In the sermon titled 'Three Very Different Moments,' Jason Dohm explores Genesis 9:18-27, focusing on the Noahic covenant and its implications for humanity. The sermon highlights three key events: Noah's encounter with wine leading to his drunkenness, Ham's dishonor towards his father, and the contrasting respectful actions of Shem and Japheth. Dohm emphasizes the importance of recognizing God's mercy and righteousness, as well as the role of prophecy in Noah's blessings and curses on his sons. The sermon underscores the enduring need for God's grace and the significance of honoring parents, reflecting on how these Biblical events foreshadow future relationships between nations.

The title of the message this morning is three very different moments. We have a history here. It's a historical account. And right at the center of it is three moments that really couldn't be different from each other. Last week we had what theologians call the Noahic covenant, the covenant that God delivered to Noah, but it includes so much more than Noah and his sons.

It actually includes us today. It's a covenant with the world and all the living creatures of the world that he won't do in our time what he did in Noah's time, which was to wipe out almost all living creatures except for those that were on the ark in a response of judgment against sin. And the message isn't that he cares less about sin today than he did in the time of Noah. The message is that God's disposition is one of mercy. He does engage in judgment because he's righteous.

He loves righteousness, but he delights in mercy. So that's what we should learn from Noah's covenant. You had the substance of it, I won't destroy the earth again by a flood. And you had the sign of it, the rainbow and the clouds. So when it clouds up and it's going to rain, we know that God remembers that he promised that he wouldn't destroy the earth again by a flood.

This week, we have a series of events with three key moments involving Noah and his three sons. I will pretty much get right to it But one note before we get started, there are elements of this history that raise more questions than provide answers. I can't solve that. But I don't think I should try to solve that by speculating about things that could be, but that the text doesn't say certainly are. So I'm going to try to make the best of the things that are clear and leave the mysteries mysterious.

Fair enough, how's that for lowering expectations? Some of you came thinking, what's he gonna say about this? I'm probably not gonna say anything about it because I don't understand it, so forgive me in advance. But there are very clear things in the text that I can pound on the pulpit about and that's what I hope to do. Let's pray.

God, we need you, especially in texts that say things that raise more questions and provide answers. This is one of those, oh please come and help the preacher and help the hearers. We need your help. We thank you for your word. Thank you that always there are clear things in your word that we ought to grab a hold of and be shaped by.

I pray that would happen today. We would be shaped by your Word in Jesus name. Amen. Well as always we're subdividing. Hopefully your Bibles are still open to Genesis chapter 9.

Let's start with verses 18 and 19. Genesis 9 verses 18 and 19. Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

From these three the whole earth was populated. In these verses we have the family to repopulate the earth. So if you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, repopulate fills in the blank, the family to repopulate the earth. We were first introduced to the three sons of Noah all the way back in chapter 5 verse 32. So That was a long time ago.

We're in chapter nine now. Almost finished with chapter nine. It was at the end of chapter five that we first met Noah and his sons. Chapter five, verse 32, and Noah was 500 years old. And Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

So lifespans then were nothing like lifespans now. He actually had lived 500 years before he had these three sons after the flood. Lifespans changed dramatically. They, these three sons worked with their father to build the ark and their lives were saved on the ark along with their father. Let's do a quick review of where we are in chapter 9.

Look back to chapter 9 verse 1 is just the very beginning of the chapter so God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth so in verse 1 of our chapter you have the blessing of God on Noah and these three sons that are appearing in today's text. And you have this instruction to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth in verse seven, you get more of the same. And as for you, Noah and his sons, as for you be fruitful and multiply bring forth abundantly in the earth and multiply in it they did that the whole earth is repopulated through these three men and their wives. It was the start of the repopulation of the earth. Chapter 10 which we'll get to in a couple of weeks is known by theologians as the table of nations meaning where did all these nations come from?

They actually came from Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and then their families had families who had families who had families, and these formed into nations, and we will see in chapter 10 the forming and development of these nations through these family lines. So just what God had called them to in chapter 9 verse 1 and in chapter 9 verse 7, they did and these men became families, they became groupings of families that actually became nations. We'll see that in the next few weeks. So God preserved the lives of just four men and their wives on the ark and from these four married couples the whole Earth was populated. We could say it was repopulated after the global flood.

