01-39 Noah: Fallen But Faithful

Genesis 9:18-29

We come now to the end of the account of Noah and the destruction of every living thing by means of the universal flood (except what was brought safely thru on the ark). There will always be skeptics who deny the reality of what Gen 6-9 describes (anything the Bible addresses for that matter). But to us, we believe in the inspiration of God’s Word. We believe that Moses, under the inspiration and direction of HS—wrote with exacting precision all that we’ve studied so far in Genesis. And proof of divine inspiration of the Scriptures is found once again in our vv.

The Bible unfolds the lives of people—for better and for worse (the good and the bad). It just tells it like it is. We see saints at their best and we also see them at their worst. This is true of Noah. We’ve seen righteous Noah, one who walked with God, in obedience he constructed the ark while preaching righteousness to a perverted generation in his time. We see him coming off the ark and worshiping God. But we’re also going to see Noah’s fallenness.

Arthur Pink describes it like this:

Gleanings in Genesis 15. Noah’’s Fall And Noah’’s Prophecy

It is human to err, but it is also human to conceal the blemishes of those we admire. Had the Bible been a human production, had it been written by uninspired historians, the defects of its leading characters would have been ignored, or if recorded at all, an attempt at extenuation would have been made. Had some human admirer chronicled the history of Noah, his awful fall would have been omitted. The fact that it is recorded and that no effort is made to excuse his sin, is evidence that the characters of the Bible are painted in the colors of truth and nature, that such characters were not sketched by human pens, that Moses and the other historians must have written by Divine inspiration.

As we wrap up the flood narrative I want you to note 4 aspects of Noah’s life that would encourage you and move you toward faithfulness in your own walk with the Lord.

1. Noah’s Children

vv 18-19

This is not their birth order. That is what we would expect but:

Shem is the middle child

Japheth is the oldest son

Ham is the youngest

Now, maybe you’re asking the question, “why is Shem (the middle child) mentioned first?” (always this way when the sons are mentioned together). The subtle answer to that question is found in Luke’s gospel.

Luke 3:34-36;

This is the lineage of the JC—the Messiah. It actually goes all the way back to Adam—to prove the full humanity of Jesus. And you will see notable people (forefathers, Boaz [Ruth] and becomes grandfather of Jesse [David’s father]).

This is the reason Shem is mentioned first—b/c he is the continuation of the fulfillment of God’s promised seed who would crush the head of Satan—ultimately leading to Messiah.

What we also realize is the fruit of God’s blessing in Gen 9:1…That Noah’s sons are already at the task of “populate the earth abundantly” (vs 7).

Moses also mentions Ham who was the father of Canaan (the object of Noah’s curse). Canaan was actually Ham’s 4th child (10:6). And as we enter chapter 10 we’ll see an accounting of what Moses writes:

Genesis 9:19 NASB95

19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

So there are 3 sons. Each had the same upbringing (same house, same instruction, same deliverance on the ark) but 1 of the sons would disgrace his father while the other 2 would prove to be loyal. And so it is with many families, some believe, some don’t. Some come to faith early while others very late. God is always faithful and desires each one to repent and come to a knowledge of the truth.

2. Noah’s Transgression

First, let me show you this was not an immediate sin by Noah. I heard someone say “If you were stuck on an ark for a year and 10 days you’d have a drink too.” That’s not what happened. In fact enough time has elapsed for Noah to “begin farming” (lit. “began to be a man of the land”) and planted a vineyard. Now, grapes do not grow over night. It takes several years for a vineyard to produce and by this time he had several grandsons (Canaan is 4th).

