Everything that we have studied so far in Genesis plays heavily in this passage that we are looking at today. Let us recap. In the first chapter of Genesis, God created the world and made man. In Genesis 3, man rebels against God and sins. In the midst of that sin and rebellion God makes a promise. Read it with me in Genesis 3:15. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” In this we learn that there will be conflict between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. More importantly, we learn that the seed of the woman will one day crush the head of the serpent, thus ending his power over us. In our passage for today, that has not yet been accomplished. We thought maybe Noah would be that seed, but we found out last week when we studied 8:20-9:17 that he was not. We saw by looking at Gen 8: 21 which says: “And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.” The phrase “for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” tells us that we are still at war with the seed of the serpent. Sin has not yet been defeated because it has been passed down from Adam to every man. So, we find ourselves still waiting for the seed of the woman to come and crush the head of the seed of the serpent.
Last week as we studied 8:20-9:17 we were given more specifics about how God was going to accomplish his plan. First we saw that God was going to display his patience by not destroying the world again by a flood, even in the face of man’s sinfulness. He also promised that the seasons, days, and seedtime and harvest would not stop while the earth remains. This tells us that God is going to bear with man’s sin until the plan comes to fruition. However, God did not set aside his justice in this promise of forbearance. We know that the means of our salvation will come at a price. We know that there has to be a payment. So, our salvation (the seed that will crush Satan’s head) will be mingled with sacrifice.
That brings us to this week. We are looking at Genesis Chapter 9:18-10:32. Turn there with me in your Bibles. There are three things that I want you to see: the re-emergence of the seed of the serpent, The prophecy of Noah, and the further unfolding of God’s plan.
The re-emergence of the seed of the serpent.
Read with me Genesis 9:18-24.
The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,
The author does much to connect the scene described here with the fall in Genesis 3. He mentions that Noah was a man of the soil. This would be unnecessary for us to know except for the fact that it connects him with Adam who was taken from the soil and was a worker of the ground. The mention of Noah being naked or uncovered in his tent is to connect the results of his sin with the sin of Adam and Eve, namely that they realized that they were naked. Another example of the author connecting this event with the fall is in Ham’s sin. When Moses writes that Ham “saw the nakedness of his father” he uses the same Hebrew word that he used when he wrote, “Eve saw that the tree was good for food and was a delight to the eyes.” This is not a mere glace or an accidental seeing. It is a gaze and considering. I don’t know what Ham did but I do know that his seeing was a dishonor to his father. It is also placed squarely in the realm of sin given the connections with the fall and the response of Noah when he sobered. When Noah came to, his first word were “Cursed be Canaan”. This links Canaan with the cursed line of Cain, which is the seed of the serpent.
This reinforces that fact that Noah is not the chosen seed of the woman that is to destroy the serpent. If you will remember in Genesis 3:15 we were told of the seed that would crush the head of Satan, but we were also told that there would be enmity between the seed (plural) of the woman and the seed (plural) of the serpent. That is to say that the godly line of people will struggle with ungodly line. This is both physical and spiritual. Both sides are in view in our passage: the physical side in that the Canaanites will be the constant enemy of the Sethites (Israelites). We see this in the book of Joshua and the Israelite conquest of the Promised Land. We see it in verses like Lev. 18:1 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, I am the LORD your God. 3 You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. 4 You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. 5 You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.
There is constant warning not to be like the Canaanites.
The spiritual side is that man will struggle with sin. They will turn away from God and go against his desires. Noah did, so did Ham. Shem and Japheth had the opportunity but won their battle at this time. Man struggles with sin. It is like a wrestling match in the soul. There are some matches that man wins but our natural bent is towards sin. The promise is that the seed of the woman will break sin’s power over us. For now, we need to understand that through the sin of Noah and Ham, the line of Canaan will pick up where the line of Cain left off. We have the re-emergence of the cursed seed of the serpent.
The Prophecy of Noah
Let’s look at the prophecy that Noah gives after he awakens from his drunkenness. This is the first example of prophecy that we have in the Bible. Read it with me in Genesis 9:25-28
25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
These verses are key to the rest of the Bible. They are foundational to the rest of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament, and they are the proclamation of God’s plan. Let’s look at how this plays out.
When Noah awoke from his wine he pronounced a curse and Canaan. Why on Canaan when Ham is the one that sinned? There are many explanations offered by scholars, but the one that fits best is the fact that Noah cursed Canaan because of Ham’s children he displayed the same perverse character. The curse is that Canaan and his line would be servants to Shem and his line and also by association to Japheth and his line. We see this prophecy partly fulfilled when Joshua leads the Israelites in the conquest of the Promised Land where the Canaanites lived. Let’s continue to the Table of Nations found in 10:1-32 and then we will come back to these verses. Read Genesis 10:1-32 with me.
The Unfolding of God’s plan
1 These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations. 6 The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8 Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-ir, Calah, and 12 Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13 Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.
Gen. 10:15 Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, 16 and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, 17 the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, 18 the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 19 And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 21 To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, children were born. 22 The sons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arpachshad fathered Shelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30 The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. 31 These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. 32 These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, and from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.
