Genesis: The Fall and the Fallout of the Faithful

Well, January 6th,

something always interesting happens on January 6th, I've noticed. But January 6 this year, uh, news came out that well-known Christian author Philip Yansy, who had written over 25 books, sold over 20 million copies of those books. He admitted to having an 8-year affair with a woman other than his wife. Yansancy who's 76 years old and has been writing for Christian publication since 1971 uh confessed to the Lord his affair then confessed to his wife of more than 55 years and then confessed by writing a piece in Christianity today which had a long he had a long track record with Christianity today and so he wrote a confession in Christianity today and the fallout has been immense as you can imagine particularly of course with his immediate family but then also professionally he retired from speaking retired from writing retired from anything that would involve himself in Christian ministry and though I wasn't really a Yansy guy um kind of of an older generation for me Uh the news of his fall and the fallout was surprising and disappointing to say the least. Now thankfully for Yansy and for us if we confess our sins as John says in first 1 John 1:9, if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and he will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. So there is forgiveness. Of course there is. So, the Lord is in the forgiveness business. But again, the news of his fall was surprising and disappointing. And yet, we shouldn't be all that shocked by it. As humans, we shouldn't be all that shocked by it because every single one of us is susceptible to temptations, are we not? every single one of us to being overcome by sinful desire and engaging in attitudes and actions that betray our confession of faith. We're all prone, well, as the old hymn says, we're all prone, our hearts are prone to wander. We're prone to falling into sin. And the fallout of that can have lasting consequences. And we can probably all think of similar situations in our lives. And in Genesis chapter 9, you can go ahead and turn there. In Genesis chapter 9, Genesis, if you're new to the scriptures, the very first book of the Bible, um, in Genesis 9, what we're going to see is we're going to see Noah, who is a man of faith. In fact, we're told in Genesis chapter 6 that Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation and that he walked with God. And you think about his story that we've been looking at over the last couple of weeks. And when the Lord called Noah to build the ark and endure the voyage, Noah demonstrated great obedience. We're told that he did all that God commanded him, completely faithful. And when you read about it, you're quite impressed. He is quite impressive. And so you think, surely after the voyage and after stepping off the ark to a purified creation, this man's life would be something to see. And it was just not in the way that you would have hoped. The great man of faith falls into sin and the fallout to it and his son's responses to it have lasting ramifications for you and I. So, Genesis chapter 9 is where we're going to be this morning. And I'll tell you this is um we'll read it here in a second. and it is one of the most curious passages in the book of Genesis. Um, a lot of times I have noticed people will just kind of skip over it because it's not that flattering to Noah. Uh, in fact, it's quite embarrassing to Noah. So, let's read it. Uh, Genesis chapter 9, beginning in verse 18, and we'll read through verse 29. Here's how it's recorded. The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed. Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, now note, that's the second time that's mentioned. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japth 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. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan. A servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem and let Canaan be his servant. After the flood, Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah Noah were 950 years and he died. This is God's word. Okay. Now, let's be honest. This is a pretty strange, somewhat disturbing PG13 story right here in the middle of the Bible. Why is this story in here? Did anybody read ahead this week? Raise your hand if you did. We got a couple. Good. When you read it this week, were you thinking to yourself, why in the world is this story placed in the text? Well, if you look at chapter 10, we read of these generations of Noah. Right at the beginning of chapter 10, it starts, these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and and Jacob. So, and then it starts with a a genealogy. So, there's something in this account that leads to what takes place in the generations that follow Noah. And you got to remember, so this is why it's important to do whole books of the Bible. Uh, you got to remember the promise of Genesis 3:15 that one from Eve's line would come and would crush the seed of the serpent. And so what the author is doing, he's tracing that line to see how that promise comes about. So what do we see here? Well, there's a couple of things. First, we see the fall of the faithful. And of course, that's Noah. Now again, you you got to put it in its context because the bib biblical picture of Noah and his family up to this point is amazing. It's respplendant. Noah and his family up to this point and Noah particularly is it's a stunning portrait of him. He's standing in the sunlight of the new world as the arks animal life emerges. And it represents a new beginning with magnificent Noah as the human centerpiece almost like a new Adam. And he leads his family in worship of the Lord. And the Lord blesses Noah and his sons. and he establishes his covenant with Noah and his offspring. So the picture that we have of Noah is pristine.

