We will begin our study today in Genesis 9:1 “And God blessed Noah and
his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth.”
Not only did God bless Noah by saving him and his family during the
flood, but this was another blessing that God spoke on Noah and his family.
God’s request was that they produce children and repopulate the earth.
Genesis 9:2 “And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that
moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand
are they delivered.”
We see by this that man is higher than animal form. You can, also, see
how ridiculous it would be to believe that man evolved from a monkey
(animal). All animals have a natural (God given) fear of mankind. God made
them all for the use of mankind.
Genesis 9:3 “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even
as the green herb have I given you all things.”
This statement discounts being a vegetarian. The counterpart of this
verse in the New Testament is I Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving
heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;” I Timothy 4:2 “Speaking
lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;” I
Timothy 4:3 “Forbidding to marry, [and commanding] to abstain from meats,
which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which
believe and know the truth.”
You see, God wants us to enjoy the things He has provided for us.
In Luke chapter 8:55, we read the account of Jesus telling the parents
of the little girl He raised from the dead, to feed her some meat. Luke 8:55
“And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to
give her meat.”
Genesis 9:4 “But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the blood
thereof, shall ye not eat.”
At first glance, you would think that this Scripture contradicts the
above Scriptures, but it does not. The word that was translated flesh,
above, means the flesh of mankind. What it was saying, is do not eat human
flesh. Basar is the word translated “flesh”, and it means person, mankind,
or man body. You see, God does not make mistakes. Our interpretation
sometimes confuses us.
Genesis 9:5 “And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the
hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand
of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.” Genesis 9:6 “Whoso
sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of
God made he man.”
Man is a special creation of God, and made in God’s image and He will
not allow the murder of mankind.
Genesis 9:7 “And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth
abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.” Genesis 9:8 “And God spake
unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,” Genesis 9:9 “And I, behold, I
establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;” Genesis 9:10
“And with every living creature that [is] with you, of the fowl, of the
cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of
the ark, to every beast of the earth.” Genesis 9:11 “And I will establish my
covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters
of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.”
We see, here, that God had reconciled Himself to man. God Himself,
established the covenant. Covenant was translated from the word “be right”.
It means (in the sense of cutting) compact (made by passing between pieces
of flesh), or it could mean confederacy or league. Many serious covenants
were made by killing an animal and passing between the two halves of the
animal. At any rate, we know that this promise of God to mankind was a very
serious promise. It, probably, was sealed by blood.
Genesis 9:12 “And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I
make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for
perpetual generations;”
Notice here, that just like salvation, this covenant of God was made by
Him alone. Mankind has nothing to offer God as surety. Salvation is a free
gift, we have nothing good enough to trade for it. Please also note, that
this covenant was not just for Noah and his sons, but for all of us, as
well. this word that is translated perpetual could mean a number of things.
“Olam” means: Vanishing point, time out of mind, always, eternity, or
without end. You see, this promise is still good today.
Genesis 9:13 “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token
of a covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:14 “And it shall come to
pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the
cloud:” Genesis 9:15 “And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me
and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more
become a flood to destroy all flesh.” Genesis 9:16 “And the bow shall be in
the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting
covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon
the earth.” Genesis 9:17 “And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the
covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon
the earth.”
We need to realize in all of his that the rainbow has twofold message
in it. When we look at the rainbow, we are assured that God will not destroy
the earth and all in it again by a flood. The other promise and the covenant
He made with mankind through Noah. Sometimes, I am sure, God despairs of
mankind and their evil ways. God cannot, and will not lie. His covenant with
man is good even now.
Genesis 9:18 “And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham [is] the father of Canaan.”
The word “Canaan” means humiliated. This Canaan, here mentioned, was
not a country, it is a man’s name.
Genesis 9:19 “These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was the
whole earth overspread.”
The word translated earth here, is a very versatile word. It could mean
a country, a nation, or, in fact, the entire world. If you believe the
translation means the entire world, then you must,also, believe that there
were no other living beings except Noah and his family, and that all the
nationalities of the world sprang from these few of Noah’s family. Because
of the words “whole earth”, I believe the above means the entire earth (the
whole globe).
Genesis 9:20 “And Noah began [to be] an husbandman, and he planted a
vineyard:”
The indication of the word “husbandman” is that Noah took on the
responsibility of his family, and began to cultivate the earth. His mistake
was in growing grapes to make wine. These next few verses we are about to
study, just prove that even though a person has walked with God and pleased
God in the past, he still can fall back into sin, if he gets careless in his
fellowship with God.
Genesis 9:21 “And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was
uncovered within his tent.”
When a person drinks enough to get drunk, he is not aware of things
like being covered up. Drunkenness brings on a lapse of your will. Nothing
good can come from this type behavior.
Genesis 9:22 “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his
father, and told his two brethren without.” Genesis 9:23 “And Shem and
Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders, and went
backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces [were]
backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.”
There are several things we need to notice here. Canaan was born before
Ham sinned. By revealing his father’s nakedness, Ham did the very opposite
of honoring his father. He really was making fun of his father in his
drunken condition. Yet Shem and Japheth acted with respect. I believe moral
character gets involved here. Ham had poor morals.
We have discussed the names of these sons in a previous lesson. We
learn through this incident, the three types of people will spring from
these three sons, (the Negroid, Caucasian, and Oriental).
Genesis 9:24 “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger
son had done unto him.”
There is an awakening always. What sorrow was brought on this family
through this one act!
Genesis 9:25 “And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of servants
shall he be unto his brethren.” Genesis 9:26 “And he said, Blessed [be] the
LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.” Genesis 9:27 “God shall
enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall
be his servant.”
Here, we see the contrast of blessing for respect of the father,
through Shem and Japheth, and cursing for disrespect of the father through
descendents of Ham. Notice the blessing in V-26, “Blessed be the LORD God
of Shem”. You see, it is the God of Shem who was blessed.
Genesis 9:28 “And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty
years.” Genesis 9:29 “And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty
years: and he died.”
After the flood, men lived fewer years. For the next lesson, read chapter 10