Genesis 9:18-29: Stay Alert!

Introduction

Luke finding snake - then Staci finding it - baby - you would have thought it was a King Cobra… Mom’s protect. Mom’s remind us to stay alert.

Stay alert! A snake in the garden of Eden tempting Adam and Eve… They didn’t stay alert. Cain! Stay alert! God warns him… “Sin is crouching at the door...” Sin didn’t stay alert. He let sin devour him.

Genesis 6 - Humanity didn’t stay alert - all of humanity followed the way of the snake andAll of humanity judged for their sin with the exception of Noah and his family.

Noah, like Enoch before him, walked with God. Noah was blameless. Several times in Gen. 6-8 - Noah did everything God commanded.

God brings Noah and his family through the most catastrophic event in human history: a worldwide flood.

After a year on the ark, Noah and his family step on dry ground. A new start. Noah builds an altar and worships. God makes a covenant with Noah, and puts His rainbow in the sky.

There’s so much hope. Noah and his family restart the world, and this time, it’s going to be different. Yet, it wasn’t different at all.

A strange story, and honestly, a strange passage to look at on Mother’s Day, but a message for all of us: Your past faithfulness does not guarantee your future faithfulness.

No matter how faithful you’ve been in your walk with the Lord, you’re just a few choices from falling into serious sin.

Thousands of years after the flood, the story of Cain and Abel, the story of Adam and Eve the lesson remains the same: Stay alert. Sin is crouching at the door. It is easy to fall.

How do you stay spiritually alert so you don’t fall into sin? Three ways:

Story:

Noah’s story is one of the most well known stories in the Bible, BUT this part of Noah’s story not as well-known because it’s shameful - not preached much.

Noah = a model of obedience. Did all God commanded. A picture of righteousness. Endured the flood. A chance to start over - a new day for humanity. Given the command to be fruitful and multiply.

After the flood, Noah and his family got to work. No longer taking care of animals on a boat. Instead, taking care of the ground like Adam. He planted a vineyard.

How long had it been since Noah gardened? For years, work focused on building an ark. Now, 600 years old, a new career: farming.

Life was good - too good. When the vine gives its fruit, makes some wine and drinks too much. Surely, Noah knew better.

Some of you know from experience what happens when you have too much to drink. Ephesians 5:18… “Don’t get drunk with wine...” It takes control and makes you do shameful things. “Be filled with the Spirit.” Be controlled by God, not by wine.

Noah gets drunk, goes into his tent, strips down naked, and passes out. We wish the story would have ended in Gen. 9:17, but it doesn’t. Noah walked with God, but Noah’s like Adam: a sinner. Like Adam, naked and ashamed. (Nakedness often associated with shame in OT.)

Bible commentators speculate on the details of what happens next, but it’s shameful. Probably: Ham looking for his father and finds him naked. His dad was supposed to be the picture of righteousness and faithfulness - but Ham sees Noah being not so righteous.

What should Ham have done? Turned around, walked out, and forgotten what he had seen. He should have shown his dad some grace, but he didn’t. Instead, ran to his brothers… “You’re not going to believe this… Dad got drunk. He’s naked and passed out in his tent. You have to see this. Come on.”

“Honor your father and mother...” Ham didn’t. Shem and Japheth did. Instead of mocking their dad along with Ham, they took a cloak, walked backward into the tent, and covered their father. Shem and Japheth were very careful to not see their father naked and cover Noah’s shame.

After flood… the serpent still at work.. Ham is influenced by Satan like Cain - no regard for the dignity of someone else. Shem and Japheth, however, followed the example of God Himself. Just as God covered Adam and Even’s shame, they covered their father’s shame.

Noah woke up from drunken stupor… A cloak covered him. What happened?

Don’t know how he learned what happened. Maybe Shem and Japheth told him. Imagine Noah’s anger and embarrassment. What we don’t expect: Noah curses his grandson, Ham’s son, Canaan.

Why? Moses doesn’t tell us. Lots of speculation. Maybe Canaan was somehow involved. Maybe he was there when Ham looked at the nakedness of his father. Maybe Noah knew the heart of his son and grandson. He knew they were like Adam’s son, Cain… bent on evil… Maybe he knew they were influenced more by the snake than by God.