But then really quickly, it goes from pristine to passed out drunk. That's not how you That's not a good look. That's never a good look. But especially if you're over 600 years old, it's really not a good look to be passed out drunk and naked. That is not good. And some commentators, especially older ones, they've tried to say that Noah didn't really s Noah didn't really sin here. One commentator said this. He says, "His failing was not due to inmperence, but inexperience.

Oh, sure. In inexperience. So, it seems older commentators uh they wanted to always present Noah in the best possible light. But that doesn't actually hold up when you consider it. Kent Hughes in his commentary. He says this regarding Noah. He says he was a seasoned man of the soil over 600 years old and he knew what wine could do. He was no helpless victim. He passed out because his drinking had gotten out of control. Noah had wrought his own degradation. And the Hebrew word that for lay uncovered is reflexive, which emphasizes that he uncovered himself. So he was so drunk that he stripped himself naked and passed out.

I wish I knew a good rural town around here. I'd make a joke about it right now. Um, this is like what you would read about something in Oklahoma. Um, just passed out drunk. By the way, have you ever noticed that drunkenness and nakedness tend to go together? Yeah. Yeah, you can say yes. That's typically how it goes to they they typically go together. Drunkenness and nakedness typically goes together. And by getting drunk and uncovering himself, what Noah does is he covers himself in shame. Now the deal here is wine's not the problem. It's wine in itself is not the problem because wine is the symbol in in the Bible. Wine's a symbol of the messianic age. So the wine itself isn't the problem which is by the by the way the reason why Jesus's very first miracle is turning water into wine. He's symboliz he's saying oh no the messianic age is here and I'm the messiah. So wine in itself is not the problem. Um if it's not the problem then what is it? It's the abuse of it. But this passage, it's instructive for you and me because it teaches us at least this. Past godliness doesn't guarantee you future godliness. It at least teaches you that. Past godliness doesn't guarantee future godliness. You and I do not build up an immunity towards sin. Neither age nor maturity provide protection against temptation

and we think it ought to. And yet it doesn't. We tend to think, well, when I'm a little bit older, I won't be tempted in this way, so I don't need to do anything about it now. And that's a lie. That's a straight lie. Um, do I Yeah, I did. Marcus Dodd wrote this. He says, "Noah is not the only man who has walked uprightly and kept his garment unspotted from the world so long as the eye of man was on him, but who has lain uncovered on his own tenth floor." Past godliness does not guarantee future godliness. And notice he didn't fall he didn't fall into sin during the moment of of his greatest temptation. He didn't fall into sin when everybody was ridiculing him. He fell into sin after the conflict with the world seemed to be over. Again, this is instructive for us. Noah, he built the ark by faith. All those years, all those decades, maybe a hundred years, when the world was watching on, mocking him. Hey Noah, what you doing with that boat? Hey Noah, where's the water? Hey Noah, are you out of your mind? And he did just as the Lord commanded him. And he sailed through the storm of God's wrath and judgment. He proved himself to be a man of integrity, the man of integrity in all the earth. But mark it very well. Satan may go hardest after you in your moment of rest, after the time of triumph, in the season after the storm, when you think to yourself, I can coast now. I've made it. We've arrived. I've passed the test. Is there another biblical character that did something similar? Yeah. You think of David in 2 Samuel chapter 11. When David had defeated his enemies, when he has consolidated the kingdom, when he let his guard down, he looks out and he sees Ba Sheba bathing and he falls in lust and he goes and he takes her and he uses his power to sleep with her. But it was after all his battles had been done. It had after he had consolidated the kingdom. It was in a season of relaxation, which means we have to stay on our guard. We have to stay alert. The reality is we don't outgrow temptation. We don't outgrow temptation. Which is why we're told in 1 Peter chapter 5, be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. which means all of us need to take note. Every single one of us, no matter your age, um we need to know our own propensity towards sin and we need to live in constant dependence upon the Lord. I mean, that's so clear out of this passage. And again, think about it because here's Noah who was a righteous man. He was a blameless man. He was the most righteous man on the face of the earth at that time. And he still fell into sin.