The whole population of planet Earth was reduced to just these four married couples, but now they come off the ark and Noah's sons and his sons wives begin to have children which we're gonna see some of that in this text and from that the nations of the earth came about okay verses 20 and 21 And Noah began to be a farmer and he planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and was drunk and became uncovered in his tent. In these two verses, we have moment number one. I'm saying there are three very different moments in this text. This is the first one.

This is moment number one. Noah and the wine. If you're taking notes on the handout by filling in blanks, wine fills in the blank. Moment number one is Noah and the wine. Noah has been an ark builder for a long time, probably decades.

And now he and his family are off the ark and they need food and so Noah starts to farm, Noah begins to farm. The two word Hebrew construction literally means man of the soil. So Noah gets off the ark and he becomes no longer an ark builder but a man of the soil. He plants a vineyard, he grows grapes, makes wine. This is the first mention of wine and drunkenness, but I find it hard to believe that this is the first instance of wine and drunkenness.

The description of the world before the flood lends itself to us believing that there was a lot of wine and there was a lot of drunkenness before now. So it hasn't been mentioned in Genesis yet, but I find it hard to believe that though this is the first mention that this is the first instance. I bet we've had a lot of wine before now and a lot of drunkenness before now. Now two things. First, There is the passing of time in verse 18 the second half of verse 18 says Ham was the father of Canaan.

So these three sons of Noah and their wives came off the ark without any children there were no children when they came off the ark but now there is there are there's at least a child there are children so time has passed so we don't know how much time has passed but we know there has been a passing of time So if you just read it fast and stay on the surface, this could seem like this is the week after they got off the ark. This is not the week after they got off the ark. They've come off the ark and there's been the having of children. In chapter 10 verse 6, Canaan is actually listed as the fourth son of Ham. So assuming that's birth order, and it isn't always in scripture, but most often in scripture it's a birth order, Canaan is not even the first child of Ham.

He's being named here where the first three wouldn't have been named here because Canaan is about to figure into the story. There's no need to introduce the others now. There is a need to introduce Canaan here. I'm guessing Canaan was the fourth son of Ham, and this just speaks to the passage of time since they came off the ark. We also know that time has passed because Noah has planted a vineyard that has come to maturity and he's made wine.

So this doesn't happen the week after you come off the ark or even the year after you come off the ark. Years have passed since they came off the ark. Second, Scripture has a lot to say about wine and almost none of it's touched on here other than it can make you drunk. That's the only fact from Scripture that we get here in the first mention of wine. It can make you drunk.

But scripture has a lot to say about wine and it is very varied, meaning there's a big wide range. There's a lot of variation about what scripture says about wine. On the one hand, it is called a blessing from God that makes the heart of man glad. This is a good thing, that the heart of man would be made glad. You can find that in Psalm 104 verses 14 and 15.

Scripture calls wine a blessing from God. Gasp! Gasp, can you believe it? Why would God take the risk of even saying that? Don't rebuke God for what he puts in his word.

It is a blessing from God and it makes the heart of man glad. It can be a good thing. God made it to be a good thing. Psalm 104 verses 14 and 15. On the other hand, scripture tells us how dangerous wine is and gives us very, very, very stern warnings about those dangers.

Forbidding its consumption to certain people under certain circumstances. So this is not all people can drink wine all the time. Sometimes the scripture says, don't you do it. Kings who need to make just rulings are not supposed to be in the wine. Okay, priests on duty are not supposed to be in the wine.

So on the one hand, God, it's a blessing from God, It makes the heart of man glad. On the other hand, scripture says that's dangerous. You better be very, very careful in how you handle this thing and gives us very stern warnings, sometimes forbidding its consumption. Alan Ross, a commentator that I've been reading every week summarizes it this way. The Old Testament may not have prohibited the use of wine for everyone, but it never excused drunkenness or nakedness.

So I think that's a good summary. It might not forbid all uses of wine, but you can never find an excuse for drunkenness or nakedness in the Old Testament or the New actually. And this is how we find Noah in this section. Noah where are you? Oh we found him.

