Sermon Title: “As for you” – Called not to a higher standard; but a holy standard
“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” (Genesis 9:7, 20-27)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Risen Savior, Jesus Christ!
What really caused Noah to be so furious with Ham that he would curse his son, Canaan unto a lifetime of slavery?
Was it really because Ham “saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside” and in doing nothing, dishonored Noah?
To be cursed is certainly no small matter; especially by the man whom God commanded to build and enter the ark that saved humankind and all land creatures with him - through the flood that devastated the entire earth.
Noah’s anger towards Ham is rooted far more deeply than mere dishonor of a parent; it had everything to do with who Noah was.
Noah – living up to the holy standard
In every regard, Noah was a servant, evangelist, priest and prophet of the Most High God.
He was certainly, a man of God – set apart to be holy.
God’s word to Noah, “as for you...” – reveals that his sole purpose in life was to be found holy in God’s sight – and be truly blessed, to the glory of God.
Noah’s first act upon being commanded by God to come out of the ark with his family and every living creature with him – was to “built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.” (Genesis 8:20)
To which, “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart:
“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.
And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21)
For the Lord, Noah’s sacrifice of burnt offerings from some of the clean animals and birds was deeply pleasing to Him; because it meant that – like Abel before him (Ref: Genesis 4:4-5) - Noah understood his utter need for God’s salvific grace and mercy; and that he was only righteous before God because of his faith in God’s atoning work through the blood covering of innocent animals.
To this, we must remember that – as Christians – our present equivalent of Noah’s burnt offering is our tithe. (Ref: Leviticus 27:30, 27:32, Malachi 3:8-10)
God’s Covenant With Noah – the second Adam
“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.
Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” (Genesis 9:1-3)
At this renewed beginning, God renewed His original anointing and blessing upon Mankind (Genesis 1:28) – along with His enduring Providence (Genesis 1:29-30) – through Noah and his sons.
However, God’s covenant with Noah is distinctly far different from His first covenant with Adam – in that, Adam was yet unfallen then; whereas Noah and his descendants were fallen beings; whose “every inclination ... is evil from childhood. (Genesis 8:21)
A different world; but the same wicked condition
The world that met Noah and his family when they stepped out of the ark was so different in that - the nutritional constitution of the green plants had decreased so substantially that God now appointed meat to supplement and fortify Man’s diet; and yet, the world remained the same because Mankind remain inclined to wickedness.
In fact, sin had brought such uninhibited violence into the world (Ref: Genesis 4) that God now introduced divine stipulations into human society - that would become the foundations of the divine Commandments that will soon follow under Moses - as Mankind becomes increasingly depraved and wicked.
The sacredness of life
“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.
I will demand an accounting from every animal.
And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God has God made mankind. (Genesis 9:4-6)
The world has changed immensely in its constitution.
Meat is now allowed to be part of Man’s diet.
However, we are strictly forbidden to “eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it”; for “the life of every creature is its blood. (Leviticus 17:14)
To our Lord, in spite of the carnage brought about by the flood, life remains utterly sacred.
All life is the precious, and mysterious, gift of God; and no man is to seek to preserve it, or increase it, by consuming blood.
Every human being is precious is God’s sight; and those who shed human blood – in taking another person’s life, and even their own - will be held accountable by God.
In fact, God’s judgement would be so complete that even animals will be held accountable.
God desires that we understand that we are each precious to Him; because we are created in His image; and as earthly representations and focal point of God’s character and His Kingdom.
However, the reality is that every inclination of the human heart is “evil from childhood.” (Genesis 8:21)
This sets the stage for a world fraught with violence and bloodshed.
God definitively draws the divine moral boundary to guard the sanctity of human life by categorically forbidding murder in society.
He does this in two ways:
(1) By emphasizing that human beings are created in His image, and thus, our lives are all sacred in His sight; and
(2) By instituting capital punishment – to which, God commands that every murderer to be punished with death.
In killing another human being, a murderer demonstrates not only contempt for a fellow-human being; but more dreadfully, contempt for God.
Today, as a Church, we are faced with numerous ‘socially-acceptable’ and ‘legally-accepted’ forms of murder.
In the knowledge of these iniquities, we must continue to preach and pray the Gospel of Christ into the world around us.
