Genesis 9

It was God's design that after the Flood, in fulfilment of the command given to Adam (Genesis 1:28), the descendants of Noah should disperse themselves throughout the earth, to populate and look after it, and give a picture of how the kingdom of heaven operates.

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Genesis 9:

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When Noah and his family came out from the ark, they were concerned that there would not be sufficient food for them on the ravaged earth. They had taken seeds with them but they would take time to grow, and they now asked God if they could eat animal flesh. It was in answer to their prayer, and their lack of faith in His ability to supply a vegetable diet, that He gave them permission to eat certain kinds of creatures, for it was never His intention that we should get our energy second-hand.

We should remember that when we eat meat, we are eating grains and vegetables second hand; for the animal receives from these things the nutrition that makes it grow and prepares it for market. The life that was in the grains and vegetables passes into the animal, and becomes part of its life, and then human beings eat the animal. Why are so many of us so willing to eat our food second hand? In the beginning, fruit and veggies were pronounced by God as "good for food." Genesis 2:9. Not till after the Flood, which was 1656 years from creation, was man given permission to eat the flesh of animals, for before that the LORD intended that the race should subsist wholly upon the productions of the earth. Few who eat animal flesh today know how full it is of disease. Flesh meat never was the best food, and now it is cursed by much disease and drugs. It’s no wonder that it is with fear and dread that animals now look on humans. To some of us the thought of killing animals to eat them is in itself revolting, but with many the taste outweighs that. If man's natural sense had not been perverted by the indulgence of appetite, human beings would not think of eating the flesh of animals.

The LORD said:

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Leviticus 17:

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There is no sin which cannot be forgiven (and the eating of blood is a sin as we have just read), but the action of eating is not what "cuts him off". God says, "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations throughout all your dwellings, that you eat neither fat nor blood." Leviticus 3:17. We know today why we shouldn’t eat the former, but not much is mentioned about the latter in our health talks. What we are being told here is that eating the blood will so affect our minds and hearts that we will not want to be saved! Both literally and spiritually "the life is in the blood," therefore impatience and bad-temper are some of the results of eating meat. The Jews were taught to kill the animal in such a way that the blood could be drained from the flesh, and then flay the body to get rid of the rest. This resulted in the flesh being a grey colour and with not much taste. The familiar red meat we see in the butcher’s shop still has much of the blood left in it.

In choosing man's food in Eden, the LORD showed what was the best diet for us. In the choice made for Israel in the wilderness He taught the same lesson. He brought the Israelites out of Egypt and undertook their training, that they might be a people for His own possession. Through them He desired to bless and teach the world. He provided them with the food best adapted for this purpose, not flesh, but manna, "the bread of heaven." John 6:31. It was only because of their discontent and their murmuring for the fleshpots of Egypt that animal food was granted them, and this only for a short time, but its use brought disease and death to thousands.

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Numbers 11:

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Yet the restriction to a no flesh diet was never heartily accepted. It continued to be the cause of discontent and murmuring, open or secret, and it was not made permanent. The Son of God then mentioned the effect the killing and eating of animals would have on the character of men.

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Genesis 9:

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The Jewish Publication Society’s English translation puts it this way:-

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By man shall his blood be shed;

For in His image

Did God make man.

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God knew that the desire for revenge was still very strong, even among His people, and so He cautioned against it, for this would result in a condition of things similar to that which existed before the Flood. "Every man’s brother" did do a lot of damage in the religious wars that followed during the few centuries immediately after the Flood, as we will see. However, for those who killed by accident or mishap, He devised a plan which we will be reading about later in the book of Numbers, whereby they could be protected from angry relatives. God’s blessing on humanity was then repeated to emphasise His original purpose for the human race, for He has never wanted the death of friend or foe.

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Genesis 9:

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What a condescension on the part of God. What compassion for us, to place the beautiful, variegated rainbow in the clouds, a token of the covenant of the great God with man! This rainbow was to make evident to all generations the fact that God had to allow the inhabitants of the earth to destroy themselves by a flood, because of their great desire to be separate from Him. It was his design that as the children of after generations should see the bow in the cloud, and should inquire the reason of this glorious circle that circles the earth, that their parents could explain to them the destruction of the old world by a flood, because the people gave themselves up to all manner of wickedness, and that the hands of the Most High had bent the bow, and placed it in the clouds, as a token that He would never allow again a flood of waters to cover the whole earth. This symbol in the clouds was to confirm the belief of all, and establish our confidence in God, for it was a token of divine mercy and goodness to us. That although God had been forced to allow the earth to be destroyed by the flood, yet His mercy still encircles the earth. God says, when He looks upon the bow in the cloud that He will remember. He would not have us understand that He would ever forget; but He speaks to us in our own language, that we may better understand Him.

