Today’s passage: Genesis 9:18-29
Helpful thoughts:
- Everyone on the face of the earth today is descended from Shem, Ham or Japheth.
- God had shown favor (Grace) to Noah. But, Noah was not without sin! The flood waters of God’s judgment have abated, but sin is still in the world.
- Noah’s sin was compounded by Ham’s sinful response. Ham took advantage of Noah’s sin and dishonored his father. Shem and Japheth covered their father’s sin and in so doing, honored their father.
- The curse of Canaan foreshadows the later conquest of the land of Canaan by the Israelite people. This curse has nothing to do with African people as some have wrongly deduced and manipulated for despicable reasons in the past (The slave trade).
Questions to consider:
- Having read Noah’s blessing and cursing in today’s passage, whose line should we expect to be reading about going forward in Genesis (11:10, 26)? Is this true because Noah said it? Do people’s statements of blessing or cursing always come true? Why is this statement contained in God’s Word?
- What can we learn from Shem and Japheth’s actions? Why was what they did right, even though their father had sinned? (Exodus 20:12) What should have been Noah’s response when we came to his senses concerning his own sin? What should his son’s kindness have caused him to never want to do again?
- Knowing there is still sin in the world, what did Noah, his sons, all their wives, and what do the rest of us need? Where can we find rescue from our sin (1 Peter 2:24)?