Gen 9:18-29 New World: Same Sin

Text

Genesis 9:18–29 ESV

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

Main Point

Important Points

Outline

The Shame of Noah

The Shame of Ham

The Sovereign Grace of God

Introduction

A rifle has 2 sights

1 at the back

1 at the front

if you want to shoot something, you have to line up the 2 sights

If you only use the front sight or only the back sight your shot will be too high or too low

You have to line up the 2 sights

which means nothing of course if you aren’t lining up the sights with the right target

If you can line up all 3, you’ll be successfull

The same applies when we read Scripture

we can think of the rear sight as the immediate context of what has been written in the preceeding and following paragraphs and chapters

we can think of the front sight as the historical and redemptive context of the text (the author, the audience, what they would have understood from the content, where in relations to the cross, etc)

And most importantly we must always think of Jesus as the target - because after all the whole Bible - even Genesis - is really about Jesus

When we don’t read the Bible through these sights, so to speak, we can easily miss the point of the passage

This passage used to talk about:

Alcohol & drunkenness

Racism

Interracial marriage

None of these things are the focus or the point of the passage

What we are confornted with this morning is the new world that Noah and his family now live in after the flood

And what we see, is that despite the fact that Noah is the most righteous man on the face of the earth…

… and that all evil people have been destroyed with the flood and a new world has emerged from the waters…

It’s still same old, same old.

New world - same sin

Sinners were destroyed, and yet sin remained - in the hearts of Noah and his family

Thus the lesson for us - despite the tradition in recent decades to make the patriarchs in Genesis the heroes of their stories…

… is to look outside of and beyond the Biblical heroes and examples of men

The Bible is the story of redemption, and as the story of redemption unfolds, we find that:

God is sovereign over his creation

Man is sinful

Jesus is saviour

That, by the way, is not the outline of this sermon. It is

The Shame of Noah

The Shame of Ham

The Sovereign Grace of God

1. The Shame of Noah

Gen 9:20 “Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.”

“of the soil” = ha adama

Gen 2:7 “then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

“from the ground” = ha adama

Gen 2:15 “15 The Lord God took the man (adam) and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.”

“the man” = adam

There is already a similarity between Noah and Adam - more on that later

Noah planted a vineyard

For those of you who don’t know, a vineyard is for growing grapes

the grapes go through a process of fermentation from which you get wine

Noah drank too much of his wine and he became drunk

inebriated, hammered, hy is gesuip, dronk, unxilile

He had too much and he went and passed out in his tent

When you are drunk your sense of modesty, self-respect, and self-control diminish

Noah passed out, uncovered, naked, in his birthday suit, in his tent

The problem was not that Noah drank wine - he had too much wine

Alcohol or the consumption of alcohol is not sin - drinking it to excess is

Jesus turned water into wine

Not watered down or non-alcoholic - the host said it was the best wine

Paul told Timothy to drink some wine to help with his stomach ailments (1 Tim 5:22-23)

Is 25:6 “6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”

1 Tim 4:4-5 “4 For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.”

Consuming alcohol is not a sin, but consuming it to excess causes us to lose self-control

Pr 20:1 “1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.”

Eph 5:18 “18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,”

1 cor 6:9-10 “9 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

There lay Noah… drunk as a skunk

Gen 6:9 “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”

The only righteous man, the only man of integrity in his entire generation

Spent 120 years obediently building a Titanic in the dry desert

Preaching righteousness and setting an example to his wife, his sons, and his sons wives, and everyone else

Spent months floating on the ark waiting on God and trusting His word

Waited on God again for His word before disembarking onto dry ground

Blessed by God and brought into an everlasting covenant with God

If ever there was a righteous man outside of Jesus who could be held up as a hero, a role model, an example of morality, goodness and righteousness, it was Noah

Yet here, the first time we see Noah after God establishes a covenant with him...

we see him drunk and naked in a tent

It was a new world, yet sin remained

Sinners were destroyed, yet sin remained

a new creation, but not yet

Noah lived in a new world where all the bad people had been destroyed and yet sin had not been destroyed

Because sin lived on in his own heart - and clearly also in his sons, and so on through all generations and including us

People ask the silliest questions

“If God is so good, why doesn’t God just destroy all the evil people in the world?”