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Genesis 9:

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A rainbow is represented as being round about the Father’s throne in heaven, also above the head of the Son of God, as a symbol of the mercy encircling the earth through both the Father and the Son.

When any by great wickedness begin to separate themselves from God’s mercy, Christ, man's intercessor, pleads for them, and points to the rainbow in the cloud on earth, as evidence to the surrounding angels of God's great mercy and compassion for erring man.

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Genesis 9:

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As they increased in population the three groups separated and began to move north and south, and then east.

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Genesis 9:

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God had been able to preserve only one family, the household of Noah, to whom He had declared, "You have I seen righteous before Me in this generation." Genesis 7:1. Yet in the three sons of Noah was speedily developed the same great characteristics seen in the world before the Flood. In Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who were to be the founders of the human race, was foreshadowed the character of their posterity.

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Genesis 9:

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Noah, speaking by divine inspiration, foretold the history of the three great races to spring from these fathers of mankind. Tracing the descendants of Ham, through the son rather than the father, he declared, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren." The unnatural crime of Ham declared that reverence for his father had long before been cast from his heart, and it revealed the impiety and vileness of his character. These evil characteristics were perpetuated in Canaan and his posterity, whose continued behaviour removed from them the protection of God. Ham, Canaan, and their families moved down into Africa, and from there into the east via India.

On the other hand, the reverence manifested by Shem and Japheth for their earthly father, and thus for the divine statutes of their heavenly Father, promised a brighter future for their descendants. Concerning these sons it was declared that they would receive a blessing. The line of Shem was to be that of the representative people, the holders of God's covenant, the producer of the promised Redeemer. The LORD God was the God of Shem: from him would descend Abraham and the people of Israel, through whom Christ was to come. "Happy is that people, whose God is the LORD." Psalm 144:15. And Japheth, who moved north into Europe, "shall dwell in the tents of Shem." In the blessings of the gospel the descendants of Japheth were especially to share. See Romans 11:25.

The descendants of Canaan descended to the most degrading forms of heathenism which they still practice today. Amongst them the devil reversed their irreverence, and, pushing it over the other way, turned it into ancestor worship and exaggerated obedience to the father.

Of course, the three great groups have inter-mingled and inter-married so much since that time that a mere geographical position can no longer identify them. But the spirit in which they live can. The prophecy of Noah was no arbitrary denunciation of wrath or declaration of favour. It did not fix the character and destiny of his sons. But it showed what would be the result of the course of life they had severally chosen and the character they had developed. It was an expression of God's purpose toward them and their posterity in view of their own character and conduct. As a rule, children inherit the dispositions and tendencies of their parents, and imitate their example; so that the sins of the parents are practiced by the children from generation to generation. Thus the vileness and irreverence of Ham were reproduced in his posterity, bringing a curse upon them for many generations. "One sinner destroys much good." Ecclesiastes 9:18.

On the other hand, how richly rewarded was Shem's respect for his father; and what an illustrious line of holy men appears in his posterity! "The LORD knows the days of the upright," Psalm 37:18, "and his seed is blessed." Verse 26. "Know therefore that the LORD your God He is God, the faithful God, which keeps covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations." Deuteronomy 7:9.

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Genesis 9:

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Noah, the faithful preacher of righteousness, lived for three hundred and fifty years after the Flood, Shem for five hundred years, and thus their descendants had a first-hand opportunity to become acquainted with the requirements of God and the history of His dealings with their fathers. (Abraham was born just after Noah died and therefore 150 years before Shem died.) But most of the people of the area were unwilling to listen to the unpalatable truths, and great religious wars occurred in which many died. We’ll read about that next week. Most of the people had no desire to retain God in their knowledge; and by the confusion of tongues at Babel they were, in a great measure, shut out from association with those who might have given them light on the character of God. Then Satan worked hard and divided them into groups such as Assyrians, Babylonians and Arabs.

Bye for now, Ron

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

Romans 11:25.

"For I would not, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in."   Back