Please turn in your Bibles this evening to Genesis chapter 9 as we continue our study through the Word of God. As we have seen so far, God judged the wickedness of man and destroyed the world by a flood, except for Noah and his family, plus the animals and birds that were on the ark with them. As Noah and his family stepped out of the ark they worshiped the Lord and offered a sacrifice to the Lord. And God makes a covenant with Noah saying that He will never destroy the world by a flood again.
Now, as we move into Genesis chapters 9 and 10 we see God expound on this covenant He made with Noah. You see, it was from the descendants of Noah, his three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth that the world would be repopulated and through the linage of Shem, the Messiah would come, the seed of the woman! So with that as our background, let’s begin reading in Genesis chapter 9, starting in verse 1 and see what the Lord has for us this evening as we study His Word.
VERSES 1-4
Just as God instructed Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, He instructs Noah and his sons to do the same. The world was void of human life except for these 8 people and they would be the ones to fill the earth or at least get it started!
Now, prior to the flood man was a vegetarian but now God instructs Noah that they may eat meat or animals. The only restriction is they were not to drink the blood of the animal because that is where the life is. We understand that today, the importance of the blood, but the Creator knew the importance from the very beginning!
Obviously the idea of life being in the blood is an important one in the Scriptures. This word is used some 424 times in 357 verses in The New King James Version of the Bible. Here are some important verses that deal with the life found in the blood:
Blood was the sign of mercy for Israel at the first Passover (Exodus 12:13).
Blood sealed God’s covenant with Israel (Exodus 24:8).
Blood sanctified the altar (Exodus 29:12).
Blood set aside the priests (Exodus 29:20).
Blood made atonement for God’s people (Exodus 30:10).
Blood sealed the new covenant (Matthew 26:28).
Blood justifies us (Romans 5:9).
Blood brings redemption (Ephesians 1:7).
Blood brings peace with God (Colossians 1:20).
Blood cleanses us (Hebrews 9:14, I John 1:7).
Blood gives entrance to God’s holy place (Hebrews 10:19).
Blood sanctifies us (Hebrews 13:12).
Blood enables us to overcome Satan (Revelation 12:11).
Please understand that this post flood world was vastly different. The vegetation was not as lush. There were storms. There were seasons. There were dramatic temperature changes. The life span of man and the life span of animals would be drastically reduced. And, the creation that once lived together in the Garden of Eden and even after sin entered the world now was at odds with each other, they were not going to get along. All of creation would be fearful of man, but why? Maybe it is because these creatures were now looked up as food and God put this fear in them to protect them. It is a possibility.
VERSES 5-7
In this command given by God we see the sanctity of life. You see, man was created in the image of God and thus it is precious to Him. Thus if that life is taken, it must be accounted for, there is a penalty to be paid – DEATH! Now, before I deal with that controversial subject, listen carefully to what David said in Psalm 139:13-18 regarding how we are created. He wrote, “For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” God not only formed us in the womb, but He has numbered our days, He has planned them out. Thus, may we walk in them!
Here, long before the Law was given to Moses, God issued out the punishment for murder, capital punishment or the person will be put to death if they murder someone. This was not only because life is precious to God, but to keep order in a society. In fact, God tells us in Numbers 35:33-34 that if those who commit murder are left unpunished, it will defile the land! Do we see that in our country today? You bet we do! People murder for their own lustful desires and they get lawyers who try to get them off. We see abortions where over 40 million children have been murdered in the womb, a place that should be safe for them! It truly has polluted our land! It is as Luther said, “God establishes government and gives it the sword to hold wantonness in check, lest violence and other sins proceed without limit.” Can you imagine what our society would be like without laws? We call that anarchy!
Folks, like it or not, one of the roles of human government is to punish the guilty. Paul makes that point in Romans 13:1-4 as he says, “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
Now, doesn’t the Bible tell us that we should not murder, and thus, if we put someone to death for murder, aren’t we doing the same thing? That is the argument of some, but they miss the point. There is a difference between murder and killing. You see, there is self-defense, there is war, there are accidental occurrences, but that is not murder. Thus, capital punishment, where there is due process of the law is not only okay, but God commands that this be carried out to protect the sanctity of life and to preserve a society. In fact, God even requires this of an animal, that if an animal kills a man he would be put to death! (See also Exodus 21:12-17).
VERSES 8-11
God makes a covenant with Noah and his sons that He will never destroy the world by a flood again. Not that God did wrong, but sin and rebellion needed to be dealt with or the Messiah could not come. Not that the flood did away with sin, but as I have said, I believe God was preserving the gene pool from the corruption that some fallen angels, demons had inflicted upon the human race. We saw that in Genesis chapter 6 as these fallen angels co-habituated with women and now these angels are locked up until the Day of Judgment!