Okay well what do we find? Noah drunk and uncovered in his tent. Alan Ross also quotes another commentator who I'd never heard of but this commentator said this, with the opportunity to start an ideal society Noah was found drunk in his tent. I never really had thought of that. It really is the big chance, the big opportunity to start an ideal society.

We got rid of all the rascals in the flood. No, we didn't get rid of all the rascals in the flood because see the corruption was on the arc. See, this is the problem with monasteries too. You might wall certain people out, but you wall other people in with their sins, with their corruption. And so Some of the most sinful societies in the world have developed within the walls of monasteries because you couldn't keep it out.

With the opportunity to start an ideal society Noah was found drunk in his tent and none of us should be that surprised this is our righteous man Noah this is our Savior of the human race Noah this was the man who walked with God Noah this was the man who walked with God Noah this was the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord yes Noah needed that grace Noah needed that grace before he got on the ark, while he was on the ark, after he came off the ark. He needed for God to treat him with undeserved, unearned favor because Noah was a sinner. You haven't seen it before now, we are seeing it now. As J.C. Ryle often says in his books, I bet you cannot find a J.C.

Ryle book that doesn't have this statement, the best of men are men at best. The best of men are men at best. That person that you think, they're approaching perfection, they know, knowing their own internal workings, how desperately far they are from perfection in any hour of the day. The truth is all men desperately need Jesus. Now Noah wouldn't have put it in those terms.

He didn't know anything about Jesus. Jesus's name wouldn't have been on his lips. But now we can say it. All men desperately need Jesus. Back in chapter 3 when Eve and then Adam ate the forbidden fruit, for the first time they felt the shame of their nakedness and tried to cover themselves.

Remember that chapter 3? They eat their forbidden fruit and the very next sentence is they were naked and ashamed and they started trying to cover themselves. In their innocence There was nothing to be ashamed of. Okay, but with the entry of corruption into nature, now nakedness was accompanied by shame. They had never had that sense before and they had no reason to have that sense there was no shame in it before corruption came into the nature of man but now corruption has come in and they realize I should feel ashamed of this let's make coverings now Noah is in this shameful condition drunk and naked but because he's drunk, he doesn't even know he's naked.

He's insensible to his situation. That's how we find our hero in verse 21. Here's your hero. It drives home the point that it is God who is righteous, not Noah. It is God who saves the human race, not Noah.

It is God and only God who has the grace that we need. Noah's great virtue was that he trusted God. By the way, that's the payoff line of the sermon you can go to sleep Noah's great virtue Was simply that he trusted God Once again, I'll Quote Hebrews 11 verse 7 we should have been counting. It's been most sermons for the last two months Probably Hebrews 11 verse 7 by faith Noah Being divinely warned of things not yet seen moved with godly fear prepared an ark for the saving of his household by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith Noah was not self-righteous Noah attained to became heir of the righteousness which is not according to law-keeping but the righteousness which is according to faith. Noah's great virtue was that he trusted God.

So that's Noah and the wine and the wine doing what wine does. Friends be careful the wine's just doing its thing The wine is just doing its thing in our text. Verse 22, and Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Here in verse 22 we have moment number two. Moment number one was Noah and the wine.

Moment number two is Ham, His eyes and his mouth. So if you're filling in blanks on the handout, eyes and mouth fill in the two blanks. This is moment number two. Ham, his eyes and his mouth. Ham is again introduced as the father of Canaan.

The author is preparing us for something to come by repeating that introduction. We already saw it once, Ham the father of Canaan. Now we see it a second time. Ham the father of Canaan. The author is preparing the ground for what's to come.

Hold on to your hats for that. Ham comes into the tent and takes in the scene. That's what his eyes do. What a scene it is. Dad, drunk and uncovered.

Ham doesn't turn away. He takes in the scene. Then Ham's mouth springs into action. He goes outside the tent and tells his brother, Dad's right in there, drunk and naked. Dad's right on the other side of that tent flap, drunk and naked.

Now, this is not an intervention in the life of a drunk for the good of the drunk. Noah is drunk, but Noah is not a drunk. You understand the difference? A drunk is a person who is characterized by drunkenness. You've seen him drunk once, you've seen him drunk ten times.

