GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSEMENT (PART 3)

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

The sons of Shem:

Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

The sons of Aram:

Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek.

Arphaxad was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber.

Two sons were born to Eber:

One was named Peleg, because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

Genesis 10:21-32

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the final message of this series which looks at the geographical dispersement after God confused the language of all people at Babel before scattering them, we come to the third of Noah’s three sons, Shem. Like his brother, Japheth, Shem had received a blessing from his father after covering up his nakedness cause by a sleep-induced drunkenness. Here were Noah’s exact words:

“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.” Genesis 9:26-27

With this, we see that Shem was a man of God and so it’s of little surprise that we find him in the lineage of Jesus.

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph, the son of Heli, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melki, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph, the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai, the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Josek, the son of Joda, the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri, the son of Melki, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmadam, the son of Er, the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonam, the son of Eliakim, the son of Melea, the son of Menna, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David, the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, the son of Ram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah, the son of Jacob,the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor, the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah, the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem... Luke 3:23-36

Now, we often wouldn’t hear the word Shem and necessarily associate him with greatness like we would people in his family tree like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or the famous King David, but it’s important to note that the cultural people identifier, Semite, belongs to any descendant of Shem who spoke Semitic languages. These languages included Arabic, Aramaic, and Hebrew among others. It is this latter connection to the Jewish people that led to the word “anti-semitism” to define acts against the Jews, a word that we still find prevalent in present times.

Further, the line of Shem would branch out into the following nations:

1. The people of Elam ended up connected to Persia.

2. Ashur’s descendants became associated with the Assyrians.

3. The Chaldeans were born from Arphaxad.

4. Lydia emerged from the lineage of Lud.

and

5. Aram was the progenitor of the Arameans.

And so when we read through the scriptures and touch on any of these clans and their associated territories, we can come back to Shem and know that their “lines of descent” trace back to him. This provides depth to our study as we continue to marvel at the Bible and all the connections found within, especially in regard to our Savior, Jesus.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSEMENT (PART 2)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:8-9

The sons of Ham:

Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

The sons of Cush:

Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:

Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

Genesis 10:6-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The words of his father Noah prophesied about the future of Ham’s descendents, especially those of his son Canaan:

When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said:

“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”

“May Canaan be the slave of Shem.”

“...and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.” Genesis 9:25-27

You’ll recall that all of this originated when Ham, seeing his father lying uncovered in his tent after passing out from drunkenness, failed to cover his father and instead went to tell his two brothers, Shem and Japheth, who then took care of draping a garment over the naked Noah. Once awake from his alcohol-induced sleep, Noah learned of what happened and wished a curse on Ham’s son and those who would be his descendents.

So how would this look after God caused the great scattering at Babel?

We find out as we look at today’s passage and Ham’s family tree. Look again at those words here from Genesis, chapter 10:

The sons of Ham:

Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

The sons of Cush:

Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka.

The sons of Raamah:

Sheba and Dedan.

Cush was the father of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord.” The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites.

Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. Vv.6-20

Like we saw in yesterday’s message, the genealogy account begins sons and then the offspring of those sons. In Ham’s case, he had four sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Of those four, we see the most attention given to Cush and Canaan, the latter of which being the progenitor of the Canaanites and their offshoot clans, the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. All inhabited the land of Canaan and most are listed in this passage found in the Book of Deuteronomy as the Israelites were given direction on how to take over the land God had promised them:

When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations—the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, seven nations larger and stronger than you—and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your children away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.

This is what you are to do to them: Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones, cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols in the fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession (7:1-6)

It’s obvious here that those from the line of Ham will choose to reject the Lord and serve other gods. We further read that eventually “the Canaanite clans” would scatter “to where “the borders of Canaan” would reach toward Sodom and Gomorrah, two cities known best for being utterly destroyed by God because of their wicked sinfulness.

Turning to Cush, look at where his bloodline led.

First, we learn where he “the father of Nimrod”, a “mighty warrior on the earth” and a “mighty hunter before the Lord”. The scriptures tell us one of the “first centers of his kingdom” was none other than Babylon and he also “went to Assyria where he built Nineveh”. In Micah, we find Assyria referred to as “the land of Nimrod” (5:6).

And so Cush, one of the four sons of Noah’s son, Ham, ended up associated with the two major empires that attacked and conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, the Assyrians and Babylonians respectively, through his son Nimrod.

