Genesis 2011 - Lesson 9C

• Today we move on from the Flood story and transition to the next toldat or genealogy in Genesis

  • But first we have some unfinished business in the family of Noah

    • Noah has unfortunately given into his flesh, become drunk and uncovered himself

      • Thus proving that Noah was not perfect, not sinless, though he was a man of great faith

    • Then his son Ham saw his father and magnified his shame

      • Ham celebrated his father’s sin rather than showing discretion and endeavoring to cover the shame

      • His brothers, on the other hand, show mercy and do their best to help their father recover his dignity

    • Next we watch Noah’s response to how his children reacted

  • Noah responds by making prophetic statements concerning the boys and the future of their respective family lines

    • As we read these pronouncements, remember that Noah would have understood the seriousness of what he was saying

      • Noah understood that his boys would repopulate the earth

      • He knew that each son would produce a multitude of people over time

      • Which explains why Noah chose such sweeping pronouncements 

    • And we must assume that Noah’s impetus to make these statements was the Spirit’s influence and direction

• So now look at Noah’s response:

Gen. 9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 
Gen. 9:25 So he said, 
“Cursed be Canaan; 
A servant of servants 
He shall be to his brothers.” 
Gen. 9:26 He also said, 
“Blessed be the LORD, 
The God of Shem; 
And let Canaan be  his servant. 
Gen. 9:27 “May God enlarge Japheth, 
And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; 
And let Canaan be  his servant.” 
Gen. 9:28  Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 
Gen. 9:29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died. 

• As Noah awoke, he learns of his indiscretions of the prior evening

  • My English text says the “youngest” son 

    • But the Hebrew word can also be translated younger, which is more accurate since Ham is the middle child

  • Some of us may be able to identify with Noah, perhaps as a result of past decisions and indiscretions

    • The sinking feeling as we replay the previous night in our memory, piecing together what was said and done

  • In Noah’s case, he probably noticed that he wasn’t wearing his normal sleep attire

    • Instead, there was a cloak thrown over him, something he wouldn’t have done for himself under normal circumstances

      • It probably didn’t require much thought to recognize that someone else had covered him

      • And with that recognition, Noah would have been horrified and embarrassed and ashamed

    • Perhaps he approached the boys to apologize or to ask for an explanation

      • In the course of that discussion, v.24 says Noah knew or understood what his youngest son had done

  • And what Ham had done was disrespect his father

    • More than simply disrespect, Ham had shown a willingness to enjoy and even celebrate the sin of another

      • And in that behavior he had shamed Noah and himself

    • Ham’s example is a good one for us to consider ourselves

      • Do we glory in another’s sin?

    • Our first answer might be, “Of course not...”

      • But before we rush to that answer, let’s ask ourselves a few questions

      • When we learn embarrassing or shameful news of another person, do we ask ourselves who can I share this with?

      • If we’re out with friends and one person begins engaging in mischief, do we encourage them on hoping to see them do something outlandish or risk getting into trouble?

      • Do we look the other way when a friend breaks the rules or even the law rather than correcting them kindly and reminding them of their Christian witness?

  • In all these cases, and others like them, we repeat the mistake of Ham, certainly in manner if not in degree

    • We glory in another’s sin, encouraging, feeding it or at least enjoying it vicariously

    • Paul said he prayed that the church would act differently

Phil. 1:9 And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, 
Phil. 1:10 so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; 

• Paul’s concern for the church was that we wouldn’t be a Ham, so to speak

  • We would abound in love based on knowledge and discernment

    • Which would lead us to approve of excellent things

  • And we would be blameless until our judgment day, filled with righteousness

  • We are not blameless if, by association, we encourage others into sin - that was Ham’s problem

• Noah certainly didn’t approve of Ham’s behavior, and in response Noah pronounces a curse

  • The first thing we notice is that the curse is directly against not Ham but Canaan

    • Since the beginning of this chapter, we’ve noticed that any mention of Ham has included the phrase “the father of Canaan”

      • Here we see why Moses has been making that connection throughout the chapter

      • Moses was helping us understand the connection between Ham and the curse Noah gives

    • Noah is upset at his son Ham, but Noah directs his curse at Ham’s son rather than at Ham himself

      • Why?

  • Do you remember what we learned in Chapter 3 concerning curses?

