The Hero's Downfall

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 96

Psalm 96 ESV

Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts! Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth! Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it! Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness, and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Scripture Memorization: Genesis 50:19-20

Genesis 50:19–20 ESV

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Scripture Reading: Romans 9:19-24

Romans 9:19–24 ESV

You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?” But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?

Sermon:

Good morning Church!

I was glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the LORD!

I will just start by saying this: I am so incredibly blessed to be back. I had a bit of fun fellow shipping a lot of headaches in denominational meetings and a reminder in my heart that this is my church, the one that I love. So I am so glad to be back.

Back with you all and back to finish the story of Noah, and spoiler alert, It does not have a very happy ending. It does, however have an important ending, and an ending that teaches us a great many things… but certainly it is not happy.

By way of review let us think on Noah, who he was and what all has happened thus far in his story and really in his life.

In the days of Noah there was increasing corruption and violence on the face of the earth. Things were bad. How bad were they? They were so bad that “every intention of the heart of man was only evil continually.” So yeah, pretty bad. but in this time there was one man who found favor in the eyes of the Lord. In the corrupt and fallen and deadly world of sin Gods favor shone on one man, Noah.

And Noah walked with God. Noah was blameless , Noah was a righteous man, and importantly a man who lived his life by faith. By faith he built an ark to protect and preserve all life on the face of the earth.

Then God sent his wrath and judgement. After sealing Noah up in the ark he caused the waters to spring up for the ground and he opened the windows of heaven and he destroyed, he “blotted out” all life from the face of the earth.

Then after a long time of waiting God told Noah to “go” out from the ark. And Noah, to his great credit, began to worship God, he offered a sacrifice with a “pleasing aroma” before the Lord and the Lord made a covenant with Noah, and his sons and ultimately with all the life on the earth.

In other words, this has been a story that shows us the great worth and value and goodness of Noah. One of my commentaries said that of all the characters in Genesis Noah might be the most righteous, most praiseworthy, and most worthy of our imitation. Which is high praise indeed.

So lets then turn our attention to how the life of Noah ends… because that has to be good too.... right?!?! (spoiler alert… it will not be!)

Our text for this morning is Genesis chapter 9 verses 18-29.

Genesis 9:18–29 ESV

The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 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. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” After the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning Lets open our time together with a word of prayer.

God of all comfort and mercy, Goodness and grace, we are grateful today for your kindness towards us. Kindness that leads us to repentance, kindness that calls us out of darkness and into your marvelous light, kindness that sees and saves and delivers us while we were dead in our sins and trespasses. Thank you for your son, our savior and deliverer. The one who clothes us in his righteousness, the one who, for the joy set before him, was willing to endure the pain and shame of the cross that we might be given new life abundantly. We thank you for these precious gifts and ask that you would meet with us this morning. Use this time to build us up, instruct us in your word. May we be a people who hear your words and are changed as we endeavor to live lives changed by you and your power. We ask that you would receive all glory and honor and praise through our efforts today. It is in the name above all other names that we pray, the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

There is a sort of trope or thought that you see from time to time in movies or stories. that is the phrase “never meet your heroes.” The thought here is that they will universally disappoint. Well if i may tweak that phrase just a little bit today. Never make it to the end of Noah’s story, because it is, in many ways disappointing.

Part of that disappointment comes at the very end. Here, the deliverer of humanity, the one whose faith helped preserve and protect all life on earth… he dies. Noah could not defeat death… so the curse is still in effect. in one sense that is a disappointment, in another… well that is the thought that we will talk about in Grace Groups this week.

But truly the disappointment here at the end of Noah's life comes because as good as he was, and as important as he was and as much as a hero as he was, Noah was still a fallen sinful man. And guess what. Sinful men, well they fall and they sin. So lets dive into it today.

And this is in fact where we have to start. With NOAH’S SIN

Noah’s SIN

The very beginning verses 18 and 19 are a bit of an introduction to the characters that will drive... Genesis for sure... the next portion of Genesis, a thousand percent.... But in many ways, this is the next telling of The Saga that began in Genesis 3. In Genesis 3 was the problem of the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. And this cosmic struggle in many ways between the Fallen Seed of the serpent that will strike the heel Of the seed of the woman and the seed of the woman who will ultimately crush the head of the seed of the serpent. And so here we are once again introduced to this — this time through Noah's descendants.