And Noah’s sin/transgression—(please mark this) was not drinking wine. I want to give you several reasons why drinking wine is not a sin (Bible does not forbid this):

Jesus turned water into wine (Jn 2) (the best wine—not grape juice)

Jesus served wine (night of betrayal—in upper room where He institutes Lord’s Supper)

Jesus drank wine (same account—they’re sharing in the passover which had 4 cups during the meal). On the cross Jesus “I thirst” and they lifted up sour wine—he drank (Jn 19:28-30)

Jesus will drink new wine in the Millennial kingdom (Mt 26:29)

In Scripture wine is presented as a blessing (Dt 14:26 “You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the Lord your God and rejoice, you and your household.”)

Wine is used in worship service

Lev 23:13 ‘Its grain offering shall then be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering by fire to the Lord for a soothing aroma, with its drink offering, a fourth of a hin of wine.”

Num 28:7 ‘Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the Lord.”

Wine has medicinal value (Paul to Timothy 1Tim 5:23)

Now, having said this—there is great warning in God’s Word that the abuse of wine results in horrible things:

Prov 23:29-35;

Ephesians 5:18 NASB95

18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit,

Proverbs 20:1 NASB95

1 Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, And whoever is intoxicated by it is not wise.

1 Corinthians 6:10 NASB95

10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Now, because of the impact that drinking has on the mind and the other associations that are often joined together, those in spiritual leadership as elders and deacons must not be addicted to wine (1 Tim 3:8; Titus 1:7). This would hinder the men from thinking clearly and responding in Christ-like manner while shepherding the flock of God.

Noah’s sin was not drinking but drunkenness. And this is exactly what the term means—intoxication. Noah passed out because he had become utterly inebriated and before passing out he stripped himself naked. This was disgraceful and shameful as he laid uncovered in his tent.

Habakkuk 2:15–16 (NASB95) Judgment on the Chaldeans on account of wickedness

15 “Woe to you who make your neighbors drink, Who mix in your venom even to make them drunk So as to look on their nakedness! 16 “You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor. Now you yourself drink and expose your own nakedness. The cup in the Lord’s right hand will come around to you, And utter disgrace will come upon your glory.

Drunkenness and nakedness brought shame upon Noah. Ever since Adam & Eve transgressed, nakedness was regarded as shameful.

Now, God’s will is abundantly clear on this matter. Do not get drunk! But God’s will is also revealed in how children are to respond to their parents.

Exodus 20:12 NASB95

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you.

But how should children respond when their parents disgrace themselves even as Noah did? Sometimes this might just take the wisdom of Solomon to know how to respond.

The children might respond like Ham. Ham (the father of Caanan) saw his father’s nakedness and went and told his brothers. Let me just debunk a couple of interpretations that have been offered. Some say Ham used this as an opportunity for incest (to lay with his mother—Lev 18:7). Others have suggested that it meant Ham engaged in sodomy. These are reading too much into what the Bible isn’t saying.

The much simpler understanding which involves treachery and dishonor on Ham’s part, is that he saw the nakedness of his father (which that is not offense) and went and told his brothers (that was the offense).

Scripture repeats:

Leviticus 19:3 NASB95

3 ‘Every one of you shall reverence his mother and his father, and you shall keep My sabbaths; I am the Lord your God.

Exodus 21:15 NASB95

15 “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

Exodus 21:17 NASB95

17 “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.

Proverbs 30:11 NASB95

11 There is a kind of man who curses his father And does not bless his mother.

Ham begins to treat his father without the honor that God would have of a child. He took delight in exposing his father’s transgression to his brothers.

God hates this.

Proverbs 6:16–19 NASB95

16 There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which 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 run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

Proverbs 10:12 NASB95

12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all transgressions.

Proverbs 12:16 NASB95

16 A fool’s anger is known at once, But a prudent man conceals dishonor.

Proverbs 17:9 NASB95

9 He who conceals a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.

1 Corinthians 13:6 NASB95

6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;

1 Peter 4:8 NASB95

8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

Ham was rejoicing in unrighteousness and tried to get his brothers to form a league against their father. He was attacking Noah’s honor.

