Tom Baker – Penuel Baptist Chapel, Roch

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Genesis 9: Blessing and curse

At the end of Genesis 9 we have the tragic statement concerning Noah “and he died” which brings us back to the genealogy recorded in Genesis 5 where this phrase is repeated throughout. Genesis is a book of genealogies about which we also get some important prophetic stories. We are in the realms of the new world. Things have started afresh. Creation has been renewed. The old has been swept and washed away, behold all things are made new. But is this ‘happily ever after’? Well sort of but not quite yet. There is an awful end to this history which we read of at the end of Genesis 9. There are really sad events recorded here and yet there is still a bright future ahead. Although at the end we read of a curse, yet there is still the hope of blessing here too. There are more dark days to come as we read of in Genesis 10 and 11 but nevertheless there is this bright future coming too. One day all will be truly good and right. For now in Genesis 9 we have a new start and there is hope despite the fact it all ends in tears. Noah’s new world is not quite the end, and yet the real fulfilment is coming. So in Genesis 9 we see blessings and we see the curse once again. Near the end of Deuteronomy 30 Moses spoke to the Israelites calling heaven and earth as witness and offered them life and death, blessing and curse, and ends by appealing for them to choose life, for the Lord is their life. The same is true for us today. The Lord Jesus offers us the same. We must respond to this call of Christ. So here in Genesis 9 we shall consider these two things. First we have the blessings which come in the first nineteen verses. And then we have the curse which features from verse 20 onward.

[1] Blessing.

In Genesis 9:1 we see the general blessing we observed at the end of Genesis 8 being particularised to man. All that had gone wrong in the world was on account of man and his sin and waywardness. It was all man’s fault. So since man was at fault why then does God bring blessing to man? Yet he does. This is astonishing. There are further clues to this blessing in Genesis 9:2,3. Man’s place is restored in creation, for he is once again given dominion and charge over creation. Order has been restored. In Genesis 6 there was disorder. The order that God had made was like this: God ruled over all, man was under God’s authority and ruled over creation. But in his sin and rebellion the order was flipped. Man served creation and demanded that God come under his rule and governance. Do we not see this today? People worship and serve creation or the environment and expect God to do as they demand. People argue that God ought to do as they think rather than sit under the authority of God’s perfect rule. The truth is that God rules. He is good. He is sovereign. We are His creatures made in His image and so we must come under His authority. He has called us to do all His commands and to have dominion over all of creation. And so here in Genesis 9 the right order has been re-created. This is a tremendous blessing. And then in Genesis 9:6 we get another hint of blessing, for man is made in the image of God. We may disfigure the image of God, but it is still there. Even when the disfigurement is gross, the image is still there. There is a dignity in human life on account of who has made it. Mention of blood is key here too, for only by blood can a life be purchased. This is also a clue to future redemption in Christ, for only in blood can life continue. The covenant is reaffirmed in Genesis 9:9. never again will all flesh be cut off and never again will water cover the entire earth. God seeks to bless! Man deserved the judgment that was passed, and still man is sinful and had a wicked imagination, and yet the Lord promises not to flood the earth ever again. The covenant was to be established with a sign: the rainbow. This rainbow in the clouds is a light shining amidst a dark place. Why does this visible sign matter? Well imagine the traumatic things that Noah had been through. All flesh was wiped out and died. Noah was trapped in a box for a year and ten days. What do you think Noah may have felt and thought when a rain cloud appeared in the sky? He might have thought: ‘things are going bad again, will God judge us once more’? And then he sees the rainbow in the clouds and he knows that God has promised not to do as He has done. The bow in the sky brought rest. God will not judge! Now this bow in the sky points us clearly to the Lord Jesus on the cross. Where the bow in the cloud was a sign indicating no more condemnation, the cross is the means by which this has come about. For on the cross of Christ judgment was passed on Him who knew no sin and life has been offered to all who believe. Christ swallowed up death, took all the punishment, and brought life. When you see the rainbow in the cloud it is not just a promise that the Lord will not flood the whole world, but that the coming of the Saviour will be the great sign and seal of salvation. There will be dark clouds ahead, but remember the rainbow! Light shines in the darkness. The bow shines brightly on the day of darkness and declares that God loves us.

[2] Curse.

