Genesis 9:20-29 - Exposition

The future unveiled.

I. A PAGE FROM HUMAN HISTORY . The prominent figure an old man—always an object of interest, as one who has passed through life's vicissitudes, and worthy of peculiar honor, especially if found walking in the paths of righteousness and peace; an old saint who had long been distinguished for the elevation of his piety, who had long maintained his fidelity to God in the midst of evil times, who had just enjoyed a special deliverance at the hand of God, and who up to the period referred to in our text had brought neither stain upon his piety nor cloud upon his name; the second head of the human family, and in a manner also the second head of the Church of God; an old disciple, who probably had seen Seth, the son of Adam, and walked with Enoch, and spoken with Methuselah, and who lived, as the Scripture tells us, to the days of Abram; clearly one of the most distinguished figures that, looking back, one is able to detect upon the canvas of time. Well, in connection with this venerable patriarch we learn—

1. That he engaged in a highly honorable occupation .

2. That he indulged in a perfectly legitimate gratification . "He drank of the wine." There was nothing wrong in Noah eating of the ripe grapes which grew upon his vines, or drinking of their juice when transformed into wine (cf. Deuteronomy 25:4 ; 1 Corinthians 9:7 ). The sinfulness of making fermented liquors cannot be established so long as fermentation is a natural process for the preservation of the produce of the grape, and Scripture, in one set of passages, speaks of its beneficial influence upon man's physical system ( 9:13 ; Psalms 104:15 ; Proverbs 31:6 ; 1 Timothy 5:23 ), and God himself employs it as a symbol of the highest and choicest blessings, both temporal and spiritual ( Genesis 27:28 , Genesis 27:37 ; Proverbs 9:2 ; Isaiah 25:6 ; Matthew 26:28 , Matthew 26:29 ), and Christ made it at the marriage feast of Cana ( John 2:9 , John 2:10 ). Nor is the drinking of wines and other fermented liquors condemned in Scripture as a violation of the law of God. That there are special seasons when abstinence from this as well as other gratifications of a physical kind is a duty (cf. Le Genesis 10:9 ; 13:4 , 13:14 ; Ezekiel 44:21 ; Daniel 1:5 , Daniel 1:8 , Daniel 1:16 ; Romans 14:21 ; 1 Corinthians 10:28 ), and that it is competent to any Christian, for the sake of Iris weaker brethren, or as a means of advancing his own spiritual life, or for the glory of God, to renounce his liberty in respect of drinks, no intelligent person will doubt. But that total abstinence is imperatively required of every one is neither asserted in Scripture nor was it taught by the example of Christ ( Matthew 11:19 ), and to enforce it upon Christian men as a term of communion is to impose on them a yoke of bondage which Christ has not sanctioned, and to supplant Christian liberty by bodily asceticism.

3. That he fell beneath a pitifully sad humiliation .

Lessons : —

1. "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall" ( 1 Corinthians 10:12 ). Remember Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Peter.

2. "Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" ( Ephesians 5:18 ). There is scarcely a sin to which intoxication may not lead; there is no infallible cure for drunkenness but being filled with the Spirit.

3. "Be sure thy sin will find thee out" ( Numbers 32:23 ). "There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known."

II. A REVELATION OF HUMAN CHARACTER . Oil the threshold of the new world, like the Lord Jesus Christ in the opening of the gospel dispensation ( Luke 2:35 ), the patriarch Noah appears to have been set for the fall and rising again of many, and for a sign to be spoken against that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed. All unconsciously to him his vine-planting and wine-drinking become the occasion of unveiling the different characters of his sons in respect of—

1. Filial piety, which Shem and Japheth remarkably displayed, but of which Ham, the youngest son, appears to have been destitute. There was nothing sinful in Ham's having witnessed what should never have been exposed to view, and there is no reason to credit any of the idle rabbinical legends which allege that Ham perpetrated a particular outrage upon his father; but Ham was manifestly wanting in that filial reverence and honor which were due to his aged parent, in that he gazed with delight upon the melancholy spectacle of his father's shame- in singular contrast to the respectful and modest behavior of Shem and Japheth, who "went with their faces backward," so that "they saw not their father's nakedness."

2. Tender charity . In addition to the mocking eye which gloated over the patriarch's infirmity, there was present in the heart of Ham an evil and malicious spirit, which led him to inflict another and a severer indignity upon his father's fame. The faults of even bad men are required by religion to be covered up rather than paraded in public view. Much more the indiscretions, failings, and sins of good men. Most of all the faults of a father. But, alas, instead of sorrowing for his father's overthrow, Ham obviously took pleasure in it; instead of charitably trying to excuse the old man, nay, without even waiting to ascertain whether an explanation of his conduct might be possible, he appears to have put the worst construction on it; instead of doing what he could to hide his father's sin and shame, he rushes forth and makes it known to his brothers. But these brothers, with another spirit, without offering any apology for their father's error, perhaps instinctively perceiving it to be altogether unjustifiable, take the first loose garment they can find, and, with a beautiful modesty as well as a becoming piety, casting it around their shoulders, enter their father's presence with their faces backward, and cover up his prostrate form. Let the incident remind us—

III. A DISCLOSURE OF HUMAN DESTINY . Awaking from his wine, the patriarch became aware of what had taken place. Discerning in the conduct of his sons an indication of divergence in their characters, recognizing in their different characters a repetition of what had taken place at the commencement of the first era of the world's history, viz; the division of mankind into a holy and a wicked line, foreseeing also, through the help of inspiration, the development of the world's population into three different tribes or races, he foretells, acting in all under the Spirit's guidance, the future destinies that should await them. His utterance takes the form of a prediction, in which he declares—

1. The degradation of Canaan . "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.

2. The exaltation of Shem . "Blessed be Jehovah, the Elohim of Shem," &c; in which description was the promise of a threefold exaltation.

3. The enlargement of Japheth . "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant."

A promise of—

1. Territorial expansion . While the Shemite tribes should remain in a manner concentrated in the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, the Japhethites should spread themselves abroad westward as the pioneers of civilization.

2. Spiritual enrichment, by being brought ultimately to share in the religious privileges and blessings of the Shemites—a prediction which has been abundantly fulfilled by the admission of the Gentiles to the Christian Church.

3. Civilizing influence . As Canaan was subjected to Shem in order, while he served, to be instructed in the faith of his master, so does he seem to have been placed beneath the sway of Japheth, that Japheth might lead him forth to a participation of the peculiar blessings which he has been commissioned to bestow upon the other nations of the earth.