You know what I mean when I say the town drunk. This is an instance of Noah being drunk. But it isn't in character for Noah. No way! We've been with Noah for a century starting at the end of chapter 5.

We've been with Noah for a century. We've seen a lot of Noah. And all that's been reported to us about Noah has been absolutely exemplary. If you could have been described that way, you could die happy. God speaks and Noah obeys.

God speaks and Noah obeys. God speaks and Noah obeys. God speaks and Noah obeys. This is the pattern of his life. He walks with God.

That's what the text said. Noah walked with God. So this is actually totally out of character For Noah, he is drunk, but he's not a drunk This is Noah's worst moment Pam has just seen his father in his worst moment and instead of looking away he took in the scene and then blew the trumpet figuratively speaking. Hey guys, dad's right in there, drunk and naked. So that's Ham, his eyes taking in the scene and his mouth blowing the trumpet, figuratively speaking.

Verse 23, But Shem and Japheth took a garment Laid it on both their shoulders and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away and they did not see their father's nakedness. Now we have moment number three. Shem, Japheth, and a garment. Garment fills in the blank on the handout.

Moment number three. Shem, Japheth, and a garment. Rather than to take time to try to explain what was wrong with what Ham did and why it was wrong, the best way is to simply let it stand in contrast to what Shem and Japheth do. So, you notice in the last subsection, talking about ham and his eyes in his mouth it went fast the reason why it went fast is I thought the best way to do this is just to go right to the opposite response of these two brothers who did the opposite of what he did it just let it stand in contrast Having heard the report and knowing what is just beyond that tent flap, they take a garment, I have one corner, you have the other. They go in backwards so they don't take in the scene.

The text says that They went in backwards and then it says that they turned their faces away. It's a double expression. They are not taking in the scene. I got a corner, you got a corner. We back our way in.

We look away. We cover our father. It says they did not see their father's nakedness. They covered their father up. Ham took the opportunity to expose his father in his worst moment.

Shem and Japheth didn't want to even have a memory of that scene. You know how hard it is to unsee stuff? They didn't even want to have a memory of that scene. The best way not to have a memory of it is to not let your eyes land on it. So they backed in, they turned their heads away, And I had a corner and you had a corner and we covered our Father.

The fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments is this, Deuteronomy 5 verse 16. Deuteronomy 5 verse 16 is actually a little different and a little more helpful for what we're talking about today than actually the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20. You can find the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 in Deuteronomy 5. Here in Deuteronomy 5 it said a little differently and it's really helpful. Listen to Deuteronomy 5 16.

Honor your father and your mother as the Lord your God has commanded you. So here's where we are so far in the commandment. I command you to honor your father and your mother that your days may be long and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God has given you. God doesn't have to promise a blessing with any commandment. He is God.

He can just tell you, do this, don't do that. It doesn't owe you a blessing on the other side of it, but he puts a sweetener in this one. It's the first commandment with a promise. I command you to honor your father and mother, and when you do, I'll give you length of days and it'll go well with you you have a hard time finding another commandment that has such a sweetener oh the command that says this honor them when you judge them to deserve honor. You sit back with your arms folded, critique what you see, and if you determine that they deserve honor, then you render honor.

Honor then you render honor is that what the commandment says you would think so No Not just in their best moments, but also in their worst Right this is Noah's best moment or worse at least as far as the scriptural record, this is his worst moment. And there is a condemnation for dishonor and a commendation, praise, for honor in this text. In his worst moment. That tells you This is not for children to sit back and grade parents and say, I now find you worthy of honor, so I'll render it to you. This is a man in his worst moment being dishonored and the dishonor being condemned and honored and the honor being praised.

This tells us what we need to know about this commandment. Children owe honor to their parents. By the way, That includes everybody in this room. Even parents or children. What did you pop out of the dust?

Even children or parents? Even parents or children? Yeah, that's what it is. I got stuck Does that mean that children must universally ignore the sins of their parents? No, of course it doesn't mean that Nobody said that nobody thinks that But the if and how are of utmost importance.

