Tower of Babel (Part 7) Circumstantial Evidence Continued

The fact of the Babel dispersion due to the confusion of tongues is in reality the best explanation for the distinct nations and their different physical features we see today. Henry Morris noted in his book Scientific Creationism:

Therefore, the concept of rapidly developing physical distinctive in small, inbreeding populations fits perfectly the creation model…. The real fundamental difference between one group of men and another is, not of racial distinctive, but rather, language. If two groups cannot talk to each other, there is no way they can work effectively together or intermarry. Different languages will effectively enforce segregation… The fact is, however, that by some means such [physical distinctive] characteristics have developed; which means that tribes were somehow segregated; which means that languages somehow became different.¹⁾Henry M. Morris, Scientific Creationism, Master Books (1985, 2006) p. 182-183

Ken Ham explained this as what we would call a genetic bottleneck. “Because of the new language and geographic barriers, the [people] groups no longer freely mixed with other groups, and the result was a splitting of the gene pool. Different cultures formed, with certain features becoming predominant within each group. The characteristics of each became more and more prominent as new generations of children were born.”²⁾Ken Ham, “Are There Really Different Races?” https://answersingenesis.org/racism/are-there-really-different-races/ As small groups inbreed amongst each other being separated from other groups, their gene pool was limited causing physical features—such as skin tone, height, nose shape, eye shape, etc.—to become distinctive of their nation through successive generations.
This factor of a genetic bottleneck explains many other exegetical concepts identified in the Bible. One such line of circumstantial evidence is the shortening of the average life time from the patriarchs. “And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said unto Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said unto Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage” (Genesis 47:7-9). At 130 years of age, Jacob tells Pharaoh that he is relatively young compared to how old his ancestors live. The Bible emphasizes two major events that cause genetic bottleneck of humanity—the Flood and the dispersion from the Tower of Babel. Quoting again from Bodie Hodge:

…Shem’s age was significantly reduced from his father’s.… This is a clue that there may have been a genetic problem that passed through Noah to Shem (and perhaps Ham and Japheth, too) to trigger a drop in ages.
Lamech, Noah’s father only lived to 777. In the reality of his day, he was young pup! Methuselah, Lamech’s father, lived nearly 200 years longer than Lamech. Therefore, it is possible that there was a genetic mistake hidden within Lamech that occurred between Methuselah and his son Lamech.
If this defective gene had been passed to Noah from Lamech, and yet was masked by a good gene from Noah’s mother, it may not have affected him, and hence, he still lived to a ripe old age of 950 years. But Noah could still pass this defect along to his sons, such as Shem, who lived 600 years. But why couldn’t a good gene from Noah’s mother [the author probably means ‘Noah’s wife,’ or could have meant to write ‘Shem’s mother’ here] have masked this… unless she too had this defective gene?
Was Mrs. Noah also a descendant of Lamech or Methuselah? To find a godly wife, Noah may have looked to his own family line…³⁾Bodie Hodge, Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors, Master Books, (Green Forest, AR, 2013), pp. 209-210

Hodge indicates Noah’s wife must have died at a younger age as well reasoning that she was missing during the account when Noah got drunk (Genesis 9:20-27). He concludes this asking “Why was it their [Shem and Japheth] responsibility to cover Noah? Where was Noah’s wife?”⁴⁾Bodie Hodge, Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors, Master Books, (Green Forest, AR, 2013), p.210 As this genetic defect was passed on generation after generation, it significantly reduced the life expectancies of the successive generations as it embedded into the entire human race after the flood and became predominate when the people groups were divided after Babel to such a degree, Moses wrote the average life expectancy was 70-80 years (Psalms 90:10).
This longevity of life from ancestors also implies another form of circumstantial evidence—ancestor worship. This actually explains why there are multitudes of false religions and how the nations forsook the worship of the one and only true God for polytheism, as we saw in the various ancient versions of the Tower and dispersion. For example: Javan (Gen. 10:2) became Jove/Jupiter; Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-9) became Baal; Naphtuhim (Gen. 10:13) became Neptune. These men were ruler who became worshiped not only as great men, but also as immortals because of their longevity of life compared to the others who died so much younger.

