MONDAY, June 15, 2009                                                       READ: Genesis 9: 20, 21                                                                                                        

FATHER NOAH DRANK OF THE WINE

MEMORIZE: “And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered in his tent.”         Genesis 9: 20, 21

In Genesis 6: 2 there is a reference to “the sons of God” and there are those who insist that, based upon Job 1: 6; 2: 1; 38: 7, this was a reference to angels who saw and took wives from the human race. Do angels have physical bodies? Do they experience human emotions? What would be their purpose for wanting to get married to the “daughters of men” (cf. Matthew 22: 30)? The passage of Scripture seems to indicate that there was a significantly steep decline in moral rectitude. People were marrying and giving in marriage (cf. Matthew 24: 38), without any real regard for the will of God and who they chose. People were doing their own thing.

The time came in human history, there was an accelerated moral decline. Jesus referred to that time, just before the judgment of God was poured out upon the earth (cf. Matthew 24: 38). It was a time, which parallels our time. People were doing “their own thing” without any real regard for the will of God. Not only was sin abounding, but even those who were to be godly, representing God, were as involved in disregarding God’s will for their lives. It was in the face of this prevailing moral decline that Noah was preaching the Gospel (cf. Romans 1: 16 – 21). He was a preacher of righteousness (cf. 2 Peter 2: 5; 3: 3-7). When the people failed to heed the call to repentance, God executed His judgment and sent the flood. After the flood, God purposed to start over, and to rebuild the human family through Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives (cf. Genesis 9: 1, 19). Here then, in our text, Genesis 9: 18 – 29, we are able to see how things began to be after the flood. Is it true that wherever sex is part of the mix, there is usually drinking of intoxicating beverages? If that is so, then Noah might well have preached against the drinking of intoxicating drinks. Would that have been likely? “Perhaps, more than likely,” did you say? In vv. 20, 21, we are told plainly that Noah began to be a farmer. We are told also that he “planted a vineyard.” Noah drank some of the wine and became drunk (cf. Proverbs 20: 1; 21: 17; 31: 4, 6). Was Noah now indulging in the very thing he preached against before the flood? What happens to people when they become drunk? Is it true that they lose control of themselves? Well, Noah did, and lost his clothes and was lying, uncovered in his tent. In v. 22, we are told that Ham, the middle son, the father of Canaan, entered his father’s tent and saw his father lying there embarassingly uncovered. As a father, Ham was in a position to empathize with his own father’s situation. We are not told what he had hoped to gain from exposing his father further, but he went and told his brothers. Shem and Japheth did the right and respectful thing. They took steps to cover their father, without, themselves looking at their naked father. In v. 24, we are told that when Noah “awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.” What had Ham done to his father? How did Noah find out what had been done to him by his younger son? How did Noah react? In v. 25, we are told that he cursed Ham’s youngest son, Canaan. What was the curse? Canaan would be cursed. He would be a servant of servants to his own brothers. In vv. 26, 27, Noah blessed Shem and Japheth, rendering Canaan the servant of his brothers, and of Shem in particular.

Do the sins of parents affect their children (cf. Exodus 20: 5)? The idea of our descendants bearing the effects of our own wrong-doings, should serve as a deterrent against doing evil (cf. Isaiah 37: 5 – 8). The very practice Noah preached against, was the same one he became involved in. Ham disrespected his own father, and God did not allow him to get away with it. He will not allow us to escape the consequences of our sins either.

PRAY:LORD, God Almighty, You are the God and Father of our LORD, Jesus Christ. You are Father, our Father who is in Heaven. Thank You for my father. Help me, help fathers everywhere to take a stand for You and to help their children to do what is right. Help me to live as Your child. I want to spend eternity in Your house. Thank You, LORD. I bless You in Jesus’ strong name. Amen.