Now, does that mean God will never destroy the earth again? Not at all! God said that He would not destroy the earth again by a flood, but when? When the world becomes similar to the way it was in Noah’s time, and Peter elaborates on this as he tells us, “Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” II Peter 3:1-10.
VERSES 12-17
Before the flood there was no rain. Now, after the flood we see rain and clouds. Can you imagine how gun shy they might be every time they saw a cloud in the sky, every time it began to rain! “Is it going to happen again?” No it won’t and the reason I can say that and the reason they could live without fear is because God gave them a sign and a sign points to something. This sign, the rainbow in the sky points to God’s covenant with us. It shows us the faithfulness of God every time we look up in the sky and see that rainbow; we know that God will not destroy this earth by a flood again. It is His promise to us!
Now, do you believe that? I bet everyone here does. Then, if you do, why don’t you believe in all of God’s promises to you? God is faithful and what He has promised He is more than able to bring to pass! It is as Numbers 23:19 tells us, “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?” Trust in the Lord and all His promises that He has given to you just as you trust in the sign of the rainbow that He has placed in the sky, God is faithful! As Paul said in II Corinthians 1:20, “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.” The Amplified Bible says, “For as many as are the promises of God, they all find their Yes [answer] in Him [Christ]. For this reason we also utter the Amen (so be it) to God through Him [in His Person and by His agency] to the glory of God.” And the Living Bible puts it like this, “He carries out and fulfills all of God's promises, no matter how many of them there are; and we have told everyone how faithful he is, giving glory to his name.” Trust in God’s promises, He won’t let you down!
In Isaiah chapter 54 God speaks of His covenant of peace that He has made to Israel, and I believe this peace also applies to us. He said, “‘For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; For as I have sworn That the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, So have I sworn That I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart And the hills be removed, But My kindness shall not depart from you, Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’ Says the LORD, who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:9-10.
We are children of God, adopted into the family of God through Jesus Christ and thus, as His children we are safe within His arms. It is as Jeremiah tells us in Lamentations 3:22-23, “Through the LORD's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.” Amen to that!
VERSES 18-19
As we move into Genesis chapter 10, a section that has been called the “Table of Nations,” we will see the descendants of Noah’s sons. Now, what I find interesting is that Noah had no more children as far as we are told, in the post flood world, why? Some may say he was too old, which may be the case, he was 600 years old at this time. But maybe something else is going on since he did live another 350 years after the flood. Maybe the actions of Noah seen in the next few verses caused him to be barren, both physically and spiritually!
VERSES 20-23
Did they make wine before the flood? The Bible does not tell us but it would seem that this fermentation process was something that took place after the flood and Noah was able to put it all together, and he became drunk. And in all the years since Noah, drunkenness still causes people to do foolish things, to do things they would not normally do. Now, in saying that, please understand that the Bible does not condemn drinking, only drunkenness. For me, and this is my personal conviction, I have not drank alcohol in over 20 years! I don’t want to be tempted nor do I want to tempt others or destroy my witness by drinking. Think about it, a young Christian or an unbeliever sees me in a restaurant drinking a brewsky or something alcoholic and they may get the wrong idea!
For me, there are so many other things we can drink today instead of alcohol. In fact, to put this into perspective, there are over 100,000 alcohol-related deaths per year in this country! And alcohol abuse causes us hundreds of billions of dollars per year; it truly is a problem in this country. Now, one of our politicians has come up with a solution for teenage drinking, he wants to lower the drinking age! I think they need to do an IQ test or test for brain activity before these people get into office. How in the world will lowering the drinking age stop kids from drinking, it will only encourage them!
Let me share with you a few verses from the Scriptures that deal with drunkenness. In Proverbs 20:1 we are told, “Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, And whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” Alcohol is a depressant and it loosens people up, it depresses their self-control, alters their judgments and they do things that get them into trouble. In fact, the FBI says that 50% of all rapes involve alcohol!
Also, in Proverbs 23:29-35 we are told, “Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things. Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: ‘They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?’” That truly sums up the person who is addicted to alcohol. Their life is miserable, they see things, they get beat up and they long to have another drink, it has consumed their life! What bondage that truly is.
That is why Paul said in Ephesians 5:18, “And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” The Amplified Bible puts this verse like this, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but ever be filled and stimulated with the [Holy] Spirit. [Prov 23:20.]” And The Living Bible puts it like this, “Don't drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit and controlled by him.” In other words, who are you going to be controlled by? And please understand that Paul is not saying that we need to be drunk in the Spirit, as some teach, but we are to be filled with the Spirit! The Holy Spirit is not a depressant as alcohol is but a stimulant you might say as He influences our lives and guides us in what is good!