    • A curse is a pronouncement of eternal damnation

      • And when it comes from God (in this case by the power of the Spirit), it is a permanent and irrevocable verdict

    • Could God pronounce a curse – eternal damnation – upon Ham?

      • Remember Ham was one of the eight on the ark

      • Peter testifies that all eight on the ark were righteous by faith

2Pet. 2:4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; 
2Pet. 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a  preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
...
2Pet. 2:9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 

• So if Ham is a man saved by God’s grace, then God cannot pronounce a curse upon Ham

  • This is the same situation as God faced with Adam and Woman in the Garden

  • Adam sinned yet God pronounced curse not upon him but upon the ground, Adam’s source

• Similarly here, God pronounces a curse through Noah upon Ham but indirectly

  • In this case it lands on Ham’s son, Canaan

• Remember, being a believer doesn’t assure us of a perfect life

  • A believer can sin, and a believer can find life taking terrible turns

    • Saving faith isn’t an insurance policy against the horrors of a sinful world

    • Looking in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, we might notice that the first three men listed were Abel, Enoch and Noah

      • Noah dies of old age, but not before enduring a traumatic disaster and an embarrassing sinful episode

      • Enoch is preserved from even experiencing death

      • Abel was murdered at a young age

    • If these men can experience such different outcomes in life yet be listed in the Hall of Faith, then we can know anything can happen to us

  • But no matter what happens, we’re assured that death won’t conquer and we will receive an eternal inheritance

• So now we understand why Noah doesn’t directly curse his own son Ham, but why place the curse on Canaan?

  • The answer is simple, but it may not be satisfying for us – at least not at first

    • God is intent on bringing a consequence for this sin

      • And the consequence must come from Noah, the man who now represents human government

      • But it can’t come against Ham

    • And so it will flow from Ham to the next generation

      • And it doesn’t really matter where it lands

      • God is sovereign over the life of each person and He determines how each life will serve His purposes

    • In God’s wisdom and providence He determined that Canaan was the proper recipient of His wrath for Ham’s sin

      • You might say that isn’t fair, but remember that Canaan was born a sinner like every man

      • He was already on a path to judgment for his sins, like every unbeliever

      • Ham’s sin didn’t put Canaan under judgment

        • Canaan’s own sin did that for him

      • But God’s pronouncement means that Canaan will not receive God’s grace so as to overcome his sin

        • He will be left in his sin, cursed as everyone who dies a sinner will be

    • Yet still we ask why Canaan? Why not Ham’s oldest son Cush? Or the second or third children?

      • Many commentators have tried to answer that in inventive ways, but I think the answer is simple

      • When God responded to Adam’s sin in the Garden, He didn’t curse Adam, but He cursed the ground

        • God’s choice communicated that though Adam’s sin required God’s judgment, nevertheless God would turn that into good for those who love God

        • So by cursing the Earth, God was putting an end to our corrupted physical body, which came from the earth

        • And God was promising to replace the physical world, which itself was infected by sin

    • So now as God selects a son of Ham to curse, God selects the fourth son

      • And the number four in Scripture is the number associated with Earth

        • Like we see four compass directions, four seasons, four winds, four corners of the earth, etc.

      • Therefore, God repeats His pattern of cursing the earth, so to speak

• And like in the Garden, the curse against Canaan ultimately has a positive impact for those who love God and are called by His purpose

  • The family that descends from Canaan will become poster children for depravity in the land later occupied by Israel

    • They were sexually depraved and idolators with extreme practices

    • And when God’s chosen people entered into the promised land under Joshua, God made Israel’s army an instrument of punishment

      • They were conquered by God’s people and they were in a position of slavery or inferiority until they were finally enslaved and destroyed by the Romans in 146 BC

  • Noah’s pronouncement said Canaan would be cursed, a servant of servants, the lowest servant

    • And he would serve the people who come from his brothers, meaning the families of Shem and Japeth

    • The Israelites came from Shem and the Romans came from Japeth

  • God’s wisdom is evident in this plan, as it ensures that the people disposed by the arrival of Israel in the land are a people properly destined for this outcome

    • Some have speculated that this curse is the source for the slavery of Africans over the centuries

      • Ham’s descendants populate Africa, so this thinking is an attempt to justify the enslavement of Africans by Europeans

