Remembering that “Genesis” means book of
beginnings:
·
The beginning of the earth, universe,
mankind, sacrifices, worship, covenants, judgment, families, marriages, sin,
curses and so on.
Genesis 9 is no exception;
it begins with the inhabitants exiting the ark after the worldwide flood.
Genesis 9 also marks the first of many covenants God made with man, after the
flood. It also has a curse, though not the first, that being the curse upon Noah
and his posterity if they disobeyed.
Recalling ch.8:20-21 Noah
built an altar upon which he sacrificed a burnt offering unto the Lord God,
who, upon smelling its sweet odor accepted it as a form of worship. Noah’s
worship included praise and thanksgiving for God’s provision. Notice it was
immediately following their exodus from the ark. A principle we ought to follow
daily.
The Covenant/ Blessing
The covenant/blessing actually begins in 8:21- 9:17
·
I will no more curse the ground
·
I will not smite every living thing
·
Seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer
and winter, day and night will remain.
·
Family blessing: fear and terror of beasts
concerning not only Noah and his family but all mankind. Now animals have need
of being domesticated by man including the aquatic life.
·
Unrestricted diet of every beast and herb
·
Vs4. The blood of the beast must be drained
and not drunken.
·
A personal accounting for shedding another
man’s life shall be made to the Lord God.
·
Mankind will be fruitful and multiply on the
earth.
·
Vs. 9:9-12 God reiterates His promise to Noah
in greater detail.
·
Vs.4-6 Curse of capital punishment: But the flesh with the life thereof, which
is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 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 every man; [who spills another’s lifeblood, Amplified] at the hand of every
man’s brother will I require the life of man. whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by
man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made He man.
In other words because the
life of man is in the blood [blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the entire
body] the blood is not to be drunken and if a man murders or otherwise takes
the life of another, capital punishment, executed by man, is the curse or
sentence. This is God’s given mandate and authority for the death penalty to be
carried out to man by man.
·
The promise is sealed with a bow [rainbow] in
the sky for a perpetual covenant to all generations. [meaning that God will
never again destroy the earth and its human inhabitants as well as animal, by flood;
vs. 14-17 establish His covenant/blessing]. We are still reminded of God’s
covenant with Noah each time we see a rainbow after a rain. 2Peter 3:9-12
promises that God will destroy by means of a worldwide fire, burning up all the
elements of life. However, once again He will preserve for Himself a remnant,
as in Noah’s day.
The Curse of Canaan
9:19-25 records the sin of Ham, Noah’s youngest son, and
subsequent curse upon Ham’s son Canaan. This is made evident by the statement
in vs. 24 and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
As a direct result of Ham’s behavior, Noah cursed Ham’s son Canaan, the
grandson of Noah. It is possible that Noah saw the same sinful tendency in
Canaan as he did in Ham. It is also possible, as at least implied, that Noah
was aware of some sort of sexual connotation that happened in the tent.
The actual curse was that Canaan would be the servant of servants unto his brethren
and the servant of Shem vs.25-27. The Canaanites have historically been
arch enemies of Israel and some of the most wicked i.e. Sodom and Gomorrah, the
cities from whence Lot and his family were delivered before their destruction.
Sodom and Gomorrah were notorious for their sexual perverseness. That’s why Lot
was confronted by the men of the city who desired the two men (angels) abiding
with Lot, ch.19:1-8.
However, the text is not
crystal clear and leaves several unanswered questions and several possible
answers:
·
If Ham was the guilty party, why did Noah
curse Canaan?
·
What is a curse?
·
Who was present in this scenario? Shem? Ham?
Japheth? Noah? Noah’s wife? Canaan?
·
What were their roles in this scenario?
·
What exactly happened to cause Noah to react
the way he did?
·
Exactly what does it mean to discover his father’s nakedness?
1. Let
me state that I don’t believe that Noah hated either Ham or Canaan. I believe
he loved them both.
2. This
was not an act of anger against Ham and his son, Canaan.
3. Was
it Noah’s naked condition that prompted his curse upon Canaan. Or was there more than the text reveals?
4. As a
testimony of God’s righteous, sinless persona, and a warning to future
generations of God’s wrath against sin.
5. A
curse is an invocation of excommunication; or an expression of misfortune. It
is not an unleashing of profanity. In many cases, a curse is a predetermined
penalty for violating a rule, law or statute. Lev.18:6-30 and Dt. 27:15-26
lists the prohibitive behavior Israel to avoid. Lev. 18:6-20 specifically regarding
incest.
6. The
Hebrew word for curse is: arar, awar. The
primary root word is execrate, which
means to utterly detest, abhor, abominate. It is a curse or imprecation. It is
a very bitter pronouncement, which suggests something vile and contemptible.
7. In
the case of Adam and Eve the curse was predetermined, death.
8. In
1Cor.5:1-6 Paul instructs the church at Corinth to sever fellowship with the
believer known to be having his father’s wife, in direct violation of Lev.18:8.6-20;
showing that though we are not under the law, yet we cannot violate it without
serious repercussions.
Three perspectives:
1. That
Ham was guilty of same sex immorality (homosexuality) against his father Noah.
