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Demonstrate A Fully Obedient Faith
Develop a Mature Faith
Understanding God’s Purpose For the Family
Genesis 9:2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand.
Genesis 9:3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. :4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. :5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. :6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man. :7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth And multiply in it.”
God deems it appropriate now to sanction the eating of meat as well as the green herb. Prior to this time, God had said that every herb bearing seed … and every tree … to you it shall be for meat (1:29). Although the sinful race undoubtedly violated this prescription many times, it was not until this period of new beginnings that God actually sanctioned the eating of meat.
The Mosaic covenant further imposed limitations on the meats that Israel could eat, but those limitations were lifted by God Himself for the Christian (Acts 10:11–16; 1 Tim 4:3–5). The only restriction given here was that man should not eat of the blood of the animal.
Verses 5 and 6 record the initiation of the second divinely established institution. In 2:24 the institution of the family was established; here the institution of civil government is established.
Later, God would establish His church. God has invested in mankind the right to govern itself; it is one of our inalienable rights.
Those who are set in authority over us are to be a terror to evil works (Rom 13:3); and those who disobey the God-ordained powers of human government are liable for punishment because “… the minister of God … bears not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that does evil” (Rom 13:4).
One of the statutes of the government “… sword …” that is not borne in vain is found in 9:6. Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed. Do you feel that this is still valid today?
“Homicide demands a punishment that matches the crime. The justification for capital punishment, here established, is the nobility of human life, which is made in the image of God” (Ryrie, p. 19).
It is not instituted primarily as a deterrent for crime, but as a strong reminder of the uniqueness of man, created in the image of God.
For the fourth time, God commands to man in general, be fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply. Should we still uphold this today? Why or why not?
Genesis 9:8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: :9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, Genesis 9:10 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.
What does covenant mean to you?
Genesis 9:11 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 9:12 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: :13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Genesis 9:14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow 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; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
What are your thoughts about this sign?
Genesis 9:16 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.” :17 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 9:18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. :19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
Genesis 9:20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. :21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
This is the first mention of wine in the Bible; but it was not the first occasion of drinking (Mt 24:38), so Noah must have known the effects of drinking. What can we learn from this?
Genesis 9:22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
Genesis 9:23 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 9:24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. :25 Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”
When he awoke, Noah pronounced a curse on Canaan. The question arises, “Why did the curse fall on Canaan instead of Ham?” One possible explanation is that the evil tendency which was manifested in Ham was even more pronounced in Canaan.
The curse was thus a prophecy of his immoral conduct and its fitting punishment.
Another explanation is that Canaan himself committed some vulgar act against his grandfather, and that Noah later became aware of it. Noah knew what his younger son had done to him.
It may be that verse 24 refers to Canaan as Noah’s youngest grandson, rather than to Ham as his younger son. In the Bible, “son” often means “grandson” or other descendant. In this event, Canaan was not cursed for his father’s sin, but for his own.
Yet another possibility is that God’s grace allowed Noah to curse only a small segment of Ham’s descendants and not a possible third of the human race.
Genesis 9:26 And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. :27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.” :28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. :29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.
Canaan was cursed to serve Shem and Japheth. The Canaanites’ servitude to the Israelites may be seen in Joshua 9:23 and Judges 1:28. This passage has been used to suggest the slavery of the black people, but there is absolutely no support for this view.
Canaan was the ancestor of the Canaanites, who dwelt in the Holy Land before Israel arrived. There is no evidence that they were black people.
Shem and Japheth were blessed with dominion. Verse 27 may suggest Japheth’s sharing in spiritual blessings through Shem’s descendants, the Israelites.
There is a dispute as to whether Shem or Japheth was the oldest son of Noah. Chapter 10:21 may read “Shem the brother of Japheth the elder” or “Shem … the older brother of Japheth” (NKJV marg.). The latter is the preferred reading. Shem appears first in the genealogies of Genesis 5:32 and 1 Chronicles 1:4.
Macdonald, Farstad Grady Scott, Hindson, E. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006).