(i) Wars that indiscriminately take the lives of both combatants and civilians;
(ii) Abortions that are not compelled by the mother’s physical health are estimated to take the lives of 73 million babies globally. This apparent estimate, however, does not include China and India; which together, make up half the world’s population;
(iii) Euthanasia - Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), that was legislated into Canadian law since March 17, 2021. MAID allows for ‘medically-ascertained’ terminally ill patients to apply, and qualify for assisted death under the supervision of a trained medical professional.
In May of 2022, Denise, a 31-year-old disabled Toronto woman - who was conditionally approved for MAID due to her sever sensitivities to chemicals - had her application for assisted death temporarily suspended because an outpouring of financial support made it possible for her move into a hotel “that uses low-scented cleaning chemicals, and has windows that open on a ravine, providing fresh air”; a much healthier environment, devoid of the smokes and fumes of the city.
She was cleared by not one, but two doctors, to be qualified by MAID due to "irremediable suffering".
Denise essentially qualified for medically-assisted death not because her illness, but because of her poverty and our society’s inability to offer the help that she needs.
Her story is ominously similar to another woman, Sophia, who also suffered from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, but received a medically-assisted death in February 2022 after numerous failed attempts to find and live in an apartment away from the smoke and chemicals that causes her suffering. Her family was only informed after the fact.
Contempt for human life is contempt for God.
Murder, by any other name or under any law, is unequivocally - murder.
To take the life of another, or to allow a life to be taken – including your own – is murder in the eyes of God that reveals the world’s dark contempt and defiance against Him.
Such was the world – as it still remains - a world fraught with violence and bloodshed, that met Noah after the great flood.
Even after God made a covenant with Noah that “never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” because of Man’s wickedness; a covenant that was followed – till this day – with the rainbow, as the sign of the covenant between God and the earth (Ref: Genesis 9:12-17), Noah knew that this new world was far from God’s perfect world, which was the place of his deepest desire.
Canaan
“The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) (Genesis 9:18)
The mention of Canaan, the son of Ham, in this sidenote reveals Noah’s knowledge that there remains a human wickedness that would result in uninhibited violence and bloodshed that would plague the world throughout history; and Canaan, evidently manifested this wickedness even in his early years.
Remember the original name for the Promised Land?
Canaan.
Canaan’s descendants would be the reason why Israel initially refused to enter the Promised Land; for there were “Anakites” who dwelt in Canaan – giants who would compare the Israelite spies to ‘grasshoppers’. (Ref: Numbers 13:21-33)
And because Joshua did not fully obey God’s command to “destroy them totally...without mercy” (Joshua 11:20, Ref: Judges 1-2), leaving behind some Anakites in “Gaza, Gath and Ashdod” (Joshua 11:22) – there would arise a champion of the Philistines many generations later from Gath, by the name of Goliath - whose stature struck fear into the hearts of Israel just as his descendants did to Moses’ Israel.
Of course, the shepherd boy, David, make quick work of him – only because of his utter faith in God.
Canaan, the son of Ham, was mentioned in particular out of all of Noah’s grandsons; and it was Canaan who was cursed because of Ham’s indiscretions.
Why?
Because Canaan epitomised and manifested the defiant, bloodthirsty and murderous wickedness of the human heart – a generational evil that would remain till this very day.
Noah was not indiscriminate in cursing Canaan.
Ham had other sons, but his wickedness was evident and perhaps even, amplified in Canaan’s life.
Noah, servant of the living God, knew this.
When he planted that vineyard and got drunk from wine, laying uncovered in his tent, what was really happening?
There is no doubt that Ham dishonored his father, Noah, when he did nothing but to tell his brothers about it.
But what was so serious about Ham’s sin that compelled Noah to curse Canaan?
Of course, the first mention of wine in Scripture is connected with drunkenness, and the sin of loss of self-control; which we would rightly perceive as immodesty.
Certainly for the believer, drunkenness is sin.
However, what was so immodest about Noah laying naked in his own, private tent? What was Noah’s true condition?
What could Ham have said to his brothers that dishonored Noah “who was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:10)?
The key to understanding the severity of Ham’s sin lies in knowing the significance of Noah’s tent.
To Noah, his tent is his private space; which, to a man of God, would represent his private meeting place with his Lord, and God.
Every member of Noah’s family would have clearly understood the significance of his tent.
No one – who had any measure of reverence or respect for Noah as a prophet of God - had any business going into his tent unannounced; for it was there, Noah communed with God.
The old Noah had died spiritually in the flood, and had just been born-again.