Noah goes forth with his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And from these Sons, we see the arrival and the arising of the seed of the woman in the seat of the serpent. This is what really is introduced in the beginning This is our note: “from these people The whole earth is dispersed.” From Noah and his sons all people exist. But even here. Their struggle, even here. The promises, and struggle seen back in Genesis 3 can be seen.

And then, after that introductory note, we dive into, once again, Noah's sin.

As it opens, we read. He begin to be a man of the soil... which is in some sense good. That is not Noah's sin. Man was called to have dominion to to work the Earth to show his power over it. Part of what God Said to man is, it's going to be difficult, by blood sweat and tears shall the earth spring forth harvest... But man was still called to do it. Noah, being a man in the soil here, is maybe. In fact, a good thing.

And then he plants a vineyard. Again, not inherently of itself, bad. You needed wine, especially back in the day before modern water filtration and cleaning systems. You need to be careful what water you would drink and water sitting stagnant for a long time, was a problem. And so, here wine, not necessarily bad. In fact, wine can be good. We still haven't made it to Noah's sin. But verse 21... Here we have it. He drank of the wine. And became drunk. And lay uncovered in his tent.

Noah Gets drunk. Noah's sin here. Is drunkenness, which leads to in some way, shape, or form debauchery. I will just leave this as as a side thought... what exactly Noah is laying uncovered-ness. What exactly what we'll see is in Ham's sin? Seeing the nakedness of his father, what exactly is the other two brothers covering the nakedness of their father? It's a little cloudy as to what exactly is happening here. But this, I can say with confidence, there is some debauchery, which is the Bible even tells us the natural consequence of drunkenness.

Whatever it was, if it was just simply him laying there naked for Quite literally at this point, God and the whole world to see. That's not okay. If it was something more Sinister and something deeper, that's still not okay. And the root of this is his drunkenness and his inability to maintain Sober thinking and a sober life.

Matthew Henry, I think, says this. More beautifully than I ever could. If our question is: What's the heart of Noah's sin? This is what Matthew Henry says: “Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company. Is now drunk in Sober company.”

Here's the point: Noah, when the world was sinful and evil before the flood. When, when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. That would be judges language... when every intention of the thought of man was only evil continually. Noah did not partake — was blameless in his generation. He wouldn't be getting drunk. He would have a good reputation, a good moral standing amongst all the people around. He was righteous. He walked with God. So when surrounded by all of this sin and darkness. Noah remains sober minded.

But here, on the other side of the flood, When around him are his sons His wife and his son's wives. At this point, we can read into the context.... Some grandkids have started to show up on the scene. And Noah Gives into this temptation and drunkenness. Noah succumbs comes to sin.

There are a few lessons that I would like us to learn from this this morning. The first is again from Matthew Henry. Here is the whole quote: “Noah, who had kept sober in drunken companies, now drunk in sober company, let him that thinks he stands. Take heed. Lest he fall.” Noah, it seems like we can read into this. We're making some assumptions, but Noah, now, when not surrounded by sin, puts his guard down and sin, which lies outside his door, creeps upon him. We are never on this Earth. In this life, we will never be past the place and time when sin does not seek to destroy us. So stand firm.

We must, New Testament language, Paul says. Crucify the flesh with its desires. We must discipline ourselves, lest we fall. We must stand firm amongst all of the sin and Temptation around us. We will never, this side of heaven, graduate... We will never move to a time when temptation is not here. That's the first lesson.

But the second one we should understand is. This is a phrase I use from time to time. Sin begets sin. Right. The consequence of sin is more sin. We see this sometimes, right? Here's a simple example to get us thinking in this direction. When we teach— when Desire, and I try to teach our children — not to sin specifically not lie we use this thought. Jayden, we would have this conversation with him sometimes. One of the dangers of lying. Is the sin of lying Begets in itself more lying. Right, the child of lying is more lying. That's what I'm trying to say here. Because you lie. And now, what happens? You're gonna have to lie to cover up the LIE. And sin begets sin and you must keep lying and you lie and you lie because one lie begets another begets another begets another. Sin begets sin.

Oftentimes in our own life, we see other ways that sin begets more sin. Anger towards someone begets violence. Sin begets sin. Lust in your hearts will beget adultery. Sin begets sin. Jealousy. This is what we saw in Genesis 4 jealousy begets murder. Sin in our own lives begets sin.