Now what was Noah doing in this drunken state and what did his son, Ham, do that was so bad? Some say there was some kind of immoral sexual relations going on, I don’t think so. I believe Noah was drunk, obviously, and laying passed out in his tent naked, a total mess as is the case many times of people who get drunk. As Ham saw his father in this condition he mocked him, made fun of him and tried to exploit the situation by telling his brothers of what dad was like. You see, in the Hebrew it says that Ham “told with delight” what he saw, he was gossiping and he was undermining the authority of Noah as a father and as a man of God! He was happy to put his father down!
When Ham’s brother’s heard what took place they took a garment and walking in backwards as not to see their father in this condition, they covered him up. Did they have the right to expose his sin? I guess they did, but instead of exposing it to the world, they covered it, they tried to help their father, not mocking him or putting him down! What a lesson for us to learn. It is easy to tear a person down, to mock them, to find fault with them, to put them down, but God has called us to restore people, restoration not destruction. He wants us to build people up, to encourage them, and yes, to correct them in love and again, with the idea of restoration. Paul put it like this in Galatians 5:14-15, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!” May the love of God be stronger than our desire to put people down!
VERSES 24-27
As you read this it seems that God is not punishing Ham but his son Canaan, and that does not seem right. That is true, it is not right, that kind of thinking goes against Scripture and thus, something else must be going on here. You see, in Ezekiel 18:19-20 we are old, “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.”
Then what is going on here, why is Ham not punished for his sin and his son Canaan is? It would seem that Ham’s influence on his children were so strong that it was going to affect his children. Yes, they each had choices to make, but God was showing Ham, prophetically speaking, that his descendants were going to be wicked people. So in a sense, he was punished knowing the fate of his descendants! Now, does that mean no good came out of them? Obviously not, but as a people, as a nation, it was not good. In fact, he would be a servant to his brothers. Now, who are the descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth? We will get that in the next chapter, so hold on for a few minutes.
VERSES 28-29
Those 350 years of Noah’s life after the flood are silent years, we don’t know what transpired, but it would seem that as much as he walked with the Lord before the flood, he didn’t do so after the flood! Maybe the alcohol affected his life, but these are truly silent years for Noah. What a lesson for us to learn from. Don’t live out your life like the Fourth of July fireworks that burst onto the scene and are colorful, they are bright but as soon as they are seen, they are then gone in a moment. They only light up the sky for a time and then they are gone. Therefore, be steadfast, be immovable, continue to abound in the work of the Lord, don’t give up, and don’t fade away. Paul, at the end of his life was able to say, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” II Timothy 4:6-8. Paul is encouraging Timothy, a young pastor and us to continue on, don’t give up, finish the race that God has for us!
VERSE 1
As I have said, this chapter has been called the “Table of Nations” because it lists the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth or the fathers of these nations after the flood as the world is being repopulated!
VERSE 2
Here we see listed the sons of Japheth; whose descendents are the Indo-European people, stretching from India to the shores of Western Europe.
GOMER: His descendants were the Germanic people or the area of Western Europe. These include the French, the Spanish and the Celtic settlers.
MAGOG, TUBAL, MESHECH, TIRAS: They settled in the far northern area and became the Russian people.
MADAI: These are the ancient Medes that populated the area known today as Iran and Iraq. Also, it is the people of India.
JAVAN: These were the ancient Greek people and we see their sea-faring ways described for us in Genesis 10:5.
VERSE 3
Here we see the sons of Gomer, one of the sons of Japheth.
ASHKENAZ: They settled in the area of present day Eastern Germany and Eastern Europe.
RIPHATH, TOGARMAH: They settled in the area of Turkey.
VERSES 4-5
Here we see the descendants of another son of Japheth, Javan and keep in mind that Javan’s descendants were the ancient Greeks and Tarshish is probably the area of Spain.
VERSE 6
Now we move to another son of Noah and his descendants, Ham, who populated the area of North Africa and the Far East and Middle East.
CUSH: Some of his descendants settled in the area of Babylon and others in the area of Ethiopia.
MIZRAIM: This is the area of Egypt.
PUT: They settled in the area of North Africa.
CANAAN: They settled in the area of the land of Israel.