He had just received God’s renewed covenant for him that was almost like the covenant that the unfallen Adam was a part of.
However, Noah’s expectation and vision of the new world after the flood had just been met with the harshest reality check that Mankind remains murderously wicked.
In his state of drunkenness, Noah was far from delusional; instead, his absolute lack of inhibitions reveals to us what or where he really desired to be.
For in that sacred place of his own private tent where he communes with the Lord, shut out away from the outside world, he would have believed – for just one moment – that he was in an unfallen state, living in an unfallen, sinless world, in the presence of his God.
In that new world, Noah’s tent was essentially God’s holy temple.
What Ham did, and said to his brothers was more than just speaking about their father’s immodesty; it was outright contempt for Noah’s deepest heart’s desire to be absolutely righteous, pure and holy in the sight of God and his desperate longing to live forever in God’s New Creation - just as Adam and the woman before they sinned against God.
Ham’s contempt for the holiness of God was the true reason for Noah’s curse on his son, Canaan – who had already begun to manifest an unholy defiance and murderous contempt for God and His Creation.
Today, as for you... what standards do you abide by?
Do you abide by a higher standard? Or a holy standard?
Like Noah before us, God is calling us to a life of holiness.
“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44)
A holy life is a life of daily repentance through Christ; and a life of desperate restoration unto the likeness of Christ.
A holy life daily seeks the Presence of God and lives in anticipation, and visions of His Coming Kingdom.
As for you... do you have a true desire for God’s Kingdom to come; for God’s Will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven?
Do you have a true desire to be God’s New Creation today, utterly casting away all worldly hopes and holding firmly only on Christ’s return?
Let us make it really clear.
Anything less than the utter and sole desire to be righteous before God; and for His Kingdom is contempt of God’s Love and Sovereign Will.
Do you worry about life? Or do you trust in God’s absolute providence?
You only worry about this life because your focus is on this world.
Our Lord Jesus reveals to us in Matthew 6:31-32, ““So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.””
When we worry, we are showing contempt for God’s Promises of Protection and Providence.
If you allow the Lord to re-align, or re-direct, your desires to transcend this world, unto for His Coming Kingdom, the New Creation – God promises that your life would certainly be more meaningful, more purposeful and more joyful – in reality, holier, and more acceptable before God.
Why?
Because you would be living in obedience to be set apart from this world and be holy – just as He is Holy.
Ham was cursed because he showed contempt for Noah’s inmost desire and divine vision of his eternal future in the Presence of God.
Do you have any contempt for Christ and His Kingdom?
Attachment to anything or anyone in this world is contempt for Christ and His Kingdom.
Not desiring, living and serving Christ as first and foremost and only in your life is contempt for Christ and His Kingdom.
Remember, we are aiming not for high standards; but holy standards set forth by God Himself.
Today, allow the Lord to transform your life; that your sole desire is to be holy – just as He is Holy.
In order to be holy, who would you need to fall upon your body, flood your heart and saturate your mind?
The Holy Spirit!
So, unlike Noah, do not be drunk on wine; instead, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “be filled with the Spirit”! (Ephesians 5:18)
Never be found in contempt of God’s Holiness; for you are called to His Holy Standard.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit daily!
For only in His Power can you truly be set apart, made holy and live fully as blessed child, and servant of the Most High God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, forgive my past when I have showed contempt for You and Your Holy Ways.
I declare that I belong to You, O God; and that I will resolve to devote my life to be set apart from the world; and be holy through Christ – just as You are Holy.
Holy Spirit, guard my heart, and guide my steps that I may be very careful of how I live.
Grant me divine wisdom and understanding of Your Sovereign Will; and divine courage, strength and resolve to live for You alone!
May I never be drunk on wine, which leads me to debauchery and ultimately, the lake of fire.
Holy Spirit, fill me with Your Holy Presence and Power; that I may build Your Church with “psalms, hymns, and songs” as You give me utterance. (Ephesians 5:18-19)
I give thanks to You, O Lord with all my life.
Thank You for holding me to Your Holy Standards; and thank You for using my life to the glory and for the gospel of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Fill my life with visions of Your Coming Kingdom; and grant that my sole desire is to know You more, and draw ever more deeply into Your Holy Presence.
Through my life, indeed, may Your Name be immensely revered.
I love You, Lord, I revere You and I glorify You alone!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
“As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent.
Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” (Genesis 9:7, 20-27)
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Risen Savior, Jesus Christ!
What really caused Noah to be so furious with Ham that he would curse his son, Canaan unto a lifetime of slavery?
Was it really because Ham “saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside” and in doing nothing, dishonored Noah?
To be cursed is certainly no small matter; especially by the man whom God commanded to build and enter the ark that saved humankind and all land creatures with him - through the flood that devastated the entire earth.
Noah’s anger towards Ham is rooted far more deeply than mere dishonor of a parent; it had everything to do with who Noah was.
Noah – living up to the holy standard
In every regard, Noah was a servant, evangelist, priest and prophet of the Most High God.
He was certainly, a man of God – set apart to be holy.
God’s word to Noah, “as for you...” – reveals that his sole purpose in life was to be found holy in God’s sight – and be truly blessed, to the glory of God.
Noah’s first act upon being commanded by God to come out of the ark with his family and every living creature with him – was to “built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.” (Genesis 8:20)
To which, “The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart:
“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood.
And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.” (Genesis 8:21)
For the Lord, Noah’s sacrifice of burnt offerings from some of the clean animals and birds was deeply pleasing to Him; because it meant that – like Abel before him (Ref: Genesis 4:4-5) - Noah understood his utter need for God’s salvific grace and mercy; and that he was only righteous before God because of his faith in God’s atoning work through the blood covering of innocent animals.
To this, we must remember that – as Christians – our present equivalent of Noah’s burnt offering is our tithe. (Ref: Leviticus 27:30, 27:32, Malachi 3:8-10)
God’s Covenant With Noah – the second Adam
“Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands.
Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.
Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.” (Genesis 9:1-3)
At this renewed beginning, God renewed His original anointing and blessing upon Mankind (Genesis 1:28) – along with His enduring Providence (Genesis 1:29-30) – through Noah and his sons.
However, God’s covenant with Noah is distinctly far different from His first covenant with Adam – in that, Adam was yet unfallen then; whereas Noah and his descendants were fallen beings; whose “every inclination ... is evil from childhood. (Genesis 8:21)
A different world; but the same wicked condition
The world that met Noah and his family when they stepped out of the ark was so different in that - the nutritional constitution of the green plants had decreased so substantially that God now appointed meat to supplement and fortify Man’s diet; and yet, the world remained the same because Mankind remain inclined to wickedness.
In fact, sin had brought such uninhibited violence into the world (Ref: Genesis 4) that God now introduced divine stipulations into human society - that would become the foundations of the divine Commandments that will soon follow under Moses - as Mankind becomes increasingly depraved and wicked.
The sacredness of life
“But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it.
And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting.
I will demand an accounting from every animal.
And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
“Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God has God made mankind. (Genesis 9:4-6)
The world has changed immensely in its constitution.
Meat is now allowed to be part of Man’s diet.
However, we are strictly forbidden to “eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it”; for “the life of every creature is its blood. (Leviticus 17:14)
To our Lord, in spite of the carnage brought about by the flood, life remains utterly sacred.
All life is the precious, and mysterious, gift of God; and no man is to seek to preserve it, or increase it, by consuming blood.
Every human being is precious is God’s sight; and those who shed human blood – in taking another person’s life, and even their own - will be held accountable by God.
In fact, God’s judgement would be so complete that even animals will be held accountable.
God desires that we understand that we are each precious to Him; because we are created in His image; and as earthly representations and focal point of God’s character and His Kingdom.
However, the reality is that every inclination of the human heart is “evil from childhood.” (Genesis 8:21)
This sets the stage for a world fraught with violence and bloodshed.
God definitively draws the divine moral boundary to guard the sanctity of human life by categorically forbidding murder in society.
He does this in two ways:
(1) By emphasizing that human beings are created in His image, and thus, our lives are all sacred in His sight; and
(2) By instituting capital punishment – to which, God commands that every murderer to be punished with death.
In killing another human being, a murderer demonstrates not only contempt for a fellow-human being; but more dreadfully, contempt for God.
Today, as a Church, we are faced with numerous ‘socially-acceptable’ and ‘legally-accepted’ forms of murder.
In the knowledge of these iniquities, we must continue to preach and pray the Gospel of Christ into the world around us.
