Genesis 14:18-24 - Tithes to the King of Peace

Genesis 14:18-24

Abram and Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:1, 2)

18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was the priest of God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said:

“Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”

And he gave him a tithe of all.

21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.”

22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’— 24 except only what the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men who went with me: Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.”

The king of Salem who is also the king of righteousness (Melchizedek) and king of peace (Salem) as verified in Hebrews 7:1-2, this king met Abram after battle and blessed him.  This high priest of God Most High was of unknown origin and yet was the servant of the LORD and knew Abram.  This priest was a picture of Christ as seen hidden in veiled language here, but more fully explained by the writer of Hebrews as the type of a High Priest without beginning or end as the divine Son of God is and was and always will be.  He even is described there as made like the Son of God, without beginning or end and was an eternal priest, a perfect picture and type of God’s Son to come as our eternal High Priest, forever interceding (Hebrews 7:24-25, 26) for us!  We see also how Abraham gave a tenth part of all he had from God’s blessing in the battle of the kings to this high priest as a foretaste of us giving our tithes to the Lord High Priest in the heavens, Jesus Christ the righteous.  We also owe him homage, honor, and service with all we have because it is all given by Him in His victory over the world to deliver us for our enemies into His grace and worship.  A mere tenth is only a token beginning of all we have.  Before Abram gave a tithe to this high priest of righteousness and peace, he heard this blessing pronounced on him and on God for His grace to him.  This earthly priest had blessed Abram first by extolling him and as a servant of the Most High God who owns the world and delivered Abram’s enemies into his hand.  When this king of peace then asked only for the people Abram brought back (he rescued his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people as Genesis 14:16 tells us), Abram offered everything (“from a thread to a sandal strap”) along with everyone to him instead.  He swore to the LORD, the Highest and only God, knowing everything and everyone belonged to God, he swore to offer all to the high priest just as we who are rescued from sin’s penalty of death in Christ the heavenly High Priest should offer all we have and know to Him as it is all His anyway.  This includes family and fortune alike.  The only thing not offered back was what his men had already eaten for sustaining them and that promised to those who came with him into the fray.  We can see then that God allows for our daily bread to keep us when asking us to offer all to Him; the Lord owns us all yet provides for our needs as well.  We are not expected to give at the expense of the wellbeing of others, therefore.  The question left to us is who do we serve and worship with all we have (2 Corinthians 9:7-8) as expected of us?  We are to faithfully give tithes to the Prince of Peace and meet urgent needs (Titus 3:14) as well.

Genesis 14:1-16 - Caught in the Middle with You

Genesis 14:1-16

Lot’s Captivity and Rescue

1 And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these joined together in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled.

5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh Kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in their mountain of Seir, as far as El Paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites who dwelt in Hazezon Tamar.

8 And the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) went out and joined together in battle in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of asphalt pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled; some fell there, and the remainder fled to the mountains. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their provisions, and went their way. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

13 Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew, for he dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner; and they were allies with Abram. 14 Now when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his three hundred and eighteen trained servants who were born in his own house, and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 

15 He divided his forces against them by night, and he and his servants attacked them and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is north of Damascus. 16 So he brought back all the goods, and also brought back his brother Lot and his goods, as well as the women and the people.

Abram and Lot got caught in the middle of a great war between local kings and kingdoms.  He must have wondered why he was there as he asked Lot why am I caught in the middle of this conflict with you. That thought was amplified when Lot and his lot were taken prisoner after the neighboring kings of Sodom and Gomorrah by Abram’s nephew were killed in the conflict between rebel forces.  While those in these doomed cities ran from the onsla, many ended up in the hot asphalt pits or made it to freedom in the mountains.  Sodom and Gomorrah were plundered along with Lot who was living in Sodom as they plundered all he possessed as well.  Abram was dwelling nearby after he and Lot parted company (Genesis 13:11-12, 18) earlier in the area.  He saw the carnage rage on and then heard from one who escaped what had happened to his nephew.  He raised his version of an army as a sword from its sheath to assist his family.  They were but three hundred and eighteen trained servants, but were highly trained and loyal to their lord and readily pursued the abductors all the way to Dan and routed the captors of this immense army in a surprise night attack.  God was with him as with Gideon and his three hundred to demonstrate that the success was God’s and not his own.  This small number, divided in half, was used to drive back the invaders out of the land and past Damascus to the north!  Abram and his band of brothers brought back not only Lot, but also all his people to include the women who were often taken as wives and slaves by conquerors, and all their stolen goods as well.  This was the hand of God.  The following part of the chapter adds even more glory to the account as it sets in place a clear picture of the Messiah to come as our High Priest of peace. 

Genesis 13:1-18 - The Eternally Promised Land

Genesis 13:1-18

Abram Inherits Canaan

1 Then Abram went up from Egypt, he and his wife and all that he had, and Lot with him, to the South. 2 Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. 3 And he went on his journey from the South as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, 4 to the place of the altar which he had made there at first. And there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

5 Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks and herds and tents. 6 Now the land was not able to support them, that they might dwell together, for their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together. 7 And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. The Canaanites and the Perizzites then dwelt in the land.

8 So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, and between my herdsmen and your herdsmen; for we are brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left.”

10 And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each other. 12 Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent even as far as Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the LORD.

14 And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; 15 for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever. 16 And I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth; so that if a man could number the dust of the earth, then your descendants also could be numbered. 17 Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

18 Then Abram moved his tent, and went and dwelt by the terebinth trees of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built an altar there to the LORD.

