Gen 9.1-

Genesis • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Genesis 9:1–2 ESV

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered.

When God created humans in chapter one, He gave them this same commission. There are a few small differences. The world had changed, and so, some of the details had changed…

To the humans in the creation account, he said:

Genesis 1:28 ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

The first part is the same.

Be fruitful..

Multiply...

Fill the earth…

Get out there and do something… grow crops, raise stocks, make things… be fruitful.

And while you are at it… have children.

And while you are doing things… and while you are having children… expand your borders.

Spread out… find and settle new lands.

But to the first humans… God also said… “subdue the earth” - which means, - bring it under your control. Make it, your servant. - Don’t let it rule you and dominate you… it is here for you to use… and you need to find what is useful in it.

Noah and his sons are not told to subdue the earth.

Maybe… it’s because, the earth just subdued all of humanity, under the direction of God…

Maybe… that original command was given before the fall of Genesis 3… before the ground was cursed with thorns… before Adam disobeyed.

Maybe, the pre-fall state of the earth, was something that was easily subdued. Human could benefit from it without destroying it along way...

Maybe, in the pre-fall earth… valuable elements could be harvested without mining… herds could be raised without over grazing, crops could be grown without depleting the soil, and civilizations could expand without destroying the natural elements.

Whatever the case, Noah and his sons are not given this commission.

Why?

I think its because… things have changed.

Things have changed in the animal kingdom… so it would be easy to assume that things were changing in other parts of the natural world.

The first created humans were to have dominion over the animals. Adam was given the job of naming all the animals. It might be, that early on, animals as a whole were comfortable around humans… maybe they were even accommodating to humans.. - I only say this, because today’s passage seems to set a contrast.

Noah and his sons are not told to have dominion over the animals…

Instead.. - the animals are now fearful… and filled with dread concerning the humans.

Not only that, but now… that animals are available to them as food.

Where as before, the green plants were available for food… now, post flood, God gives humans the animals also.

Genesis 9:3–6 ESV

3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image.

The law will distinguish what animals were considered food, that is… clean, and what animals are not considered food, that is, unclean. But, even before the law is written out, we can easily conclude that Noah already know what animals were clean, and what animals were not. The instructions concerning clean and unclean animals were understood and obeyed..

When Noah exited the ark… he made offerings to the Lord, from the clean animals.

The laws about clean, unclean, sacrifices and offerings had not been written yet… - but somehow, the people know it.

In vs. 4… they are told to not eat the blood.

God was going to teach a lesson… starting with this instruction, carrying on through the sacrifice system, and concluding at the cross of Jesus.

The blood had special significance.

The blood, is where the life is… and man was not allowed to consume the life of an animal.

Vs. 5 talks about a reckoning. If life is taken in a way that it shouldn’t be taken… - if an animal takes the life, or if a human takes the life… God requires a reckoning. They are taking something that God claims fully as being His. He gives life. He owns life.

If an animal is slaughtered for food… the blood is not for man to consume. It’s not his.

If a human or an animal kills a human… God requires payment… an eye for an eye… - Again, these principles won’t be written out in the law for quite some time… - but here, the principle is laid out for Noah and his sons.

Human life is precious. Why?

I see two reasons in this passage.

One: Human life, is sustained by the blood. God claims ownership of the blood. God claims responsibility for the life that is in the blood.

Two: Man was created in God’s image. Which means, man is intended to be a reflection of what God is… If you kill something that reflects, or represents God… then God takes offense. The word ‘image’ is the same idea as ‘idol’.

Idols are the false god’s attempt to imitate what God has intended for Humans. Human that live obediently for God.. are to bear God’s image with purpose. When the world observes the life of a believer… they should see something that speaks of God.

When the false gods seek worship… well, they don’t have anything that is created in their image… so they commission the making of an image. That image then becomes a touchpoint between them, and the people who worship them.

Even amongst idolators… no one believes the idol is a god… they believe it to be a representation in which the god will dwell, so that the god can receive their worship.

story of temple in india shut down because idol left… they blamed the praying church.

Noah and his sons were starting over… As they went forward, being fruitful and multiplying in the earth… they needed to go knowing the value of life.

Genesis 9:7–17 ESV

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” 8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

Verse 7 is like a bookend…

They were told to be fruitful and to multiply.

They were told of the value of life

Then, again, they were told to be fruitful and to multiply.

Now, stop and think… what were these guys thinking about? What questions were forming in their minds? What is the contextual backdrop of this situation, as God spoke to them about life and the multiplication of life.

Surely, they were being reminded… that God was starting fresh with them.

Why? Because humanity became irrevocably wicked...

Humanity as a whole, had gone astray...

So now, as God gives this new commission… it probably sets a contrast to the ways of the world before the flood.

Before the flood… they might have been multiplying in a physical sense… but they obviously weren’t being fruitful. They weren’t doing things… or making things that honored God.