Generally accepted because there is no mention of Noah’s wife in the picture. This
account is primarily used as an argument against homosexuality. However, though
homosexuality is prohibited and condemned in Scripture. See Lev.18:22;
1Cor.6:9-10.
Many
believe that this story does not support an account of homosexual behavior.
2. Scripture
commonly speaks of a man’s nakedness as referring to sexual intercourse with a
man’s wife. Leviticus 18:6-20, The man
who lies with his father’s wife has
uncovered his father’s nakedness. Canaan lived a cursed life because he was
conceived by incest. So Noah cursed Canaan not out of spite but as understanding
that Ham had violated his own nakedness by lying with his [Ham’s] own mother,
thus reaping what is sown, Gal.6:7-8, and his tragic circumstance, serves as a
warning to others against following in Ham’s wicked way. Any act of incest sets
the child, of that act, up for failure. That is but a part of the curse.
3. The
third and final perspective is that the curse upon Canaan was the beginning of
the black race; somehow proclaiming the black race as a lower class of people. Many
trace it back through Ham and finally Cain. However, the text simply does NOT
support this heresy. It was propagated by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the
Mormon Church. And was also used to justify slavery. There is no Scripture that
teaches Canaan’s curse was the beginning of the black race.
Regardless of which
perspective one may agree with; the ultimate lesson is that incest and perverse
sexual behavior comes with a curse attached. Ever since the beginning of time
man has endeavored to remove the curse upon him and yet continue living a
lifestyle contrary to God’s moral standards. Adam and Eve attempted to cover
their sin with inadequate fig leaves. Today, there are lawsuits filed against
bakeries for their stand against devious lifestyles. Christians are being
subjected to cruel persecutions for standing for their beliefs.
Shem and Japheth blessed
Vs.26 is God’s blessing upon Shem, the eldest son, and
that Canaan would be his servant. When studying the definition of a curse it is easy to conclude that to be
a servant of servants would be a very despicable assignment, to say the least.
I firmly
believe that today’s sexual movements are really designed to regain the dignity
lost with Canaan and projected forward in an attempt to keep their own
pernicious lifestyle. However, when one considers the curses listed in
Deuteronomy 27:13-26 it is easy to see that there are a lot of scenarios in
which many would fall prey to the curse.
In fact the very nature of sin carries with it the curse of death, the
ultimate curse!
In the
New Testament Jesus removed the curse of sin (penalty of death) to all who
would believe on Him as their Lord
and Savior. Which behooves each of us as Christians, to love every sinner to
life (not to be a partaker of their evil deeds) even as Christ loved us to
life? He did not wait for us to clean ourselves up, but died while we were yet
drowning in sin Rom. 5:8. The same is true of those on death row, yes they need
to pay their debt to society, but we ought to love them to life—life as a
Christian, though incarcerated. Remembering that often the only difference
between them and ourselves is that they got caught by man, and we got caught by
the Lord God unto salvation.
Vs.27 God promises to enlarge the tents of Japheth and
Shem; reiterating in vs. 27 that Canaan would serve Shem. [To enlarge meant
that God would cause Japheth to prosper. See Gen.39:2-4 the Lord was with
Joseph and prospered him.]
Vs. 28-29 Noah lived 350 years after the flood and died
at age 950 years of age.
In those
days it was not unusual to live 600 to 950 years or older; the original curse
(predetermined penalty for sin) had not yet run its course to drastically
reduce man and animal’s lifespan. Romans 8:19-23 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity,
not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that
the whole creation groaneth and travileth in pain until now. And not only they,
but ourselves, which have the Firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption.
This passage assures us that
the creature is under the curse, dying with disease, just as we are, and that
there is a future time when not only the children of God will be delivered, but
also the creature. Bondage to death indicates we cannot escape [eternal] death
without the hope in the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Recall also that the
creature was subject to the curse that man would not have an easy life, if
perhaps the creature was not cursed.
Faith
Building Practice and Review
1. What
does Genesis mean?
2. Why
was Canaan cursed instead of his father Ham?
3. What
is a curse? Explain.
4. How
long did Noah live after the flood?
5. At
what age did Noah die?
6. What
does it mean to uncover thy father’s
nakedness?
7. Who
was Canaan’s mother?
8. Who
was Canaan’s father?
9. In
what way is a child set up for failure?
10. Do
you see God’s love manifested in this account?
11. Do
you see His mercy?
12. Do
you see His vengeance?
13. Do
you see His provision [in salvation]?
14. Do
you see His longsuffering?
15. Do
you see His gentleness?
16. Some
would say God is capricious and vindictive. Do you?
17. What
was the significance of Noah’s altar in 8:20-21?
Knowing
God
A brief [not complete; add
to the list] synopsis of the persona of God. Circle each attribute of God as
illustrated in this lesson. Explain and designate the verse or passage.
·
Love
·
Gracious
·
Merciful
·
Righteousness
·
Longsuffering
·
Gentleness
·
Faithfulness
·
Compassionate
·
Forgiving
·
Friend
·
Anger
·
Sovereignty
·
Provider
·
Redemptive
·
Remnant lover and provider
The ultimate goal of Bible study is to
know God and not to merely memorize Bible trivia. As you study, identify the
attributes of God. For instance: make a note when you read of God extending His
forgiveness or compassion, and remember how He has done the same for you.
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