    • But even a casual reading of Genesis shows us the flaw in that thinking

      • Ham wasn’t cursed, Canaan was cursed

      • And Canaan didn’t settle in Africa

• Next, Noah turns to the other brothers who protected his dignity, and Noah pronounces blessing

  • For Shem, Noah blesses not Shem directly but the “God of Shem”

    • For Shem, the meaning of this blessing is clear

    • He will be the line of the Seed

    • The promise for a Messiah will come through Shem

      • And Shem’s blessing will be found in the line of Messiah

  • From Shem we get two notable lines of people present in the world today

    • First, we get the people of the promised seed; the Jewish people

    • Secondly,  we get the Arab peoples; the appointed foils for Israel

      • We learn more about the origins of these two groups in future chapters

    • Both these groups are considered Semites, because both came from Shem

      • But only the Israelites are the promised seed line

      • And then Noah repeats that Canaan’s family would serve the families of Shem

• Finally, Noah turns to Japeth

  • Noah declares that Japeth and his families will be enlarged

    • Enlarged refers to both the number of them and their territory and wealth

      • The peoples who come from Japeth eventually settle Europe and Asia, and later North America

      • Obviously these territories represent the vast majority of the world’s population and the world’s wealth

  • And Japeth’s family would dwell in the tents of Shem

    • The phrase in Hebrew conveys a certain meaning

      • The word dwell in Hebrew (sheken) can mean to abide in 

      • Similar to shekan, which is neighbor

    • The sense is of shared benefit

      • But the tents will be Shem’s

        • Japeth will have the wealth and the numbers

        • But they come to Shem’s home and gain benefit from association with Shem’s dwelling

      • The sharing will be mutual, but the greater blessing will come from Shem and go to Japeth

  • The fulfillment of this prophecy can only be understood spiritually

    • Shem will produce the line of the Messiah through Israel

    • And Japeth will produce the bulk of the Gentile people of the world

      • And the Gentiles will receive blessing by dwelling spiritually in Israel, Shem’s descendants

    • And Shem will benefit from the association because the Gentiles will bring numbers and wealth to serve Israel in the Kingdom

• Looking back at the three brothers, we can see each serving as a representative for the three major divisions of humanity, spiritually speaking 

  • Ham, as represented by his son Canaan, pictures the fate of the sinner

    • The one who glories in sin, and celebrates the flesh

    • This person will go to destruction paying the penalty for that sin

    • We would say the unbeliever

  • Shem represents the Jew

    • The seed line

    • God’s chosen people 

    • The people who bring salvation to the world

  • Finally, Japeth represents the Gentile believer

    • Those who own the world but give it up for the hope of Israel

    • The person who later enters the family of God by faith and is grafted into the promises of Israel

    • Who will dwell in Israel’s promised kingdom by association with God’s promises

• To end this important chapter, Moses tells us of the end of Noah’s story

Gen. 9:28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 
Gen. 9:29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died. 

• Noah’s life span is 950 years, of which 350 occurred after the Flood

  • Noah lives long enough to see the world repopulated

    • The world has seen people settled from Europe to Africa to East Asia

  • And Noah’s son Shem, another passenger on the Ark, lived until Jacob was over 100 years old

    • Clearly, between Noah and Shem, there was plenty of opportunity for ancient men to hear the story of the flood firsthand, and record the details accurately

  • As news of his death spread, it must have been an important day

    • Noah was born shortly after Adam died

      • And now Noah was gone

      • And it’s been 2,000 years since the Fall in the Garden

    • Until this moment, we could connect human history back to the beginning of time through the lives of just three people (Adam, Methuselah, Shem)

      • After Noah’s death, length of lives drops dramatically

      • And in future generations, men will have lost that direct testimonial connection to the beginning of all things

    • And along the way languages are increased and distances grow, and men begin to create stories to fill in their gaps of understanding history

      • Myths and legends develop, idols increase

      • And so the mercy of God is revealed in His willingness to record these truths through the prophet Moses

      • So that even today, six thousands years or so later, we’re still able to understand the details of our origins

      • And more than that, we understand the hows and whys for the way things are

        • The source of sin, the consequences of men living apart from God

        • And God’s mercy to provide a promised solution, found in the Lord Christ