At the end of chapter 8, Ark has come to rest, and Noah offers a sacrifice to the Lord. God is pleased with Noah and makes a vow that he will never again destroy the world and every living creature because of the sins of men. Now, God is blessing Noah and giving him and his sons the task of repopulating the earth. He tells them to multiply and be fruitful. He also, for the first time, gives authority over the animals & birds. Adam did not have this authority, but now Animals will fear the man. God also, for the first time, gives permission to eat meat. The world climate has changed. There will be harsh conditions such as variation in temperature, rain, storms ETC, and men will need the protein and nutrition for the first time, which he did not need in pre-flood perfect conditions. In verse 4: we see the first mention of Kosher food as we know it now. As we read further, it also gives the penalty for murder. As you can see, ten commandments are not yet given, but punishment for murder is given. It goes on to say once again to multiply and fruitful.
Verse 9 is an important verse where God speaks of his covenant with Noah and, in turn, with us. Those of us who are not descendants of Abraham fall under the Noahic covenant, and of course, if you have accepted Jesus as your savior, then NEW COVENANT. Just a quick word on covenant, there are 8 covenants in the bible, and maybe in the future, we will do a study on all 8 . Noahic covenant is based on three things diet, discipline, and declaration.
Up to this point, God spoke about the responsibilities of man, but now in Verse 9, emphasis is on His promise. For the first time, HE says I will not destroy the world by a universal flood. It is important to remember that His promise is not based on men’s behavior or obedience. It is an unconditional promise that he has kept and will keep until the second coming of Jesus. I assure you that if you ever hear in the news that the world is going to be wiped out because of a tsunami or ocean water rising due to the melting of ice, do not believe it. God has promised he will never destroy the world by water again.
We are all descendants of Noah. Thus far, we have seen reference to “SONS OF NOAH” a few times, but in verses 18, they are identified by name. Although names are usually given in order ” SHEM, HAM, and Japheth,”it is not clear as to what chronological order actually applies. In verse 20, we learn that Noah, a man God called an only righteous man in the world before the flood, is drunk and found by his son Ham. Noah, a man who stood strong for 100 years as he built the ark while people mocked him fell in the time of peace. There is a big lesson for us to learn. Be careful when there is no trial in your life. When things are going well, that might be the time you may fall in your faith. Now Ham saw his father nakedness, and he took delight in him. Maybe he did not agree with his father’s faith, maybe his relationship with his father was not on best terms, maybe like Cain he had rebellious nature, whatever the reason may be, he took delight and told his brothers. His brothers had a totally different attitude. They chose not to look at their father in such state. Instead, they covered him. How many times do we act in the opposite way? when someone comes up to us with Gossip like Ham, we also take delight. Instead, our actions should be like that of Shem & Japheth.
Verse 25-27: With a heavy heart and knowing the heart of his sons, Noah makes the great prophetic declaration in verses 25-27. Please notice the parallel between the prophecy of Genesis 3:15-19 and here in verse 25-27. The Genesis prophecy came as a result of the fall of Adam. This prophecy came as a result of the fall of Noah. Both Adam & Noah were commanded to fill the earth and exercise control over it. Each of them is actually the ancestor of all men. Each sinned by partaking of fruit-Noah of the fruit of the vine and Adam of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. As a result, each became naked and was covered by someone else. Finally, the prophesy resulted in a curse that has affected mankind since then. On the other side, along with the curse, there were blessings and promises of salvation.
Noah’s prophetic words were first directed toward Ham ( his son Canaan), then Shem, then Japheth. Noah Blessed Shem & Japheth but could not bring himself to bless his son Ham, but he also could not bring himself to curse him. Thus, he cursed his oldest son Canaan. The meaning of name HAM literally means “dark or hot,” and most of his descendants settled in the area of Africa. Many have used this portion of scripture to justify slavery for BLACK men, but it is a total misinterpretation of word. Ham was never cursed, but Canaan was, and from him came Canaanites who were destroyed by Jews. Descendants of Shem settled in the Middle East, and from him came the promised seed Jesus. Japheth’s descendants are the Europeans, and they are given the blessing of being the rulers as long as they stay in tents of Shem, meaning they have to worship the God of Shem. For centuries, Europe was involved in paganism and idol worship, but now Christianity has taken hold in Europe, and they took it all over the world. Why is there so much attention given to support for Israel in our nation? you find the reason here in Genesis 9. We are to dwell in tents of Shem. Our strength comes from the same God. The prophecy of Noah has generally come true. Verse 28-29 concludes the chapter and story of Noah. He lived to be 950 yrs old, so the conditions of post-flood did not affect Noah greatly. He lived 350 years after the flood. It is important to remember that Ch 10 did not start after Noah died. Here, it merely concluded his story. If genealogy given in Ch 11 is without gaps, Noah lived until about Abraham was 50 years old. He probably saw Abraham and passed on the family history to his father, Terah.
There are a few points I have not covered in Chapter 9 in the interest of the length of the blog. Here, for the first time, the government is mentioned as well as the idea of capital punishment. Importance of diet as well as why the Hamites are not cursed people and their contribution to the world since the flood. How God has enlarged Japheth’s descendants.
I hope this teaching is a blessing to you as it was to me. The word of Lord is so deep that it is hard to cover it all. Amen.
Not By Might or Power But By the Holy Spirit
only savior jesus 