Read: Genesis 9
Chapter nine
signifies a new beginning. Just as God
blessed and commanded Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply (Gen. 1:28), He
now blesses and commands the same of Noah and his sons (v. 1). In verse two God reaffirmed that mankind
would rule over all creation, including the animals. God now gives animals to man to eat as meat
(v. 3) including further guidelines.
Though animals were granted as food for man, the blood was not permitted
to be eaten because it was the life of the beast (v. 4). Blood was sacred because it points to the
blood that was shed by our Saviour, Jesus Christ, for the sin of the
world. In verse five we see the
seriousness of how God views human life.
Any animal that takes a man’s life was to be held accountable, through
human representatives. This is also
true for any person that takes a human life (v. 6). Human life is so valuable by God that it is
protected by God. Murder is the highest
offence that can be committed against an individual or against a society as it
demonstrates contempt for God since man is created in the image of God. The highest punishment a man can receive is
to lose his own life. God is now
appointing man to judge and punish these sins as this is seen as the first form
of human government being permitted by God.
Government is responsible for the sanctity of human life and for
instituting penalties for wrong moral conduct.
Here we see God appointing humans to punish sin in order to keep the
world from being filled with violence once again. God then repeats in verse 7 what He stated in
verse 1, “be fruitful and multiply”! God desires for humanity is to flourish! God then establishes His covenant with Noah
and his offspring (v. 9) and all living creatures (v. 10). God promised to “never again cut off all life by the waters of a flood; never again
will there be a flood to destroy the earth” (v. 11). Then God gave the rainbow as sign of the
covenant between Himself and all living creatures (v. 13). This was the first covenant that God made
with humanity and He promises to unconditionally keep this covenant as it is an
everlasting covenant, not dependent on the obedience of mankind.
The chapter
ends with a peculiar story of Noah’s foolishness and the response of his three
sons. We do not know how much time has
passed between Noah’s leaving the ark and the events at the end of this
chapter. After the flood, Noah became a
farmer and grew a vineyard (v. 20). One
day he became drunk and lay naked in his tent (v. 21). Ham saw the nakedness of his father and told
his two brothers (v. 22). To have seen
it accidentally or involuntarily would not have been a crime but whether
accidental or intentional, Ham should not have told his brothers but rather
should have covered up his father and kept his father’s disgraceful action to
himself! Instead we see that it was Shem
and Japheth who honored their father by covering him up and in doing so, they
did not fall to the temptation of taking a peak at his nakedness (v. 23). By covering Noah up they were making sure no
one else would see him in this disgraceful state. When Noah awoke, he uttered prophetic words
over his sons (a sign that the drunkenness may have been accidental and not
intentional since God granted him the spirit of prophecy on this occasion –
although the text never tells us so we are assuming here). Noah pronounces a blessing on Shem and
Japheth for treating him with respect and decency (v. 26-27). On the other hand, Noah pronounces a curse on
Canaan (v. 25), not specifically on Ham’s son Canaan but rather on Ham’s
descendants who would become the Canaanites.
Here we see the third curse in the book of Genesis. The first was the curse on the serpent
(3:14), the second was on Cain (4:11) but this is the first time a human is
doing the cursing as the first two were curses from God. Noah’s curse was not a vindictive outburst
but rather a prophetic utterance from the Lord.
The curse was that Canaan would be a servant to his brothers, whom by
birth were his equals, but through conquest would rule over him (see Deut.
7:1-3). This certainly occurred when the
Israelites conquered the land of Canaan almost 800 years later which shows
God’s goodness, grace and patient endurance before judging a nation! It is
important to note that this curse does not exclude them from the possibility of
obtaining salvation if they chose to walk with God. Unfortunately, Biblical history shows us that
they instead chose to refuse to be saved on God’s terms and eventually the
justice of God came upon them. Shem
received the greatest blessing as He will become the line of Abraham, David and
eventually Jesus! Japheth’s blessing was to be enlarged. His offspring was to be numerous and dwell in
the tents of Shem showing again that Shem will eventually be dominant over even
Japheth. Even though this story is a
bit odd we can see why it was included in Scripture as it shows the ancestry of
the children of Israel and one of their greatest rivals, the Canaanites. Noah’s prophecy shows us how the nations of
the world were divided into three natural divisions stemming from the sons of Noah. This provides the framework for the history
of the nations. We’ll learn more about
that tomorrow!
Prayer and Journaling
1. Government
is responsible for the sanctity of human life and for instituting penalties for
wrong moral conduct. Yet in our country
we kill babies through abortion and allow same sex marriage – both of which are
detestable to God. Judgement will
come! God will not restrain His wrath
forever. Pray and repent on behalf of
the nation of Canada. Cry out to God for
His forgiveness for how we have not followed His ways. Ask Him to forgive our moral failures and
turn the people of Canada towards Him through repentance. Pray for the church in Canada to be
strengthened and renewed so that she can be a prophetic voice to the nation of
the coming judgment if they do not repent and turn wholeheartedly to God. Commit to coming to the next prayer summit
where we pray corporately for these things.
Confess your own lack of desire to see our nation renewed and
repentant.
2. The
rainbow is a sign of God’s faithfulness, goodness, grace and love. Did you know that there is a rainbow
encircling Christ’s throne in heaven (Ezek. 1:28; Rev. 4:3)? Rainbows come after each rain to remind us
that God will never destroy the earth again through a flood. They also should remind us that Christ will
judge the earth again upon His return.
Thank God for giving us promises in His Word. Thank Him for His End Times plan to judge the
earth and reward those who have faithfully loved and served Him. Pray that you and your family would hold
fast to the truths in the Word of God though the tribulation and End Times so
that you will be spared the final judgment of God.
3. Shem
and Japheth honored their father by covering Him up. Honoring parents does not end when we become
adults; it is a command we are to keep for our entire lives. This means that we are respectful in word and
action and are thankful that they gave us life.
If they have hurt us, this means that we forgive them (it doesn’t mean
that we necessarily trust them unconditionally or put ourselves or our children
in harm’s way). This also means that we
take care of them as they get older. Ask
the Lord to show you how you can honor your parents this week. Commit to following through on what He shows
you and making this a habit in your life.
If you have a broken relationship with your parents then it will take
much prayer and wisdom to know the specifics of what this should look like. Pray with a godly leader who hears God well
and come up with a plan for how you can honor your parents.
