adam and Eve made. mitted the first human sin. They had rebelled

2 Ch. 1 The Beginning


against God. Discontented with being crea- it is a question of "chickens and eggs-which
tures made in the image of God, they wanted carne first?"
to be as God themselves. Human thought requires language. Much
God could not turn His back on what had of our thinking is in words. When we think,
happened. As a just God-and, as we will see, it is as if we listen to ourselves talk inside our
a loving God-He punished the man and the heads. Language, on the other hand, requires
woman. thought. Unless there is thought behind the
Paradise was lost, and the world took on sounds called language or speech, what comes
many important characteristics familiar to out is mere gibberish. Which carne first, lan-
uso Perfect equality ended; now the husband guage or thought?
would rule his wife. Childbirth would be Without language and the ability to commu-
painful. Work would be tedious and difficult. nicate with one another, there would be no truly
Rather than leisurely plucking fruit from human society. Instead of society, we would
the limbs of trees in a thriving garden, man have a mere herd or swarm. But language and
would have to plow and plant in ground that comrnunication assurnes rnen living together in
more easily grew weeds and thorns than food. society. Which carne first, society or language?
Man's greatest punishment was to be driven Genesis, of course, does not have these
from the garden and from the fruit of the tree problerns of logic. It presents rnan as the direct
of eternallife. Henceforth, men would die. creation of God and frorn the very first having
From this original choice of sin has all three-Ianguage, thought, and society.
/ flowed a story of crimes and tears, the actual Evolution, humanism, and the
world history we have known. AlI who have destruction of mano The evolutionist's only
lived have also sinned. The work of evil has escape frorn logic is to downplay man's spe-
continued, and Satan's power through temp- cial characteristics. Thus, he will underrate
tation has grown. In the beginning, there rnan's speech and reason. As for language, the
was perfection. Since the beginning, man evolutionist will say that the anirnals have it,
has fallen to ever greater depths of rebellion or at least something very close. Thought, he
against God. says, is really nothing more than a process of
electricity and chernistry. The evolutionist will
A Different Story of the Beginning also attack man's awareness of the difference
The story of evolution. The extreme of between right and wrong and man's freedorn
man's rebellion against God is the denial of to choose, for he cannot explain the evolu-
the Bible's teaching that God is the Creator tion of these characteristics. The awareness
of mano According to the story of evolution, of right and wrong is just sornething we learn,
man was not created directly by God but he says, not sornething we are born with, and
instead "evolved" from the animals. Evo- man's freedorn to choose is just an illusion. To
lutionists say that at some point in history an evolutionist, rnan is really nothing more
certain animals began accidentally changing than a cornputer rnade of flesh and bone, and
in ways that eventually produced aman. This not a very fast one at that.
idea has many weaknesses, however. It can- Do you begin to see the consequences of
not explain the beginning of world history, rebelling against God? Do you begin to see the
and it gives a false impression of mano result of humanism, putting man in place of OY
Logic's traps for evolution. We have above God? Not God but man is hurt. When
seen that man differs from animal s in that rnan tries to be God, he only succeeds in rnak-
man possesses language and thought. Anyone ing himself like an animal or a machine.
who believes that man evolved from animals The Bible's account of the beginning
must explain how language and reason began. elevate s God. It also elevates man, but not at
But such an explanation cannot be given, for God's expense. Hurnanisrn, whether in the

