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Sermon preached on Genesis 9:18-28 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 06/04/2023 in Petaluma, CA.
Sermon Manuscript
Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
We come to the last part of this section in Genesis that focuses on Noah. Next chapter begins a new section focusing on the generations of Noah’s three sons. But this passage begins to transition us to thinking about Noah’s sons even while finishing the story of Noah as bringing him and his sons into a new world of sorts. Verses 18-19 remind us of these sons. They are Shem, Ham, and Japheth. We are told that Ham is the father of Canaan, a fact which is emphasized again down in verse 22 and again seen in verse 25. In other words, this is not only a story of Noah and his vineyard, it is also the backstory of the Canaanite peoples. I remind you again, that Genesis was recorded by Moses as God used Moses to bring Israel out of Egypt and to the brink of entering the Promised Land aka the land of Canaan. At that time, Canaan was filled with a bunch of wicked, idolatrous, sexually immoral Canaanites, so vile they even practiced child sacrifice. This is their infamous origin story. In contrast, you have a positive background for the nations that would come from Shem and Japheth. We’ll look next chapter at the various nations that have come from these three, but we should recognize that Shem is the line that the nation of Israel would later flow from, and thus also of Jesus.
So then, let us in our first point for today observe Noah planting a vineyard and imbibing on its fruits. We are told about him planting a vineyard in verse 20. Some have thought this means he was the first person ever to plant a vineyard, but that seems to be a stretch on the language. But stepping back, realize that this isn’t just a random story about some random event in a vineyard. Remember the context. The Flood had painted things as a de-creation and then re-creation. Noah and family were described as stepping out into this new world. God reissued his blessing and creational mandate upon them as they started afresh on this renewed earth. So, we had been seeing a lot of the first few chapters of Genesis being reprised here with Noah and family post-Flood. That clearly continues here. Today’s passage is a sort of reprise of Genesis 3. There are similarities but also relevant differences. But there are echoes back to Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden and they fall into sin and God issues his curse upon them.
So then, we find Noah, not in a garden planted by God, but in a vineyard planted by himself. That Garden of God was pretty amazing, with all the variety of trees that were good for food. But a vineyard, while maybe not quite of the same sort of paradise that Eden was, surely was a nice thing. You get grapes from vineyards, and you can make wine from vineyards. The Bible speaks in various places about the goodness and bounty of vineyards. For example, Israel’s later Promised Land is described very bountifully, including that it had vineyards. And Scripture will later make use of the vineyard imagery at various places as an analogy of God’s people. Jesus himself spoke of himself as a vine and us his people as the branches. Vineyards are a good thing, a blessing of God’s creation on this earth.
So then, Adam began in a Garden and was there tested by God. Noah here begins in a vineyard. Would Noah show himself here to be not only a sort of Second Adam, but also a better Adam? Well, though not painted in the same evil, certainly Noah has a failing here. Verse 21 says that not only did he drink some of the wine that he produced from vineyard, but he drank too much of it. He got drunk. Now, let me say, there are some that want to excuse Noah’s drunkenness here. They suggest that maybe he didn’t know that would happen. Yet, it seems hard to imagine that someone who had lived six hundred years on earth, in a world full of wicked people, hadn’t learned anything about the evils of being drunk yet. But, clearly this passage does not paint drunkenness in a good light. Even though it does not specifically say, “Don’t get drunk,” or, “Getting drunk is a sin,” you are supposed to read this passage and observe that it is not good to get drunk. In verse 21 his becoming naked is what leaves him naked and vulnerable to Ham’s actions. Notice the subtle language in verse 24 that further explains what was going on. It says there that Noah eventually awoke from his wine. In other words, he had so much wine and became so drunk that resulted in him being naked and probably passed out in some vulnerable way.
Elsewhere, the Bible also teaches against drunkenness. Yes, there is an acceptable use of wine, if enjoyed in moderation. Psalm 104:15 says that God gave man wine to gladden his heart. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper which included wine. Much more could be said of positives uses for wine. But we must be aware of the temptation to drunkenness in any drink that includes alcohol. There are examples in the Bible like this of the deleterious effects of alcohol. There are proverbs that teach how unwise it is to get drunk, like Proverbs 20:1, that says, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.” And there are commands that explicitly forbid drunkenness such as Ephesians 5:18 which says, “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery.” And so, while it’s not inherently wrong to drink wine, but it is clearly wrong to get drunk.
So then up to this point, Noah had only been painted as one who righteously walked with God, but here he is pictured not as walking with God but lying in his folly and shame. And yet, we don’t see him cast out of this vineyard like Adam was cast out of the Garden, because, frankly, we are long past that. Mankind had already fallen into sin and been expelled from God’s garden. Noah’s coming into a renewed earth never restored him to that paradise lost. It is God’s mercy that post-Fall and post-Flood mankind can enjoy vineyards, but it is but an echo of Eden. And Noah’s overindulgence reminds us that they are still in a fallen world and humans are still fallen creatures.
