Genesis 9:18-29 "The Curse on Canaan"

Good Evening, Calvary Chapel Lake City!

Please open your Bibles to Genesis 9. Genesis 9:18-29 this evening.

We are looking at the world of old… post flood.

Just 8 people entered the Ark… Noah, his wife, his sons and their wives…

In a pre-flood world that was only evil continually and filled with violence (Gen 6)… Noah was a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Pet 2:5)…

Yet… for all his preaching… only his family got on the Ark. No other people… NOT even from the Sethites… who “began to call on the name of the LORD” back in Gen 4:26… entered the Ark.

Luke 17:27 reads, “They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.”

The flood came and “took them all away” (Matt 24:39) or “destroyed them all” as we just read.

Which Luke cited in context of Jesus’ Second Coming… as a type for the end of the tribulation… when unbelievers are taken away into destruction… and do not enter the Millennial Kingdom.

The times we live in are bad… and ramping up as worse… not as bad… YET… as before the flood… or during the tribulation…

But, this is a time for vigilance… to be as wise as serpents… as harmless as doves…

And a time for boldness… to boldly share the Gospel in hopes that the Saul’s of the world will become Paul’s…

That God would use evil… like the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk, for good.

And it was martyrdom… by def. a martyr, Gk martus is a witness… one who gives testimony in life or death.

Webster’s defines martyrdom as “the suffering of death on account of adherence to a cause and especially to one’s religious faith.”

Charlie by def. is a martyr… don’t believe those who would say he was not.

And, there are martyrs all throughout the world… especially in the most persecuted countries… and no doubt their deaths have hit close to home…

Prayerfully causing a ripple effect and used for good by God for the sake of the Gospel and His kingdom.

And for many… the ripple effect and impact on many hearts in the US… is, in part, the significance of Charlie’s death…

He death really is shaking up many people… because as a nation many of us have never lived through something as significant as an assassination of someone like Charlie…

A Christian evangelist… apologist… a political activist.

I was talking to my son, Ethan, this week… and to his generation… Charlie was like a big brother who defended the many conservative students… WHO… often are the minority in their schools.

Especially for conservative students in public schools.

Many of us were not alive when MLK Jr was assassinated in 1968. This is new territory for us.

Charlie was contemporary to us… and many of us felt like we knew him a bit because of the access we had through social media to watch his debates… or to listen to his podcasts.

We watched as Charlie bravely entered College campuses… talk shows… and other lion’s dens… and was able to engage people who did not step foot into churches or campus ministries…

And, he desired to and DID share the Gospel to the lost… he desired to be courageous for his faith… and he will be remembered that way.

And his death has been a wake-up call for many.

Now over 54,000 NEW New Turning point chapter requests have been made… amazing.

And, so… though the world today may even reflect in some ways the pre-flood world… just going about their business… eating, drinking, and getting married… just living life without a thought for God…

We see the world and what’s been happening… and we read the signs that we are in the end times… we have been for a while.

And if we are not already doing so… it’s time for all of us to be like Noah… and like Charlie… preachers of righteousness…

Both whom were imperfect men… we’ll see one such imperfect moment of Noah tonight… and yet still… that doesn’t take away from him being a preacher of righteousness.

It’s vital we fill this role… for we do not know how many days we have left.

Once Noah and his family entered the Ark… God shut the door and it was too late for all outside and they perished.

We don’t know how many days each of us has left individually… and we don’t know how many days left before Lord returns to take His church home.

But when He does… the door is shut… and God’s wrath will be poured out upon the whole earth once again.

So that’s a call for us because time is short.

But, tonight… in our passage in Genesis 9… we are looking at the New World after the flood where God has given Noah some structure of Government…

God has established the Noahic Covenant… and set His sign… the rainbow.

And, God has commanded for Noah and his sons to “be fruitful and multiply”… to repopulate the earth.