In today’s message, we continue to see reaching impact of the geographical dispersement of people after God’s work in Babel and how this would go onto connect to the history of the Israelites found within our Old Testament studies.

Tomorrow, we’ll finish this series by looking at Noah’s third son, Shem, and his lineage.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISPERSEMENT (PART 1)

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:8-9

This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The sons of Japheth:

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer:

Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan:

Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

Genesis 10:1-5

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In yesterday’s message, we saw where the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 11 actually contain an event that happened before what we read in chapter 10, the confusion of language caused by God and then the subsequent scattering of the people in Babel (11:8-9).

Today, we go back to chapter 10 where we find where the offspring of Noah’s sons – Japheth, Ham, and Shem – ending up geographically after the Babel dispersing. For the next three days, we’ll cover each son’s lineage, beginning today with Japheth. Look again at our passage here:

This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The sons of Japheth:

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

The sons of Gomer:

Ashkenaz, Riphath and Togarmah.

The sons of Javan:

Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. (From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)  Genesis 10:1-5

Before we get into this, we need to remember what happened at the end of chapter 9 before Noah passed away.

You’ll remember that after making wine off the fresh grapes he grew from the earth after the flood, Noah became drunk and ended up lying naked in his tent. We discussed how nakedness was considered shameful going all the way back to Eden’s garden after the fall and so there was Noah, passed out and unable to cover himself.

The scriptures told us that Ham was the first to see his father exposed but instead of taking action, he went to tell his other two brothers. Hearing what had transpired, Japheth and Shem took a garment and laid it over their shoulders before backing into their father’s tent so they weren’t laying eyes on him and covering up his nakedness.

When Noah came around and learned what had happened, you’ll remember that he wished blessings on Japheth and Shem but cursed Ham, swearing consequences would come upon his son Canaan, who we know would be the progenitor of the Canaanite nation.

Okay, with that recap, we enter into chapter 10 and look first at one of the two blessed sons, Japheth. We read where he had seven sons: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras with two of them, Gomer and Javan, going on to have sons of their own. Of interest, each of the sons mentioned born from Japheth - Gomer and Javan - are referred to as nations and this chapter in Genesis is under the overall title, “The Table of Nations”.

Our scripture passage today also tells us something else about this particular clan. For we read where they were “maritime peoples” (think seagoing) who “spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations”, each having “its own language”. These descendants of Japheth would go out into a large part of Europe and Asia which fulfilled Noah’s wish that God would “extend Japheth’s territory” (9:27). Later populations who will be born out of the line of Japheth and the Japhethites would include the Macedonians, Greeks, Romans, and Persians, most of which were powerful empires in biblical times.  

Tomorrow, we’ll look at the descendants of Ham.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

CLEAR WISDOM FROM BABEL

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth." Genesis 9:1

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:1-9

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons and gave them direction. They were to "be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth" (Genesis 9:1). We know that disobedience and evil living had led to the great, creation vanquishing flood in the first place and as we see in today’s passage, it didn’t take long for God’s people to begin to settle back into their sinful ways once again. Look again at the first nine verses of Genesis, chapter 11:

Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building. The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Bible is one hundred percent inerrant in its content. There is no disputing this but we sometimes find things not exactly in chronological order and these verses in chapter 11 are one example, thus why we are covering this before looking at chapter 10 and the documented scattering that we read about in verse 9 in today’s text.

As the start of our passage today, we find that the "whole world had one language and a common speech." This commonality among the descendants of Noah was not what led man to get in trouble in and of itself but it was a contributing factor in them conspiring to disobey God and set up a city where they would seek to "make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth". In other words, mankind sought to bring glory and honor to themselves which caused the Lord to voice the following concern:

"If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.”

And so the scriptures tell us that God did something to avert this from happening. We read where He "confused their language" so they could not understand one another before scattering them “over the face of the earth”. This act of God led to the city being named “Babel” because it was there that the Lord “confused the language of the whole world”.

It’s interesting that we still often use a word that rival this ancient city’s name, the word “babble”. It describes language that is unintelligible but what is understandable are three clear points of wisdom we can draw from this story to apply to our living today:

First, the language God gives us is only useful when we use it toward His purpose, not our own.

One could say that there are more ways for people to communicate with one another in this age than in any time in history, to include software and apps that translate languages we don’t speak, and yet, we seem to communicate just as badly as ever. Let’s not believe that this is by accident for God will often confuse discourse on any matters that are centered on His honor and glory. It started at Babel and it still continues today.

