Our subject now is one of almost unlimited extent, for we are to call as “witnesses” the races of the world. We are to take the evidence of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, and of all the nations, tongues, peoples, and languages that are dispersed throughout them; and we are to consider the evidence which they bear to the inspiration of the Scriptures.
As some limit must be put to such an enquiry, I propose to confine our thoughts to the study of one passage of Scripture; viz., Gen. ix. 25–27, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” Some people appear to speak with great disrespect of the Pentateuch. It is well, therefore, to take from it an ancient prophecy, and to study first the historical truth, and secondly the prophetical accuracy of these remarkable words.
I. The Historical Truth.
It is not an uncommon thing in these days to set science in opposition to the Scriptures, and to speak as if the one were opposed to the other. As a general p. 19rule, the persons who do so are persons who have a very shallow acquaintance with either, for the truly scientific man, and the true student of the Scriptures, are both so conscious of their own limited attainments in the face of the vast fields of unlimited knowledge which are still unexplored, that they are sure to feel humbly on the subject, and to be very shy of bold assertions respecting matters that they do not understand. But, instead of science being opposed to the Scriptures, we are quite prepared to call in science as a witness to its truth; for science is the study of the creation of God, and it would be indeed strange if His own works were at variance with His Word. So we will turn now, if God permit, to one of the great results of modern scientific discovery, and see what testimony it bears to the truth of the Pentateuch.
The particular branch to which I would refer is what is called “Ethnology,” or the study of the nations of the world. This is comparatively quite a modern science, for it is only quite lately that the world has been thrown open to the investigation of scientific men. The two means by which it has been thrown open have been the steam-engine, and Christian missions. The steam-engine has enabled investigators to travel in all directions, and Christian missions have led to the study of hundreds of languages that were previously unknown.
The history of one of these languages is worth recording. When the late Mr. Darwin visited the islands of Tierra del Fuego, in the celebrated voyage of the Beagle, he considered the inhabitants to be below ordinary p. 20manhood, and to have no language. But a devoted missionary, settled amongst them, has not only found that they have a language, but he has learned it, reduced it to writing, and translated into it the Gospel of St. Luke. It has been printed by the British and Foreign Bible Society, and is now read amongst the people. Mr. Darwin, being a truly scientific man, was so deeply interested at the discovery of his own mistake, that for the last few years of his life he subscribed ￡5 a year to the South American Missionary Society.
Thus the missionary movement has brought about a vast increase of scientific knowledge respecting the languages of the world, and scientific men have had before them a mass of fresh material to which their predecessors had no access whatever. The British and Foreign Bible Society has circulated the Scriptures in no less than 250 languages, by far the greater number of which had never before been reduced to writing. By this means there has been an immense impetus given to the researches of scientific men. The two points to which especial attention has been directed have been the structure of language, and the formation of the skull. On these two points men of science have most carefully collected information from all quarters of the globe—north, south, east, and west; and they have endeavoured to group, or classify, the various scattered nations of mankind.
And now I come to the most remarkable and assuring fact, that, after patient, laborious, and most elaborate p. 21scientific comparison, they have come to the conclusion that all the nations of the earth may be grouped into three great families, and have probably descended from three original centres. They name these three great divisions the Aryan, the Semitic, and the Turanian. But we need not trouble ourselves about the names. The classification itself is the matter of supreme importance; for in this discovery of the nineteenth century we find the full confirmation of the account, written by Moses more than 3,000 years ago, of the three sons of Noah surviving the flood more than 4,000 years ago. In that narrative we find the account of mankind starting afresh under three heads, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Since that time there have elapsed more than 4,000 years, and now, in this nineteenth century, after all the changes that have taken place, we find a body of learned and unprejudiced men, enabled by the discovery of steam to discover amongst mankind, as we now exist, precisely the same threefold division that is described in the Scriptures as having taken place in the days of Noah. Now how are we to explain this fact? What is the cause of this strange coincidence? It is utterly impossible that the Mosaic record should have been constructed in order to suit the scientific discoveries of our own day. And those who honour science would be the last to admit that men of science have constructed their system on the lines of the Mosaic record. But, there is one word that is a key to the whole, one word that is the connecting-link between the fifteenth century before p. 22Christ, and the nineteenth century after Him; between the statements of the Scripture and the researches of science, and that one word settles all. That one word is Truth, truth in science, and truth in Scripture; truth in the Word, and truth in the works of God.