And just like Adam and Eve who uh took the fruit of the forbidden tree and ate and they were found naked, so Noah plants a vineyard. He takes of the fruit of the vine and he's found naked in his drunkenness. And then he's seen as we saw he's seen by his son Ham. And again, it means the sin nature is there for Noah even on a purified earth. The sin nature is still deep within Noah and he needs the Lord's grace just as much as every one of us. Now the second thing we see is we see the fallout from Noah and what we see is uh both a curse and a blessing. There's a curse attached and then a blessing attached. And really this is the main point of the text. This is by far for the original audience. This is the main point of the text. Remember how I told you earlier that the author is tracing the seed of the woman? So, Eve's greater son who will defeat Satan. He the author is tracing how is that going to come about? And it comes about through the response of Noah's sons and the curse and the blessings that are attached to it. And so, first we read of Ham's sin. We're told, look at verse 22 again. We're told, "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and he told his two brothers." He He told his two brothers outside. So when Noah woke up, he realizes what Ham's done. And we don't know how he knew, but presumably because Shem and Japith told him about it. But Ham did something. Well, what exactly did he do? Um, it's interesting if you read anything on the topic. Um, there's kind of wild speculation by commentators. Some Jewish rabbis have said that um, Ham castrated Noah. Now, I don't care how drunk you are. If you're being castrated, I'm pretty sure you're going to wake up. So, that doesn't really hold up. At least in my mind. I I read that and I thought, really, how drunk do you think this dude was? um that didn't really I I don't want that that I'm I don't think that one holds up. Others have speculated that it was an act of sodomy. Others have speculated that Ham, knowing that his father was drunk, um had slept with Noah's wife, Ham's mother. But none of those, I mean, you think about it, none of those actually seem to fit the context of what happens next. Because whatever Ham did, it must be seen as the opposite of what Shem and Japith actually do. Because what they do is seen as the remedy for what Ham didn't do. And look how detailed verse 23 is. Look at it again. We're told, "Then Shem and Japth, they took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders, and they walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness." So Ham's sin seems to be not that he caught an accidental glance of his father naked but that he by his actions further uncovered his father by ridiculing him and by exposing his folly to his brothers. Uh remember um this is an honor and shame society. This is a traditional culture. It's an honor and shame society. And so he did not honor his father. He further shamed his father. Remember the fifth commandment is to honor your father and mother. And so Ham's sin is that he completely dishonored his father. That's his sin. Completely dishonor. In an honor and shame society, the worst thing you could do was to shame somebody. Do you guys remember the movie Mulan? Do you guys remember that? It's one of the great Disney movies of all time. I tell you a movie every week. I I realize that. Um, this is one you should watch, especially the older one, the animated one. Mulan, she brings dishonor on her father. And that's the worst thing that you could do. And that's what Ham does. He dishonors his father. And he he he uncovers further Noah's sin by going out and ridiculing him. by going out and talking about it, by going out. I mean, this was like one of the first instances of cancel culture. He goes out and he just ridicules him. By the way, in a culture such as ours, a cancel culture, one of the most one of the best and most loving things a Christian can do is to honor someone's personhood and their dignity, even while acknowledging they've messed up. You can do both of those things at the same time. When somebody has messed up, and you know it, and they know it, you can still honor them as a person. You can still honor the image of God within them. You can still treat them with dignity while acknowledging they've messed up. You can certainly do that. You can still say, you know, God's image, yes, you've messed up. Yeah, you've committed a pretty stupid sin here, but that doesn't mean the image of God isn't within you. I may not condone your sin, but God is still present within you, and you're going to move forward from this. And Ham didn't do that. um he completely dishonored his father. But that's exactly the honoring of his father is exactly what Shem and Japth did. They honored their father. They completely honored their father. And truly, as the scripture says, love covers a multitude of sins. And that's what they do for Noah. And when Noah wakes up, he sees that he's covered. And he must have asked, "Well, how did this happen?" and Shem and Japth would have told him. And from there, surprisingly, Noah begins to speak. And I don't know if you've noticed as we've been working our way from Genesis chapter 6 through Genesis, almost to the end of uh Genesis 9 now, Noah has not spoken once yet in scriptures. There hasn't been one recorded thing of