What do I mean by that? Well, let's start with the if. First Peter 4 verse 8. Listen to First Peter 4 verse 8. Peter says, and above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins.

Peter's not even talking to parents and children here. He's talking to Christians and other Christians. He said, above all other things, have a fervent love, just a burning love for each other, because Love will cover a multitude of sins. You can't live long together and not sin against each other. And we shouldn't be creating a level one confrontation over every sin we see.

Where would we be? Where would we be, friends, if any observation of sin drives us to a level one confrontation of sin? Peter says, I have a love for each other that goes beyond that. Let love cover a multitude of sins he's actually quoting Proverbs 10 verse 12 there it's Peter quoting Proverbs love will cover a multitude of sins if that's true among us who don't have the bonds of parents and children how much more true in the parent-child relationship if it's true here how much more true should it be in our homes Matthew Henry says this. Matthew Henry says, There is a robe of reverence to be thrown over the fault of parents.

There is a robe of reverence To be thrown over the faults of parents and I would add this You should take one corner and I should take the other and we should back in and turn away our heads and cover them If a bad moment is out of character for a parent should you even address it? If a bad moment, the worst moment, is out of character for a parent, should you even address it? Most times not. Just let love cover it. That doesn't mean that we no longer care about sin.

That doesn't mean that sin doesn't matter anymore. That just means that we're painfully aware that we have at least our share of bad moments. Are you with me? It doesn't mean that we don't care about sin. It means that we're at least painfully aware that we've got our own bad moments So we're happy to treat our parents as we would like to be treated in our bad moments You know the golden rule And on top of that we owe honor to our parents.

Understanding that that doesn't require that they act honorably all the time to earn it. There will be times where your parents, no matter who they are, will not act honorably. Then I'm off the hook. I don't have to render honor. That's not what the commandment says.

That's not what the Bible teaches. But that your parents deserve honor simply by virtue of God giving them to you as parents and then commanding you to honor them. That's all your parents have to do to deserve your honor is be your parents. God made them your parents and He commanded you to honor them. Are some parents easy to honor and other parents hard to honor?

Of course! What's that got to do with the commandment? Are there times when you can't just cover sin with love? Because you shouldn't just cover sin with love. Because there are important things at stake So the sin actually can't just be overlooked can't just be covered Yes But in those instances the how of dealing with that sin must still reflect honor So you hit a situation where the sin will have to be dealt with.

How you deal with it must still reflect honor. If you deal with the parent sin in a way that does not reflect honor you have added your sin to theirs But now we're piling up the sand You go and dishonor your parents over their sin Now we're just adding sin to sin. So that is Shem Japheth and that wonderful garment. That wonderful garment that They took in backwards, their heads turned away, and they covered their fathers drunken nakedness. Now the hard part.

Maybe we should say, It's been long enough, we'll just try it next week. Verses 24 through 27. Genesis 9, verses 24 through 27. So Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said, Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.

And he said, Blessed be the Lord the God of Shem. May Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth and may he dwell in the tents of Shem and may Canaan be his servant. These verses we have the prophetic aftermath. So aftermath fills in the blank if you're taking in notes that way.

The prophetic, this is a prophecy, aftermath. Here's an acknowledgement. I feel like there is a lot about this section that I don't understand well. So I definitely have some fear about preaching on it. I did do my homework.

I read all the normal guys and came away thinking I'm not sure they totally understand it either. Not even Matthew Henry Gasp. So I can't answer my own questions about this section and I know I won't be able to answer yours. Let's start here. We must Understand Noah here as a prophet not as an irked father So easy to read Noah read see Noah through the word said here as an irked father Mistreated by a son and out for his pound of flesh.

If we think of Noah as nothing more than an embarrassed father who is taking revenge on a dishonoring son, we're doomed from the start to misunderstand this. You cannot understand this by thinking of Noah just as a dad who's embarrassed that he was caught drunk naked and now he's taking revenge on the dishonor of a son. Listen to what Calvin says. Calvin reset my thinking about this when I read this I thought oh this is helpful I got to quote this. Calvin says Moses does not hear relate reproaches uttered by Noah under the excitement of rage and anger So Calvin saying When you read this out loud don't read it in rage and anger That That's not Noah's inflection as he pronounces this.

