Should've Planted Carrots

Date: Sept 19, 2021

Audience: Grass Valley Corps

Title: Should’ve Planted Carrots (The Shocking End of Noah)

Scripture: Genesis 9:18-29

Proposition: We often learn nothing from success

Purpose: Learn from your mistakes

Introduction

-illustration Grace and peace! We will be in Genesis 9 today and the passage is kind of dark and heavy, so I thought before we got into it, you might like to hear a fairy tale.

Once upon a time in Sumeria, there was a king named Utnapishtim (Ooht-nap-ish-tim). It seems that humans made too much noise, so five gods planned to send a great flood on the earth to wipe everything out.

One of the gods, Ea, warned Utnapishtim to tear down his palace and build a boat, leaving behind all his treasure. So he filled the ship with his family and friends and then breeding pairs of every living creature.

Just as they all got on the boat, the floodgates of heaven opened up and for six days and seven nights the rains overwhelmed the earth. On the seventh day it stopped, and the ocean grew calm.

The land couldn’t be seen, just water in all directions, as flat as a roof; there was no life at all.

As the waters receded, the boat ran aground on a mountain side. Utnapishtim, curious if the land was dry yet, released a dove, which flew around, but could find no land, so it came back.

Next, he sent out a swallow, which also couldn’t find land, and it returned.

Finally, he sent out a raven, which never returned as the land had emerged from the waters of the flood.

As Utnapishtim and his people and animals emerged from the boat, the gods decided to grant Utnapishtim and his family immortality, and they lived happily ever after.

This story comes from the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, which is part poetry, part adventure novel, and partly a garbled transmission of the flood narrative we have recorded in the book of Genesis. And it has a happy ending, which is what you want from your standard fairy tale. After all, fairy tales are told as simplistic moral stories about people who face some choice or trial and then, once they have made the right decision in that one instance, they are granted their dreams. Having learned from their experience, they go through the rest of their lives flawlessly.

-proposition (principle/teaching of story) This is different from real life, where we often learn little or nothing from our experiences.

-purpose (application) That’s part of the reason why we gather together to collectively examine the lives and interactions of historical people: We want to learn from our mistakes and those that others made before us. I happen to believe that we can work together to learn and grow and encourage one another to do life in a better way, one which is closer the way God created us to live.

-reference to text

Today, the example we want to learn from is that of Noah, who walked with God before the Flood, who walked with God off the ark, and then who demonstrated that in real life you can come off of a tremendous spiritual high and immediately plunge yourself into the very depth of the darkness you just escaped from. Turn with me to Genesis, chapter 9, where we will begin at verse 18. Today I’m reading from the New International Version’s 2011 translation. If you’re using a different translation, you’ll find that the words used may be different, but the meaning should still be the same. Genesis 9, starting at verse 18.

I. 1st Part of Story

A. Narration

Genesis 9:18-21 (NIV2011) 18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.[1]

One thing that drives me crazy about the way ancient people wrote biographies is how they skip over anything that they didn’t consider important to the story they were telling. Noah’s story has all kinds of missing information which the author didn’t care to include, but which I would really like to know. For example: What kind of time period are we talking about here? It’s at least several years after the whole ark deal, but is it fifty or a hundred or more? Or is it just ten or twelve? Because without knowing a lot more there are some details we can only guess about.

We know that Ham is the second son of Noah, because his name is always in the middle of the list of the three boys. Shem is the oldest.

We know that when everyone got off the ark there were eight people: Noah and his wife and each of the three sons and their wives.

We know that Ham becomes the father of Canaan.

We know – or will, once we read the next chapter – that Canaan is Ham’s fourth son, so even if he and his wife had got right on that instruction from God to be fruitful and multiply, we’re talking at least five years down the road and probably a lot more.

The lack of details means that this could have happened anywhere in the almost 350 years between the time they got off the ark and Noah’s death. It almost certainly happened in the earlier years, but ultimately…

I suppose it doesn’t matter WHEN it happened so much as that it DID happen.

What do I mean by “it”? What is it that happened? Well, Noah became a man of the soil and planted himself a vineyard. Some translations make him out to be the first to have done so, but there doesn’t seem to be reason or support for that except that this is the first recorded orchard of this sort.