Before the flood… they must not have truly understood the value of life. Even in the world we live in now… different cultures… different civilizations… they don’t always value life. Our culture doesn’t value the life of the unborn. Many cultures don’t value the lives of children. Some cultures don’t value the lives of women. Some cultures don’t value the lives of people who worship different gods than them. In some places, they don’t value the lives of people born in a lower caste than them…

When things go bad… the value of life is lost.

But God was starting over with Noah and his sons… and they would go forward, fully understanding the value of life.

In vss 8-17, God speaks of this covenant and this sign three different ways. In verse 9… I says that He is going to establish the covenant… in vs. 11, He says he is establishing the covenant… and in vs. 17 He says… He has established the covenant.

I’m going to do it.

I’m doing it.

I have done it.

He took them through the process… and hopefully, He assured them that the horror they went through over the previous year… and the years of building the ark before that… wouldn’t have to be repeated.

Now, before the flood, many believe… weather worked differently. It was a constant climate… and it probably didn’t rain. The Bible doesn’t mention rain happening, until the flood. - So now, they were going to have seasons, as was already mentioned… and now, it was also going to rain.

So when they saw the clouds gather in the near future… they would be inclined to associate it with the flood.

“The last time it rained, it flooded the entire earth… and now it’s raining again, and we don’t have animals on the ark right now… “

If rain destroyed the earth… these people would not be too keen, on raid going forward.

But God makes a promise.

He won’t flood the earth again…

And he lets them know… when you look up in the clouds and see a rainbow… that’s there to remind me… that’s there for me to see… That’s there, so you know, that I’m being reminded… not to flood the earth again.

Now, when we see this language in the Bible… Where, God remembered something… or, God was reminded of something… we might think that God is forgetful.

But this would be an impossible thing… for God is omniscient… He knows every thing. It’s impossible for Him to forget.

But He also knows that people need assurance.

So when they would look up in the clouds… fearful that the earth might be wiped out again… they would see a rainbow… And they would remember God’s promise… and they would be assured, that God is also looking at the rainbow.

Genesis 9:18–28 ESV

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. 20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” 26 He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.” 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years.

You could read for hours on these 10 verses.

Historically, there are detailed parallels drawn between the fall of Adam and the fall of Noah.... shame, realizing nakedness, covering the nakedness, pronouncing curses… - the parallels are quite elaborate, and totally NOT compelling.

they feel like a stretch when you read them… like, they just don’t really connect with one another.

Also, you could read for hours as scholars put forth theories about what the actual crime of Ham was.

But… we do not know what happened here. We only truly see the outcome of it.

Ham saw the nakedness and did not cover his father.

Japheth and Shem were told of the nakedness, and they did cover their father.

When Noah awoke, somebody told him what happened… and he was very displeased..

the outcome of this was prophetic in nature.

First off… I think these are the only recorded words of Noah…

And what is he speaking? Prophetic curses… and prophetic blessings..

In doing so, he names the 4th son of Ham… Canaan.

maybe Canaan was already born at this time, or maybe Noah was merely speaking prophetically. Later in Deuteronomy 32… where the details behind Babel are explained… God says that He is choosing Jacob as His inheritance. But… Jacob didn’t exist… in fact, God had not even called Abraham yet.

So, sometimes we see this kind of prophetic nature in the scriptures… where a future descendant is named in a prophetic sense.

In this case… Ham’s 4th son is named… and that 4th son is to be a servant to Shem and to Japheth.

Ham’s other sons go on to settle Ethiopia, Egypt and Lybia.. His grandson Nimrod would establish the Babylonian Kingdom…

In many ways… specifically through Egypt, Babylon and Canaan… there was going to be ongoing trouble for Israel. These nations would be a source of ongoing conflict for them… and interestingly… the nations that were prophesied to be their servants… ended up being some of the nations that enslaved them.

From here, going into chapter 10… we get the table of nations…

The nations are listed in the order of Japheth, Ham, and then Shem…

When the names are listed in scripture… they are generally in the order of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Most believe Japheth to be the oldest, Shem the middle son, and Ham the youngest.

In terms of genealogical significance… Shem is the one through whom Abraham would be born… and ultimately.. Jacob, David… and finally, Jesus.

But the order in chapter 10 is more geographical… they are listed, in the order … from East to West, as to where in the known world they would settle.

-This becomes significant as we look forward…

-In the next chapter… the nations would confused and divided by languages… when we look, next week, behind the scenes, and see what this division is all about…

… it will speak volumes to the events that are recorded in Acts 2.

We are not going to get into any of that this week… but we definitely will next week. Read ahead… - Genesis 11 and Deuteronomy 32 speak of the same event… we will be looking at both passages next week… and see how the rebellion of Genesis 11 builds upon the rebellion of Genesis 3… and makes the work that Jesus is going to do to redeem mankind, so much more significant.