It's not rage and anger in this pronouncement, but rather introduces him speaking in the spirit of prophecy. It is not indeed to be doubted that the holy man endued with a disposition otherwise gentle and being one of the best parents would pronounce this sentence upon his son with the most bitter grief of mine." So he's saying when you read this out loud saying it as you think Noah said it. You should read it with with sorrow and bitterness at the pronouncement of this. Not anger and rage, not a man in a rage, but a man who is sorrowful that these things are true of his grandson, that these things would be true of his grandson. Okay we've been with Noah for a century.

He hears God, he obeys God, he found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Better parent than you or worse parent than you? Hard-hearted parent? The man who walks with God, the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord is a hard-hearted parent. You want to read it out loud that way?

You think you have cause to read it out loud that way? Second, so that was first, Understand Noah as a prophet, not as an irked father, okay, who's embarrassed and is taking revenge on his dishonoring son. No, this is a prophet. Second, Understand blessings and curses. They are not magic.

They have no power of their own. They in no way obligate God if God isn't obligating himself. You can pronounce the curse on me right now and here's what I'll say. So your words don't have power. If God's not obligating himself to this, let the words fall to the ground.

If God in heaven is blessing, then that blessing will come to pass if he is and it won't. If God in heaven is cursing then that curse will come to pass if he is and it won't. These curses and blessings actually happen, more on that in a moment, So it was God. This is the voice of God, not the voice of an earthed father. And we know that because the blessings come to rest and so do the curses.

They actually happen. Third, this isn't what we would expect. In what way? I would expect the curse to be on Ham. He did the crime after all.

Cursed be Canaan? But it isn't. It's on Ham's son, Canaan. That doesn't seem fair. And I would expect the blessing to be on Shem and Japheth, but it is on God.

Blessed be God. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, with Shem and Japheth in the follow-on." So they get a blessing, but they're sick of mention here. What should we make of all that? Let's start with Ham and his son Canaan. Canaan isn't even to be the servants of his brethren.

Low man. So Ham escapes judgment, right? It lands on his son not on him Really Knowing that your son is caught up in the fallout from your sin as escaping judgment Parents can tell you that's the bitterest kind of judgment, is to see the fallout of your sins playing itself out in the lives of your children. Try this on for size. You won't give honor up your family line?

You won't give honor to your father? You'll dishonor your father? Then I'll strip all honor from down your family line. I'll take away all honor from down your family line. Your son won't serve his brothers, he'll serve his brothers' servants below man.

Your descendants will live in and bring upon you dishonor. Question, is ham held in honor or dishonor? Well, it's dishonor. How about the blessing falling on the Lord? Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem.

Well, consider this verse. This is such a helpful verse. Philippians 2 verse 13. In Philippians 2 verse 13, Paul says this, For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for his good pleasure." Listen again. "'For it is God who works in you both to will.'" He puts the wanting in you, the will to do it, and to do, and the doing.

So wanting to do it and do it is God working in you to accomplish his good pleasure. So for the bad things in your life you know who to blame, that's you. You did that. The good things in your life you know who to praise, That's God. If He made you want to do something good and then follow through and do something good, it was God working in you.

He should be blessed for it. Shem and Japheth were also blessed. Shem had the Lord as his God and Canaan as his servant. How do you get better than that? Get God for your God and Canaan for your servant.

And as David says in Psalm 144 verse 15, this is beautiful, listen to David, King David, many generations later, Psalm 144 verse 15, happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Those are the happy people. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord. Those are the happy people. Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.

Japheth was enlarged, was given the privilege of dwelling in the tents of Shem, who had God as his God, and had Canaan as his servant. Now I suspect that this curse and these blessings played out in some way in the lives of these individual men but I can't prove it from Scripture. I just don't have how it worked out in the lives of these three individual men. I suspect it worked out in some way in the lives of these individual men But I can't prove it from Scripture. Just don't have Just don't how have how it worked out in the lives of these three individual men I suspect it worked out in some way in the lives of these individual men, but I can't prove it from Scripture But I know that this curse and these blessings played out in the history of nations, and I can prove that from scripture.