1.2 Fall of Man 3


guise of evolution or of some other view, tries some of them were at least aware of their sin
to build man up by downplaying or ignoring and inclined to repent. They recognized that
God. It rebels against God but utterly destroys God is God and that man is man, the creation
man by making him no different from an ani- of God.
mal or a machine. s
In world history, however, Cain way or
culture tends to be the stronger among men.
Cain and the First Murder Fifteen hundred years after Seth's birth, God
s
Cain crime. The evil consequences of could find but one man that Be could view
rebellion against God became obvious even in with favor. This man, Noah, became the
the first two sons of Adam and Eve when Cain, only hope for the continued existence of the
who placed his own opinion of what is good human race.
above God's, killed his brother Abel in a fit of
jealousy and hatred. God was quick to punish Section 1.2 Review
Cain by sending him away from the land of his
1. What was the first human sin? What effect
father to live as a wanderer. God had not yet
did it have on world history?
laid down the penalty of capital punishment
2. What is a culture?
for murder, the requirement that aman who
3. What is the most important part of a
murders should himself suffer death. culture?
s
Cain culture. Cain lived on to father a 4. Which culture tends to be stronger in
line of descendants who built a culture in rebel- world history: Cain's or Seth's?
Iion against God. A culture is the way of liie of
Identify: evolution, humanism, Cain, Abel,
a group of people. Cultures include how people Lamech, Seth, Noah
make a living for themselves. Cain's deseen-
dants engaged in a variety of occupations,
leaming, for example, how to use the earth's
metals to make tools of iron and bronze ea mix-
ture of copper and tin). Cultures also include
art and music. Cains descendants learned to A Chance
make and play musical instruments. Their for a New Beginning
accomplishments were indeed very impressive. /
The most important part of a culture is how The Flood
people relate to God. The descendants of Cain By the time of Noah, the earth was so
were growing in knowledge and abilities, but filled with evil that God in Bis justice could
they were also growing in rebellion against no longer tolerate it. Thus, God decided to
God-a pattem we will often see in world his- destroy mankind with a great flood.
tory. Their evil deeds toward one another were The human race exists today only because
increasingly violento By the fourth generation, God wamed Noah of the coming destruction.
aman named Lamech bragged openly of kill- God instructed Noah to build an ark so that he
ing aman who had wounded him and a boy and his wife and his three sons and their wives
who had merely struck him. could escape the Flood. In faith, Noah obeyed
the Word of God and became one of the great-
Seth and Continued Hope est figures of world history, for without Noah's
Cain's descendants continued to grow in faith, world history would have come to an
numbers and in evil, but they did not have the abrupt end.
entire earth to themselves. After the murder After the Flood, Noah and his family
of Abel and God's banishment of Cain, Adam carne out of the ark, together with the animals
and Eve had another son named Seth. Seth God had instructed Noah to save. Man had
and his descendants were not perfect, but a chance for a new beginning, but it was not

4- Ch. 1 The Beginning


the Flood took place: it says that the Flood was
God's punishment [or the height o{ evil man had
reached. Rebellion against God reached a new
peak soon after the Flood, and God again inter-
vened with enormous consequences for world
history.

The Beginning of Nations


The Tower of Babel. All human beings
bom after the Flood are descendants of Noah's
three sons-Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The
survivors of the Flood and their descendants
gradually migrated southeastward from the
mountains in which the ark had come to rest
and settled in a plain called Shinar [shí/ nor],
Mt. Ararat: After the Flaad, Naah's ark came ta rest an this mauntain also known in world history as Sumer.
range in madern Turkey. Nirnrod, a descendant of Noah's son Ham,
emerged as the leader of the group. With his
a retum to paradise. Living conditions were reputation as a mighty hunter and as a rebel
worse than ever before. Great changes had against God, ambitious Nimrod "began to be a
/ occurred in the land and the climate. There mighty one in the earth" (Gen. 10:8). He even-
was hostility between man and the animals. tually became the supreme ruler of eight cities.
Most important, men, even Noah, still had a sin At a time when "the whole earth was of one lan-
nature. guage" (Gen. 11:1) and all people lived in one
God placed a beautiful rainbow in the sky small area, Nimrod in effect ruled the world.
as a symbol of the promise He made to Noah Under Nimrod's leadership, the people who
and his descendants that He would never again had come together in Shinar began to build
destroy alllife on the earth with a great flood. the city of Babel, later known as Babylon.
At the same time, God also reassured man of In the midst of it, they began to construct a
his special place in the creation. God had not tower reaching far up into the sky. Nimrod
forgotten that man is the one creature He made and his followers were humanists. Defying
in His own image. To teach man the sanctity God's commandment to replenish the earth,
of human life, God Himself established the law they declared "let us make us a name, lest we
of capital punishment (the death penalty) for
murder and ordained that man set up systems
of law and justice for the restraint of evil.
Man had another chance to build a cul-
ture in submission to God. As the population
increased rapidly, however, the vast majority of
men chose to build not with God but against
Him. Men had learned little from the Flood,
the greatest catastrophe the human race has
ever known. Many ancient writings from
all over the world affirm the reality of the
Flood, but only the Bible makes it clear why