Some people would like to think that he just grew it with no idea what he was going to get and then somehow accidentally managed to make some fermented juice. I see how you might think that, when you read it in English. But the original Hebrew of verse 21 actually says. “He drank the wine TO BECOME DRUNK.” This wasn’t some casual accident; this is a man who sets out on a mission and then accomplishes it!

The Bible has a lot to say about drunkenness, and very little of it is good. An example which pretty much sums them all up is Proverbs 20:1 (NIV2011) Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler;

whoever is led astray by them is not wise. [2]

Quite frankly, scripture is clear that a drink here and there isn’t necessarily a problem for some people, but to allow alcohol or anything else to alter or numb your mind is condemned, outside of one rather cynical comment that you can give strong drink to those who are perishing so they will be relieved of their distress.

Here in The Salvation Army, those of us who have chosen to serve as soldiers have taken a vow not to drink alcohol at all. We all either work with or are people in recovery; we fight against the evils of addictions because they call us away from clear thinking and righteous behavior. We try to live out a higher standard.

We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8-9 (NIV2011), that we must: 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. [3]

When we forget that every action any of us takes in this world affects others as well as ourselves, then what we DO encourages others to do wrong instead of showing them what is right.

Noah seems to have forgotten. He took the wine from his vineyard, set out to get drunk, and succeeded. Now, instead of walking with God the way he did in the past, he’s lying uncovered in his tent.

B. Discussion (proves or explains this part of story)

The next question we need to ask is why that’s a problem. So he got a little smashed and stripped off in the privacy of his own tent and is now feeling a little breeze riffling through his hair, so to speak. What’s wrong with that?

The answer comes in some of those things that are hard to understand without a handbook to the culture of the time. Because even though this says he’s lying uncovered in his tent, it doesn’t mean that he’s just lying around without his pants on. There is a Hebrew euphemism being used here!

Do you all know what a euphemism is? That’s any saying or expression you use instead of bluntly stating something delicate, unpleasant, or embarrassing. Like when you’re at the dinner table and say that you’re going to a doctor because you have a “little something going on” under your arm instead of saying that a festering pustule burst and continues to ooze foul smelling goo all over everything in your area, and by the way would you please pass the mashed potatoes?

Here in Genesis, the euphemism is tough to explain. When it was first written, it was something that needed no explanation, because everyone knew what it meant. But that means no one explained it, and eventually we reached a point where no one was completely sure what it meant. We know it is something deeply sexual in nature, but beyond that we don’t really know any details and at this point we probably never will.

What do we know? We know what Genesis 9:22 says:

II. 2nd Part of Story

A. Narration

Genesis 9:22 (NIV2011) 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.[4]

This is a difficult part of the story. It’s uncomfortable. Ham saw his father’s shameful act – his nakedness - and broadcast it to his brothers.

There is a deep disrespect happening here. Noah’s drunkenness was a fall from his walking with God. And in that culture, it was considered shameful to be naked where you could be seen, and it was shameful for one man to look at another man’s genitalia. So even if we read this in the least offensive way, Ham is intentionally trying to amplify his father’s shame in the eyes of his brothers. He is purposely trying to cause him harm by his report. By any standard, this is despicable behavior.

Sadly, in our gossip and mudslinging culture, this sort of thing is a daily occurrence, and some even make a living doing what Ham did because there are people willing to pay to revel in any squalid shame they can find sticking to others. Talk shows, tabloids, paparazzi, and much of the so-called reality programming only exists because there are people who celebrate this sort of behavior. It’s sad and it’s a part of the sin-sickness that infects our world.

B. Discussion (proves or explains this part of story)

Remember, though, that is the best and narrowest definition of what could be happening here. From ancient days the sages and commentators have said there is more going on that the author chose not to give details on. The phrase “look on the nakedness” is another euphemism for sexualized behavior and to “look on the shameful nakedness” brings on dozens of speculations about what details are missing. It’s fruitless to go into them, because we can’t know, even though there are plenty of people who will state one horror or another with certainty. So let me follow the path taken by the author, sketching in this vague picture of the evil inclinations of man getting the best of those who are not constantly on guard.

That leaves us with Noah, giving in to despair or despondency or craving and setting out to drown his sorrows. However, as so often occurs, his drunkenness simply amplifies his evil desires while removing his control and blotting out his sensibilities.