The family line of Shem, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem. The family line of Shem is the line that Abraham comes through, which is the line that King David comes through, which is the line that Jesus comes through. The family line of Canaan is the line of people that were defeated and subjugated by the family of Abraham when God gave them the promised land. Only it took about 800 years for that to happen and in the meantime they became a mighty nation. What do we make of that?

Let's ask Matthew Henry. Matthew Henry, what do we make of that? Here's what he says, Though divine curses operate slowly, yet first or last they will take effect. A people may lie under the curse of God, and Yet may long prosper in the world till the measure of their iniquity, like that of the Canaanites, be full. Many are marked for ruin that are not yet ripe for ruin.

Wow! Many are marked for ruin. God knows their end, but they're not ripe for ruin. And so for the time being they're prospering And someone who's trying to walk with God and serve the Lord is in all these troubles and is looking over there at the rascal and everything's going well with him and saying, what is happening? Oh, God knows the end.

They're marked for ruin. They're just not ripe for ruin. Let God do his thing. It's all going to work out like God has planned. God will be just in the end.

Matthew Henry ends that quote by saying, Therefore let not thy heart envy sinners. Don't be envious of that guy. Everything's going well with him right now, but his end is destruction. So there is much more here than just the lives of three individual men and a son. This is also a prophecy about nations And what a joy and a comfort and a source of confidence it must have been for the people of Israel to hear these things on the verge of going into the promised land.

So they're hearing these things for the first time. Remember, Moses wrote Genesis before they went into the promised land. And now they're hearing this these these family histories and they're hearing that their descendant is Shem who was blessed and the people, the mighty nation in the promised land, a nation much mightier than they are, has actually been marked out for destruction. Expositor's Bible commentary says this, Why was Canaan cursed rather than Ham? It is common in the narratives of Genesis to anticipate the deeds of later generations in the acts of their father.

For example, the narratives of Jacob and Esau foreshadow the affairs of Israel and Edom. Jacob had a family that became a nation, Israel. Esau had a family that became a nation, Edom. And the acts of their fathers play themselves out in the dealings of these nations with one another. So what we're seeing in our text is actually not unusual.

See, Expositor's Bible commentary goes on to say, the narratives about Lot foreshadow Israel's relationship to the Ammonites and the Moabites. Lot has these terrible incestuous relationships and two sons are born, Moab, who becomes the father of the nation of Moab, and Ammon, who becomes the father of the nation of Moab and Ammon, who becomes the father of the nation of the Ammonites. This is not unusual. Thus, it is not unusual that this narrative should anticipate and foreshadow the events relating to the Canaanites. So that is the prophetic aftermath of these key moments.

Applications I'll give you four. One, The best of men are men at best. I've heard he has a feet of clay. This is about vision in Daniel with a kingdom that has a golden head and then it becomes bronze and then it becomes iron. You get down to the feet, they're just clay and they break apart.

That's where that expression comes from, is feet of clay. Noah had feet of clay. Wasn't all gold. Love people. Put your hope in God.

You know, if you don't realize that, you become so disillusioned with the fall of everyone that you thought had their act together. Do you want to be disillusioned with the fall of everyone that you had their act together? We could name ten names in the last ten years of people we thought, if you'd put a hope in them you would be so crushed. Don't be crushed, hope in God. Two, a bad moment doesn't have to characterize you.

When you think of Noah, you don't think of naked in the tent, drunk and naked in the tent. You do this week. This is not a normal week. You think of the man who walked with God, the man who found grace in the eyes of the Lord the man who heard God and obeyed God right away over and over again a Bad moment doesn't have to characterize you it didn't characterize Noah Repent and plead with God to help you be different. You probably haven't had your last bad moment.

Probably haven't had my last bad moment. So what will you do? All indications are Noah got back on track. Repent and plead with God to help you be different. He'll help you be different.

If you're indwelt by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit makes the people of God holy by degrees. Not all at once, by degrees. Number three. Children. That's all of you.

We've been through this. All of you are children, but I'm speaking especially to little children. You often have access to your parents worst moments. Children often have access to their parents worst moments. Because you're there a lot.