First, I want you to notice the order in which this section is written. Most genealogies would start with the oldest son first and follow in order by age. This one does not. Therefore, this is not a regular genealogy. This one is written to make a point. Second, notice that these are not complete genealogies. There is a mix of names, nations, and lands. In some cases, it tells us who is the father of whom. In some cases it shows that a particular group of people came from this family line. And in some cases it shows that this particular line of people inhabited a particular land. All of this is to make a theological point.
The author begins with Japheth because he is the most distant and least involved with the line of Shem, which we are told in the prophecy of Noah is the line that carries on the line of the woman from Genesis 3:15. The author then moves to Ham to because he is the one most closely associated with the line of Shem. We can see the closeness in the fact that Nimrod is said to be the founder of several cities. These cities, namely Babylon and Assyria will be the cities to rise up and take over Judah and Israel. In the line of Ham is also the Canaanites which are the people that inhabit the Promised Land and are most involved in the history of the line of Shem. They fight and take over each others lands and eventually intermarry causing sin in the line of Shem. Finally, Moses comes to the blessed line. He reserves him for last because this is the line that the rest of the story will follow. You can see in a since that Moses is narrowing the focus and saying that this is the line that carries on the promise of the seed of the woman.
I also want you to notice that the author pushes the fulfillment of the prophecies into the future. Look at how this is done. First Noah says that the Canaanites will be the slaves of the Shemites. Here at the Table of Nations this does not happen right away. In fact, the line of Canaan is give the good land that will one day be promised to the line of Shem (Israelites). The Canaanites receive a blessing of a fertile land. Also in the line of Ham is Nimrod. There is an extended section about him and his might, and the building of cities. There is none of that in the line of Shem. The line of Canaan is the cursed line but they seem to be prospering more then the line of Shem. I think that there are two great points for us to understand here. Prosperity is not necessarily the sign of God’s favor and more importantly God’s favor is infinitely more valuable then material possessions.
What is the point of all of this? The author hints to us that in all that we have looked at today in 9:18-10:21 there is one point that he is trying to get across. He does this by a literary device called an inclusio. An Inclusio is a repetition of a phrase that surrounds a set of text indicating that all the text that is surrounded by that phrase is making a point. It all connects. We see the inclusio begun in 9:19 and ended in 10:32. The point is this: All the peoples of the earth come from the sons of Noah. That has two major implications for us. First, this shows us that all groups of people are under God care. If we go back to 8:20-9:17 we see that the covenant was made for Noah and his sons. From them have come all the nations. There are none that are left out. God is sovereign over all nations. It shows a commonality among all people not a division. Many people have used this passage to promote slavery, but the clear teaching of this passage is that there are no second-class citizens. Race as we know it is incorrect. We are not biologically different we have a common ancestry. There is a great sermon that I will link to on my blog for those that are interested in learning more on this topic and its implications. It was a talk given at the Together for the Gospel conference that took place last week. Thabiti Anabweli gave the talk and you can listen to it from a link off of my blog. Just go to asahhudgins.wordpress.com.
The Second implication is that all people will be blessed through the line of Seth. Look with me again at the prophecy of Noah. Shem is blessed. Japheth will increase and will dwell in the tents of Shem. Canaan will be a servant to both. But all who are connected with Shem will be blessed because they will be connected to the God of Shem. How do we know this? We see it in the rest of the Old and New Testament. Look at Chapter 11 and 12 of Genesis. We have a repeated and expanded line of Shem that leads to Abram. Read Genesis 12:1-3.
Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
The promise to Abram in the line of Shem is that through him God will bless all the families of the earth. There is no exclusion there. There is other prophecy that names these people specifically. Look at Isaiah 66:18-19
“For I know their works and their thoughts, and the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and shall see my glory, 19 and I will set a sign among them. And from them I will send survivors to the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, who draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the coastlands afar off, that have not heard my fame or seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory among the nations.
These people are the line of Japheth. Now go to Isaiah 19:23-25
In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. 24 In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, 25 whom the LORD of hosts has blessed, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance.”
These are the line of Ham. Now you may ask what about the line of Canaan. Well, if you will remember Rahab, she was a Canaanite prostitute who became a part of the covenant community of Israel and is in fact in the direct line of Jesus.
Every group of people, every nation, is included in the promise of the seed that will crush Satan’s head. There is not a single person that is excluded from the Gospel due to nationality. They are only excluded if they reject it. That means, students who are going to foreign places this summer for missions, that no one that you come in contact with is excluded from the Gospel. So go tell them that Jesus came to this earth and lived a perfect life. That he died to pay the penalty for our sins – that he rose from the dead and now sits at the right had of the father. Tell them that if they repent from rejecting Jesus and come under his lordship and believe that his sacrifice counts on their behalf that they can be saved from the wrath of God and enter into a relationship with Him, by which they will be heirs to the kingdom of God. It is important that we do this because no one is excluded by nationality. They are only excluded by continuing to reject God means of our cleansing and the sacrifice that redeemed us from our slavery to sin. Pray with me.