Moses writes while wandering in the wilderness. The Hebrews would eventually come face to face with the Canaanites. They would see that the descendants of Canaan had followed in the footsteps of Ham and Canaan - godless - glorying in sin and shame.

Noah has harsh words for Ham and his son, but to Shem: “Blessed be the Lord the God of Shem.” Not bless Shem but bless the God of Shem. Why? Gen. 3:15. We’re just after the flood. Its humanity’s second chance, and Noah and his son have already blown it - Noah’s drunk and naked, and Ham is making fun of his father’s shame. BUT… God is not going to blow it. He’s going to be faithful to His promise.

Humanity will blow its second chance, but God would give much grace. The lineage of Shem will bear God’s name. Shem means name. Sin is eventually going to be defeated - from Shem’s lineage is going to come Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, eventually King David, and ultimately Jesus. Humanity can’t get it right, but God will make it right.

Canaan will be a slave to Shem… When the Israelites enter the Promised Land they will defeat the Canaanites - they would be either driven out or enslaved.

Japheth - extend? Ch. 10 - his descendants in Asia Minor and Europe - one day - Gentiles brought to faith in Jesus - brought into the tent of Shem.

A story of Noah, a faithful man of God, blowing his second chance. But also a story of a faithful God continuing to be faithful in spite of how many times we blow it. He has made a covenant!

The end of Noah’s story both tragic and hopeful… Always hope in your story, but I don’t want your story to end tragically. I want you to stay alert and walk with God for the rest of your life. How can you do it?

You can’t let your guard down.

No matter how faithful you’ve been, you are not invincible to a fall.

You don’t get much godlier than Noah, yet his story ends with his own sin.

Don’t coast on past obedience. Just because you’ve been faithful in the past doesn’t mean you’re going to be faithful in the present and future. Following Jesus is a daily choice. Every day, trust and obey. Every day, “God help me.” Every day, work the spiritual disciplines. Don’t think you are spiritually invincible because of how you’ve grown in the past. Keep pursuing growth.

Flying: As well as I once flew, you wouldn’t get in an airplane with me now.

Don’t get comfortable when life is good. The days of the flood were over. Noah had a promise from God, a command to be fruitful and multiply, and no one to mock him for building an ark anymore. Life was good… And, it’s when life is good that we let our guard down. When everything is going our way we tend to forget how much we still need God. For many of us, life is good… Don’t let the good life deter you from making choices that will lead you to the best life: a life of obedience to God.

You can’t enjoy the sins of others.

Be honest. Some of us like it when others sin. We like to see others fall in sin.

Baseball game: Thankful for the mistake of a ten year old boy… Felt sorry for the boy…We root against people instead of for people.

Or, we like the sin itself. When others sin we are tempted to:

Gawk: Some of us love to stare at sin… Think about what you consumed last week just in media- exposed yourself to adultery, lying, pornography, gossip, etc. We don’t want to commit the sin ourselves, but we like to watch others do it. That’s just as sinful! Think about the affect that’s having on your soul!

Mock: “Ha! Look at you! I knew you were a fake!”

Gloat: “I have my faults, but at least I’m not as bad as...”

Gossip: “Did you hear? You aren’t going to believe...”

Stay alert! If you find yourself enjoying the sin of others, you are in sin.

You can cover the sinner with love.

Hate sin, but love the sinner. How Shem and Japeth treated their father. We don’t overlook sin, condone sin, embrace sin, etc. Sin is terrible. But, love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Pet. 4:8) We give grace and point people to hope instead of judging, mocking, disrespecting, etc. Who are you judging that needs your grace?

Love the sinner so much that you help the sinner. What Ham didn’t do, what Shem and Japheth did. By not gossiping, mocking, gloating, etc. We’re all sick. We all need help not hurt.

Remember how Jesus treated you. Doesn’t mock you. Doesn’t gloat over you. Doesn’t condemn you. Instead, He covers you with love. At the cross, he covered you with love dying in your place and rising again. The more you remember how you’ve been treated by Jesus, the more you’ll treat others with the same grace that has been shown to you.