Because He would then destroy you too

In fact, He may even start with you

It seems counter-intuitive to the world but its is accurate and Christian to say...

that the most humble thing a person can say is that they are a sinner…

Possibly the most prideful thing anyone can say is that they are a good person

If anyone could say he was a good person it might have been Noah, but Noah had sin in his heart and so do you, and so do I.

So praise God that He has kept His covenant promise to never again destroy the earth the way He did with the flood because you and I would all die

But He graciously and mercifully is holding back His day of anger, patiently giving time for sinners to come to Him in repentance and faith

Transition

Now when most think of this passage they think of Noah’s drunkeness.

Noah’s drunkenness is not the focus of the passage

It’s not even the biggest sin of the passage

Between them, the focus is actually closer to Ham’s sin and what he did in response to finding his father exposed in the tent

2. The Shame of Ham

Gen 9:22 “22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.”

Ham

stumbles upon his father Noah, naked and passed out inside his tent

His reaction is to go outside the tent and tell his brothers.

From the context and from Noah’s response we can tell that Ham acted shamefully

He didn’t stumble upon his dad accidentally, and then go to his brothers privately and quietly and say, look guys we have a problem

“Dad’s passed out drunk and he’s completely naked - what are we going to do?”

“Can you guys come and help me get him dressed and tuck him into bed?”

Actually the context indicates that Ham must have gone into the tent, had a good look…

maybe even laughed at his father, and then gone outside the tent to share his father’s embarassment with his brothers

Shem and Japeth’s response is then shown to be the totall opposite and the remedy to Ham’s actions and Noah’s shame

They take a garment / blanket, walk backwards so they don’t see their father naked, and they cover him up

The text emphasizes this - Gen 9:23 “Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

Ham looked at his father’s nakedness… Shem and Japeth walked in backwards

Ham exposed his father’s shame… Shem and Japeth covered it

What we are seeing here is a brother seeking to expose his father’s shame rather than help him,

When he came across his father in that state, if it was an accident, he should have kept that to himself

He should have turned his face away from his father, and covered him

He could have taken his father one side in the morning, and had a little private talk with him about the night before

His father would have appreciated his son’s discretion… his son’s efforts to guard him and cover his shame…

and even his son’s loving correction, warning him against having too much wine and ending up in such a compromised position

Rather, Ham’s actions reveal a sad lack of love

Rather then discretion and loving private correction,

he publicly shames his father, taking some kind of perverted satisfaction out of exposing him to his brothers

Ham’s actions show a total disrespect and lack of love for his father, and shows he was seeking to bring division to the family…

Notice the text’s clarity on the fact that Noah was in his tent,

and Ham went and told his 2 brothers outside the tent

… going outside the tent to call his brothers together into the tent, to set brother against father, brother against father

To divide the family and bring shame upon those that God has commanded us to love and honour is a far more grievous sin than even the drunken nakedness of Noah

In the bible there are many terrible sins listed that carry the death penalty

and cursing your father or mother, or raising your hand to them or dishonoring them can and does carry the death penalty according to places in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy

Dishonouring parents and causing division in the family is a grievous sin

and not only in the flesh and blood family, but also in the family of God, the body of Christ

In other words, it is a grievous sin to seek to bring division between spiritual brothers and sisters… between spiritual fathers and sons… even here in the church

Prov 6:16-19 “16 There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, 18 a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, 19 a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

I don’t mind being straight forward and honest

We have developed a tradition and reputation for going outside the tent, gossiping with one another, and sowing discord among brothers

When we see something that we perceive - I won’t even say necessarily sinful - when we see something we perceive to be unfavourable…

… you don’t go to the brother inside the tent… you don’t go privately and discuss the matter discreetly

… or give loving correction which he might hopefully and should thank you for

… no, you go outside the tent

you go and gather others

you get a little gossip group going

you whisper in secret circles, gathering others onto your side

and then you don’t go privately to that brother you have an issue with, and speak with him inside the tent...