Second, when we decide to be disobedient, God still will get His way.

Despite the people’s desire to do their own thing and make a city where they would settle and not disperse, God had the final say and His will was still done as the people’s language was confused before being scattered. Rest assured He will do the same thing to us in the places where we resist and reject Him in our lives.

Finally, the third bit of wisdom from this passage is this:

Success will only occur if we are carrying out the will of God.

The descendants of Noah would have been successful in constructing the city if it had been God’s will for them to do so but it wasn’t and so their self-centered efforts failed badly.

Conversely, it was God’s will for Noah to build the ark that would carry him, his family, and the prescribed number of creatures to safety during the flood. And that plan was carried out to fruition because it was all God’s plan.

In life, we need to always seek the will of our Lord and then do what He wills us to do, remembering that He never calls us to something He isn’t going to bring us through.

In closing, what a blessing it is for us to have the Holy Bible and the accounts of God’s people as they succeeded and failed. For the entirety of the scriptures gives us a ripe opportunity to read and learn from the accomplishments and mistakes of the past.

In the Word of God, we won’t ever find babble when we are in Him and under the leading of the blessed Holy Spirit. Both will always speak clear wisdom and direction into our hearts and minds so we can apply it with the goal of living in a way that is pleasing in the Lord’s sight.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

WHEN YOU SEE SOMETHING, DO SOMETHING

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

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.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Genesis 9:18-28

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the closing verses of Genesis, chapter 9, we find an interesting passage, the last one detailing a part of Noah’s life. It’s one we rarely find anyone talking about with this important biblical figure as most of what people know is connected to the ark and great flood.

Before we look at these verses, it’s important to return to the Garden of Eden where we’ll find important context. You may remember these words from when we studied there:

When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”

And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Genesis 3:6-13

The very first consequence for eating the God-forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was that Adam and Even felt shame for their nakedness, so much so that they fashioned coverings out of fig leaves and then hid, fearing God seeing them exposed.

From this point on, nakedness was looked upon as taboo and later in the scriptures, it became code for sexual sinfulness. We’re looking at this matter because we’re about to see the second place in the Bible where nakedness comes into play and that’s in the story of Noah. Look at the closing verses of chapter 9:

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

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.”

After the flood Noah lived 350 years. Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died. Vv.18-28

We pick up with Noah after he and his family, which included his three sons and their wives, re-inhabited the earth. You’ll remember that God has commanded them to be fruitful, multiply, and increase in number (v.7) and its obvious this had happened as we see that at least Ham had children now. More on that in a minute.

Noah, who the scriptures tell us was a “man of the soil”, had got to work planting “a vineyard” and it’s obvious that he was successful because he literally got to drink the fruits of his labor. We read where he had become drunk on some of the wine to the point of falling asleep in his tent naked. 

The first to see this was Noah’s youngest son, Ham, and instead of taking action to cover his father and remove the disgraceful nakedness, he instead went to tell his other brothers, Shem and Japheth. The scriptures tell us that they “took a garment and laid it across their shoulders” before walking in “backward” to cover “their father’s naked body”. As they did this, they made sure “their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked” and dishonor him.

Well, Noah eventually came around and “awoke from his wine”, and we read where he “found out what” Ham had done and was far from happy. We know this from his words, laced with anger:

“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”

“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.”

Now, we don’t know why Noah condemned Canaan, Ham’s son, instead of his father but that’s what happened. The descendants of Ham’s son would be known as the Canaanites and we know they became a sinful people dedicated to false gods and idols, enemies of the Lord God Almighty. We can see where their wicked roots were planted through Noah’s curse.

Conversely, we find Noah praising the Lord and wishing blessings on his other two sons, Seth and Japeth. Both sons and their descendants would reign and rule over Canaan and his family line...and as we follow the history of the Israelites in the Old Testament, we see where this indeed happened.

As I read this story, I can’t help but think it could have all ended up differently if Ham just would have done something when he saw something was wrong. He could have just as easily done what Seth and Japheth eventually did on his own merit, honoring his father and covering his shameful nakedness. Had he done so, Noah would have commended him and no curse would have been warranted.

Today, we often see sinfulness and wickedness happening, things we should take action on and address but we’re many time too much like Ham, going to tell someone else and then watching them do what we should have done in the first place. Our Savior Jesus never hesitated to confront sin and its practitioners head on and as Christians, we need to follow His lead.