Furthermore in many of the details, these “gods” were immortal, but they still died and they still did many human things (wars, marriage, journeys, and so on). But what distinguished them from being mortals and taking the class of immortal? It was usually their age. They outlived everyone else.⁵⁾Bodie Hodge, Tower of Babel: The Cultural History of Our Ancestors, Master Books, (Green Forest, AR, 2013), p. 217

An example is seen in The Corpus Hermeticum which distinguishes between “sensible gods,”⁶⁾Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius: The Way of Hermes: New Translation of The Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Tran. By Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oven, William D. Wharton, and Jean-Pierre Mahe, Inner Traditions International, (Rochester, Vermont, 2000) p. 109 meaning gods with physical sense; and “God: he is not visible, but evident within the visible (things).”⁷⁾Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius: The Way of Hermes: New Translation of The Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Tran. By Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oven, William D. Wharton, and Jean-Pierre Mahe, Inner Traditions International, (Rochester, Vermont, 2000) p. 109 This Greek translation of a more ancient Egyptian religious traditional text expresses ancient thoughts of monotheism and polytheism. The text states “there is a god who has come into being according to human opinion…”,⁸⁾Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius: The Way of Hermes: New Translation of The Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Tran. By Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oven, William D. Wharton, and Jean-Pierre Mahe, Inner Traditions International, (Rochester, Vermont, 2000) p. 114 and “the gods (exist) because of God.”⁹⁾Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius: The Way of Hermes: New Translation of The Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Tran. By Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oven, William D. Wharton, and Jean-Pierre Mahe, Inner Traditions International, (Rochester, Vermont, 2000) p. 115 This is why the Greeks could believe the gods had a fate dictated by their astrological signs; “His [the creative God] spiritual substance governs the heavens, the heavens govern the gods, and the powers, which are appointed by the gods, govern men. This is the host of gods and powers.”¹⁰⁾The Corpus Hermeticum: The Way of Hermes: New Translation of The Corpus Hermeticum and the Definitons of Hermes Trismegistus to Asclepius, Tran. By Clement Salaman, Dorine Van Oven, William D. Wharton, and Jean-Pierre Mahe, Inner Traditions International, (Rochester, Vermont, 2000) p. 78 This is one line of argument that the early church fathers used against the pagan religion by explaining that the gods they worshiped were mere men and they could visit their burial sites as they became shrines to the dead gods. In The Clementine Homilies it was expressed:

For instance, as I have mentioned already, in the Caucasian mountains there is shown the tomb of a certain Kronos, a man, and a fierce monarch who slew his children. And the son of this man, called Zeus, became worse than his father; and having by the power of magic been declared ruler of the universe, he committed many adulteries, and inflicted punishment on his father and uncles, and so died; and the Cretans show his tomb. And in Mesopotamia there lie buried a certain Helios at Atir, and a certain Selene at Carrhæ. A certain Hermes, a man, lies buried in Egypt; Ares in Thrace; Aphrodite in Cyprus; Æsculapius in Epidaurus; and the tombs of many other such persons are to be seen.
Thus, to right-thinking men, it is clear that they were admitted to be mortals. And their contemporaries, knowing that they were mortal, when they died paid them no more heed; and it was length of time which clothed them with the glory of gods.¹¹⁾ The Clementine Homilies” Homily VI, chap. XXI; The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII, Hendrickson Publishers (Grand Rapids, MI , 2012), p. 266; accessible at http://biblehub.com/library/unknown/the_clementine_homilies/chapter_xxi_their_graves_are_still.htm; Chap. XXII The Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. VIII, Hendrickson Publishers (Grand Rapids, MI , 2012), p.266-267; accessible at http://biblehub.com/library/unknown/the_clementine_homilies/chapter_xxii_their_contemporaries_therefore_did.htm