Let us turn next to consider this concern of Noah’s nakedness here. Realize, this further connects us with Genesis 3. Remember what we saw back then with Adam and Eve. Just before chapter 3, Genesis told us that Adam and Eve were naked but were not ashamed. That was their condition before they fell into sin. Then the serpent came along and got them to sin against God. It then immediately speaks of how their sin opened their eyes and they realized they were naked. That is when they became ashamed of being naked and tried to hope themselves from God and tried to make coverings for themselves. Their coverings weren’t the best, and so God ultimately made them clothing from animal skins to cover them. And so, we think from there how animals were killed to cover man’s sin.
So then, here in this reprise of Genesis 3, notice that the humans don’t start out naked. No, Noah starts out our passage with his clothes on. They were living well past the events of Genesis 3. Mankind’s sin had already brought the shame of their nakedness. God set the precedence for clothing after we fell into sin, and it was expected from then on for mankind to generally wear clothing. Those who promote nudism are wrong. Our clothing not only promotes chastity and protects us from the elements, but it also symbolizes the covering of our sin and the shame that comes along with sin.
So then, it is the sin of drunkenness that results in Noah becoming uncovered for others to see. And it is then the sin of his son Ham that further exploits this. Look at Ham’s sin in verse 22. It says that Ham saw his father’s nakedness and that he told his brothers about it. Ham’s seeing of his father is probably meant in the sense of prolonged gazing, and not just some passing glance that caught his eye. And his telling this to his brothers is probably to be understood as further compounding the issue as drawing attention to the shame of Noah’s drunken-induced indecency. So, it was sin that led to Noah’s uncovering. And it was Ham’s sin that led to looking upon this and drawing attention to the shame of such nakedness. I would note that some have wondered if the language of Ham seeing Noah’s nakedness is euphemism for something worse, that Ham did more than just look. Yet, while there is somewhat similar euphemistic language in Leviticus of uncovering nakedness to refer to physical intimacy, it’s harder to interpret things like that here in context. The covering of Noah by Ham’s brothers and their averting of their eyes does suggest we take the concern here literally, that Ham’s sin is the way he looked and then exposed the nakedness of his father. As Satan caused Adam and Eve’s nakedness to come to light, so Ham acts in a somewhat similar vein.
In contrast, you have the commendable behavior of Shem and Japheth in response. After Ham tells them about this, they go into action. Look at verse 23. They take a garment to go and cover their father. So they don’t gaze upon his nakedness, but rather they walk in backward and turn their eyes away. They then cover their father with the garment. You see how they do what Ham should have done? Instead of highlighting the shame of their father, they seek to cover that shame. In other words, Shem and Japheth do the kind of thing God did for Adam and Eve after their fall in the Garden. God covered Adam and Eve, and here Shem and Japheth cover Noah. When we speak of atonement, that’s what the word means, it’s a word of covering. To atone for our sin is to find a way to cover up our sins. God clothes us to cover up our nakedness as a way to speak symbolically how we need to cover up our sin. While Ham in this passage looks little like the Serpent in Genesis 3, Shem and Japheth look a little like God there in Genesis 3.
This leads us then to our third point to see how Noah awakes and declares these blessings and curses. This starts in verse 24. Noah wakes up from his wine and figures out what happened. Then in verse 25 he issues a curse against Ham by cursing his son Canaan. And then in verses 26-27 he issues a blessing for Shem and Japheth while again reaffirming Canaan’s cursed state.
I will again note how this shares a similarity with Genesis 3. After Adam and Eve sinned, God confronts them and declares various curses against them, in poetic form. Here, Noah is the one to speak similarly. I remind you especially of Genesis 3:14-15 that began that section of cursing. That’s where God mentions how there would be ongoing enmity and strife between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman, but that one day the seed of the woman would strike the head of the serpent. God says that all as part of the curses that he is delivering in light of their sin, but we recognize there is also promised blessing in there. And so there God acknowledges an ongoing battle on earth between good and evil, but also foretells a coming redeemer that will one day be born to bring salvation from Satan. Realize that what is going on here with Noah’s sons, is a continued outworking of that enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Ham is a servant of Satan in this, and Shem and Japheth serve the Lord in this. And realize then that what Noah declares about these sons is to speak prophetically about how this dynamic would yet continue on into the future history. Indeed, what Noah says is prophetic of the future in that it paints a snapshot of redemptive history going forward.
This helps us to appreciate, I think, some of the interesting dynamics of these blessings and curses in verses 25-27. Clearly, Noah utters them in connection to what had just happened, but there is something bigger and grander than just this incident. We might wonder, why does God curse Ham by choosing to curse just one specific child of Ham, namely Canaan. And why does Shem seem to get a better blessing than Japheth, even though there is nothing per se in this passage that seems to credit one over the other. But we need to recognize that Noah’s words here are not just rooted in what just happened. They are also a prophecy. They are a prophetic utterance about the future. The occasion for this prophecy is what just happened in the vineyard incident. But the content looks well beyond that incident. The curses and blessings are not just punishment and reward for what just happened, they are also Noah acting as a prophet seeing down the corridors of redemptive history about what his sons’ descendants will do.