VERSES 7-12
Here we see the son of Cush being singled out, his name is Nimrod and he settled in the area of Babylon. His name means “rebel” or “let us rebel” and the idea here is a rebellion against the true and living God, he was leading the way, leading others down this path. We are told of this man that he was a mighty hunter and living in Wisconsin we don’t see that as bad, but in this case it is. He is not a hunter of wild life but a mighty hunter against the Lord and he did this by hunting the souls of men to rip them off with his false religious ideas! In fact, the name Bab-el means “the gateway to God” but not the true and living God. And this would shortly be known as Babel or confusion. You see, outside of Christ there is confusion. Look at the various false religions and how confusing their beliefs are. But Christianity is straight forward, you might not agree with it, but you can easily see the truth, there is no confusion about it. Paul said in
I Corinthians 14:33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”
In fact, in John 8:31-32 we are told, “Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.’” You see, the truth sets you free from the lies that are out there. And keep in mind we are only some 5 generations from the flood and look at the wickedness of man. We should not be surprised for the Lord said after the flood to Noah, “. . . ‘I will never again curse the ground for man's sake, although the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.’” Genesis 8:21. That sin nature, the flesh continues to rear its ugly head, even and especially in the days we are living in!
Let me share with you what other commentators have said about this man named Nimrod, it will give you some insight into this man. We are told:
This is not talking about Nimrod’s ability to hunt wild game. He was not a hunter of animals. He was a hunter of men – a warrior. It was through his ability to fight and kill and rule ruthlessly that his kingdom of the Euphrates valley city states was consolidated.
- Boice
A Jerusalem Targum says: “He was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a hunter of the sons of men, and he said to them, ‘Depart from the judgment of the Lord, and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod!’ Therefore it is said: ‘As Nimrod the strong one, strong in hunting, and in wickedness before the Lord.’”
Ginzberg quotes from a Jewish legend: “The great success that attended all of Nimrod’s undertakings produced a sinister effect. Men no longer trusted in God, but rather in their own prowess and ability, an attitude to which Nimrod tried to convert the whole world.”
Hence it is like that Nimrod, having acquired power, used it in tyranny and oppression; and by rapine and violence founded the domination which was the first distinguished by the name of a kingdom on the face of the earth. How many kingdoms have been founded in the same way, in various ages and nations from that time to the present! From the Nimrods of the earth, God deliver the world!
- Clarke
VERSES 13-14
From the sons of Mizraim came the Philistines and Caphtorim.
VERSES 15-20
Here we see the sons of Canaan and the boarders of their land. Just to pick out a few descendents here:
SIDON: They are related to the Hittites and the Lebanese.
SINITE: Many believe this is speaking of the oriental people – the Chinese, Japanese and Asian.
VERSES 21-22
Here are the descendents of Shem and where some of them were located:
ELAM: They are the ancestors of the Persian people.
ASSHUR: They are the ancestors of the Assyrians.
LUD: He is the father of the Lydians who lived for a time in Asia Minor.
ARAM: He is the father of the Arameans or as they are known, the Syrians.
ARPHAXAD: He is the ancestor to Abraham and of course, the Hebrew people.
VERSE 23
Uz, the son of Aram was located in the region of Arabia and the land of Uz, not Oz is where Job was from!
VERSES 24-30
The descendants of Arphaxad are associated with various Arabic peoples.
Now in verse 25 we are told, “To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided . . .” Many believe this is speaking of the dividing of the languages and people at the tower of Babel, and I do agree with that. But I also think it even goes farther than that. I believe prior to the flood and maybe even a short time after the flood that there was one land mass and not the continents we see today. Scientists today believe this to be true and that the land mass split apart, probably very quickly at first and then slowly over time. The name Peleg means “divided” and thus, I think both these ideas apply here.
VERSE 31
And so we have seen the descendants of Shem and how they were spread out.
VERSE 32
Why does God go into such great detail with this Table of Nations or the descendents of Noah’s sons? Because some of these nations, some of these people will play a role in the Scriptures and God wants you to know them, that they are real. That you can trace their ancestry back to the time of Noah and his sons. This is not just a ficticious group of people!
As I close this evening let me leave you with these words from Martin Luther. He wrote:
Hence one must consider this chapter of Genesis a mirror in which to discern that we human beings are, namely creatures so marred by sin that we have no knowledge of our own origin, not even of God Himself, our Creator, unless the Word of God reveals these sparks of divine light to us from afar . . . This knowledge of the Holy Scriptures reveal to us. Those who are without them live in error, uncertainty, and boundless ungodliness; for they have no knowledge about who they are and whence they came.”
- Martin Luther
We all have family trees and some love to trace their ancestry back as far as they can, but if you are in Christ, you are now in a new family tree. You see, you are part of the family of God and all those who are in Christ; all those who are born again, that have faith in Jesus as their Lord and Savior are in this family. And guess what? There is coming a great party in heaven called the Marriage Supper of the Lamb where we will all gather with our Lord and feast. What a day that will be. Just keep in mind these words as we close, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” II Corinthians 5:17-21. God has reconciled us to Himself and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation or bringing people to Jesus so they can be saved; they can become a new creation in Christ and be adopted into the family of God. They will have a new FAMILY TREE just as we do!