(i) Wars that indiscriminately take the lives of both combatants and civilians;
(ii) Abortions that are not compelled by the mother’s physical health are estimated to take the lives of 73 million babies globally. This apparent estimate, however, does not include China and India; which together, make up half the world’s population;
(iii) Euthanasia - Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID), that was legislated into Canadian law since March 17, 2021. MAID allows for ‘medically-ascertained’ terminally ill patients to apply, and qualify for assisted death under the supervision of a trained medical professional.
In May of 2022, Denise, a 31-year-old disabled Toronto woman - who was conditionally approved for MAID due to her sever sensitivities to chemicals - had her application for assisted death temporarily suspended because an outpouring of financial support made it possible for her move into a hotel “that uses low-scented cleaning chemicals, and has windows that open on a ravine, providing fresh air”; a much healthier environment, devoid of the smokes and fumes of the city.
She was cleared by not one, but two doctors, to be qualified by MAID due to "irremediable suffering".
Denise essentially qualified for medically-assisted death not because her illness, but because of her poverty and our society’s inability to offer the help that she needs.
Her story is ominously similar to another woman, Sophia, who also suffered from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities, but received a medically-assisted death in February 2022 after numerous failed attempts to find and live in an apartment away from the smoke and chemicals that causes her suffering. Her family was only informed after the fact.
Contempt for human life is contempt for God.
Murder, by any other name or under any law, is unequivocally - murder.
To take the life of another, or to allow a life to be taken – including your own – is murder in the eyes of God that reveals the world’s dark contempt and defiance against Him.
Such was the world – as it still remains - a world fraught with violence and bloodshed, that met Noah after the great flood.
Even after God made a covenant with Noah that “never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth” because of Man’s wickedness; a covenant that was followed – till this day – with the rainbow, as the sign of the covenant between God and the earth (Ref: Genesis 9:12-17), Noah knew that this new world was far from God’s perfect world, which was the place of his deepest desire.
Canaan
“The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) (Genesis 9:18)
The mention of Canaan, the son of Ham, in this sidenote reveals Noah’s knowledge that there remains a human wickedness that would result in uninhibited violence and bloodshed that would plague the world throughout history; and Canaan, evidently manifested this wickedness even in his early years.
Remember the original name for the Promised Land?
Canaan.
Canaan’s descendants would be the reason why Israel initially refused to enter the Promised Land; for there were “Anakites” who dwelt in Canaan – giants who would compare the Israelite spies to ‘grasshoppers’. (Ref: Numbers 13:21-33)
And because Joshua did not fully obey God’s command to “destroy them totally...without mercy” (Joshua 11:20, Ref: Judges 1-2), leaving behind some Anakites in “Gaza, Gath and Ashdod” (Joshua 11:22) – there would arise a champion of the Philistines many generations later from Gath, by the name of Goliath - whose stature struck fear into the hearts of Israel just as his descendants did to Moses’ Israel.
Of course, the shepherd boy, David, make quick work of him – only because of his utter faith in God.
Canaan, the son of Ham, was mentioned in particular out of all of Noah’s grandsons; and it was Canaan who was cursed because of Ham’s indiscretions.
Why?
Because Canaan epitomised and manifested the defiant, bloodthirsty and murderous wickedness of the human heart – a generational evil that would remain till this very day.
Noah was not indiscriminate in cursing Canaan.
Ham had other sons, but his wickedness was evident and perhaps even, amplified in Canaan’s life.
Noah, servant of the living God, knew this.
When he planted that vineyard and got drunk from wine, laying uncovered in his tent, what was really happening?
There is no doubt that Ham dishonored his father, Noah, when he did nothing but to tell his brothers about it.
But what was so serious about Ham’s sin that compelled Noah to curse Canaan?
Of course, the first mention of wine in Scripture is connected with drunkenness, and the sin of loss of self-control; which we would rightly perceive as immodesty.
Certainly for the believer, drunkenness is sin.
However, what was so immodest about Noah laying naked in his own, private tent? What was Noah’s true condition?
What could Ham have said to his brothers that dishonored Noah “who was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:10)?
The key to understanding the severity of Ham’s sin lies in knowing the significance of Noah’s tent.
To Noah, his tent is his private space; which, to a man of God, would represent his private meeting place with his Lord, and God.
Every member of Noah’s family would have clearly understood the significance of his tent.
No one – who had any measure of reverence or respect for Noah as a prophet of God - had any business going into his tent unannounced; for it was there, Noah communed with God.
The old Noah had died spiritually in the flood, and had just been born-again.