Genesis 9:18 gives us a clue to this idea of a curse, for Ham is the father of Canaan. Noah is presented to us as a kind of new Adam or a second Adam. This is tragic. He seems to repeat the same errors and mistakes the first Adam made. Noah finds himself in a type of garden as Adam was in Eden. He has all the blessings of this setting. He meets with God through sacrifice but then in Genesis 9:20 we read that he was ‘a man of the soil,’ or ‘a man of the ground.’ Some translations have “farmer” here but this misses the point that Noah having been shown the bow in the clouds above, now focuses his attention on the ground, which had been cursed. The ground that man as taken out of at first, and on account of sin was made to return (dust to dust). Man was taken out of the ground and made into a living being and given great blessings, but he sinned and so had to return to the dust of ground and be uncreated. And now Noah has drawn himself down back to the ground. In Genesis 9:20 we find Noah making a vineyard, and so grows grapes. We thus seeing him take of the fruit (just as Adam and the Woman did), and he makes use of it in a wrong way, in a way he ought not to have, and then he becomes naked and ashamed. So here we see Noah falling just as Adam had done. Now one of his sons acted badly and this ended up in spawning a curse for his son, Canaan (Genesis 9:24). But there is comfort here, for in Genesis 8:21 we learnt that despite the sinfulness of man the covenant of God is everlasting. What will be is determined upon God’s heart and will, and not upon what man may do. The Lord was fully aware of Ham’s sin and Noah’s fall, and yet still there is hope – hope lived out in Noah’s other two sons, Shem and Japheth. These two sons provide a covering for Noah’s shame. They take the responsibility for something which was not theirs to take. Isn’t this remarkable? Christ bore the penalty for the sins which we have committed and have a responsibility for. So Shem and Japheth seek to cover Noah and seek to put things right. As a result they are both blessed both with a multitude of descendants and with the very presence of God. Adam was told of the promise of a Saviour who will take the responsibility for the sin of mankind. Now Shem and Japheth act in a similar way, although this is not the final end to the story. What they do is a picture of, and a pointer to, what Christ has done at Calvary. We need Noah who brought us out of darkness into new life. But really we need someone who is better than Noah. We need someone like Shem and Japheth to cover our nakedness and shame. But in reality we need someone better than Shem and Japheth who will cover sin and shame eternally in a universal way.

Genesis 9 ends with Noah dying – tragic. But there is a bigger story of which Noah (and Shem and Japheth) are but a small part. This bigger story is unfolding. God reigns still and in the fullness of time He will send the real seed of the woman who will completely undo the curse and will usher in lasting blessings. This One has come! Christ has come and has risen! He has borne all the worst sin and horrors of wickedness that we have committed, and has dealt with them fully and finally. He has borne these on the cross. Our sins are done with – completely. Noah’s sons tried their best but could not do what was fully required. But Christ has come for our salvation and will come again to make all things new where the true and final rest will be found.

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Genesis 8: All things new

The days of Noah were dark days but there was a bright future. There were people reaching for forbidden fruit and everything was falling apart in the world, and yet there was also a glimmer of hope in Noah. We live in very similar times. Moses, who compiled Genesis, gives us certain clues in the text which show forth this hope amidst the horror. Our Lord Jesus spoke of Noah’s day and said that when He would return it would be just like the days of Noah. People would strive after the things of this world only, and they were grasping at things they shouldn’t have grasped at. And then Noah was called to make the way of escape, of salvation. Now we too are called to get into the ark, but this time our ark is Christ Jesus Himself. We are called to come out of the old world doomed to death and destruction, and to enter in to the ark which is Christ.

We have two graphic pictures here. First, we have our great need for salvation. There was gross wickedness which deserved judgment out of which man needed rescue. These were real historical events that we read of in Genesis but they also paint a picture of what the world is truly like in all ages. Second, we have two pictures of how this salvation from judgment was to be accomplished. Noah is placed for us in the text as a righteous man who leads others to safety. Then also we have the ark which bore the full force of the waters of judgment given to us as a type of Christ too. Now in Genesis 8 we have a new picture. Again we have real historical events that actually happened, but we are also taught something about the goal or end of salvation. Where does it all lead to? What happens when the rain stops? What comes after judgement? Well, the answer is: to a place where everything is made new. This scratches an itch we all experience doesn’t it? We often look for a fresh new start when things have gone wrong don’t we? Do we not feel like this old dead world that is destined for destruction? And do we not have this thought: ‘there must be more to life’? There is this inner desire for a fresh start, to make all things new. We don’t often get this chance to make a fresh start. Often we have to continue with the disaster we have all around us. But there is always this wish that things will be made new. Well of course the Scriptures give us the response to this longing. The Lord is making all things new.

How do things turn out for Noah and the ark?