…where he might appreciate your honesty and concern, and even possibly thank you for your caring rebuke

no, you have opportunity to do that, but you don’t

You rather go outside the tent, whisper, gather a group,

and then wait for the opportune moment to expose your spiritual brother or sister or father or mother in a public forum or in a very public way

because you get some kind of satisfaction out of doing so

We would all do well to remember that the Lord hates one who sows discord among the brothers

How do you know if I am talking about you?

well, because what I have just said has possibly angered some of you, or made you feel very uncomfortable

But I won’t hear about it

Because you won’t come and talk privately to me about it

So I won’t get the opportunity to discuss it with you

But some of you will hear about it

And as soon as someone has a little whisper in your ear after the service this morning to complain about me…

… and you don’t correct that person for gossiping and going outside the tent…

you’ll know, you’re part of the problem.

Maybe it’s just as well I only preach every 6 weeks

Transition

What is Noah’s reaction when he wakes up?

Gen 9:24-25 “24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.””

Ham’s sin - like all sin - carries a severe consequence and a curse

But curiously, Ham is not the one cursed for his sin - his son Canaan is

Now why is that?

We will consider the answer under the third heading:

3. The Sovereign Grace of God

And I will say that in the prouncement of the curse on Canaan, we most certainly see the sovereignty of God and the grace of God on display.

Remember the metaphor I gave of the rifle with 2 sights lined up with the target - the 2 sights are the immediate context and the historical and redemptive context, and the target is Jesus Christ

Well this is the historical context

Genesis is part of the Pentateuch - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Written by Moses and given to Israel

And by the time the Israelites are reading Genesis, they’ve already been introduced to Canaan and the Canaanites

In fact, they’ve been up close and personal with the Canaanites and fought them many times

When we go into chapter 10 we will see that the list of descendants of Canaan is like a who’s who of Israel’s enemies

because from Canaan came the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites and the Hamathites

Num 33:51-53 “51 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 52 then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you and destroy all their figured stones and destroy all their metal images and demolish all their high places. 53 And you shall take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given the land to you to possess it.”

The Canaanites were a wicked and idolatrous people

The quest God gave Moses was to lead Israel against the inhabitants of Canaan and drive them out, and then establish Israel as a nation in the promised land

When Moses died, Joshua took over that mission and we see in Joshua 3:10-11 that they are preparing to drive out from the promised land the Canaanites, Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites and the Jebusites.

All this to say, that when Israel is hearing the story of Genesis from Moses…

and they get to Ch. 9:18-29,

and they hear verse 18 - Gen 9:18 “The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)”

And verse 22 Gen 9:22 “22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.”

And then verse 25 Gen 9:25 “25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.””

The Israelites are like “Ah, yeah, that makes sense.”

That’s why we’ve been at war with the Canaanites all these years

So you and I might see this passage and think it’s about Noah’s drunkenness, or Ham’s dishonoring of his father

But to the Israelites this little passage underlines the fact that:

Their enemies the Canaanites are the people of the curse

And Israel are the people of the promise

Moses is identifying the line of the curse and the line of God’s gracious promise

What am I talking about?

Go back to the Garden

Remember the two kingdom theme that is continuing through Genesis

It goes back to God’s declaration in Gen 3:15 “15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.””

This is the seed of the serpent vs the seed of the woman

It’s the line of Cain vs the line of Seth

It’s Lamech (Ch.4) vs Noah

Now it’s Ham / Canaan vs Shem

For the people of Israel listening to Moses tell them the story of Genesis,

this is God sovereignly moving human history forward towards Israel receiving the promised land

what we now know because we have the whole revelation of scripture…

is that God is sovereignly moving human history forward towards the promised Messiah - the seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head

And so we see that Noah says blessed be the God of Shem

and from Shem eventually comes Abraham, and from Abraham comes Isaac, and from Isaac comes Jacob,

and Matthew breaks down the entire lineage from Abraham through to David through to Jesus and says “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”

God is Sovereign. Man is Sinful. Jesus is Saviour

So there are two kingdoms - 2 lines

the line of the curse, symbolized here by Ham and continued through Canaan

the line of blessing and the promise, symbolized here by Shem

but there are 3 brothers

What of Japeth?