When you see something, do something, especially when the Holy Spirit is leading you to do so.  

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

LIFE IN THE BLOOD

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“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. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”

Genesis 9:4-7

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

After leaving the ark, constructing an altar and presenting burnt offerings to Lord, and then receiving a covenant from Him that mankind would never again be destroyed like it was in the flood, we see in today’s passage that Noah and his family received an important command that was to be followed, one centered on blood. Look again at those words here:

“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. As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.” Vv.4-7

Just prior to these verses, we found God say this regarding to the food on the earth:

“Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you.” v.3

So putting this together, Noah and his family could eat everything that “lives and moves about” however they couldn’t “eat meat” that still had “lifeblood still in it”. Anyone who was disobedient to this command would face punishment.

So what was so precious about blood?

We can fast forward to the Book of Leviticus for the answer. Look at these words from God found in chapter 17, verses 10 through 12:

“‘I will set My face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”

Here, we find our Lord making it clear about the value of the blood for in it is the “life” of any “creature” and the Maker of all things values the life He gives. It’s of critical importance to Him and it’s to be important to us as well.

In regard to life and the blood, go back to Genesis chapter 4 where the sin of Adam and Eve found its way into the behavior of their children. You’ll remember that Cain, jealous that his brother received God’s favor over him for presented offerings, lured Abel into a field and killed him. After he tried to cover up what he had done, God said this to the killer:

“What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.” Genesis 4:10

Abel’s lifeblood, spilled out by Cain, cried out to God and revealed itself “from the ground”.

And this leads us to the greatest life of all, the eternal life that any sinner gains when they believe in Jesus as Savior. This life is sealed by the blood of the unblemished Lamb who came to be a living sacrifice and take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Here’s what Jesus had to say in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel:

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” Vv.53-54

Here, we are reminded of the beauty found in communion, the sacrament observed in the church in remembrance of Christ, as He commanded.

The bread is His body broken for us (1 Corinthians 11:24 NKJV) while His blood (the wine or juice) represents the “new covenant” in His blood (v.25). This new covenant was God’s promise of everlasting life through the One who shed His lifeblood so we could have life forever.

Indeed, the scriptures declare that there is unique and special power in blood and it is to be cherished and honored, especially when it comes to the blood of Jesus. For it is the life of a creature, a life given first and foremost by the Creator of all living things.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

GOD'S PROMISE IN A RAINBOW

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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 upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

Genesis 9:1-3, 8-17

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God commanded Noah to build an ark and inhabit it with his family and "seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, and also seven of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive throughout the earth" (Genesis 7:2-3). Obedient and faithful to God, Noah carried out his tasking as God opened the "floodgates of heaven" in sending rain for 40 days and 40 nights, flooding all the earth for 150 days and wiping out every living creature that wasn’t in the ark. Today, our scripture picks up after the flood as we turn to Genesis, chapter 9. Look again at those words here:

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 upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.”

“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth." And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth." Vv. 1-3, 8-17

Here, we find God first blessing Noah, his sons and their families, urging them to "be fruitful and increase in number" in order to "fill the earth". To the humans who would reestablish humanity, we read where God gave them dominion over “all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea”. Needing food to eat, the Lord provided “everything” that lived and moved’. No prohibitions were placed on what they consume.

And with that, we find God make an important promise:

“I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth."

Everything on earth had just been wiped out, drowned by the massive flood that covered even the mountain tops, but God made a promise that it would never happen again and we know that He never breaks a promise.

Now, God could have stopped there and everything would have been fine. No one could have questioned Him for not going further with any action. But as we see in the scriptures, our Lord decided to establish a perpetual reminder of the important vow that He had made, a magnificently, beautiful sign that we still get to see today. Look at these words from God:

"This is the sign of the covenant I am making between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth."

"This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

Although this would not be the first covenant or promise God would establish, it was His first and possibly the most important one because it dealt with everything He had created more than just a select group. The flood had brought annihilation and extermination of everything that had breath on earth. God’s covenant promised it would be the last time it would happen. And this would have been awesome enough, but God wasn’t done yet. He wanted to make sure He left a sign of His promise and thus the rainbow came to be.

I don’t know about you but I love rainbows and always have even before I discovered how they came to be. There’s something simply fascinating and beautiful about them as they arc across the sky after a time of rainfall displaying their beautiful array of colors, ever reminding us that He loves us and will never seek to totally eliminate His created things.

