Tubal and Meshech represent races of the modern world, at the time of this keying (2004) descendants of the ancestors of those names, who may not occupy the same territories as they did in earlier times.

Compare the following two accounts, and the commentary below:

1) Torah and subsequent sources:

The Book of Genesis (chap. x.) gives us the descendants of Noah's three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We are told that the sons of Japheth were Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras. We are then given the names of the descendants of Gomer and Javan, but not of Magog. Josephus says the sons of Magog were the Scythians. The Irish annals take up the genealogy of Magog's family where the Bible leaves it. The Book of Invasions, the "Cin of Drom-Snechta," claims that these Scythians were the Ph nicians; and we are told that a branch of this family were driven out of Egypt in the time of Moses: "He wandered through Africa for forty-two years, and passed by the lake of Saliv to the altars of the Philistines, and between Rusicada and the mountains Azure, and he came by the river Monlon, and by the sea to the Pillars of Hercules, and through the Tuscan sea, and he made for Spain, and dwelt there many years, and he increased and multiplied, and his people were multiplied." Atlantis TheNoah. . . . This took place at the time when Nimrod received the governorship of Babylonia as the delegate of Dzahhak named Biurasp.” (SD3-20) Antediluvian World. Ignatius Donnelly.

2) The Old Commentary

Back in later Lemurian times, a group of men of high development, from the point of view of that time, and numbered among the then disciples of the world, took issue with the planetary Hierarchy, and broke away from the "law of the initiates." It was a time wherein the emphasis of the teaching was upon the material side of life, and where the focus of attention was upon the physical nature and its control. The Old Commentary expresses what happened in the following terms, and as you read the measured cadences of that ancient script, it would be wise to try and realize that the phrases are referring to that group of [396] disciples who were the early founders of the present Jewish race:

"The law went forth from the inner group which guided the destinies of men: Detach yourselves. Withdraw within yourselves the power to hold and gain and get. The sons of God, who train themselves to leave the world of men and enter into light, they ever travel free. They hold not what they have. Release yourselves, and enter through the gates of peace.

"Some of the sons of God, waiting outside those gates, ready to enter when the Word went forth to roll the gates aside, were laden with the treasure of the earth. They brought their gifts as offerings to the Lord of life, who needed not their gifts. They sought to enter through those gates, not with a selfish end in view, but to present the garnered treasures of the world, and thus shew their love.

"Again the Word went forth: Leave all behind and pass beyond the portal, laden with naught of earth. They waited and discussed. The rest of those who were prepared entered into light and passed between the pillars of the gate; they left behind the loads they brought and entered free, and were accepted, carrying naught.

"Because they traveled as a group, and as a group progressed and grasped, the group responded to the divine command and halted. There they waited, standing before the portal of the Path, grasping the garnered treasures of a thousand cycles. Naught did they wish to leave behind. They had labored for the riches which they held. They loved their God, and Him they sought to dower with the fullest measure of the riches they had gained. They loved not discipline.

"Again the Word went forth: Drop on the ground all that you hold, and enter free.

"But three revolted from that stern command. The rest obeyed. They passed within the gates, leaving the three outside. Many were raised unto the heights of joy. The three remained without the gates, holding their treasure firm."

In this ancient writing, older than any of the written scriptures of the world, is to be found the secret of the Masonic story and of the slaying of the Master by the three most [397] closely associated with Him in His death and burial. Masons will all recognize the three to whom I here refer. These three were the founders of the modern Jewish race. They were three advanced disciples who resented the command to enter, free and untrammeled, the place where light is to be found. They sought to hold that which they had gathered and to dedicate it to the service of God. Their unrecognized motive was love of riches and a desire to hold safe their gains. Ancient tradition, as taught by the teachers of the past, tells us that...

"They turned their faces towards the gates of earth. Their friends went on... They stayed behind... The Masters met in conclave and decided what should be the fate of those who, having reached the Gates of Light, loved the possessions of the world more than they loved the service of the light. Again the Word went forth to the revolting three, who waited still without the gates:

"Hold what you have and gather more, but know no peace. Garner the fruits of mind, and seek your power in wide possessions, but have no sure abiding place.

"Within yourselves, because you are disciples of the Lord, you shall have no share in peace, no sure and certain knowledge of success, nor power to hold your gains.