Noah's speech. His words aren't recorded when the Lord tells him about the oncoming judgment against humanity through the flood. His words aren't recorded when he's in the ark releasing the dove and it comes back to him with a freshly plucked olive leaf. His his words aren't recorded when the Lord establishes the covenant with him. These are the only recorded words of Noah in the scriptures. And if you're a person in the original audience, that is hugely significant. The very first time a person speaks and what they say is hugely significant. Uh and so these are the only words. And what he does is he curses Ham's son Canaan. And then he blesses Shem and Japth. And this in effect is Noah's last will in testament because he dies and we're we're told of his death in verse 29. So first what we're told about is the curse of Canaan. Look at verse 24. We read in verse 24 and 25. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew that his youngest son had and what his youngest son had done to him, he said, "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." Now, note where the where the curse fell. It wasn't on him. Well, why wasn't on him? Well, probably first and foremost because God's already blessed Ham. So, it doesn't fall on Ham, but it it falls on the youngest of Ham's four sons, Canaan. Why did the curse fall on Canaan? Here's the reason. Probably the reason why is because Noah probably started to already detect in Canaan the evil traits that he had seen in him. He looks at uh Canaan's life and the trajectory of his life and he says this one resembles Ham. The wickedness of Ham I'm already starting to see in Canaan which means the apple didn't fall far far from the tree so to speak. And by the way, you'll see the same thing when you get into Genesis chapter 49 when Jacob is with the 12 his 12 sons. He looks at his 12 sons and he says based upon your character now he gives insight. He prophesizes what their future is going to be like. And that's that's what Noah does here. He looks at Canaan and he discerns the same evil traits as Ham and he curses them. Now, let me ask you this question. Well, let me ask you one question before I ask you that question. Are you still with me so far? Because I know this is sometimes confusing. We're talking about ancients. So, here's the question. Why would this be important to the original readers of Genesis? Why would this moment right here, Noah's first words that are recorded, why would this be important to to the original readers of Genesis? Well, you got to remember this was written to Israel after they've been rescued by God out of Egypt and they're being sent into the promised land into the land of Canaan, the land of the Canaanites. They're being sent in at a point when the Canaanites, where the wicked of the Canaanites had reached its full measure. God had waited 400 years for this. And the Canaanites, they're characterized by the grossest kind of immorality, the grossest kind of wickedness, the grossest kind of sexual immorality. They're killing their children. They're involved in all sorts of false worship. They're murderous people, desperately wicked people. And when the children of Israel when they would have read this, when they would have read this passage, they would have immediately made a connection. Canaan is just like his father Ham. They would have made the connection between the wickedness of Ham and the curse on Canaan and the Canaanites that they were commanded, the land of Canaan, that they were commanded to go in and vanquish them from the land and take the land. They would have looked at this and they would have said, "This makes complete sense. The Canaanites are completely wicked." And it's from Noah's oracle that we see it. It all it all starts to come together right here. Now, let me say one more thing. I'm running out of time. Um, let me say one more thing here. Um, and I got to be careful how I say this. There is no exogetical or theological basis for a racist interpretation of this passage. Absolutely none. And the reason I mention that is because this passage has been so deeply misunderstood and misused. It's been used as a tool for racism and for slavery. One scholar writes this. He says, "The employment of this curse to justify the enslavement of black Africans was a was apparently first made by Muslims as they began trafficking in black slaves in the 8th century AD." So it goes back at least that far. But then Patrick Mel, the fourth president of the Southern Baptist Convention in in around 1850, he says this. He says, "From Ham were descended the nations that occupied the land of Canaan and those that now constitute the African or negro race. Their inheritance according to prophecy has been and will continue to be slavery. So long as we have the Bible, we expect to maintain it." and is also used um by white American clergymen in the south in post civil war to justify the subjugation of black people and to keep them keep them from having uh equal rights in voting and in education. And the basic argument essentially was they alleged that Ham meant black. They said the name Ham means black and Ham's cursed to slavery. And therefore they would say the Bible gives justification for the enslavement in African races. Now listen that ex Jesus is terribly flawed. And the conclusion is erroneous, ridiculous.