So next time you see a rainbow, look up, and give thanks to God while remembering that He first revealed it to Noah and his family at the dawn of a renewed humanity, and has shown it ever since.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

AN EXPRESSION OF THANKSGIVING

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Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry. By the twenty-seventh day of the second month, the earth was completely dry.

Then God said to Noah, “Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives. All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds—everything that moves on land—came out of the ark, one kind after another.

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it.

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.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

Genesis 8:12-22

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the opening verses of Genesis, chapter 8, we saw where the flood waters began to recede from the earth, an event that wasn’t a fast process.

First, the waters dropped below the mountain tops, allowing Noah’s ark to come to rest “on the mountains of Ararat (v.5). There was then a long period of time before Noah could check to see if it was safe to exit the ark and return to the earth safely.

How long?

Well, we know that Noah was 600 years old when “the floodwaters came on the earth” (Genesis 7:6) and as we see in today’s passage, he was in the first month of his 601st year when the water had finally “dried up from the earth”. We read where he sent the same dove out who had returned to the ark with an olive leaf seven days earlier, a sign that life had once again begun coming to life on the earth, but this time it “did not return to him”.

And so knowing it was now safe for everyone and everything to soon exit the ark, Noah “removed the covering” and indeed “saw that the surface of the ground was dry”. The scriptures tell us that “the earth” became “completely dry” by the “twenty-seventh day of the second month”.

It was at that time that we read where God gave the following command to Noah:

“Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.”

It’s important to note that it was God who appointed the time for Noah, his family, and all the prescribed living creatures to enter the ark and then appointed the time for them to disembark so to “multiply on the earth” and “be fruitful and increase in number on it”. When we stay connected to the Lord God Almighty and commit to Him with full obedience, we will move in accordance with His perfect will, always in the place He wants us to be, at the time He wants us to be there, to carry out the purposes that He wants us to accomplish.

With God’s blessing, the scriptures tell us that “Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives” as well as “all the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds”, transiting “one kind after another”.

Note the first thing that Noah did. He didn’t get to work building a home for his wife so they could have shelter. Nor did he immediately go looking for food so to have a good meal after so many months at sea. No, the first thing we find Noah doing is constructing “an altar to the Lord” before “taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds” he loaded on the ark and placing them on the altar as “burnt offerings” to the Lord.

God had saved Noah and his family as well as the animals on the ark. Through all of them, He would start to populate the earth anew. And so Noah, with a heart full of gratitude and thanksgiving, brought burnt offerings to honor his Lord. Of interest, this was the very first burnt offering in the Bible and it was a definite forerunner of what was to come in the Law.

For when we fast forward in the Old Testament to the first chapter of the Book of Leviticus, we find this in verse 9:

“It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord.”

Now, the Hebrew word for burnt offering means to ascend and in the case of the burnt offering, this referred to the smoke that would rise up from the altar. We read in the Leviticus verse where this smoke rising up would be “an aroma pleasing to the Lord”.

With that, we come back to our passage and read where the smoke from Noah’s burnt offerings rose from the altar and was “smelled” by “the Lord” who spoke these words out of His pleasure:

“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.

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

We serve a God who never goes back on a promise and here, we vowed to never “destroy all living creatures” as He had just done before. It’s important to note here that all creatures of the earth were destined to destruction and the penalty of Hell before God sent His Son Jesus out of love so that whosoever would believe in Him wouldn’t perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). I can’t but help but think that some of God’s desire to save people from everlasting death and damnation was born out of this promise He made to Noah, a promise that we will soon see marked by the visual sign of the rainbow.

That’s coming up but let’s not leave this message today without a critical takeaway.

For we have a lot to learn from Noah and his actions in this passage. Without hesitation, he built an altar and immediately brought worship and tribute to God through the burnt offerings. All this was born out of a spirit of thanks and praise for all that God had done.

Question: How well do we show God our thanks for the things He does for us every day?

I wonder if we’re not guilty more times than not of forgetting to give the Lord our praise, taking for granted all the little things He blesses us with.

For every breath is a gift. We should give thanks.

Every heartbeat is a gift. We should give thanks.

Every time we take a step or our brain allows us to think or we can use our hands to work, eat, perform personal hygiene, and/or serve others. We should give thanks.

The truth of the matter is that we have reasons to express gratitude to God each and every day. Let’s not miss one opportunity to let Him know how much we appreciate His goodness and provision.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.