GENESIS LESSON 17
We will begin our study today in Genesis 9:1 "And God blessed
Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the earth."
Not only did God bless Noah by saving him and his family during
the flood, but this was another blessing that God spoke on Noah and his
family. God's request was that they produce children and repopulate
the earth.
Genesis 9:2 "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be
upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon
all that moveth [upon] the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea;
into your hand are they delivered."
We see by this that man is higher than animal form. You can, also,
see how ridiculous it would be to believe that man evolved from a
monkey (animal). All animals have a natural (God given) fear of
mankind. God made them all for the use of mankind.
Genesis 9:3 "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for
you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."
This statement discounts being a vegetarian. The counterpart of
this verse in the New Testament is I Timothy 4:1 "Now the Spirit
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from
the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;"
I Timothy 4:2 "Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience
seared with a hot iron;" I Timothy 4:3 "Forbidding to marry, [and
commanding] to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be
received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth."
You see, God wants us to enjoy the things He has provided for us.
In Luke chapter 8:55, we read the account of Jesus telling the
parents of the little girl He raised from the dead, to feed her some
meat. Luke 8:55 "And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway:
and he commanded to give her meat."
Genesis 9:4 "But flesh with the life thereof, [which is] the
blood thereof, shall ye not eat."
At first glance, you would think that this Scripture contradicts
the above Scriptures, but it does not. The word that was translated
flesh, above, means the flesh of mankind. What it was saying, is do not
eat human flesh. Basar is the word translated "flesh", and it means
person, mankind, or man body. You see, God does not make mistakes. Our
interpretation sometimes confuses us.
Genesis 9:5 "And surely your blood of your lives will I require;
at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man;
at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man."
Genesis 9:6 "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood
be shed: for in the image of God made he man."
Man is a special creation of God, and made in God's image and He
will not allow the murder of mankind.
Genesis 9:7 "And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth
abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein." Genesis 9:8 "And God
spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying," Genesis 9:9 "And
I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after
you;" Genesis 9:10 "And with every living creature that [is] with you,
of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you;
from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth." Genesis
9:11 "And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all
flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall
there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."
We see, here, that God had reconciled Himself to man. God Himself,
established the covenant. Covenant was translated from the word
"beright". It means (in the sense of cutting) compact (made by passing
between pieces of flesh), or it could mean confederacy or league. Many
serious covenants were made by killing an animal and passing between
the two halves of the animal. At any rate, we know that this promise of
God to mankind was a very serious promise. It, probably, was sealed by
blood.
Genesis 9:12 "And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant
which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is]
with you, for perpetual generations;"
Notice here, that just like salvation, this covenant of God was
made by Him alone. Mankind has nothing to offer God as surety.
Salvation is a free gift, we have nothing good enough to trade for it.
Please also note, that this covenant was not just for Noah and his
sons, but for all of us, as well. this word that is translated
perpetual could mean a number of things. "Olam" means: Vanishing
point, time out of mind, always, eternity, or without end. You see,
this promise is still good today.
Genesis 9:13 "I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a
token of a covenant between me and the earth." Genesis 9:14 "And it
shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow
shall be seen in the cloud:" Genesis 9:15 "And I will remember my
covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of
all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all
flesh." Genesis 9:16 "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will
look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God
and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth."
Genesis 9:17 "And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the
covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is]
upon the earth."
We need to realize in all of his that the rainbow has twofold
message in it. When we look at the rainbow, we are assured that God
will not destroy the earth and all in it again by a flood. The other
promise and the covenant He made with mankind through Noah. Sometimes,
I am sure, God despairs of mankind and their evil ways. God cannot,
and will not lie. His covenant with man is good even now.
Genesis 9:18 "And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark,
were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham [is] the father of Canaan."
The word "Canaan" means humiliated. This Canaan, here mentioned, was
not a country, it is a man's name.
Genesis 9:19 "These [are] the three sons of Noah: and of them was
the whole earth overspread."
The word translated earth here, is a very versatile word. It
could mean a country, a nation, or, in fact, the entire world. If you
believe the translation means the entire world, then you must,also,
believe that there were no other living beings except Noah and his
family, and that all the nationalities of the world sprang from these
few of Noah's family. Because of the words "whole earth", I believe
the above means the entire earth (the whole globe).
Genesis 9:20 "And Noah began [to be] an husbandman, and he
planted a vineyard:"
The indication of the word "husbandman" is that Noah took on the
responsibility of his family, and began to cultivate the earth. His
mistake was in growing grapes to make wine. These next few verses we
are about to study, just prove that even though a person has walked
with God and pleased God in the past, he still can fall back into sin,
if he gets careless in his fellowship with God.
Genesis 9:21 "And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he
was uncovered within his tent."
When a person drinks enough to get drunk, he is not aware of
things like being covered up. Drunkenness brings on a lapse of your
will. Nothing good can come from this type behavior.
Genesis 9:22 "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of
his father, and told his two brethren without." Genesis 9:23 "And Shem
and Japheth took a garment, and laid [it] upon both their shoulders,
and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and
their faces [were] backward, and they saw not their father's
nakedness."
There are several things we need to notice here. Canaan was born
before Ham sinned. By revealing his father's nakedness, Ham did the
very opposite of honoring his father. He really was making fun of his
father in his drunken condition. Yet Shem and Japheth acted with respect.
I believe moral character gets involved here. Ham had poor morals.
We have discussed the names of these sons in a previous lesson.
We learn through this incident, the three types of people will
spring from these three sons, (the Negroid, Caucasian, and Oriental).
Genesis 9:24 "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his
younger son had done unto him."
There is an awakening always. What sorrow was brought on this
family through this one act!
Genesis 9:25 "And he said, Cursed [be] Canaan; a servant of
servants shall he be unto his brethren." Genesis 9:26 "And he said,
Blessed [be] the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."
Genesis 9:27 "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the
tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."
Here, we see the contrast of blessing for respect of the father,
through Shem and Japheth, and cursing for disrespect of the father
through descendents of Ham. Notice the blessing in V-26, "Blessed be
the LORD God of Shem". You see, it is the God of Shem who was blessed.
Genesis 9:28 "And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and
fifty years." Genesis 9:29 "And all the days of Noah were nine hundred
and fifty years: and he died."
After the flood, men lived fewer years. For the next lesson, read
chapter 10.
Notes
Questions 17
1. In V-1, God told Noah and his sons to do what two things?
2. Into whose hands were the animals delivered?
3. What did V-2 tell us about man evolving as a monkey?
4. What shall be meat for mankind?
5. In Genesis 9 and in 1 Timothy 4, it speaks against being what?
6. In Luke, what did Jesus tell the parents to give the little girl?
7. In V-4, what did the word that was translated flesh mean?
8. Was this a contradiction?
9. What will God require for the life of a man?
10. Why?
11. Who did God covenant with?
12. For how long?
13. What does the rainbow tell us?
14. For whom is the rainbow shown? Name two.
15. Who was the father of Canaan?
16. What does Canaan mean?
17. By whom was the whole earth overspread?
18. What did husbandman indicate here?
19. Is it possible to fall back into sin after salvation?
20. What happened to Noah, when he got drunk?
21. Which of the three sons did not show respect to Noah?
22. What happened to him?
23. What are the three basic types of people in the world?
24. How many years after the flood did Noah live?
25. How old was he, when he died?
Notes
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