And tonight… for the first time see a glimpse of Noah’s sons… Noah’s sin… the end of Noah’s life… and “The Curse on Canaan”… our message title this evening.

Let’s Pray!

Gen 9:18-29 “Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”

26 And he said: “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”

28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”

Praise God for His word. Please be seated.

In V18… the sons of Noah come into focus, and as they exit the ark after over a year of water on the face of the earth… what did they see?

It had to be surreal. A year in the Ark… cohabitating with just family and a myriad of animals.

Now they are out of the Ark… they watched Noah build an altar and God send a rainbow… and it’s time to build a whole new earth.

There had to be tremendous relief that the world had been rid of the demonic influences… and perhaps some pressure to want to create a new society free from all of the past evil and sin.

But what this account shows us today and that it is mankind’s nature to sin. Even stripped bare of the evil influences of the world.

Noah and his son Ham are both on display in this passage as sinners.

We need a Savior because “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom 3:23)

Sin was so ingrained in Judah… and only did evil… thus God asked in Jeremiah 13:23 “Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”

Rhetorical questions… no one cannot change their skin color… and no a leopard cannot change its spots.

And mankind’s nature is accustomed to evil.

The sinful nature goes all the way back to Adam and Eve and despite being in the perfection of Eden.… they could not hold back their sinful nature.

The first Adam sinned… and that sin is inherited by us… thus we need a Savior… the second Adam.

Even when Jesus returns… and rules visibly and perfectly in the Millennial Kingdom… still a great multitude will rebel towards the end of the thousand years. (Rev 20)

Because the sinful nature remains.

In hell, it’s said there is weeping AND a “gnashing of teeth”…

Gnashing teeth is a sign of anger or rage… even in hell… the sinful nature is on display… the condemned will shake their fist at God in rebellion. It’s a stubborn nature.

The only thing that can change the old nature is a regenerated heart.

As we examine the world… that’s the solution. Not going on the offensive with violence… but going on the offensive with the only truth that can change hearts…

The Gospel… the truth of Jesus Christ.

And so… while Noah and his sons were saved from the flood… their were not saved from their sinful nature.

It got on the boat with them… and now exited onto dry ground.

The flood saved Noah from the ungodly (2 Pet 2:5), but did not change his own nature.

And, the names of Noah’s sons… they seem to prophesy of what their futures would hold for them.

And let’s pull up our slide titled “The Table of Nations” as this sheds some light on where their descendants would migrate to… and the nations birthed from them.

Shem- means “a celebrated name.”

And, from his line would come the nation of Israel and Messiah Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more celebrated.

Abraham… Ishmael… many of the Middle Eastern Nations would come from this line of Shem.

Ham- his name either means “to inflame; hot; warm”, or “to make noise; to rage like the sea.”

Many of the African nations would come from Ham.

It’s noted… ominously… in V18 that “Ham was the father of Canaan.”

In time the line of Canaan… the Canaanites would become very rebellious to God… enemies of Israel…

Their land would be the land promised to Abraham… and they would be judged by God for their wickedness and idolatry… and driven out from the land.

The name Canaan means “to be subdued; to be brought low”… and… again… prophetically they were.

In many ways… their descendants still rage and are hot against God in the same ways.

Japheth- his name means “enlargement.”

And his borders would be enlarged.

Many of the European nations… Gentile nations… many of our ancestors came from the line of Japheth.

These three were the sons of Noah… and V19 “from these the whole earth was populated.”

No matter the color of your skin… no matter where your ancestry… we ALL go back to Noah and one of these three sons.

During the Tribulation… God wants everyone to hear the Gospel… so He sends an angel to preach to everyone… everywhere…

Revelation 14:6 “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people—”

God clearly loves the entire human race… John 3:16 “For God so loved the world [and we’re not talking about this ball of dirt] that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever [people… all people] believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

From these 8 survivors of the flood to now over 8 billion on the planet… God loves us all.

