March 23, 2023
Reading: Genesis 9:17-28
Focus: Genesis 9:18-19 – The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was also the father of Canaan). These were the sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
Father God, Thank You for another day. We praise You for all the blessings you have given us. Open our eyes and minds to what You have to say today. Help us see Jesus in Your word. In Jesus Name. Amen.
NOTES: Click the link below to see the genealogy of Jesus. Please comment. Thank you. https://bringingjesusn2focus.com/notes-genealogy-from-adam-to-jesus-christ/
It is amazing to me that the nearly eight billion people on this earth are descended from three men. Ultimately, we are the descendants of one man, Noah and through him, we are descended from Adam himself. When my son was young, I used to keep the Discovery Channel and the History Channel on for him to watch with me in the evenings. One night the program was on genes and the gene pool. I wasn’t paying much attention to it until the narrator stated that geneticists had discovered that about 5500 to 6000 years ago, the gene pool narrowed drastically to about eight people. I chuckled. My son asked why I was laughing. I said, “Duh! The flood. There were only eight people on the ark.” Of course, that sparked a discussion.
Since that time, I have read about genealogies and tracing a family tree. I even tried to trace the family trees of my husband and myself. I only got to about 1066 A.D. for my family and the mid-13th century for my husband’s family. However, there are Jewish families who can trace their ancestry as far back as the time of Moses. Some, even back to Shem, the son of Noah. They know exactly which son of Israel they descended from. The Levites are the most careful in tracing their ancestry. Because only men with a pure blood line, from the tribe of Levi, and the line of Aaron the first high priest, will be able to serve in the Temple as high priest when the Jewish people are successful in rebuilding it on Temple Mount in Jerusalem. It will happen before the end of time.
Noah and his sons and their families did what God told them to do. They planted seeds for food, they built their homes and the sons had children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren (To see the genealogy chart in Notes, click the link above). They lived off the land that they had settled on after leaving the ark.
Now, Noah had been a farmer before the flood, so now among the other things that he planted, he planted a vineyard. That is not remarkable in itself, but the rest of the scriptures for today include an example of just how human Noah and his family were. Noah made and drank the wine he had made from the vineyard he had planted. And apparently drank way too much and passed out in his tent. His youngest son, Ham, who should have known better to begin with, saw his father drunk, passed out and naked. I don’t know what he told his brothers, but they took a cloth, went in backwards, and covered their father. Obviously embarrassed for him. When Noah came too, he found out what Ham had done and he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham.
I cannot tell you why it was Canaan that was cursed unless it was possibly prophetic. The descendants of Canaan lived in the land that God will promise to Abraham and his descendants. They were a wicked people who worshiped idols and were a thorn the sides of God’s chosen peoples. There are many opinions on why Noah did this. It could be that Canaan saw him and then told his father, Ham. Ham, in turn, looked and ran to his brothers, possibly laughing about their father. At any rate, Noah got drunk and his son saw him at his worst and was disrespectful. What Ham should have done is cover him and kept his mouth shut. The Bible is silent on why Noah uttered the curse against Canaan that he did.
God includes the weaknesses of His people to show us just how truly human they are. The point is, all of us are human and will sin. Moses killed a man, King David committed adultery and conspired to have a man killed, and the apostle Paul persecuted and killed early Christians before his conversion on the road to Damascus. God does not care about your past after you have after you have accepted Jesus Christ. When we accept Jesus, we are a new creation and God cares about your present and your future in Him. As for those past sins, the Bible tells us in Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” In Isaiah 43:25 He says, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for My own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” My favorite part of that verse is “. . . remembers your sins no more.” Whew! That’s a load off my mind. I remember, but God does not. And when we DO sin, we can always go back and ask forgiveness. I also must remind you that forgiveness does not erase the consequences of our sin. Those will still remain. But God will not remember the sins He has forgiven.
God sent the sons of Noah and their wives out into the world to repopulate it. To fill it with more of mankind. Apparently, we have done an excellent job. There are over eight billion human beings on earth and that number is growing by the minute. Not only were they to repopulate the earth, but they were also to instruct their children and their children’s children in the worship of the Living God. They were to continue to worship God as they had before the flood. Sacrifices for the atonement for sin were still required. Some followed the teachings, while others did not.
Jesus sent his disciples out into the world the same manner that God sent the sons of Noah into the world. They were to go into all the earth and make disciples and populate the church; populate heaven with more sons and daughters of God. Today, we, as children of God, are to populate the earth with more followers of Christ and bring them into the family of God. As the early Christians spread across the known world, the church grew daily. It should still be our task to take Christ to the nations. To increase the church daily.
I may never be one that will stand up in front of a crowd to tell them about Jesus. I believe that my part of spreading the Gospel to the nations is here at my computer. Here I can read God’s word and tell you what it speaks to me. I can point out Jesus in the verses and stories of the history of salvation. The words God gives me will go so much farther than I will ever be able to go. I pray for those who will read these words. I pray that they will see God as I do. A loving Father who loved me so much that He sent His Son to take the just punishment for my sin, death. But the most wonderful part of that is that He rose again, with possession of the keys to death and hell. One day, I and all who have believed and accepted Jesus as Savior and Messiah, will be taken from this world to live with Him forever.
Some of us will never fill a pulpit or be a missionary in a foreign country. But there is so much more to spreading the word of Jesus and the salvation His blood offers. Our lives. We must live out lives in such a manner that no one can doubt that you are a Christian. My dad never had a conversation with anyone that didn’t turn into a discussion of Jesus. Daddy spoke what was always at the top of his heart. I got the chance last Sunday to understand why Daddy always talked about Jesus. Standing in line at the grocery store, I struck up a conversation with a young man about the Super Bowl. Our pastor had mentioned that morning that there were two commercials about Jesus during that game. I mentioned it to him. He asked me if I believed it God and I was able to say with absolute certainty, “Yes, I do.” It was a moment that brightened my soul. You may not have the talent to share Jesus with anyone you talk to or be able to share Jesus with others by writing like I do, but you can use what God gives you to spread His word.
Do you share Jesus with others?
Father, I pray that my life will be a witness of You. I want to be Your light on the earth. I know I am not called to preach or be a missionary but I am called to be a witness. Help me show Your light and love to a hurting world. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Food for Thought
- Do you believe that Noah and his family are the only ones to survive the flood?
- Do you think it is possible to prove that a world-wide flood actually occurred? Why or why not?
- What do you think about archeological discoveries of underwater cities or cities buried deep beneath the sands of a desert?
- Does God still send people out to ‘populate’ His church? Why or why not?
- What have you done lately to increase the church?