But we have not yet done with history, for the tenth chapter of Genesis gives us some idea of the direction in which these three great families spread themselves over the surface of the globe. A moment’s thought will be sufficient to show that it must be next to impossible to trace these descriptions now. Vast changes have taken place during the 4,000 years that have elapsed. Cities have sprung up and disappeared; whole nations have risen to power, and passed away; names have changed; there have been migrations, invasions, captivities, and dispersions; so that the different families have in many cases been strangely intermingled. But still there is a certain outline given in the Pentateuch, and a certain outline agreed upon by the men of science. Now look at this outline.
Begin with Japheth. Amongst his sons we meet with three well-known names, all connected by Ezekiel (xxxviii.) with the north; viz., Mesech, Tubal, and Togarmah, leading us to suppose that his descendants most probably spread along the North of Europe and Asia; and in Genesis x. 5 it is added, “By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands; every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations”—an expression invariably used for Europe, and p. 23all countries approached from central Asia by sea. Now, curiously enough, that very district, Europe and Northern Asia, is regarded by the men of science as the head-quarters of those whom they call the Aryans.
As for Shem, there is no difficulty in ascertaining his head-quarters, for Abraham was his lineal descendant; and we know that from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates was the country given him by God. That country, therefore, was his starting-point; and accordingly men of science tell us that Western Asia, including Palestine and the adjacent countries, must have been the home of the great Semitic family. Again, therefore, there is the closest possible agreement between ancient history and modern discovery.
The case of Ham is not so perfectly clear. According to the book of Genesis he appears, if we understand the names, to have spread in two directions—eastward towards Southern Asia, and also south-west to Gaza, the gateway to Africa. Though Africa is not mentioned in that passage it is clear that the descendants of Ham spread over the isthmus of Suez into that continent; for in Psalm cv. 23, 27, Egypt is actually called “the land of Ham.” And now once more I turn to the men of science, and I find that these very districts are thought by them to be the ancient homes of those they call Turanians. Now, let it be well understood, I do not say that these outlines are never crossed, and that the races are not found in many cases to be intermixed. But what I do say is, that in their great local outlines the p. 24arrangements of the men of science correspond, in a very remarkable manner, with the arrangements which we gather from all that we can learn from the Scripture history. Once more then modern discovery bears its testimony to Scriptural accuracy, and we welcome the men of science as unanswerable “witnesses” to historical truth.
II. The Prophecy.
Thus far we have not gone beyond the historical truth of the Pentateuch; but now let us turn to the prophecy,—that most remarkable prophecy of Noah, in which he foreshadowed the future destiny of the great families. Let us consider the three prophecies in the order in which they stand.
(1.) Canaan. There is something inexpressibly awful in the words respecting Canaan, and they are full of instruction respecting sin. They show what an awful thing sin is in the sight of God, and how superficial is man’s estimate of its guilt; for here is a whole race laid under a solemn curse in consequence of the sin of its head. As Adam brought a curse on the world, so Ham brought one on Canaan. The curse inflicted in that case was bondage, and the prophecy was that Canaan should be a servant of servants to both his brethren: i.e. to both Shem and Japheth. And now look at the fulfilment.
Take first a period about 1,000 years after the prophecy was given, when the Canaanites were still in the promised land, and Israel, the descendants of Shem, p. 25came up from Egypt. The conflict then was between Shem and Canaan, and what was the result? The greater part of the Canaanites were destroyed, and those that remained were reduced to abject slavery. The prediction was fulfilled, and Canaan became the slave of Shem.
But some may say that all that was a long time ago, and only matter of ancient history.
Let us then turn to our own times, and consider facts that are within our own observation. How is it that our own West Indian islands are peopled with negroes? Is it not because we English made slaves of the Africans, or, in other words, because Japheth made a slave of Canaan? How is it that there is a negro population amounting to 4,000,000 in the United States? Is it not for the name reason, that Japheth made a slave of Canaan? How is it that up to the year 1807, when the slave trade was abolis............