Whatever it is Noah was doing, Ham saw an opportunity to take advantage of him. Throughout history there have been men and women who preyed on the weaknesses of others, and this time was no different.

C. Application Noah was a man who had centuries of experience with success in life and an equal amount of time watching others fail. He had even experienced the dramatic judgment of God in the Flood. But we often learn nothing from our experiences, and Noah is proving himself to be completely human in that. When you forget to pay attention to your choices, you will fall. When you only consider yourself when making choices, you fall and hurt others on the way down.

Do you remember what I said about Adam and Eve eating the forbidden fruit in Eden? What’s so surprising isn’t that it happened; it’s that it still happens. Over and over human beings make selfish and foolish choices rather than remembering that we can learn to choose wisely by following God’s lead.

Ham, Shem and Japheth had been part of that “Do whatever feels good” lifestyle before the Flood. Noah had been the only righteous man getting onto the ark. Noah’s sons had seen the results of choosing self-indulgence over honoring God as they saw their friends and family washed away by the storms which came to cleanse the earth from evil. Unlike Ham, his brothers seem to have learned something from that experience. So, when their father stumbled, they acted to correct his shame rather than to amplify it.

Genesis 9:23 (NIV2011) 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked. [5]

Perhaps for the first time in their lives they did something for someone else. They rejected the old ways and sought to live out something new: Walking with God. In this case their walk was even backwards so that they wouldn’t even see their father in his fallen state.

They did what they could to restore him and repudiate the actions of Ham. Sit with that thought for a moment while we bring Noah’s story to an end.

III. 3rd Part of Story

A. Narration Genesis 9:24-27 (NIV2011) 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!

The lowest of slaves

will he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!

May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

27 May God extend Japheth’s territory;

may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,

and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”[6]

When Noah awoke and found out Ham had done this thing… By the way, Ham was the middle son, not the youngest. The word being mistranslated here better means his smallest or weakest son. The author is showing his scorn for what Ham did. Noah does that too, by cursing Ham’s son, Canaan.

Why Canaan instead of Ham directly? Again, we are given no details, so any answer is speculation. One possibility is raised by those ancient sages whose commentaries have been preserved. Some say that it was Canaan who first saw Noah’s shame and brought his father to see it. Canaan, they say, was a son who emulated his father is all things.

Another possibility lies with the time that this narrative was written down. Remember that tradition says it was Moses who collected the stories in Genesis. He would have written it during the Exodus, as the tribes of Israel wandered in the desert, waiting for the right time to enter the Promised Land. And who inhabited the Promised Land at that point? The Canaanites, descended from the line of Ham, primarily through his son Canaan. The sins of the Canaanites related to the sexual degradation involved in their idol worship. There may have been a link between their practices and this story about Noah which Moses was trying to draw out more clearly.

B. Discussion (proves or explains this part of story) Ultimately, though, those details don’t matter so much, and perhaps that is why they aren’t included. I’m a detail guy, so I love to dig out all the facts and possibilities, so sometimes I forget to step back and look at the big picture. This is a big picture story.

C. Application

It reminds us about the continuing challenge of sin in our lives and of God’s grace and guidance in dealing with that sin. In many ways it is very similar to the story of the Garden of Eden. Adam and Noah were both men who had trouble with fruit, both the kind they consumed when they shouldn’t have and the kind that they bore themselves in the form of their children.

After Eden we found that there were two family lines which stood for the two choices people could make: Follow God or follow the world. It wasn’t so much that children were born into one or the other, but as we see in the example of Ham and Canaan, fathers who refuse to follow God’s ways often have children who follow them instead of walking with God.

How should we respond to the choice represented by these two family lines?

We can walk with God and trust that his grace and forgiveness can bring about restoration, as shown by Shem and Japheth.

Or we can revel in the fallen and embrace the carnal; give in to the addiction to sin brought about by our inclination to do evil, as demonstrated by Ham.

Each person gets their own set of choices and their own opportunity to walk WITH God or AWAY from God. But if we don’t learn from our experience and our history, we will never make the right choice.

Conclusion

Does this ancient story have anything to say to us today? I think it does. I think it begs us to ask what it means to live a Christian life. How so? By showing us both the right and the wrong way to pursue a walk with God.

