BBBI - 2017.12.06 - PM - Blessings & Cursings After the Flood (Gen. 9)

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But 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 man; 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. And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein. And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; And with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth. And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth. And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

Recap up to this point

I. The Covenant with Noah (Gen. 9:1-17)

A. The Elements of the Covenant

1. God Commands Noah to Multiply and Fill the Earth (Gen. 9:1)

Genesis 9:1 KJV 1900

And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

2. God Affirms Man's Dominion of the Animal Kingdom (Gen. 9:2)

Genesis 9:2 KJV 1900

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.

3. Man Is Given Permission to Eat Meat (Gen. 9:3)

Genesis 9:3 KJV 1900

Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

4. Man Is NOT Permitted to Consume the Blood (Gen. 9:4)

Genesis 9:4 KJV 1900

But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

5. God Institutes Human Government (Gen. 9:5-6)

Genesis 9:5–6 KJV 1900

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 man; 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.

a. Because Human Life Is Sacred

b. Because God Will Not Permit the Indiscriminate Shedding of Blood

c. Because Murder Strikes at the Image of God in Man

B. Capitol Punishment

1. Is it Biblical?

a. There Were 16 OT Crimes Punishable by Death

b. The NT Affirms This Also (see Acts 25:11; Rom. 13:4)

Acts 25:11 KJV 1900

For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.

Romans 13:4 KJV 1900

For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

2. What Are the Purposes for Capital Punishment?

a. As a Punishment for Wrong Doing

b. As a Deterrent to Crime

c. As a Reminder of the Seriousness of the Crime

Premeditated Murder of an Innocent Life Is the Ultimate Crime and Demands the Ultimate Punishment

d. As Justice and Closure for the Families of the Victims

II. The Prophecy to Noah's Sons (Gen. 9:18-29)

Genesis 9:18–29 KJV 1900

And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; And Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; And Canaan shall be his servant. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

A. The Setting of the Prophecy

1. Noah's Vineyard

2. Noah's Drunkeness and Nakedness

3. Ham "Saw"

Note - This Hebrew word can mean "to gaze with satisfaction" [compare Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25; 6:5] (but not immoral intentions)

4. Ham "Told" His Two Brothers

Note - This Hebrew word can mean "to announce; to tell with delight"

5. Ham's Sin - the Dishonoring of His Father

6. Shem and Japheth Cover Noah Respectfully

7. Ham's Dealings Apparently Contrasted with Shem's and Japheth's

8. Some Believe Ham did Nothing Wrong Here

9. Noah's Cognizance of Ham's Dealings (Gen. 9:24)

Genesis 9:24 KJV 1900

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

a. "Younger" = signifies the youngest of a group

b. "son" - any male descendant

c. Noah's youngest male descendant at this time might have been Canaan

B. The Prophecy to Canaan

1. "Cursed Be Canaan"

2. Canaan Cursed, NOT Ham

3. Canaan Possibly Responsible for the Dishonoring of Noah

4. The Punishment

Deuteronomy 24:16 KJV 1900

The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.

Ezekiel 18:1–4 KJV 1900

The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying, What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

Whether or not Canaan was specifically involved on this particular occasion, Canaan and his descendants are punished for their own sins and not the sins of someone else.

5. Notice the Obvious: It is a Curse on Canaan's Descendants, NOT Ham's

6. Most Importantly, God Here Gives Israel the Theological Basis for the Conquest of Canaan

7. The Curse Fulfilled - Joshua's Conquest of Canaan and the Subjection of its Inhabitants

8. The Curse Cannot Be Applied to Anyone Today (Canaanites Are Gone)

9. Any Attempt to Try to Make this Apply to People of Any Color Is Sinfully Wrong

C. The Prophecy to Japheth - "Enlargement"

1. "God Shall Enlarge Japheth"

2. His Descendants Would Inhabit Much of the Earth and Prosper

3. They Would Receive Spiritual Blessings through the God of the Semites

Isaiah 42:6 KJV 1900

I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, And will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, And give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Isaiah 49:6 KJV 1900

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Luke 2:32 KJV 1900

A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

John 4:22 KJV 1900

Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.

D. The Prophecy to Shem

1. "Blessed Be the LORD God of Shem" (Gen. 9:26)

Genesis 9:26 KJV 1900

And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; And Canaan shall be his servant.

2. Shem's Descendants Blessed Only to the Extent that they Trust and Honor Jehovah

E. Lessons from this Prophecy

1. Beware - Wine Is a Mocker! (Prov. 20:1)

Proverbs 20:1 KJV 1900

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: And whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

2. Each Must Take Heed, Lest He Fall (1 Cor. 10:12)

1 Corinthians 10:12 KJV 1900

Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

3. Pray - "Lord, help me to end well!" (cf. Moses, David, Solomon)

"Past success does not provide power for future victory." - Boice

F. Additional Thoughts

from Allen P. Ross, "Studies in the Book of Genesis - Part 1 - The Curse of Canaan"

1. Two Basic Approaches to this Account: Ham & Canaan (and a mediating position, of course)

2. If Canaan rather than Ham was guilty, why is Ham not included in the blessing?

3. A later generation may be judged for the sin of an ancestor if they are of like mind and deed! By following sin of their own volition.

4. Otherwise they may simply bear the fruit of some ancestor's sin

5. It must be clarified that Canaan the people, not the man, are in view for the fulfillment of the oracle

6. The names Canaan, Shem, and Japheth all represent the people who were considered their descendants

7. The attitude that led to the deed of Ham came to full fruition in them [the Canaanites - Lev. 18]

8. These descendants were not cursed because of what Ham did; they were cursed because they acted exactly as their ancestor had [even worse than]

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