God gave Japheth the blessing of being enlarged (Gen. 9:27). Most of the people of Europe, Russia, and America are Japheth’s descendants. Especially since the time of Columbus, the Europeans have been constantly expanding, reaching the whole world. This expansion is carried out mainly by governmental power, science, and art, including skills and trades. The Americans are the expansion of the Europeans. Eventually, the European culture spread throughout the world through America. This is a fulfillment of the blessing spoken prophetically to Japheth.
According to Noah’s prophecy, the descendants of Japheth are a strong people. If we read history carefully, we can see that God always carries out His economy through strong people.
For example, the Roman Empire was a strong nation. They built highways and opened up traffic from Palestine to Rome and even to Spain. At that time, people considered Spain to be the uttermost part of the earth. Greek was also made the common language throughout the Roman Empire. Even the Lord Jesus quoted from the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament.
On the one hand, Rome conquered and captured Palestine, but on the other hand, Rome prepared a good environment for the Lord Jesus to be born. Rome also provided the way for the Lord to be crucified. Crucifixion was not a method of execution used by the Jews but by the Gentiles (Ezra 6:11). Eventually, this method was adopted by the Roman Empire to execute heinous criminals. Christ’s method of death, His being cut off, was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.
After Christ’s ascension, the apostles rose up to spread the gospel. Their spreading of the gospel was facilitated by Roman highways on the land and by Roman ships on the seas. Thus, the preaching of the gospel in the initial stage was through the strong nation of Rome. On the one hand, the strong nation of Rome persecuted and even crucified Christ, and it also persecuted and martyred the apostles. On the other hand, through this strong empire the way was prepared for Christ to be born and crucified and for the gospel to be preached.
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, God used Great Britain as the world power, through the practice of imperialism, to pave the way to keep order in the whole world for the sake of mission work. The Lord used England spiritually at that time for the spread of His gospel throughout the world. Imperialism is the policy and practice of maintaining an empire through the conquest and domination of weaker countries. Politically speaking, imperialism is evil and should be condemned, but God is sovereign. Imperialism was used by the divine hand to spread the gospel. Otherwise, many backward countries would not have been opened up. Through imperialism, weak, backward countries were compelled to open up. This gave a way for the missionaries to go into these countries with the gospel. Christ’s birth, Christ’s death, the spreading of the gospel in the early days of the church, and the mission work to spread the gospel to every corner of the earth were all through a strong people, the descendants of Japheth.
According to God’s sovereignty, regardless of how much Japheth has been enlarged, he still needs to dwell in the tents of Shem. The Europeans, including the Americans, are strong, but they need the tents of Shem. For Japheth to worship God, he must believe in the God of Shem and receive rest, peace, enjoyment, and salvation in the tents of Shem.
Japheth has been enlarged and needs to dwell in the tents of Shem. Ham has been cursed because he was involved in God’s government. He lost the blessing. Under the curse, he became a servant of servants (Gen. 9:25). This has been proved by history. Acts 13:1 says, “There were in Antioch, in the local church, prophets and teachers: Barnabas and Simeon, who was called Niger, and Lucius the Cyrenian, and Manaen, the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.” This verse shows that different peoples had become one as the church. Certain prophets and teachers are listed among the prominent, functioning members of the church. Barnabas and Saul were Jews. Simeon was called Niger (which means “black”); from this designation, he might have been a black person. Lucius of Cyrene was from Africa. Cyrene was a city in northern Africa, where Libya is today. Manaen was brought up with Herod. Herod, though a descendant of an Idumaean (an Edomite) was governmentally related to the Romans (the Europeans). So, although Manaen’s origin is unknown, he, as a foster brother of Herod, must have been Europeanized. Thus, the five prominent functioning members of the church in Antioch were composed of two Jews, descendants of Shem; one from Africa and one who might have been a black person, both of whom might have been descendants of Ham; and one who was at least culturally related to the descendants of Japheth. They all became one as the church. Regardless of whose descendant you are, do not feel disappointed. Since we have been regenerated, we are all the church. We were born of different origins, but now we are all the church. We all were born in the fulfillment of God’s prophecy concerning mankind spoken through Noah. But our natural status has been changed by the salvation of God in Christ.
Enoch was the first person to prophesy in the Bible. When he was sixty-five years old, he bore a son and named him Methuselah, which means “when he is dead, it will be sent.” This name was an important prophecy concerning the coming of God’s judging flood on the ungodly generation at the time of Methuselah’s death. Enoch’s prophecy has a double fulfillment. The coming of the flood was the first fulfillment, and the second fulfillment will be at the manifestation of the Lord’s parousia (coming). Enoch prophesied that when the Lord Jesus returns, He will come with myriads of saints.
Noah’s prophecies are the earliest prophecies in the Bible concerning mankind and the nations. His prophecies have also had a far-reaching effect on God’s elect, Israel and the church, and on the development of the world situation. After the flood Noah became the leader on the new land and the father of all mankind. God gave all living things into Noah’s hands and made Noah His deputy authority on the earth. However, due to his looseness and carelessness, Noah failed. He got drunk and became naked in his tent. His son Ham saw and exposed Noah’s failure, thus despising God’s government. But because Shem and Japheth respected God’s government, they did not see their father’s nakedness; rather, they covered their father’s failure. When Noah woke up, he cursed the son who exposed his nakedness and blessed the sons who covered him. He cursed Ham’s descendant, Canaan, to be a servant to Shem and Japheth. He prophesied that Jehovah would be the God of Shem and that Japheth would be enlarged and would dwell in the tents of Shem.
Even though these prophecies have been proved by history, in Acts 13 the five prominent functioning members of the church in Antioch were composed of two Jews—the descendants of Shem, two who were probably descendants of Ham, and another one who was at least culturally related to the descendants of Japheth. They all became one as the church. Therefore, regardless of whose descendant we are, all the regenerated believers are the church. Even though we have different origins, in relation to the fulfillment of God’s prophecy concerning mankind, our natural status has been changed by God’s salvation in Christ.