Geologists have discovered evidence the earth was once a single land mass called Pangea that was divided into continents by motion of tectonic plates called continental drift. They ascribe this drift to natural causes that might have taken several billion years. But I have always wondered if God did this in a moment of time. Consider this brief history of the world.
God created a single continent on the third day
Genesis 1:9-10 And God said, Let the waters [H4325 mayim — waters — plural] under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land [H3004 yabbashah — dry land, dry ground — always absolute singular] appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land [H3004 yabbashah] Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas [H3220 yam — sea — plural]: and God saw that it was good.
God judged the old world with a world-wide flood
Genesis 6:5-7 And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
God blessed the postdiluvian world with commands
Genesis 9:1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
But Humanity did not fill the earth as God commanded
Genesis 11:1-2 The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
They built a tower to commemorate their rebellion
Genesis 11:4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Genesis 11:5-6 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Therefore, God divided humankind in judgment
Genesis 11:7-9 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
About this same time, a man named Peleg was born from the lineage of Noah’s son Shem.
Genesis 11:16-19 And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
As you know, most Old Testament names had a meaning for a reason. This man’s name was Peleg, which means divided. Moses gives the reason:
1 Chronicles 1:19 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg; because in his days the earth was divided: and his brother’s name was Joktan.
What happened when God divided humankind?
It is possible that all the dry land of earth was still one landmass of Pangea at the time of the Noahic flood. Afterwards, all these millions of people stayed in one area instead of filling the earth as God commanded. Therefore, God may have done many things that are summarized in those few verses.
- God divided the people by scattering them abroad — at this time he might have divided Pangea into modern-day continents
- God divided the people by confounding their languages — at this time he might have divided the people by creating racial differences
How should Christians react to God’s judgment?
If God has made it hard for different people of different languages to work together in rebellion to him, it seems like Christians should work together in obedience to God’s love one for another in the church through the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God living in them.
- Mankind has divided and conquered! God is not impressed. – Rehoboam and Jeroboam divided the Kingdom of Israel. Men and women have divided the Kingdom of God’s Church. But God is not divided, so why are we?
- Imitate God’s love through Christ and love like that – Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Love like that.
Human genetic mutation may not be random after all, study finds
Groundbreaking study by researchers in Israel and Ghana brings first evidence of nonrandom mutation in human genes. –Israel National News
Using a novel method, researchers led by Professor Adi Livnat from the University of Haifa showed that the rate of generation of the HbS mutation, which protects against malaria, is higher in people from Africa, where malaria is endemic, than in people from Europe, where it is not. “For over a century, the leading theory of evolution has been based on random mutations. The results show that the HbS mutation is not generated at random but instead originates preferentially in the gene and in the population where it is of adaptive significance,” said Prof. Livnat. Unlike other findings on mutation origination, this mutation-specific response to a specific environmental pressure cannot be explained by traditional theories. “We hypothesize that evolution is influenced by two sources of information: external information that is natural selection, and internal information that is accumulated in the genome through the generations and impacts the origination of mutations,” said Livnat.
This supports something I have wondered about for 40+ years. When God “scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 11-79), did he create races at the same time to adapt people to living in their new environment. This would make it easier for these people to remain where God scattered them and make it more difficult for them to get back together again. Just in case this might sound racist to some, I look at this as the marvelous work of God in making people more perfect for their environment. This seems reasonable based on how many people I know that hate the heat, or hate the cold, or hate the rainy season, or hate the dry season, etc. But God created humans so adaptable that they can live and work anywhere on the earth, and someday the moon, or Mars, or even farther.