Robert Candlish (Scottish minister d.1873)

He [ham] not merely dishonored him as a parent—he disliked him as a preacher of righteousness. Hence his satisfaction, his irrepressible joy, when he caught the patriarch in such a state of degradation. Ah! He has found that the godly man is no better than his neighbors; he has got behind the scenes; he has made a notable discovery; and now he cannot contain himself. Forth he rushes, all hot and impatient, to publish the news, so welcome to himself! And if he can meet with any of his brethren who have more sympathy with this excessive sanctity than he has, what a relief—what a satisfaction—to cast this choice specimen in their teeth; and so make good his right to triumph over them and their faith ever after.

James Boice writes “The only thing that is worse than committing a specific sin is the devilish delight of finding out and reveling in that sin in others.”

The other way to handle when a parent disgraces themself is like Shem and Japheth.

vs 23

They loved their father too much to even risk the chance that their eyes would catch a glimpse of their father’s greatest vulnerability. Truly the way to honor a father—with compassion and love they guarded Noah against the possibility of ridicule. This is a treasure. Those of you who still have parents who are alive—understand God’s will is that you honor your father and mother (you can even do this when they’ve passed on in how you speak of them). Speak well of them. Bless them, treat them with love and respect. This is not to say that they have been perfect in parenting. None of us have been (in fact, there may be great failures in how we’ve raised the children God has entrusted to us). God still says “honor them.”

3. Noah’s Prophecy

One of the big questions about this passage is why does Noah curse Canaan and not Ham? This is the only time Noah speaks in the Bible.

Now, how Noah learned about what transpired we do not know—but he found out. And the curse on Ham’s son and the blessing on Shem and Japheth are in effect a prophecy of what would later come about.

This is a puzzle for us. We are reminded in Scripture

Deuteronomy 24:16 NASB95

16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.

Ezekiel 18:20 NASB95

20 “The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself.

But earlier in Ezek 18 the people of Judah had come to believe that they were being judged not for personal sin but b/c of the sins of their forefathers.

Ezekiel 18:2 NASB95

2 “What do you mean by using this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, ‘The fathers eat the sour grapes, But the children’s teeth are set on edge’?

There are many attempts to try and resolve the difficulty of Noah cursing Canaan. One says Noah detected in Canaan the evil traits he had seen in his father. Another says Noah could not curse one whom God had blessed (Gen 9:1). Yet another explained it as Noah’s retaliation against Ham’s fourth son (10:6) for the castration that prevented Noah from a fourth son. Medieval Jewish commentators resolved the problem by the proposed reading, “Cursed be the father of Canaan,”

But if we understand this to be a prophecy of what would become of later tribes, we see a little more clearly why Noah cursed Canaan.

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Noah’s Oracles (vv. 24–27)

Delitzsch writes:

Noah, through the Spirit and power of that God with whom he walked, discerned in the moral nature of his sons, and the different tendencies which they already displayed, the germinal commencement of the future course of their posterity, and uttered words of blessing and of curse, which were prophetic of the history of the tribes that descended from them.

This curse would have no power in itself unless the Lord fulfilled it. God would therefore only bring this curse about it if was His will to do so—and it clearly was.

One final thought along this line…Kent Hughes explains:

Genesis—Beginning and Blessing Noah’s Oracles (vv. 24–27)

Canaan was the father of the Canaanites, the depraved nemesis of Israel. Therefore the curse fell on Israel’s future enemies. The Canaanites were a sensually depraved people. Everything the pagan Canaanites did was an extrapolation of Ham’s lurid sensuality. From the moment Abram entered the land, the Canaanites were there spreading corruption (cf. Genesis 13, 15, 18, 19, 38). Leviticus 18 describes the degenerate practices of the Canaanites with a litany of euphemisms so as not to offend the reader, employing “nakedness” twenty-four times (cf. vv. 7–23, RSV and NASB)

Put yourself among the audience that Moses is writing Genesis to. They are sojourning in the wilderness for 40 years and their orders were to drive out the Canaanites. Noah’s prophecy would come true and all could see the bitter fruit of this curse, bringing hope to Israel: the Canaanites were naked, shameless and uncovered. They would become the servant of servants to Shem & Japheth. The conquering of the Canaanites under Joshua would reveal just how serious it is to dishonor your father.

