Noah’s Seed
Genesis 9:25-29 (KJV)
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
Our text takes us to the time following one of the saddest pictures in the Word of God. Noah the prophet of God, a man who was described by God as being righteous, gives in to a temptation of the devil. Perhaps, like Elijah after a great victory over the prophets of Baal came under an attack of the enemy in the form of depression and anxiety, Noah for what ever reason, gave in to a temptation to drink and it was in this time of drunkenness that Ham, his youngest son, came into the tent and looked upon Noah’s nakedness.
When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor, he noticed something different, perhaps the way the covering was thrown over him. Apparently, he asked his sons about the matter, and the older sons told him what had happened. Noah’s heart, as any godly father’s heart would be, was broken...
• broken because of what he had done to God.
• broken because his sin had led his son to commit a most grievous sin.
But more than Noah’s heart being broken, God’s heart was broken, broken because His servant had fallen into sin and tragically affected his testimony and family so much. God convicted Noah, and Noah repented. How do we know this? Because God moved upon Noah with the spirit of prophecy and led Noah to predict the future of the human race. Remember, Noah’s three sons stood at the head of the three branches of the human race. The three sons—the three branches of the human race—now became the focus of Scripture so in this prophecy you see the three people groups that remain unto this day.
I. Cursed be Canaan (Canaan is the seed of Ham) — When Noah discovered that Ham had been indiscreet, (to look upon the nakedness of another) he uttered a curse on Canaan and a blessing on Shem and Japheth. In the biblical material the patriarchal pronouncement generally concerns the destiny of the sons with regard to the fertility of the ground, the fertility of the family and relationships between family members. It is also important to notice that most scholars believe the sin of Ham was sexual perversion; “The nations of Canaan were known to be the most sexually perverted, morally depraved, and bloodthirsty peoples of all ancient history. Their depravity is mentioned in the Bible (Genesis 13:13; Genesis 15:16; Genesis 18:20; Genesis 19:1-11; Numbers 25:1-3; Judges 19:14-25; 1 Kings 14:24; 1 Kings 15:12; 1 Kings 22:46; 2 Kings 23:7 It was because of the depravity of the Canaanites that God gave their land back to the Jews and ordered their extermination (Deut. 7:1-5; Deut. 20:10-15; Joshua 9:24)”. (wilmingtons bible handbook) Canaan was not singled out for the curse because he was the youngest son of Ham, nor was it a random selection. Apparently Noah saw in the youngest son of Ham the same tendencies and perversions that had been evidenced in Ham. When Noah had fully recovered from the effects of his drunkenness, he uttered this curse against Canaan. Noah could not have cursed his son, for he and his brothers, along with Noah, had been the objects of a blessing in Genesis 9:1. Neither Noah nor anyone else could reverse such a blessing with a curse. Balaam the son of Beor learned this the hard way in Numbers 22-24.
Still, there may well have been an element of “mirroring” punishment here, especially if Canaan was to exhibit the out-workings of the tendencies already present in Ham’s failure to cover Noah’s nakedness. Finally, it is a matter of historical record that the Canaanites were notoriously deviant in their sexual behavior. Almost everywhere the archaeologist’s spade has dug in that part of the world there have been fertility symbols accompanying texts explicit enough to make many a modern pornographic dealer seem a mere beginner in the trade of deviant sexuality. Sodom left its name for the vice these people practiced. Even the Romans, so depraved in their own practices, were shocked by the behavior of the Phoenicians at the colony of Carthage (the last vestige of the Canaanite race).
II. Blessed be the Lord God of Shem—rather, "Blessed of Jehovah, my God, be Shem,"—an intimation that the descendants of Shem should be peculiarly honored and of them, concerning the flesh, Christ came. There was the prediction about Shem: he was to be the father of a people whose God is to be blessed (Genesis 9:26). Note that God is blessed here, not Shem, not directly. Shem’s blessing is all wrapped up in God Himself. Two things are meant by this blessing:
The knowledge of God—of the only true and living God, of the true religion was to come through Shem and his descendents. Abraham was to be part of the seed, a descendent of Shem, and through Abraham the nation of Israel was to be born.
The promised seed, the Savior of the world, was to come through the line of Shem.
Thus, the God of Shem is to be blessed because He is going to choose the line of Shem...
• to proclaim the only living and true God to the world.
• to bear the promised seed, the Savior of the world!
III. God shall enlarge Japheth.
The seed of Japheth deals with what we would consider the “gentile” nations. Look at the prophecy that is made regarding him; “I will enlarge you.” That is pointing to a vast increase in posterity and possessions. Accordingly his descendants have been the most active and enterprising, spread over the best and largest portion of the world, all Europe and a considerable part of Asia.
Gomer: the descendents of Gomer, the first son of Japheth (Genesis 10:3).
Gomer
Ashkenaz Riphath Togarmah
The descendents of Gomer are identified as the Cimmerians. They spread north and west of the Black Sea, settling such areas as Ancient Galatia, Phyrgia, Bithynia, and the upper region of the Euphrates river in Armenia. These descendents eventually spread westward into Europe and became known as...
• the Gauls of France
• the Celtics of Briton
• the Galacia of Spain
• the Germans
• the Welsh
• the Irish
This prophecy being fulfilled at the present day, as Great Britain is established and the Anglo-Saxons being in the ascendancy from Europe to India, from India over the American continent. What a wonderful prophecy in a few verses (Isaiah 46:10; 1 Peter 1:25)!
IV. “…he shall dwell in the tents of Shem”
Of all that we have studied this part is absolutely overwhelming. Hid in the last part of the 27th verse is a prophecy that you have to get a-hold of. By the Spirit of God, Noah prophesies of a day that was coming when the gentile nations, the seed of Japheth, would find a covering in the seed or offspring of Shem. According to Romans 11 Gentiles would flourish spiritually when grafted into the fullness of God’s mercy, first revealed to the world through Israel.
Ephes. 2:1-22 (KJV)
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; [2] Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: [3] Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. [4] But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, [5] Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) [6] And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: [7] That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. [8] For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: [9] Not of works, lest any man should boast. [10] For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
[11] Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; [12] That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: [13] But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. [14] For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; [15] Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; [16] And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: [17] And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. [18] For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. [19] Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; [20] And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; [21] In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: [22] In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