If I wasn't in church, I'd use another word right there. It is unbelievably stupid. It's dubious. First of all, because the the name Ham um the idea that the name Ham means black, that's dubious. The only reason they could have ever suggest that is because the name of Ham or the word Ham sounds like something uh of an Egyptian word for black soil or black land, which is really a reference to the land of Egypt rather than the color black. And oh, by the way, the curse isn't on Ham, it's on Canaan. So they completely misread the passage. Now the reason I tell you that um is because first of all it's twisting scripture which denies the image of God in our black brothers and sisters and that is devilish. It's just devilish. But then secondly, I tell you that because if you do if you read any commentaries that are sold, older ones will still give this interpretation. They'll still give this dubious interpretation of the text. Um, and you need to know it's not accurate. It's not based on current or accurate scholarship. And so it's very misleading and it has tragic consequences. The third reason you need to know that is to tell you don't do your theology based on YouTube. Don't do theology based on YouTube. It is terribly misleading. You will not believe how many times um any

how many times per month I get someone who who will send me a link that says check out this this thing on YouTube and it's completely bunk. And this is actually one of the things now. So if you hear that interpretation, you just need to know that's bunk. Throw it out. It denies the image of God in our black brothers and sisters. And it is devilish. But again, the main point here is that Noah curses Canaan, not Ham, but he curses Canaan. And when Israel reads this, as Israel is coming into the promised land, they're coming into the land of Canaan, they're being told by God, you got to uh expel the Canaanites. When Israel reads this, as they're encountering the wickedness of the Canaanites, they know at that moment that God is bringing about Noah's curse on the Canaanites. And Israel needs to walk forward in obedience to the Lord's command. He's they're saying, "No, this is Israel stems not from Canaan, but from Shem." Shem. It gets translated in the Semites. And after cursing Canaan, Noah begins to bless. He begins to bless. Oh, my thing is dead. Let me pull it up. Come on. Here we go. He begins to bless. But look at who Noah blesses. Look at verse 26.

He also said, "Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant." Now look at what Noah does. He uses the covenant name of God and he says, "This is the one whom Shem has as his Lord and God." So the line of blessing, remember we're talking about the line of blessing. So the line of blessing comes not through Ham as he shows himself to be a son of the serpent, but the line of blessing is coming through Shem. Shem's already in a covenant relationship with the Lord. And the way has been paved now for the original audience to see the the way has been paved for Abram through the line of Seth all the way back in Genesis chapter 4 now through Shem to establish a people who are in a covenant relationship with the Lord. But it comes through Shem. But then notice Noah extends the blessing to Japth. Look at verse 27. He says, "May God enlarge Japheth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japth and let him dwell in the tents of Shem." And you get into Genesis or uh Genesis chapter 10. Go ahead and look at it. You see how it's it's the table of nations. And in verses 2 through 4, it indicates, and we'll look at this next week, that Japth's offspring are what we would call Indo-Uropeans who encompass vast territories extending to whole continents. So Noah's wish, his pointing forward, Noah's wish is that Japth dwell in the tents of Shem, which means it involves some sort of blessing of Shem.