Start with verse 25 and the curse upon Canaan. Remember, the passage has emphasized that Canaan is Ham’s son. Ham has several other sons and we’ll see next chapter. We can ask why Noah puts the curse on just one of Ham’s sons. Maybe it was mercy. But surely it is also prophecy. It would be Canaan’s line that would become so sinful and wicked in later generations that would lead to them becoming a servant especially of Shem’s line. Interestingly, the name of Canaan actually is a form of the word “subdued” which is exactly what Israel which is of Shem’s line would ultimately do to them. But as we’ll learn later in Genesis, the reason God will in the future allow Israel to subdue Canaan in the conquest of Canaan is because how wicked and sinful Canaan will be. So, while at first glance someone could mistakenly think Canaan is being punished for Ham’s sin, the situation is more nuanced than that. This prophecy will find ultimate fruition in Canaanites who clearly personally earn God’s judgment upon them. So then, what Canaan represents here are the wicked reprobate who are under God’s judgment for their sin. That will play out later in history in a very specific way when Israel conquers Canaan and God calls Israel to utterly wipe them out. Any who survived that, tend to find themselves in subjection to Israel or yet at further enmity with them. But ultimately, the battle belongs to the Lord. What was begun to be realized in the conquest of Canaan by Shem’s descendants in Israel, will yet be realized in the full at the coming of Christ when all the reprobate are done away with.
So then come to verse 26 and we find the blessing upon Shem. Interestingly, it is most literally a blessing to God. It says “Blessed be the LORD.” That is a wonderful theological truth that all our good deeds are wrought in our hearts by the LORD. Shem and Japheth did this good deed here and God rightly gets the glory. Yet, while this benediction is spoken in one breath to God, it does clearly mean to extend upon Shem too. The LORD is said here to be the God of Shem. I would note that such is not so explicitly said of Japheth. And I would note that the word LORD here, in all capitals, is a reference to the Hebrew name Yahweh which is the personal, covenantal name God especially revealed to Israel. Again, it is hard to find a reason for why Shem is so singled out positively here even over Japheth in the vineyard incident. But looking ahead to history, we see God’s special interest of grace that he will show to Israel of Shem’s line, starting with the patriarch Abraham, then to Isaac, then to Jacob. God will specially put his name upon Israel as his own people. Interestingly, Shem even means name, and it’s the name of God that is highlighted as being put upon Shem here and later upon his descendant Israel. In other words, what this blessing upon Shem looks ahead to is how God will call out a special chosen people in Israel. In and through Israel his name will be made know to the world, and in and through Israel his salvation will come to the world. The blessing upon Shem stands representatively in history of God’s chosen people in contrast to the way cursed Canaan stood representatively as the reprobate of God.
And then you have the interesting blessing upon Japheth in verse 27. His name means “enlarge” which is what is described of him, that God would enlarge him. As we’ll see more next week, he represents a large group of people including likely large people groups ranging from Europeans to many Asians. He is blessed not only to be enlarged, but to find himself dwelling in Shem’s tents. For Japheth to dwell in Shem’s tents is to suggest Japheth being included into the household of Shem as a brother. This is in contrast to how Canaan is described to be a servant to both. Again, we have trouble seeing how this would be influenced by any of the context of the vineyard incident. But it does look ahead to the very clear history of what we now call the Gentile inclusion into Israel. The gospel of salvation in Jesus has gone out to the nations, many of whom are literally from Japheth, and have been brought into one chosen and blessed people of God.
I should add a major and wonderful clarifying point here. There are some broad and sweeping statements here that paints redemptive history through these three genealogical lines. Broadly we see here the idea of divine reprobation in Canaan’s line, and God’s electing in Shem’s line and his ultimate inclusion of Japheth’s line into that heritage of God’s chosen people. We must not treat that simplistically, because the Bible will not let us do that. For example, we see later Paul tell us that not all Israel is really Israel, just like how Abraham’s line would see Isaac chosen and not Ishmael. The same could be said for Canaan’s line. There are people like the Gibeonites of Canaan’s line, or Rahab, or Uriah the Hittite who have been brought into the people of God. And of course the many other sons of Ham aren’t even mentioned here, but later in Genesis we’ll be told that God’s saving blessings through Shem’s line in Abraham can bring blessing to all the families on the earth. So, we can’t take these blessings in simplistically wooden terms without missing the clear nuance of Scripture. To say it in technical terms for those who might benefit: there is so much of our Calvinistic predestination right here in today’s passage, but we must not take these truths in some hyper-Calvinistic way.
In conclusion, this all comes together and in focus in Jesus Christ. We are reminded as Noah lay drunk and uncovered in that new world they came into, that sin was still there. Ham only further reminded of such evil in the world. The blessing and curses reminded us what sin and righteousness respectively “earns”. Looking ahead we see a world of both reprobate and elect. Jesus brings this all into focus. He is the atonement to cover our sin and shame. He took on our curses to earn us all blessings. In Jesus, all families of the earth can come to know this blessing. Jesus will ultimately guide us into a new creation where there will be no more sin and shame. May we all find ourselves then in the tent of God’s chosen people. And the only way we will find that, is by the name of Jesus. Repent of your sins and believe in him today.
Amen.
Copyright © 2022 Rev. W. Reid Hankins, M.Div.
All Rights Reserved.