Recently we’ve begun discussing what it means for us to relaunch this church gathering. We’ve talked about the importance of being part of a faith community and engaging in that community’s discussions of what is true and what isn’t. Our community – our church body – is meant to be both a sounding board and an encouragement to us. We are meant to lean on one another for guidance, advice, strength when we need it; warning when we stray from the truth; and restoration when we stumble as we make our way through life.

Noah walked with God alone, and then he fell.

I hear people all the time say that they don’t need a church home or that they are just fine on their own with God. That’s not what the Bible teaches us, though. God’s Word goes on and on about the importance of being part of a faith community. When God made humans, one of the first things he said about us was that it isn’t good for us to be alone. Noah was the only righteous man getting on the ark, and he apparently didn’t build community with his sons. One was lost and cursed by his choice to walk away from God. The other two sought to live Godly lives, apparently impressed by God’s judgment. If only Noah had worked with them instead of remaining alone! Perhaps he would have sought solace from companionship with his family rather than looking to kill his pain with the contents of a bottle, and this whole ugly incident could have been avoided.

We find strength to make right choices by leaning on one another. It was together that Shem and Japheth sought to end their father’s shame by covering his nakedness.

-reference to proposition (principle)

We don’t often learn from experience.

-reference to purpose (application)

But Shem and Japheth did, and they became the fathers of the godly line which led to Abraham and his covenant with God and eventually to Jesus and his Salvation for all humankind.

When we learn from our mistakesand from the experience of others around us, we can learn to walk with God rather than dying apart from him. Shem and Japheth found redemption. We can too.

-altar call

On either side of me there is a kneeling rail. They make up our representation of God’s Mercy Seat, an altar where you can bring him the offering of your prayers and the even greater offering of yourself. When we come to the end of our worship in study, it is common for the speaker to offer an invitation for you to come and pray at this altar.

I confess, I am not a great fan of the altar call. So often, to me, it seems somewhat manipulative to push any audience to make a decision and respond by coming forward. After all, when we study God’s Word the Holy Spirit is constantly calling to us to make the choice that pervades our lives, whether we are paying attention to it or not. Come and follow, it says, come and follow, walk with me. It is the cry of God to his children who have been lost and scattered by their disobedience and their stubborn refusal to simply turn around and face back towards their Creator.

Altar calls can exploit that yearning which is part of each of us; that desire to turn and run back to our heavenly Father, back to the belonging and the comfort of his arms.

So often, we preachers use that as a lever to lift listeners out of their seats and propel them forward to the altar. We moderate our voice at the end of a message to something like a hypnotic whisper to draw your attention to the seriousness of the call. Music may be played to highlight emotions that can only be calmed by bringing them to the God of Peace. Then we remind you that no one knows what the next minute will bring, and that this may be your only chance.

Is this manipulation? Spiritual abuse? Not usually. Oh, it can be, or it may come off that way at times, but generally it is a sincere effort to connect those who have heard the message to the LORD who is the only source of salvation, redemption, and restoration.

That connection is the only hope any of us have, because every inclination of the human heart is evil. Our choices, like those of Ham, often reflect the corruption of our broken world and our selfish instincts instead of reflecting the image of God which we were made to bear.

Is there something magical about the altar as a place of prayer? Not as such. The truth is that God meets us wherever we are at when we cry out to him for salvation, for strength, for the ability to choose to be what we were created to be. But at the same time, there is something to be said for the outward gesture of coming to pray in a space set apart for it.

Commitments made in secret are often fleeting things. They last for a moment, then pass like a sour stomach or take flight like a bird. The Mercy Seat is a public place to bring your private shame to the God who already knows it all and who stands ready to forgive, if only you will allow him to.

While I am not a fan of altar calls in general, I am very much a fan of the altar. It is a place to meet the merciful God. It is a place where we are all truly equal. It is a place to exchange shame for grace and to begin or continue walking with the LORD. A place where you can let the flood of his love wash away all sin.

So, let me invite you to come and pray as part of our congregation, as a member of the Family of God. Don’t let fear or uncertainty rule when you could choose to live out God’s peace instead.

If you are so inclined, I’ll give you a moment to come forward before I close us in prayer.

[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 9:18–21). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [2] The New International Version. (2011). (Pr 20:1). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [3] The New International Version. (2011). (1 Pe 5:8–9). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [4] The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 9:22). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [5] The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 9:23). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. [6] The New International Version. (2011). (Ge 9:24–27). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.