But He can only be a just God… and a justifier of sinners to those who accept His means of forgiveness for sin… through faith in Jesus Christ.

If you’re here tonight… and you’ve really blown it… you’ve sunk deep in your sin nature… and you think there’s no way out…

There is. Believe in Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

The sin nature will remain until heaven, but Jesus’ righteousness is put onto your account, because Jesus paid the penalty for sin (death) on the cross.

He took the penalty for your sin… and He credited your account with righteousness. It’s the gracious Great Exchange.

Praise you Jesus.

vv 20-21 “And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.”

So, now… logically… for a sustainable food source, Noah begins to farm…

Some translations read he was a “man of the soil”, or “a tiller of the soil”… King James, “a husbandman.”

When we read in Gen 6:9 that, “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations.”

As we’ve discussed… this reflects Noah perfect genetics… unadulterated by the demonic sons of god…

“Perfect” CANNOT mean that he was flawless from a sin perspective… for here in Chapter 9… we see he falls into drunkenness.

And more… Noah “became uncovered”… he’s naked V22… and this is typical behavior of the world…

Of the world Noah came from… pagan behaviors would have … and fast forward would be… and still are… just like this.

Wine is said to “cheer the heart” Judges 9:13; Ps 104:15… it’s said to make the suffering of the curse more bearable (Pro 31:6), but it has some very disturbing effects.

If you ask AI to share stats on alcohol and crime… it’s sickening.

A few stats that jumped out at me… and there are dozens…

Alcohol is a factor in 40% of violent crimes in the US. 63% worldwide.

95% of violent crimes on U.S. campuses involve alcohol… 90% of college rapes involve alcohol.

And the Bible says that drunkenness is a sin (Eph 5:18)… it’s not for priests or princes (Lev 10:9, Pro 31:4)… it’s unwise for valiant men, priests and prophets (Isa 5:22, 27:7).

And… for all the good that Noah did… for his belief in God that a flood would come… for his faithful obedience to God in building the ark… for being a preacher of righteousness… and even for his first order of business upon exiting the ark… to build an altar and offer many burnt offerings… a major consecration to the Lord.

We see this moment here captured… which is important because it shows us Noah was not a perfect man… he was a sinner…

It’s as if God wanted to highlight this moment so we would understand the dichotomy of flawed humanity…

Noah… was a preacher of righteousness… DOES appear in Hebrew 11 the Hall of Faith… for his faith…

And yet… here in Genesis 9… he finds himself acting like a pagan.

I have no doubt that we will see Noah in heaven… because God doesn’t require us to be perfect to live eternally with him…

BUT, we must trust in Jesus who was the perfect sinless sacrifice.

Chapter 9 is a wild chapter in that it takes Noah… a man of faith… and exposes a low moment in his life.

Today, with all the videos and moments that are captured… especially of high profile people… how much easier is it to expose moments of our flawed humanity?

A guy I knew in college sent me three videos of Charlie Kirk that he disagreed with… and I felt no need to defend Charlie.

He was an imperfect sinner who knew he needed a Savior… and Charlie’s moment… like Noah’s moment here in Chapter 9… are all over Social Media.

If my life… and my moments were dissected and put on display… I’m no different… nor are you.

It’s easy to expose the bad moments in our life.

Something to think about though… are there plentiful moments of our life where we could be caught openly and boldly speaking about Jesus Christ… even in the face of adversity?

Are there moments of our life where we could be caught speaking truth in love to those around us?

God doesn’t expect perfection from us… but He does expect us to believe in His Son for salvation…

And, He does expect us to NOT just sit on the free gift of salvation… but to share it with the world… to be a preacher of righteousness… like Noah… like Charlie.

Continuing on…

V22 “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.”

V24 “had done to him.”

V23 “But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.”

V24 “So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.”

V25 “Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.””

V26 “And he said: “Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.””

vv28-29 “And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”