Sin, Dishonor, And Our Salvation (Genesis 9:18-28)
Here is the video to the sermon. If you’d rather just read it then scroll past the video and you’ll be exactly where you want to be.
A few years back I was horrified to see videos going viral from Little Rock, Arkansas of students showing incredible amounts of disrespect to their teachers. But I’m not sure that I should have been all that shocked. Dishonor is something that our society has become very good at. Honor, it seems, has been lost.
The honor of parents is something that is found throughout the pages of Scripture. We see it in the commandment to honor our father and mother (Exodus 20:12). But we also see it throughout the pages of Scriptures. This is probably the harshest and most memorable image found in the Scriptures concerning this idea.
“The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be picked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures.” (Proverbs 30:17 ESV)
There is also a growth of sin in our day that is mind boggling. The two go hand in hand. And we see both in this story.
It was promised in Genesis 3:15 that one would come that would save the world from their sins. One was promised that would crush the head of the serpent and bring us back to the Garden of Eden. We find in this story that Noah and his family would not be that for the human race.
Introduction
Noah and his family were saved from the wrath of God. And they were given a mandate to populate the Earth and rules for protecting this new creation. Noah seems to have stepped off of the ark a gardener. In fact, there are echoes here of the Garden of Eden. Noah planted a vineyard.
Noah creating a vineyard was a good thing. Let’s think biblically about wine in the Scriptures. It’s not a bad thing. It was oftentimes mixed with water to kill any germs or bacteria that may be in the water. So, it was oftentimes necessary to keep one from becoming ill. And even in the Book of Genesis having it in abundance was a part of the blessing that Isaac gave to Jacob (Genesis 27:28). One of the future blessings of the New Heavens and Earth is abundance of wine (Amos 9:13, Joel 3:18). So, Noah creating a vineyard was a good thing. But what he did next was a horrible thing. His son Ham did as well.
This story reveals to us that we are to honor our parents in a world where even the most righteous person is in need of a savior.
Honor Your Father And Mother (Genesis 9:18-28)
The three sons of Noah and their families come out of the Ark, and it is from this family that the entire Earth would be populated. God has wiped the slate clean and is starting over with them. But it didn’t take long for everything to get messed up.
As has already been mentioned, Noah began to work the ground, much like Adam. And also, much like Adam, it didn’t take him long to mess things up. Noah indulged himself too much from the wine he created in this vineyard and passed out drunk. And not only was he drunk, he was also naked.
The shamefulness of this act should not be overlooked. Drunkenness is seen throughout Scripture to be a horrible sin. And for a man to be found naked was incredibly shameful to ancient Israelite culture. Noah, drunk and naked in his tent was no small matter. But things would get no better.
Ham saw the condition of his father, drunk and naked, and rather than cover up his father, went and told others about it. His brothers did not know yet. It seems that Ham just stumbled upon his father in this condition and began to mock his father’s condition.
The response of Shem and Japheth was completely different. And it was completely awkward. But, despite the difficulty, they covered their father’s shame. They laid a garment over their shoulders and walked backwards without looking at their father in this very undignified state. And they covered his nakedness.
The shame of Noah, however, is not finished being discussed. Noah woke up. Well, the text doesn’t just say that he woke up. It says, “When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him,” (Genesis 9:24 ESV). Noah’s drunken stupor was such that he had to awake from his wine. But upon awaking, he knew what had been done and delivered blessings and curses to his family.
Noah gave no blessing to Ham. In fact, he does not mention Ham at all. The only thing that he does is curse Canaan, Ham’s son. But why?
Sometimes we just don’t know the answers to our questions. Maybe it is that Noah cursed Ham’s son because his own son, Ham had dishonored him. We don’t know. But whatever the case may be, the curse was enforced. For the inhabitants of Canaan would be the enemies of Israel. And they would also grow in horrible sin and fight against Israel in the Promised Land.
We will quickly take note of who the families of Canaan were for our purposes here and explore this again next week. But right now we need to compare this to the promise that God gave to Abram in Genesis 15.
Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth (This is the Hittites), and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. 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. These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations. (Genesis 10:15-20 ESV)
And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.” When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.” (Genesis 15:16-21 ESV)
While this is not an exhaustive study into the happenings of Canaan and his family, we do see that years later there would be reason to say that the curse of Noah was fulfilled upon Canaan. “A servant of servants he shall be to his brothers”. Even though it is difficult to pinpoint the exact time of subjugation discussed here, we see the evidence of their being defeated repeatedly at the hands of the family of Shem, through which Abram would come.
We also see that there is a sense in which the Canaanites would embody the character of Ham. The reputation of the Canaanite was that of immorality. It was a country filled with sinful practices that the people of Israel were to avoid.
“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.” (Leviticus 18:3 ESV)
Then Noah blessed Shem and Japheth.
The blessing given to Japheth was
“May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” (Genesis 9:27 ESV)
There is no doubt that the house of Japheth was enlarged. We will see next week that they settled to the North. There is simply not as much information concerning Japheth given, even in the following chapters. This is probably because Israel had little interaction with the lineage of Japheth. However, it is obvious that the family of Japheth grew tremendously.