"Always shall there be the knowledge dim of Him Who watches over all. Always the urge to gather and amass. Never the time to hold and to enjoy. Pass on therefore until the time shall come, and again you stand before the Gates of Light, this time with empty hands. Then enter, free, accepted by the Servants of the Lord, and know, forever, peace."

3) Comments

A distinction on the three disciples who revolted - and Noah's three sons. The former belong to Lemuria and the latter to the Fifth Rootrace.

[Phillip] “Noah thus symbolizing both the Root-Manu and the Seed-Manu, or the Power which developed the planetary chain, and our earth, and the Seed Race (the Fifth) which was saved while the last sub-races of the Fourth perished—Vaivasvata Manu—the number Seven will be seen to recur at every step.” (SD4-169)

[Phillip] Hence his sons are the subraces of the fifth rootrace:

“After the Deluge (?) the nations established themselves in various countries.  Among these were the Nabatheans, who founded the city of Babylon, and were those descendants of Ham who settled in the same province under the leadership of Nimrod, the son of Cush, who was the son of Ham, and great-grandson of 

[Phillip] The three disciples of DK's quote in EP1-393-401, were advanced disciples in ancient Lemuria. From an unpublished paper:

Tubal-Cain – ‘an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron’. Founder of Smithing. 1st aspect. (Vulcan, Vul-cain)

Jubal – Father of all who played the harp and organ. Founder of Music. 2nd aspect. (Jupiter)

Jabal – Father of tent dwellers, cattle-herders. Founder of Geometry. 3rd aspect. (Mercury)

“The original three disciples and their family groups were the ancestors of three major racial groupings, which can be generalised as follows:

1. The Semitic race or races of Biblical and modern times; the Arabs, the Afghans, the Moors and the offshoots and affiliations of those peoples, including the modern Egyptians. These are all descended from the eldest of the three disciples. [Jabal – 3rd aspect, hence 3rd subrace of 5th rootrace]

2. The Latin peoples and their various branches throughout the world, and also the Celtic races wherever found. These are descended from the second of the three disciples. [Jubal – 2nd aspect, hence 4th subrace of 5th rootrace]

3. The Teutons, the Scandinavians, and the Anglo-Saxons, who are the descendants of the third of the three disciples.” [1] [Tubal-Cain – 1st aspect, hence 5th subrace of 5th rootrace]

The following corroborates the ‘aspects’ applied between the three brothers and the races:

"Tubal-Cain is a Kabir, `an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron'… one with Hephæstos or Vulcan; Jabal is taken from the Kabiri—instructors in agriculture, `such as have cattle,' and Jubal is `the father of all those who handle the harp,' he, or they who fabricated the harp for Kronos [Saturn] and the trident for Poseidon [Neptune]." [2]

Although all three disciples are the ancestors of the major races of Humanity, Jabal (Semitic/Jewish) is discriminated against by Jubal (Celtic-Latin) and Tubal-Cain (Teuton, Anglo-Saxon):

“Gradually the descendants of two of these three disciples [Jabal, Tubal-Cain] have accepted the legends which were promulgated in Atlantean times, and have ranged themselves on the side of those who are antagonistic to the Jew…” [3] (Author’s italics)

[1] Esoteric Psychology I, Alice A. Bailey. p.400.

[2] The Secret Doctrine, H.P. Blavatsky. Vol. 3 p.389. (6 vol. Set)

[3] Esoteric Psychology I, Alice A. Bailey. pp.393-401.

[Phillip] The key to it all is that those three disciples and their descendants can be traced through specific races and subraces, post Lemuria - and pre-Lemuria, pre-Earth chain and even pre-System.

Cain is a murderer, but he is also the creator of nations, and an inventor.
ISIS.. HPB.The "murdering" is blood-shedding, but not taking life. SD. HPB.
[Phillip] IU2- 447-8 - Cain the first "murderer", so is every fifth man in line of descent: Enoch, Irad, Mehujael, Methuselah, fifth is Lamech and Noah's father. Look at inverted 5 pointed star with Cain at bottom - 13 "murderers" with Cain (=14) Siva is destroyer/regenerator - murderer and creator of nations and inventor (see IU1-479)