Shartly after the dispersian af mankind fram the Tawer af Babel,


civilizatians arase in Eurape, Asia, and Africa.
be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole could have accomplished if, from the Flood
earth" (Gen. 11:4). until now, all men had worked together for
Many languages. God's response to these their mutual good.
men was simply to confuse their one language. Because of the fall into sin at the begin-
Miraculously, He caused all the people (except ning of world history, however, it is good that
perhaps within extended families) to speak dif- God saw fit to slow down the growth of human
ferent languages. Nimrod's dominion collapsed power. Without the division of mankind into
without the bond of a common language, for nations, nothing would have been "restrained
the people were no longer able to live and work from them, which they have imagined to do"
together. Thus, the people dispersed across the (Gen. 11:6).
earth, taking their many languages with them.
Many nations. Language is one of the
chief sources of difference and division in the Section 1.3 Review
human race. A common language encourages a 1. Why did God send the Flood?
group of people to think of themselves as a unit 2. How much did man leam from the Flood?
or a nation and not just a collection of individu- 3. What are two names for the place where
als. A nation is a large group of people who the survivors of the Flood settled?
think of themselves as one and act in history as 4. What event resulted in the confusion of
a unir. languages and the dispersion of people into
The division of the human race into many many nations?
nations has had many consequences. World 5. What is a nation?
history has be en marked with wars andinter- Identify: Shem, Harn, Japheth, Nimrod, Babel
national strife. Imagine what the human race

lA FA ." lA ".1 V'


The Legacy of Babel
A* u'

After the dispersion from Babel, tow-


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actual structure
m N" A' w'·'·' _h
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erlike structures arose in several different having long ago


areas of the world. In Sumer, the loca- vanished into the /
tion of the original tower, huge ziggurats mists of the past,
[zíg/ óó-ráts] reached into the sky at a very we can only guess
early date. Not long after, in Egypt, tower- about its appear-
ing pyramids began to be erected. Even in ance. To many
faraway Central America the ancient Mayas people, it seems
[má/yoz] built soaring structures combining likely that the
the basic shape of pyramids with features tower resembled the
of ziggurats such as stairways. later ziggurats in the
The striking similarity of such build- same area, but no one
ings is just what we would expect to find, knows for sure. Perhaps the tower looked
based on the Bible's teaching that all of more like the Egyptian pyramids or even the
the cultures on the earth are the result of Mayan buildings. On the other hand, noth-
a dispersion from one original center of ing in the Bible's description of the tower
culture. rules out the possibility that it resembled
The Bible gives no details about the some of our modem skyscrapers or even the
design of the Tower of Babel. With the gantry for a rocket launching!
I

6 Ch. 1 The Beginning


Chapter ~ Review
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PEOPLE Know the following individuals and TERMS Define the following terms.
be able to explain their importance to world
1. Genesis
history.
2. evolution
1. Adam 3. humanism
2. Eve 4. culture
3. Cain 5. capital punishment
4. Lamech 6.nation
5. Seth
6. Noah CONCEPTS TO CONSIDER On a separate sheet
7. Shem, Ham, and Japheth of paper, answer the following questions using
8. Nimrod complete sentences.
1. Explain how rnan, being created in
PLACE S Know the following places and their God's image, is special to God.
significance.
2. How is evolution a form of humanism?
1. Shinar 3. Why do you suppose God confused
2. Babel rnan's language and dispersed mankind
across the face of the earth?
EVENTS Give the significance of the following
events.
1. first human sin
2. the Flood
3. the Tower of Babel

Chapter 1 Review 7

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