Genesis: The Beginning of Nations Quiz

Answer: Turkey

"The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat." Genesis 8:3-4

Mount Ararat is the tallest of several mountains located in eastern Turkey near the borders of Iran and Armenia. Many expeditions have been launched to locate the ark and some have claimed to have found remnants of the ark but there has been no conclusive evidence to verify these claims.

Answer: fill the earth

"Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated." Genesis 9:18-19

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood and so he was blessed to see the earth populated with many of his descendants.

Answer: Ham

"And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.
So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: 'Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.'" Genesis 9:20-25

The Scriptures don't say why Noah specifically cursed Ham's son Canaan, but Canaan's descendants would many centuries later actually become servants to the descendants of Shem as woodcutters and water carriers.

Answer: Greece

"The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations." Genesis 10:4-5

These coastlands were probably located in the area of the northeastern Mediterranean Sea and would have included the modern-day countries of southern Turkey and Cyprus.

Answer: Egypt

"The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan." Genesis 10:6

The names of the sons of Cush, Mizraim and Canaan are listed in this chapter, but there are no sons listed for Put. Some later Biblical passages note that Put dwelled in Libya (Ezekiel 27:10), and his descendants became hired servants of the Syrians (Nahum 3:9).

Answer: Israel and Palestine

God had called Abram to leave his homeland in Mesopotamia and go to a land he would show him.
"...So they (Abram and his family} came to the land of Canaan. Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, 'To your descendants I will give this land.' And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him." Genesis 12:5-7

It would be many centuries later that the Israelites, under the leadership of Joshua, would actually conquer this land; it then became the nation of Israel. Since those days many have fought for possession of this land. Various passages of scripture promise that a righteous king will come and establish a kingdom in Israel that will bring a reign of peace over all the earth. The Jewish people believe this will happen when the Messiah comes, and Christians believe it will happen when Christ returns.

Answer: Babylon

The tower of Babel was built in pride and arrogance and was a sign of the builders' independence from God's dominion over them. Babylon is believed to be where the tower was built.

"Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth." Genesis 11:9

It was at this point God confused the language of the people so that they would need to depend on him. In the New Testament book of Acts, Paul speaks of this when addressing a group of philosophers in Athens.

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us..." Acts 17:26-27

Answer: Hebrew

"Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre..." Genesis 14:13

This is the first passage in the Bible that uses the word Hebrew. Abraham was considered the father of the Hebrew people but he was himself descended from Eber. Eber is similar to a Hebrew word that means to cross over or pass through.

Answer: Father of Many

"Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 'As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you a father of many nations.'" Genesis 17:3-6

God also changed the name of Abraham's wife, who was barren, from Sarai to Sarah, and promised she would be a mother of nations. This was a remarkable promise since at the time Abraham was almost 100 years old and Sarah was 90. Yet, a year later Sarah gave birth to their son Isaac.

Answer: They would be blessed.

"I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12;3

The nations listed in Genesis originated from families. According to the Bible, it would be through the Abrahamic Covenant that the families of all nations would be blessed.