Acts 17:26 And has made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined the times before appointed… I. THE FACT. The truth of the declaration will appear, if we consider — 1. The great similarity which is visible among the various nations of the earth. They all have the same — (1) Exterior form. (2) Mode of moving. They all walk erect. (3) Use of speech, or power of articulation. None of the lower species have this. (4) Intellectual faculties. The most uncultivated nations appear to possess the same native powers of the mind as the most civilised. (5) Moral dispositions, "they have all gone out of the way, there is none that doeth good, no, not one." (6) Birth, growth, decay, and dissolution. 2. The ignorance in which they have generally been involved for many ages past, and the slow progress they have made in knowledge, learning, and civilisation. 3. The farther back we trace their origin, the more they become blended together and mixed into one. There is no nation but the Jews that appears unmixed. If different nations have originated from different sources, it is very strange that not one of them has been able to retain the knowledge of their distinct origin. But if they are all of one blood this is not strange. II. OBJECTIONS. 1. Some have said it was impossible for one family to spread over all the world. To this I reply — (1) That it was easy for one family to scatter into any inhabitable parts of the earth where they could travel by land. (2) As to those nations who have inhabited Iceland and America, we can conceive of various ways by which they came to these places. It has been conjectured that many islands were once connected to the main land; and that this was the case in respect to the continents. If this be true, then the difficulty is entirely removed. But if this be not true, it is easy to suppose, that those on the continent could devise means to get to the nearest islands. And as navigation was early discovered by this means, they could get to remote islands and continents. 2. Some nations presume to carry their antiquity several thousand years higher than others, such as the Babylonians, Egyptians, and Chinese. But — (1) They have no history or monuments to prove their great antiquity. (2) The most ancient and faithful historians bear full testimony to the contrary. 3. It is farther objected that the great diversity in the customs, manners and complexions of different nations, is inconsistent with the supposition of their common origin. It is easy to answer that all these things may be accounted for by the different circumstances and climates in which they have lived. III. INFERENCES. If it be the truth that all nations are of one blood, then — 1. We may justly conclude that the Bible is the Word of God. It confirms the account which the Bible gives of — (1) The Creation, which tells us that mankind sprang from the same two parents. (2) The Fall. Though men have sought out many inventions to account for the universal depravity of mankind; yet the Bible gives the only rational account of it, that by one man's disobedience all were made sinners. (3) The Deluge. The heathen have some dark traditions concerning this awful catastrophe, but they could never give any rational account of it. It cannot be credibly accounted for but on the supposition that all nations are of one blood, universally depraved, and universally deserve destruction. 2. That notion of patriotism which is generally imbibed and admired, is false and unscriptural. One nation has no more right to seek its own interests exclusively, or in opposition to the interests of other nations, than one member of the same family has to seek his interest in opposition to the interest of the rest of the family. All nations are morally bound to seek each other's interests, and to refrain from doing anything which they deem to be injurious. 3. They have no right to enslave one another. All men have natural and inalienable rights, which never ought to be taken from them by force and violence. 4. God has manifested peculiar care, wisdom, and kindness in fixing the various places of their residence, in the best manner, according to their relations to and connections with each other. And as He fixed the bounds of their habitations, so He fixed their times. That is, the time when every nation should rise or fall, or become mixed with any other nation. It requires great care, wisdom, and kindness in a parent to dispose of his numerous family in the wisest and best manner; it requires more in a prince; but it required far greater in God. 5. God has exercised His absolute sovereignty in a very striking manner. He has made great and innumerable distinctions among the nations and inhabitants of the earth. How differently did He treat the three branches of Noah's family, Isaac and Ishmael, Jacob and Esau! He has placed one nation in a warm and another in a cold country, one in a rich, and another in a poor. And it is impossible for any one of the human family to be happy in this world, or the next, without seeing and loving His sovereignty. 6. We have ground to think that the world will stand many centuries longer. The earth is far from being fully inhabited. 7. The whole family of Adam will be immensely numerous. If the seed of Abraham will be as the stars of heaven for multitude, what will be the seed of Adam? Their numbers will be beyond human calculation, if not beyond human conception. This immense family are to have one universal and solemn meeting at the Day of Judgment. (N. Emmons, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; |
    |