There are many theories as to when Japheth would rise up against Canaan. It could be that this was fulfilled at some point in the past. It could be that this is something that is still future. It could be that this has been being fulfilled for a long time as war after war takes place in the Middle East.
Remember, these blessings and cursings took place as a result of the actions of Noah and his sons. Ham did not cover his father’s nakedness, but Shem and Japheth did.
Honor your father and mother. You may live 1,000 miles away from your parents, but you are to honor them. But what does that mean?
It’s usage in Scripture is to pay due honor to God or to those who are in authority. The word “honor” also means to be “obedient” at times. Other passages of Scripture help us to interpret what this means as well.
Early in life this would mean that honoring our parents is about obeying our parents. This is how Paul interprets the commandment to honor our Father and mother under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 6:1-3.
“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.” (Ephesians 6:1-3 ESV)
Later on in life this would mean to take care of someone, or figure out how to have them taken care of. Both Solomon and Paul discuss this in 1 Timothy 5:3-4 and Proverbs 23:22.
“Honor widows who are truly widows. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.” (1Timothy 5:3-4 ESV)
Notice that showing godliness to their household is to take care of parents when they cannot take care of their self.
“Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” (Proverbs 23:22 ESV)
To despise one’s mother when they are old is to neglect caring for her.
So, honoring our parents looks different at different times, but it is about honor, dignity, respect, and obedience (especially early in life).
Honoring our parents is not a small matter in Scripture. It is not something that is barely discussed in Scripture. Here are a few texts concerning honoring our father and mother. (Leviticus 19:3, Exodus 21:15-17, Leviticus 20:9, Proverbs 30:17, Ephesians 6:3).
So, honor your father and mother in ways that are appropriate to your stage of life. As a child that will be being obedient. As an adult it will be living a life that honors our parents and not speaking ill of them. At some point it will mean taking care of our parents.
This story illustrates some of the difficulties that can take place while attempting to honor our parents. Sometimes our parents can make this task very difficult. But the willingness to do this really awkward thing by Shem and Japheth reveals to us that we should commit to being people who attempt to honor our parents.
I should mention here that abuse should not be covered up. That should be reported for the saving of life. If we want to rank these things to help us understand them then we would say that the saving of a life is worth more than the honoring of a parent.
It has also been understood throughout the ages that honoring our father and mother teaches people to honor other authorities. This means that a child learns to respect authority by being taught to respect their mother and father. Obedience doesn’t come naturally to us. It is taught. That should be clear from our discussions about the Fall. Our children are selfish due to the Fall and must be taught these things.
A lot of us in this room right now probably feel like failures at this point. And that’s good. Let this drive you to Christ. Let an understanding of what we’ve done wrong drive us to the only person who can give forgiveness of sins.
Everyone Is A Sinner In Need Of A Savior, Even Your Parents (Genesis 9:20-22)
We have seen already that Noah was of outstanding moral character. And that he was described as a righteous man (Genesis 6:9). He trusted the Lord and he walked with God, but if you were hoping that Noah was going to be the one to save humanity and bring them back to the Garden you would be sorely mistaken. Your hopes would be shattered and the drunken and naked mess that you found lying on the tent floor.
In Genesis 3:15 we are told that a son of Eve would crush the head of the serpent. It was a promise given that someone would defeat sin and Satan and restore Edenic fellowship with God. But that was not to be. Drunk and naked in the tent, we see that Noah cannot save from sin, death, and Satan.
But God would keep His promise.
God Provided A Savior (Genesis 9:26)
Drunk and naked Noah was not going to return humanity to fellowship with the Lord. The blessing to Shem is much different than that of Japheth.
“Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.” (Genesis 9:26)
In Shem was the chosen lineage. God was with them. And eventually God would bring the one who would conquer sin and death. From Shem’s lineage would come Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who would be named Israel. And from this people of Israel would come Moses and David. And from the lineage of David would come, Jesus.
God the Son would take on human flesh and dwell among us as one from the lineage of Shem. It is He who would conquer Satan, sin, and death. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on behalf of all who would believe. He was credited with the sin of all who would believe and paid the price for it on the cross. And it is through this perfect sacrifice that we can be made right with God. It is through the work of this one from the lineage of Shem that we can be set free from the power of sin and death. All those who turn from ruling their own life and trust the Savior are restored to God and will one day enjoy perfect fellowship with God.
Noah was not the Savior. Jesus is, and in Him we can be brought into perfect fellowship with God.
Conclusion
This story is wildly disappointing. Righteous Noah was found drunk and naked on the floor. One of his children mocked him to his brothers. And though the other brothers did cover his shame, we see the horror of sin rocking the new world. We see in this story that we are to honor our parents in a world stained with sin, where even the most righteous person is in need of a savior. But there is hope in the story, as God would eventually provide the savior we need through the lineage of Shem.
R. Dwain Minor