Now throughout history there were points. Now in both of these things let Canaan be his servant both to both to Shem and also to Japth. And there throughout history there have been points that the Israelites and the Hemetic people from Egypt and the Indo-Europeans and Asian minor they did subject subjugate the Canaanites. So that part's been fulfilled. But in the Old Testament, there's no substantial evidence in the Old Testament of the Jeffites, the Gentiles living in the tents of the Shemmites to share in their blessings. So was Noah's oracle wrong?

No, because there's actually fulfillment of the promise. There's no evidence of it in the Old Testament, but there's plenty plenty of evidence in the New Testament. And oh, by the way, there's plenty of evidence of it right here. Any of you Jewish, raise your hand if you're Jewish.

Okay, raise your hand if you have um Indo-Uropean blood.

Oh my. You mean Noah's oracle that they would share in the blessings of Shem have actually been fulfilled in you? This is how this whole passage connects to you because Noah's oracle, it foresaw the blessing of Shem and his descendants, the Israelites who would live in a covenant relationship with God. and Noah's words, what they do is they anticipate God's covenant with Abraham in in uh Genesis chapter 12 where the Lord promises to Abraham that through the true seed of Abraham, one of his offspring would bring blessing to all the nations to all people group to all ethnicities. And we know the true seed of Abraham is none other than Jesus Christ. Paul in Galatians chapter uh 3:16 he says the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say and to seeds meaning many people but and to your seed meaning one person who is Christ. So the ultimate blessing it comes from the tents of Shem to the Gentiles through Christ. You see, Jesus Christ is the true seed of Abraham. He's the fulfillment of Noah's promise who brings salvation, brings God's blessing of salvation to anyone and everyone. To anyone and everyone through his life, death, burial, and resurrection. And the moment you repent of your sins and you trust him, the true seed of Abraham, you're grafted into all of the promises of God, and you pass over from death to life. Now, now think about the message of the gospel for a second because all of this is pointing to the gospel. The message of the gospel, the message about Jesus, the message is it doesn't matter what your what your ethnicity is. Doesn't matter what your racial, social, political, or religious background is. You can be forgiven of your sins and grant a new life in Christ Jesus. Amen. That's the promise of the gospel. Again, Paul says, "If you're Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to the promise." And what that means is the gospel knows no boundaries. It goes out into all the world, Ecuador, Russia, Africa, Asia, Latin America, Latin America. It goes to all the children of Ham and Shem and Japth and it goes out with saving power. It goes out with saving power. Your ethnicity doesn't matter. Again, Paul says, "For those who are in Christ here, there is no Greek or or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, cynthian, slave or free, but Christ is all and is in all." Here's what that means. And you look at me and I know most of you already know this, but what it means is the message of the gospel is for you. It's for you regardless of your background. But more than that, the mission of the gospel, there's the message of the gospel, but then there's the mission of Christ, sharing his message that the forgiveness of sins and new life is available in and through Christ. That's entrusted to you. So the message of the gospel is for you. The mission of Christ is entrusted to you. Now look at what that provides you. I mean in all honesty, think about what this actually provides you. It it it's the message of the gospel is the assurance that all of your past sins are forgiven. Your past is completely forgiven, but it provides you deep meaning in the present. Why? because you've been entrusted with the only message that can save humanity. Your past is forgiven. Your present is filled with deep meaning because you've been entrusted, Christian friend. You've been entrusted with the most amazing message that you're to go out and communicate to people from every nation, from every background that they can be forgiven of their sins and they can receive new life in Christ. That's been entrusted to you. So your past has been forgiven. Your present is filled with deep meaning. And your future is unbelievably glorious. Why? because you will gather with people of every tribe and nation and ethnicity and you will spend an enormous amount of time praising the Lord for the salvation that you've received in and through Christ. Look what the gospel gives you. Past forgiven, present has deep meaning. Your future is unbelievably glorious. What I ask this every Sunday. What is there not to like about this message? nothing. Which means you should enter into the life of Christ by repenting of your sins. By trusting that Jesus lived and died for your sins, rose again to grant you new life in his name. You simply trust in the person of Jesus Christ and what he has done. You'll be forgiven and given new life right now. That's amazing.