But the lesson and the message we need to hear from this passage. Part of what makes Noah's Saga end so heart breakingliy is that often my sin begets sin in other people. Again, just as we look out into the world... If I am angry at someone and lash out towards my brother, I give him opportunity to then lash out in anger and hatred towards me. Sin begets sin. As we go through these things, what we see is our sin does not exist in a vacuum. Sin is damaging destructing, and we must always as Matthew Henry exhorted us: “Keep watch stand firm, take heed, lest we fall” because sin will be get more sin and heartache and tragedy, and Noah's sin, it turns out, begets Noah's son's sin.

NOAH’S SON sins

The story opens and Noah sins, but the real movement and the the bigger force-er of tragedy in the end here is not Noah's sins, but the fact that Noah's sin causes his son to engage in sin. The son in question here is Ham.

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

The sin of ham here is twofold. First it is “seeing his father's nakedness”. Again. To not get into details. What exactly is happening here, though? What's the flow of the story? Noah sins and falls into drunkenness, which leads to debauchery. Ham has an opportunity. He can, by Grace and dignity and goodness, seek to cover his father's sins. He could have — Ham here The first one done what his brothers do — covered the nakedness of his father, not told anyone about it. What he should have done if we want to dive deep into the weeds on this one would be to approach his father, confront in love his father, tell his father his father's sin, and hope to cause his father to repent.

What he should not do by any stretch of imagination, no matter how we want to read. This is go blab to his brothers about what he has just seen. Was his heart to bring shame to his father? I don't know if so that would be sinful. Was his heart to humiliate his father? I don't know if it was, that would be sinful. Was his desire to have his brothers join in with him in mocking the shame of his father? I don't know, if so, that would be sinful. I can't tell you the exact sin of ham. I do know. It was a sin. He did not confront his father's sin, the way he should have. Instead, he reveled in it. So much so that he would go tell his brothers.

How do I know that what he did is wrong? Well, we're going to see what Noah does when he finds out what has happened. That's how we know it's wrong. But we also know what's wrong because we are given in this text the proper response. Ham tells his two brothers. “Hey, Dad's naked in the tent? It's hilarious”, whatever he says. Look at Dad's shame. Maybe he starts trash talking: “our dad is a worthless piece of garbage”, “our dad.. whatever” . Look at him. He's a drunken fool.

And though, in one sense, if he were to say that he's not necessarily wrong. We don't rejoice in the sins of others. We confront it. We seek to cover it. This is what the brothers do him. Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on their shoulders, walk backwards, and then cover the nakedness of their father. Their faces are turned backwards. They did not see their father's nakedness.

This idea of covering? There's a Hebrew word here. It appears other places, not the least of which is Psalm 32:1, Where there David Says: Psalm 32:1 “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” another sense of this word is atoning.

What ham should have done is seek to atone for his father's sinfulness? What the two other brothers do is cover their father's sin. At its heart, the sin of ham. Is then reveling in their father's sin, allowing it to flourish and not seeking to cover that sin where he could.

We are called… to just jump to some new testament thoughts very quickly here.

We are called to seek to cover. The sins of others. How do we do that? Well, we live in a privileged position. We lived in a privileged time after the Advent of Christ, the way we can help is by driving people to see their need for a savior. We are called not to allow sin to flourish, not to allow sin to dwell, not to rejoice in sin... ever. We are called to drive all people to see their savior. And in doing so, we may bring back a brother. This is language Paul uses, right? In showing a brother, his sin and drawing him back, we may be helping in the salvation of this person.

Ultimately, Jesus is the only one who saves. But as we proclaim the gospel as we call people to repentance as we call out sin and seek to cover sin with love and Good Deeds and the preaching of the Gospel as we seek to do this. We're doing. What God has called us to do? If sin begets more sin, our calling as Christians is to stop that as soon and as swiftly and as forcefully as we can.

When we lie, we have to lie to cover it up. So, what are we called as Christians to do? Simply put live for and in the truth. We speak the truth. We don't allow lies to flourish. We stop this chain of lies betting lies in its wake. If hatred and anger begets violence. What are we as Christians called to do? love and care and compassion. If jealousy is what Sparks violence and anger and hatred, what are we, As Christians, called to do? To be content And to Rejoice with those who Rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. In short, We are called to stop the crazy train of sin!

Because ultimately, here's the point. There are dire and painful consequences for sin. And these consequences also go further than just me in my life.

What I have learned here on this Earth is this: 1) sin begets more sin in my own life and then 2) my sin can beget more sin in the lives of others but tragically this is not the end, because 3) the Brokenness of my sin will impact and cause Brokenness and pain in the lives of others.