The first thing we read of in Genesis 8 is that God “remembered” Noah (Genesis 8:1). At the end of Genesis 7 everything dies and was wiped off the face of the earth. But Noah was in the ark on the surface of the flood waters. Did Noah think that God had forgotten him? In relation to the entire globe covered in water, Noah and the ark were simply a tiny box floating on the surface. Even large tankers out on the Atlantic ocean are no match for the waters and seem insignificant. So was Noah worried that God had forgotten him? Well God had most certainly not forgotten him! It was impossible for God to forget Noah. After all it was God who called Noah to build the ark and gather the animals. And it was God who secured Noah and his family in the ark. Remember that Noah had found grace and so was favoured of the Lord. How could God forget the one whom He had called and instructed. This opening verse of Genesis 8 is an encouragement to us. God is mindful of His people. He thinks upon them always. It is not possible for the omniscient God to forget! What about us? Who are we? Does God forget us and abandon us? What is man that God should be mindful of him? We may be small and insignificant, just as Noah and the ark were on the water covered earth. Yet God remembers me, and you. He takes thought of you as He did of Noah and the ark.

What was the new world like?

In Genesis 1:2 we have an unformed and unfilled watery mass which speaks of the raw materials from which God created all things. Now here in Genesis 8 the old created order has been judged and we have another watery mass once again. Then we read that God made a “wind” to blow on the waters to make them recede (Genesis 8:1). The word for “wind” can also be rendered as “Spirit.” So we have the same situation we read of in Genesis 1. In Genesis 1 the Spirit hovers over the watery mass, and here in Genesis 8 we have the wind (the Spirit) blowing the eaters to cause them to recede. So here in Genesis 8 we have a kind of recreation. Later on we read about a dove being sent out. The dove is a symbol for the Holy Spirit. So Moses, in recounting the revealed history of the flood, gives us hints along the way to show that God is doing the same type of work – creation. The God who made the raw materials at first and then made all things from those raw materials is now re-creating this new world. See also that signs of life emerge. We have the olive branch brought back by the dove. We have the land appearing once again like it did in the original creation. We have the waters being bounded and sent to their original place once again. All these things are meant to remind us of how God created in the beginning. Note also that the dove is sent out after a seven day period. Further, that the ark rested on the mountains. The ark finally comes to its grounded resting place. The floating zoo is like a second little Eden. The world eventually dries out and then when the ark is opened an abundance of life bursts forth to spread out over the new world. Thus we have a new world. All of this is a picture pointing us towards the new heaven and the new earth to come.

Noah is presented to us as another Adam. He is the head over creation. This points us to the true second and last Adam, Christ Jesus the Lord. What does Noah do? He plays the part as-it-were of the first Adam. He leads his people out into the new earth (Genesis 8:16). As Noah obeys the Lord doing all that

He commanded, we see the blessing of his obedience is passed on to the others who follow him (Genesis 8:18). In genesis 8:17 we see that Noah is (like Adam) ruler over the animals. The animals went out according to their families over the earth (Genesis 8:19). So Noah is pictured as lord of creation and brings the animals out at the command of the Lord. Noah also leads his people (his family) straight away to the throne of God, for the first thing he does is to build an altar and offer burnt offerings (Genesis 8:20). When Noah made this offering the Lord was pleased with it (Genesis 8:21). Noah is acting like a priest. He brings people into the new world and into the presence of God through sacrifice. They find real life here. It appears that the Lord was delighted with this action. In the same way we see also the Lord Jesus Christ as our high priest whose sacrifice leads us into the new creation. It is through Christ’s sacrifice that we are granted new life. Even though we do not inhabit this new heavens and earth, through His once-for-all sacrifice we are made new creatures. The Lord was pleased to bruise our Saviour and delights in the sacrifice made. God the Father is thrilled for Christ our Pioneer leads the way to glory through His sacrificial gift.

A new and lasting hope.

In Genesis 1 & 2 we read of life and blessings. In Genesis 3 to 6 we read of death and the curse. In Genesis 7 we read of judgement. In Genesis 8 we read of life and blessing once more. Noah is commanded to be fruitful and to multiply (Genesis 8:17). Note that the Lord gives order in the seasons once again. For a year and ten days the world has been covered in water. But now there will be seed-time and harvest, winter and summer to order life on this new earth (Genesis 8:22). The ancient blessing of God cannot be overturned or undone. His delight in Christ never ends, so His plan and His blessings in Christ will never end. What the Lord had done in and through Noah and the ark, prefigures what He will do perfectly in Christ, so this new creation will not suffer such a judgement again and the seasons will remain true. See how this promise to continue the new world is offered despite the fact that “the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). The everlasting covenant is not based upon the works of man. Our sin does not stop the blessing of God. He has made a way whereby the sin is once and forever judged and a new order is made.

A word of application.

How shall we respond to these thoughts? Well make sure that you are on the ark, which is Christ. Make sure that you partake of the new world to come through the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ which is pictured here wonderfully in the ark which preserved creation amidst the judgment of God by the waters of the flood. Do not remain in this old world of sin and corruption. Do not be content with this cursed world and earth. It is destined for destruction (although next time by fire). Make sure that you enter the ark which I Christ, for in Him is true salvation and safety.

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