He had just received God’s renewed covenant for him that was almost like the covenant that the unfallen Adam was a part of.
However, Noah’s expectation and vision of the new world after the flood had just been met with the harshest reality check that Mankind remains murderously wicked.
In his state of drunkenness, Noah was far from delusional; instead, his absolute lack of inhibitions reveals to us what or where he really desired to be.
For in that sacred place of his own private tent where he communes with the Lord, shut out away from the outside world, he would have believed – for just one moment – that he was in an unfallen state, living in an unfallen, sinless world, in the presence of his God.
In that new world, Noah’s tent was essentially God’s holy temple.
What Ham did, and said to his brothers was more than just speaking about their father’s immodesty; it was outright contempt for Noah’s deepest heart’s desire to be absolutely righteous, pure and holy in the sight of God and his desperate longing to live forever in God’s New Creation - just as Adam and the woman before they sinned against God.
Ham’s contempt for the holiness of God was the true reason for Noah’s curse on his son, Canaan – who had already begun to manifest an unholy defiance and murderous contempt for God and His Creation.
Today, as for you... what standards do you abide by?
Do you abide by a higher standard? Or a holy standard?
Like Noah before us, God is calling us to a life of holiness.
“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44)
A holy life is a life of daily repentance through Christ; and a life of desperate restoration unto the likeness of Christ.
A holy life daily seeks the Presence of God and lives in anticipation, and visions of His Coming Kingdom.
As for you... do you have a true desire for God’s Kingdom to come; for God’s Will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven?
Do you have a true desire to be God’s New Creation today, utterly casting away all worldly hopes and holding firmly only on Christ’s return?
Let us make it really clear.
Anything less than the utter and sole desire to be righteous before God; and for His Kingdom is contempt of God’s Love and Sovereign Will.
Do you worry about life? Or do you trust in God’s absolute providence?
You only worry about this life because your focus is on this world.
Our Lord Jesus reveals to us in Matthew 6:31-32, ““So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.””
When we worry, we are showing contempt for God’s Promises of Protection and Providence.
If you allow the Lord to re-align, or re-direct, your desires to transcend this world, unto for His Coming Kingdom, the New Creation – God promises that your life would certainly be more meaningful, more purposeful and more joyful – in reality, holier, and more acceptable before God.
Why?
Because you would be living in obedience to be set apart from this world and be holy – just as He is Holy.
Ham was cursed because he showed contempt for Noah’s inmost desire and divine vision of his eternal future in the Presence of God.
Do you have any contempt for Christ and His Kingdom?
Attachment to anything or anyone in this world is contempt for Christ and His Kingdom.
Not desiring, living and serving Christ as first and foremost and only in your life is contempt for Christ and His Kingdom.
Remember, we are aiming not for high standards; but holy standards set forth by God Himself.
Today, allow the Lord to transform your life; that your sole desire is to be holy – just as He is Holy.
In order to be holy, who would you need to fall upon your body, flood your heart and saturate your mind?
The Holy Spirit!
So, unlike Noah, do not be drunk on wine; instead, in the words of the Apostle Paul, “be filled with the Spirit”! (Ephesians 5:18)
Never be found in contempt of God’s Holiness; for you are called to His Holy Standard.
Be filled with the Holy Spirit daily!
For only in His Power can you truly be set apart, made holy and live fully as blessed child, and servant of the Most High God.
Shalom.
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord, forgive my past when I have showed contempt for You and Your Holy Ways.
I declare that I belong to You, O God; and that I will resolve to devote my life to be set apart from the world; and be holy through Christ – just as You are Holy.
Holy Spirit, guard my heart, and guide my steps that I may be very careful of how I live.
Grant me divine wisdom and understanding of Your Sovereign Will; and divine courage, strength and resolve to live for You alone!
May I never be drunk on wine, which leads me to debauchery and ultimately, the lake of fire.
Holy Spirit, fill me with Your Holy Presence and Power; that I may build Your Church with “psalms, hymns, and songs” as You give me utterance. (Ephesians 5:18-19)
I give thanks to You, O Lord with all my life.
Thank You for holding me to Your Holy Standards; and thank You for using my life to the glory and for the gospel of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ!
Fill my life with visions of Your Coming Kingdom; and grant that my sole desire is to know You more, and draw ever more deeply into Your Holy Presence.
Through my life, indeed, may Your Name be immensely revered.
I love You, Lord, I revere You and I glorify You alone!
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.