God s Covenant with Humankind through Noah. Genesis 9:1-29

Transcription

1 1 God s Covenant with Humankind through Noah Genesis 9:1-29

2 2 Text: God s Covenant with Humankind through Noah Genesis 9:1-29, 1. Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2. Every living creature of the earth and every bird of the sky will be terrified of you. Everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea are under your authority. 3. You may eat any moving thing that lives. As I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4. But you must not eat meat with its life (that is, its blood) in it. 5. For your lifeblood I will surely exact punishment, from every living creature I will exact punishment. From each person I will exact punishment for the life of the individual since the man was his relative. 6. Whoever sheds human blood, by other humans must his blood be shed; for in God s image God has made humankind. 7. But as for you, be fruitful and multiply; increase abundantly on the earth and multiply on it. 8. God said to Noah and his sons, 9. Look! I now confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you 10. and with every living creature that is with you, including the birds, the domestic animals, and every living creature of the earth with you, all those that came out of the ark with you every living creature of the earth. 11. I confirm my covenant with you: Never again will all living things be wiped out by the waters of a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12. And God said, This is the guarantee of the covenant I am making with you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all subsequent generations: 13. I will place my rainbow in the clouds, and it will become a guarantee of the covenant between me and the earth.

3 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15. then I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures of all kinds. Never again will the waters become a flood and destroy all living things. 16. When the rainbow is in the clouds, I will notice it and remember the perpetual covenant between God and all living creatures of all kinds that are on the earth. 17. So God said to Noah, This is the guarantee of the covenant that I am confirming between me and all living things that are on the earth. 18. The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Now Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19. These were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was populated. 20. Noah, a man of the soil, began to plant a vineyard. 21. When he drank some of the wine, he got drunk and uncovered himself inside his tent. 22. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father s nakedness and told his two brothers who were outside. 23. Shem and Japheth took the garment and placed it on their shoulders. Then they walked in backwards and covered up their father s nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so they did not see their father s nakedness. 24. When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor he learned what his youngest son had done to him. 25. So he said, Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves he will be to his brothers. 26. He also said, Worthy of praise is the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem! 27. May God enlarge Japheth s territory and numbers! May he live in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his slave! 28. After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29. The entire lifetime of Noah was 950 years, and then he died. (NET)

4 4 Commentary: God blessed Noah and his family. He told them to reproduce and replenish the earth with people. After the flood the animals would be afraid of man and man could eat any of the living creatures that he desired. The green plants would also continue to be available for food. The only prohibition that God placed on eating meat was that the meat could not be eaten with the blood in it. God also restated the sacredness of human life. He said that if someone murders another person they must be punished. Even an animal that kills a person will be put to death. After the flood man could live anywhere on the earth. God made a covenant with Noah, his descendants and with the animals. He promised, "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." The reminder of this covenant was that God put His rainbow in the clouds. This covenant will last until the end of the earth. Noah s sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, went out from the Ark and their descendants spread over all the earth. Noah began to work the land. He grew a vineyard. Noah made some wine, drank it, became drunk and lay in his tent naked. Noah's son, Ham, saw his father's nakedness. There are two possibilities as to what happened, (1) Either Ham or Canaan or both of them disregarded God's laws of modesty and decency concerning their father and grandfather, or (2) One or both of them involved themselves in some homosexual act with the drunken Noah. Noah's other sons walked backward and covered their drunken father. When Noah awoke he knew what his youngest son had done. Noah placed a curse on Ham's son, Canaan. He also pronounced a blessing on Shem and Japheth. He said Canaan would be their servant. After the flood Noah lived 350 more years. Now we get the "and he died" for Noah. "All the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died." (Genesis 9:29) In spite of his sin Noah was a great servant of God. He was a righteous man. God blessed Noah and his sons -- Genesis 9:1-7: God Blessed Noah and his sons. His sons bore children and helped repopulate the earth. God's desire was that men live all over the world. God gave mankind power over the animals. God told Noah and his sons, "All the animals shall be afraid of you. I

5 5 have placed them under your control." At this point in history man was also allowed to eat any animal that he desired along with the green plants and fruit. The only prohibition God gave them about eating the animals was that they were not to eat the animals with the blood in them. In allowing man to kill and eat animals God reminded man that human life was sacred and that men must not kill each other. God had created man His image. Therefore any man or animal that murdered another human would be put to death. Capital punishment was God's law in dealing with murder. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man." (Genesis 9:6) The reason that man is different from animals is that man is created in the likeness of God. Man is the special creation of God made in His own image. It was God's will that man live everywhere on the earth and that he be able to live safely. God told Noah and his sons to, "Be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein." God's covenant with Noah -- Genesis 9:8-17: God made a covenant with Noah and all mankind. The animals were even included in this covenant. This was an "unconditional" covenant. There were no requirements on man's part for this covenant to exist and for man to benefit from it. God said, "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." The token that God's covenant promise would be kept was the Rainbow. Each time you see a rainbow it serves as a reminder that God keeps His promises. Sense there had not been rain before the flood there could not have been a rainbow before the flood. "As God looks upon the bow that He may remember the covenant, so should we, that we also may be ever mindful of the covenant with faith and thankfulness." Noah's sin of drunkenness -- Genesis 9:19-27: All men on earth today are descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. After the flood Noah planted a vineyard. He made wine, drank it and became dunk. He was drunk and lying naked in his tent. Ham saw his father in that condition. Ham's son, Canaan was either involved in some way or Noah had seen this same sinful heart in him that existed in Ham. There are two possibilities of what happened on this occasion. There might have been some homosexual act involved. The Bible is clear in

6 6 stating God's view of homosexuality. "Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination." (Leviticus 18:22) If that was the case this entire event would have been an abomination to God. Second, it is possible that Ham's sin was in not showing proper respect toward his father. Ham did more than just see that his father was naked. It brought him pleasure that he was able to see his father in this fallen state. He apparently made mockery of his father to his two brothers. Shem and Japheth honored their father and would not take part in Ham's actions. Noah stated the fact that Canaan would be cursed and he would be a servant. Shem and Japeth would be blessed. "Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." Each of Noah's three sons was a servant to the world. All three of the sons are referred to as "servants." Ham's descendants would provide material accomplishments. He and his descendants would provide food, clothing, shelter, weapons, machinery and equipment of all kinds. Japheth and his descendants provided leadership and intellectual advancement. Through Shem and his descendants came the knowledge of God; the Lord Jesus Christ was a descendant of Shem. The death of righteous Noah -- Genesis 9:28-29: Noah lived three hundred fifty years after the flood. "And he died" was stated about Noah when he was nine hundred fifty of age. Abraham was born just a few years after the death of Noah. Noah lived twenty more than Adam and but nineteen years less than Methuselah. Noah was a great blessing to the world. He was a preacher of righteousness before the flood and no doubt continued to preach the same message of righteousness after the flood. God, "Spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly." (2 Peter 2:5) Noah saw and lived in two very different worlds. As a man of faith he will live in a place very far better than either of those worlds in eternity. You can be a person of faith too. To become a Christian hear the word (Romans 10:17), believe in Jesus (John 8:24), repent of sins (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10) and be baptized into Christ. (Galatians 3:26-27) Let us be righteous and live for and with the Savior.

7 7 By Charles Box, Walnut Street Church of Christ, 306 Walnut Street, Greenville, Alabama, USA