Exodus 20:5 NASB95

5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,

God doesn’t punish the sons for the sins of the father but there are certainly generational consequences that fathers will pass on to their children for how they walk in this world.

There’s a blessing as part of Noah’s prophecy as well. Notice the recipient of the blessing in vs 26. Noah curses Canaan but he blesses the Lord—YHWH. The word used here for blessing lit is to kneel down, to praise and adore. This was actually a moment of worship for Noah. God has dealt so mercifully to Noah and his family and show remarkable kindness that in Noah’s prophecy regarding the future generations—he is giving the glory to God in whatever would be the outcome.

“Let Canaan be his servant”—the servant of Shem. The Canaanites indeed become the servants of Shem’s descendants. Now, quite a few generations later, one man would be born of the line of Shem: Abraham—the father of Israel. So Noah’s prophecy is that the Canaanites would be servants of the people of God—Israel. So there’s an early prophecy (in the form of praise to YHWH) that God’s people would go in to the land and conquer the enemies of God.

And lastly Noah says “May God enlarge Japheth” —may God increase his influence, enlarge the blessings of his life, and my he dwell in the tents was a way to say the descendants of Japheth would encounter the same blessings that would come to the descendants of Shem. It was the same thing to say that the God of Shem would also be the God of Japheth.

4. Noah’s Faithfulness

Noah had his weakness (as we all do). Noah fell into transgression which shows that the flood did not purge his sin nature. Noah would continue to walk with God and while this is not stated directly, he wouldn’t be in the church’s record of the hall of faith otherwise:

Hebrews 11:7 NASB95

7 By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

The righteous walk by faith (Hab 2:4). Faith doesn’t mean that you never sin again, it does mean that the way of acceptance before the God who is Holy and Righteous—is believing the Word of God and living according to it.

Noah did this and Moses tells us how Noah finished the race. He lived 350 years after the flood—in all 950 years and he died. That is a powerful reminder of the consequences of sin.

Hebrews 9:27 NASB95

27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment,

Every person faces 2 divine appointments (determined by God alone)—the day of your death and the day of your judgment. How will you prepare now for those days? Important question b/c how you respond before death determines your eternal destiny.

Let me close with 3 observations from this account of Noah:

Anyone can sin

We are told:

Genesis 6:9 NASB95

9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

2 Peter 2:5 (NASB95)

5 a preacher of righteousness,

And he falls into sin. One of the deceptions of our own heart causes us to pridefully think “I’d never do that”

1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB95

12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

Anyone can sin—anyone has the capacity to commit every sin under heaven (xn will not commit blasphemy of HS—different study). If Noah could sin—take care yourself.

Everyone does sin

If there is one thing Genesis has shown us its that from Adam the entirety of the human race…every single individual is born a sinner.

Romans 3:10–12 NASB95

10 as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; 11 There is none who understands, There is none who seeks for God; 12 All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”

Romans 3:23 NASB95

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Ezekiel 18:4 NASB95

4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

Noah’s sin is but one example of a very long list of people who fall short. You are on that list!

Only the grace of God can help

It is the deception of Satan to promote a system that says you can earn God’s favor. It is his deception that has many people thinking “I only need to be a good person/a better person and God will look favorably upon me.” That lie sends countless people to eternal hell.

Paul explains:

Ephesians 2:8–9 NASB95

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Romans 3:24 NASB95

24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;

2 Timothy 1:9 NASB95

9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,

I would leave you with this exhortation: fall upon the grace of God today! Turn from sin and trust in Christ, calling upon the name of the Lord—you will be saved and there will be no disappointment.