You're with them a lot. You're in close quarters a lot. You're with them when the pressure is on. So more often than not when you have a bad moment as a parent your kids are right there. Children, what will you do?

What will you do? Will you take in the scene? Blow the trumpet? Dad's in there. You should see.

You should hear mom. You should hear mom. When you say, hey, I got this corner, you got that corner, let's back in, turn our heads away, cover. Listen to Deuteronomy 27 verse 16. Deuteronomy 27 verse 16.

So let me give you the scene. The people of God have been brought into the promised land and it was told before they went in, when you get in, do this. You're putting tribes on the Mount of Cursing, Ebal, and tribes on the Mount of Blessing, Gerizim, these two mountains, and it actually forms sort of an amphitheater. In between is Shechem, and The tribe of Levi will be in the middle and they'll be calling out to the Mount of Blessing to bless these things and say blessed be everyone who and then everybody on the Mount of Blessing is going to say amen okay and then there are going to be curses that are called out from the middle of the amphitheater cursed be everyone who and on the Mount of Cursing they'll say amen okay so we're agreeing with God about things that deserve blessing and deserve cursing. So that's what this is in Deuteronomy chapter 27.

I would have loved to have been there for that moment. What a dramatic moment where we bless the things that God blesses and amen them and curse the thing that God curses by amening them. Tudorami 27 16. The Levites would have been saying this. Cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt and all the people shall say amen If we had done this like just gathered thousands and thousands of Christians and put some people in the middle to say, cursed is the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.

And all of us together in union, in unison would have to say, we'd be bound to say, amen, we might think differently about how we treat our parents. If we had pronounced an amen on the cursing of anyone who treats his father and mother with contempt. Children, I beg you to honor your father and your mother if for no other reason than bare self interest. There are better and more noble reasons to honor your father and your mother, but if you strip all that away and all you're left with is, what's good for me, do it for that! Because God says, it'll go well with you, It'll extend your life and life will go well with you.

Just by honoring your father and your mother, do it for you. If you will do it for no other reason, do it for you. Stop stripping the blessing of God out of your life because you dishonor your father and your mother. Parents, we should weep when our children dishonor us. Do you know what?

Our children are bringing into their lives And we shouldn't put up with it for that reason. We should do our best to try not for them to cut off the blessing of God because of their dishonor for us. That's number three. Children, you often have access to your parents in their worst moments. What will you do?

Just understand how much is riding on this. How much of your present and future happiness is riding on this. Number four, listen to the final word. And Genesis is the first book of the Bible. There are lots of books after that.

This isn't the final word. Ephesians 2 verses 13 and 14. Here's the final word, Ephesians 2 verses 13 and 14. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off had been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, Who has made both one and has broken down?

The middle wall of separation In past centuries century after century after century after century after century God mostly let the nations go their own way. Do whatever they wanted to do. And our own way is always into destruction. Okay, so, He Let them go their own way. I mean, you just chase your inclinations, whatever you find yourself wanting to chase, go chase those things.

I'll leave you alone to do it. God has mostly done that through the centuries. We live in such a wonderful time. We're Gentiles. God would have just left us to ourselves, and what would we have done with that?

We would have plunged ourselves into destruction with no hope. We live in the time of Jesus where God says, I'm taking this special people and I'm breaking down the wall and I'm sending a savior to all of them and bringing them together. By the way, many good commentators believe that Japheth dwelling in the tents of Shem points to this. Japheth's really the brother we haven't talked about much. He's going to dwell in the tents of Sham.

Sham was the father of Abraham, who was the father of David, who was the father of Jesus. And so many good commentators say, Japheth is this brother outside the family of Shem but is now brought under the tent of Shem. By the way, most of the inhabitants of Europe and Asia come from Japheth. Most of the inhabitants of Europe and Asia, of all that is. They can now come into the tent because of Jesus.

Let's give thanks. God, we thank you for Jesus. We just think of all the centuries where had we been born a Gentile, We might never have heard once the name of the God of scripture, and then where would we be? God, thank you for Jesus and his work, his worldwide work. Pray that you would cause us to run to him.

Pray that you would cause us to run to him. Pray that you would cause us to love him in Jesus name, amen.