The difference between Noah and others was that when the Lord spoke to him, he listened.
God repeatedly sent prophets, including Jeremiah, who warned Israel in Jeremiah 16:12, 17:23, 32:33, against turning their backs to God. In Acts 7:53-53, Stephen said to religious leaders, “Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”
The Lord blessed Noah and his sons by speaking to them. He gave them good directions. Like to be fruitful and multiply.
The Lord built their confidence to go forward. He told Noah and his sons that the fear and dread of them would be on the creatures of land, air and sea.
The Lord gave Noah dietary instructions. They could eat meat and green herbs with one stipulation. They were to drain the blood from the meat before they ate it. God set blood apart. He told Noah that whoever killed a person must be killed by a person. Why was the sentence so severe? The answer is because people are made in God’s image. God wanted more people not less people. Thus, He issued the death penalty against those who kill people.
The blood of animals and ultimately God’s Son’s blood is the element by which God would atone for our sins. While people look different externally, we all bleed red. It is the element that is common to us all.
Movies and video games about murder and human blood being flung everywhere are so contrary to the kind of visions that God wants us to fill out minds and souls with. Demons like human bloodshed. Proverbs 4:23, says, “Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life.” Psalm 119:37 in the KJV contains the letters T-V: Turn away mine eyes from beholding Vanity; and quicken me in You way.” Vanity is meaninglessness. Quicken means to make alive. May God protect our eyes from meaningless visions and make us alive to Him.
“Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: ‘And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. Thus I establish My covenant with you: never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’” Genesis 9:8-11
“A covenant is a solemn, binding agreement or promise between two or more parties, often involving mutual commitments, oaths, and sometimes rituals, making it more relational and enduring than a standard contract. Unlike transactional contracts, covenants are about building a lasting bond, emphasizing partnership and loyalty. A marriage is to be a covenant of lifelong love and devotion. A covenant is relational, about the bond itself, often enduring even if one party fails, with grace for restoration, like in a marriage or faith.” [G]
“And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ And God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.’” Genesis 9:12-17
John Wesley wrote, “The rainbow appears when one part of the sky is clear, which imitates mercy remembered in the midst of wrath.” [JWN]
“Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.” Genesis 9:18-19
All three of Noah’s sons had children, but the above passage mentions only one of their sons by name. Ham fathered Canaan. The Hebrew root meaning of Canaan is “to be brought down,” “humble,” or “subdued.” Thus, his name serves as a prophetic message of what is to come.
“And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.” Genesis 9:20
In Genesis 5:28-29, Lamech had a word from the Lord for his son Noah. He called him Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord has cursed.” Well, the Lord purged the earth during Noah’s lifetime and gave Noah a fresh start with seedtime and harvest. How did Noah’s vineyard do?
“Then he drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered in his tent.” Genesis 9:21
The ground was blessed. The grapevines grew and produced grapes. On a certain day, Noah drank too much, became drunk and embarrassed himself... which is usually what happens when people drink too much liquor.
“And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.” Genesis 9:22
The appropriate action for Ham would have been to cover up his father’s nakedness and pray for him. Perhaps, talk to him later, when he was sober, about healthier coping mechanisms than drunkenness. Why did Noah drink too much alcohol? What was happening to Ham’s father? “To have seen it accidentally and involuntarily would not have been a crime. But he pleased himself with the sight. And he told his two brothers without... in a scornful deriding manner.” [JFBC]
“But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.” Genesis 9:23
They did not want to see their father’s nakedness, and they did not want others to see it either. They covered their father’s indiscretion. Praise God that Christ covers our sin with His blood. His goal is to save us from our sin, not condemn or mock us because of it.
“So Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.’” Genesis 9:24-25
Why did Noah curse Canaan for Ham’s sin? It seems that this was a prophetic word like unto Jacob words for his twelves sons before he died. Noah prophesied of what was to come. Canaan’s descendants filled the land with idolatry and child sacrifices, debauchery and drunkenness. About 800 years later, the Israelites, the descendants of Shem conquered the Canaanites and took over the Promised Land.
Incidentally, Jews trace their lineage back to Shem (Semitic), the son of Noah, through his great-grandson Eber, which is the origin of the name “Hebrew” (meaning descendant of Eber).
“And he said: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan be his servant.’ And Noah lived after the flood 350 years. So all the days of Noah were 950 years; and he died.” Genesis 9:26-29
Noah blessed the Lord for his son Shem. “May Canaan be his [Shem’s] servant.” “May he [Japheth] dwell in in the tents of Shem.” It is through Shem’s family line that the Messiah comes. It is good to serve Jesus Messiah! After blessing his sons and grandson, the Scripture says that Noah died.
“Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.” Genesis 10:1
The Lord is a good shepherd. He keeps track of His sheep. The genealogies in the Bible are value statements from God to humankind. He created and He sustains a universe so vast and so filled with wonders, yet He keeps track of people. In Matthew 10:30, Jesus said that “the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” The genealogy of Shem’s family line continues through the Bible all the way up until Jesus Christ is born. That’s where it ends because in Christ all people from every tribe, language and nation are invited to become a part of the family of God.
In Genesis 10:2-4, the Lord provides for us a list of Japheth’s descendants. His descendants settle in what is now commonly called Asia Minor and Southern Europe. See link below to: “Noah’s Three Sons: The First Map of Nations.”
“From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.” Genesis 10:5
This passage looks ahead to the time when family clans begin to explore and migrate to other parts of the world. They will eventually have new languages and new nations which they rule.
In Genesis 10:6-7, the Lord provides for us a list of Ham’s descendants. His descendants settle in the middle east and northern Africa. Cush is the Hebrew name for Ethiopia. Mizraim is the Hebrew name for Egypt. In Genesis 10:8-12, Cush, the grandson of Ham has a son named Nimrod. Nimrod is mighty. He is a mighty hunter. He builds Babel the future capital of the Babylonians. He builds Nineveh the future capital of the Assyrians. He built Resen which was a principal city.”
In Genesis 10:13-20, Ham’s grandson Mizraim (forefather of Egypt) has descendants that settle across north Africa and beyond. The Philistines are also among his descendants. The Canaanites are from his family line including the people of Sidon (the Phoenicians), and the Sodomites.
In Genesis 10:21-32, Shem’s descendants settle from the north border of the Middle East with Türkiye to the south border of Saudi Arabia at the Persian Sea. They spread out from the Mediterranean coast to as far east as Persia. Genesis 10:25 says that the earth was divided in the days of Shem’s descendant Peleg. Genesis 10:32 says, “These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.”
In Genesis 10, the Lord provides for us details of how the descendants of Shem, Japheth and Ham multiplied and spread out in all directions. Adam’s and Eve’s descendants were now speaking different languages, having different cultures and dividing the land into city states.
Although humankind experienced a severe pruning during the days of Noah, God blessed us and caused us to thrive, flourish, be fruitful and multiply.
In Revelation 7:9-14, the Lord reveals to John a great multitude of people in heaven worshipping God. No man can number them because they are so many. These people are from all nations, kindred and languages. And these are just the people who have come out of the great tribulation of earth’s last days.
In Luke 14:23, the Lord said to a servant, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that My house may be filled.” The Lord wants us to be in His house and to enjoy the feast that He has prepared for us. Praise the Lord!
[G] Google sources
[JWN] John Wesley Notes
[JFBC] Jamieson Fausset Brown Commentary
Link to: Noah’s Three Sons: The First Map of Nations
https://youtu.be/AGZ7yADnMpQ?si=ZpZA-LcjBDlxLrr-
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