Noah's Clay Feet
Genesis 9:18-29
Noah’s Descendants
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. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
God wipes the slate clean with The Flood and starts over with Noah.
Unfortunately, Noah’s potential for sin wasn’t wiped clean, and after he begins to rebuild civilization, he foolishly gets drunk and lies “uncovered” in his tent. Seeing his father in that state, Noah’s son Ham does something shameful to him. At the very least, he doesn’t respect his father and tells his brothers about his father’s foolishness; at the most, there could be some kind of incestuous activity involving Ham and Noah’s wife.
Either way, the man who was supposed to be the hope for humanity clearly isn’t, and neither is his family.
Did God make a mistake? No.
Genesis 1-11 is teaching us that there is no simple fix for humanity. Even the good ones among us are susceptible to sin and foolishness.
God will have to fix humanity another way....
P.S. Genesis Part 2 begins one week from today! Want a Daily Reading Guide? Pick one up at Asbury.
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