Gen 9:27 “27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.””

Curiously, through human history the descendants of Japeth didn’t actually dwell in the tents of Shem

They moved off and became what was known as Gentiles, unclean, not the people of God, not Israel

So what is meant by Noah’s declaration about Japeth dwelling in the tents of Shem?

Noah’s declaration is a spiritual one

The 3 brothers here respresent something

Ham and Canaan, the line of the serpent,

representing all who are like their father the devil,

being made in the image and likeness of God

and yet refusing to honor Him as God

Shem the line of promise

graciously blessed by God

from him came Abraham and Israel, the people of God

representing those who believe God and trust in Him

This is the Church, the body of Christ

Who then is Japeth and what does he represent?

Jesus gives the answer in John 10, declaring that He is the good shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep

the sheep being those who hear His voice and follow Him - this is the Church - this is every born again believer

but then Jesus says to His Israelite listeners in John 10:16 “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Jesus was declaring that His sheep, His people, the Church, are not only people of Israel,

but that Gentiles too would be grafted in

And that His body would be one body - both Jew and Gentile - under one shepherd

The grace of God extends to people from every tribe, every people, every nation, every tongue

So you are a sinner, so your life looks more like a Ham than a Shem

So you’re a drunkard, a liar, a gossiper,

So you’ve lived a double life

God’s grace is sufficient for us all - you can be grafted in

Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute but she believed God and was saved. Heb 11:31 “By faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies.”

Anyone can be grafted in.

Repent and believe the gospel and you will be saved

Take a moment now with me to consider the parallels between Adam in the Garden, and Noah in the tent

Adam was a man of the ground (Ha Adama) - Noah became a man of the soil (Ha Adama)

Adam sinned by eating - Noah sinned by drinking

Adam sinned in the garden - Noah sinned in the tent

After Noah had sinned, what did Ham do?

He mocked him and exposed his shame

After Adam sinned, what did God do?

He took the life of an animal, took it’s skin, and covered Adam’s shame

My friends, we can come to the throne of grace this morning and confess our sin before Almighty God

because in His Sovereign grace Jesus Christ gave His life, not only to cover our shame but to take it away once and for all!

He died and took our shame upon Himself!

So that we who believe receive His forgiveness and His righetousness!

Come, confess! Repent! Believe!

Jesus takes away the sin of the world

John 10:9-11 “9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

Conclusion

And if the Shepherd has laid down His life for the sheep, my brothers, my friends, to take away our shame…

Then who are we to expose it again in one another?

By all means let us address sin when it exposes itself - we all called to lovingly correct one another

But as Peter puts it in 1 Peter 4:8, let’s do so in a loving way and in a way that seeks forgiveness and reconciliation

- because he says “ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”

Maybe Peter had the love of Shem and Japeth in mind when he said this, thinking of how they lovingly covered their father’s nakedness and shame

May we have the same grace for one another, remembering that grace by which we have been saved, if we believe

And on that note - if we believe -

Moses brings an end now to this section on Noah’s life…

Gen 9:29 “29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.”

Friends, we will all die.

We all know our date is set

Praise God that in His grace, Jesus died for our sins, took away our shame, and was raised so that we - even though we will die - yet we will live

He was raised and so too will we be raised with him who believe in His Name

If you have not yet done so, …

I want you to know that the love of Jesus extends to the ends of the earth

and there is no sinner beyond the reach of His grace

Canaanite prostitutes, Gentiles, drunkards, pride-filled churchmen and women - He grafts them all in to one flock

He calls His sheep - do you hear His voice this morning?

Will you answer?