Seen here in a real and tangible way. This story has a very in one sense, bizarre and painful change, but there is something going on here. Noah sins, which causes his son to sin, which causes Noah's grandson to be cursed.

NOAH’S GRANDSON is cursed

We can't miss this. Ham Uncovers the nakedness of his father. ham sins. So, when Noah awakes from his wine verse 24 and knows what his youngest son had done to him, finds out what ham did, what does he do? cursed be ham... Is not what we read in verse 25? Cursed be the son who uncovered my nakedness... is not what we read. Genesis 9:25 “he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

Noah's grandson... Ham's son... is the one who receives this curse. As we continue, he begins to bless the brothers who did right and good, who covered his sin. Genesis 9:26-27

Genesis 9:26–27 ESV

He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”

The twist in this text is Ham sins and yet Canaan. Faces the curse. What in the world is going on here? Well, two thoughts. The first one I already gave you. My sin impacts those around me. My sin carries consequences, pain, and suffering that go further abroad than just my own life and my own heart.

This is particularly true for me as a pastor if I'm being Frank and honest. But this is certainly true for all believers everywhere. I learned this most keenly. After about 6 years of marriage. When God revealed to me in a very painful and difficult way that my sin is not my sin, because my sin. Sorry, my sin is certainly my sin. What I mean to say is that My sin is not just my curse and my problem, because my sin carries severe and painful consequences, I learned this most painfully in seeing it in the life of my wife. But it also affects my kids... my family.

As my Brokenness Breaks them. They feel the curse of my sins. to just say it frankly and honestly. So, the first lesson here is, your sin is never just impacting you in your life. It begets more sin in your life then others. And furthermore It causes pain and suffering in not just your life, but also others. Sin is a vile, evil Wicked Horrible thing! And the story of the end of life of end of Noah's life causes us to see this face on. There is no escaping this here.

Noah, a man who should have been blessed. Who should have just lived out the rest of his lives enjoying God's goodness on the newly created Earth. Is instead faced with sin and shame, and now the cursing. of his Very own grandchild. It's difficult. Sin hurts. That's the first lesson.

The second one is, I think, a little more Contextually significant, but Again important for us to understand. Why did Moses, who wrote this, Seek to highlight Canaan’s Curse? Why would Moses who sat down and wrote to us the Book of Genesis Find it important to highlight that Canaan is the one who received a curse from Noah?

This is actually, I think, pretty easy to see. When was Noah writing this? He would be giving this message these books to God's people as they stood on the precipice of entering into the promised land. Who occupied the promised land? The land of Canaan? It was the Canaanites. Who were the Canaanites? Well they were those descending from Canaan. CANAAN ites are from CANAAN.

We will see this as we get into more genealogies next week, but this is important. So, part of the reason? For, for seeing and understanding this curse. And to see in particular that Canaan is cursed. Is, it is giving God's people. The realization of why it's so important that they go into the promised land To conquer it. Part of the reason they need to hear this curse is. This is just another reason why they must go into the promised land.

So what were the Israelites commanded to do? And I'm not going to sit here and give you a defense, though there is a defense for this, I'm just going to tell you what they were called to do. They were called to go into the land of Canaan and kill all of them. To blot them out — to use Noah language here. Why would it be so important? because they are Canaanites. They are ones who are descended from here from their their sinful father ham.

These Canaanites… They bear this curse, and so when you go into the promised land, these are not people to be trifled with to to just deal with in some sort of, and it's not a big deal way. You are called to go. And take the promised land, the land of promise. This passage ties back and tells us part of why?

Because sin begets sin. And this sinfulness continues. And the sinful heart of Ham that dwelt in his sinful grandson Canaan is then recapitulating the sinful hearts of all his descendants, and we read as people go to take the promised land. They have filled up their sin till the wrath of God is now ready to overflow upon them.

So, this is part of why we need to see that it's Canaan, who is cursed. Because this gives us a start of a defense of what's going to happen when the Israelites do take over the promised land.

But here's the message for you today: Beware of sin!

Noah was not exempt from it. What makes you think you would be? Know that your sin will beget more sin in your own life and the lives of people around you. You must, we are called, be a people Who seek to cover sin In whatever way we can. And know this: That there is recompense. There is a curse for sin.

But Here's your blessed hope. We do not bear the curse for our own sin. Our children do not bear the curse for our sin the way hams did. Instead to all who call upon his name. Jesus Christ bore the curse on the cross, look to him. Your savior. And Redeemer. Forever!

Let's pray.