The eternally promised land was shown to Abram after he had worshiped and called on the name of the LORD at Bethel on the return trip with his nephew Lot.  They brought all their possessions obtained in Egypt with them as they came to the place where Abram had pitched his tent (Genesis 12:8-9) and first called on the LORD in Bethel, named the House of the LORD because of his dream of the stairway to heaven.  When they looked around, Abram and Lot realized they had far too many animals and people to settle in the same place, so Abram gave Lot the choice of where to settle.  He chose the fertile plain of the Jordan River, but one which held hidden evil of immortal sodomites in place sight there.  These “exceedingly wicked and sinful” men who were opposed to God and who would find God’s judgment on their abominable behavior later.  Lot pitched his tent near them without considering the consequences, however.  As for Abram, he listened to God who told him the promise of the land for eternity granted to him and his descendants as the LORD pointed it out to him.  As he looked around as far as he could see in all directions, he heard the promise to multiply him as the innumerable dust of the earth covering that land.  He told Abram to walk through that land to see and feel the reality of the promise for himself as God’s gift of grace.  Abram obeyed and pitched his tent near Mamre in Hebron.  Then he built another altar to the LORD to worship in thankfulness for the promise and for God’s faithfulness in bringing him out of Egypt and his deceit there to rely on an honest appreciation of God’s provision by faith instead of his own efforts.  Do we rely on the Lord in worship for the promises of the kingdom or do we attempt to earn them on our own terms instead of according to His word by faith?  May we learn that the Lord is faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9, 2 Thessalonians 3:3) who promises and wait (Psalm 27:14) on Him for the eternal heavenly country (Hebrews 11:16, 40) to come. 

Genesis 12:10-20 - Deception is not Safety

Genesis 12:10-20

Abram in Egypt

10 Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to dwell there, for the famine was severe in the land. 11 And it came to pass, when he was close to entering Egypt, that he said to Sarai his wife, “Indeed I know that you are a woman of beautiful countenance. 12 Therefore it will happen, when the Egyptians see you, that they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say you are my sister, that it may be well with me for your sake, and that I may live because of you.”

14 So it was, when Abram came into Egypt, that the Egyptians saw the woman, that she was very beautiful. 15 The princes of Pharaoh also saw her and commended her to Pharaoh. And the woman was taken to Pharaoh’s house. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake. He had sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.

17 But the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 And Pharaoh called Abram and said, “What is this you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister’? I might have taken her as my wife. Now therefore, here is your wife; take her and go your way.” 20 So Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they sent him away, with his wife and all that he had.

Abram thought he had to be deceptive with the Egyptian princes and Pharaoh, but ended up causing unsafe consequences for those he and Sarai deceived.  Instead of trusting God for his wife’s safety from the Egyptians because of her great beauty, he lied because he imagined it would be safer for him to stay alive and she would be treated better.  Such is the reasoning of fallen men and women.  The unintended consequences could have led to God’s wrath of judgment on Pharaoh if he had married her who was already married to Abram.  When the deceived uncovered the truth, he was incensed against Abram but still let him live and keep all the riches given him for her sake as he was wooing Sarai.  Yes, Abram succeeded in saving himself from being taken out of the way for the king to have his wife whom he pretended was only his sister, but at what moral price?  Was it worth deceiving the Pharaoh to protect himself and gain riches when he could have trusted the LORD whom he had worshipped and trusted before for all he really needed?  The Pharaoh was spared the worst of the plagues on him and his household because he did not yet take Sarai as a wife, but there was suffering and a close brush with judgment and death due to the deception.  It is always best to trust the LORD and not lean on our understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6) and rationalizing of actions to protect ourselves at the expense of others because of our fear of suffering.  We should also consider the suffering deception causes others as Abram failed to consider.  Nothing is worth lying to protect yourself and gain prosperity at the expense of another in the eyes of the Lord.  Deception is never true safety, security, or gain.  Godliness with contentment (1 Timothy 6:6) is the only true and great gain as treasure (Matthew 6:19-20, 21) laid up in heaven.  Love does not harm your neighbor (Romans 13:10) and is the fulfillment of the second greatest commandment (Luke 10:27) to love.  Safety and soul prosperity is found in living and loving as God’s word shows us in Christ. 

Genesis 12:1-9 - The Promised Land of Faith

Genesis 12:1-9

Promises to Abram (Acts 7:2–5)

1 Now the LORD had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.

2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.

3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

4 So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, as far as the terebinth tree of Moreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land.

7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. 8 And he moved from there to the mountain east of Bethel, and he pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; there he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD. 9 So Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.

The promises given by sheer grace to Abram were based on his having faith to hear and believe God by taking Him at His word without doubts or reservations of disbelief.  He heard the immeasurable promises and acted in that faith by following where the LORD led him, even when it meant leaving behind everything and everyone he knew.  Are we so trusting when God tells us in His word the way we should walk (Joshua 1:7, Isaiah 30:21)?  We who are truly in Christ have done that for salvation to become His disciples, followers of Jesus Christ our Lord-Savior, and continue to follow what He tells us in the scriptures in thankful and willing obedience to His call.  Our problem is when we forget this and start to wander off our own way instead of staying the course set before us (Hebrews 12:1-2) as Jesus set the example for us Himself on the way to sacrifice Himself for our deliverance from sin’s penalty of judgment.  The LORD God told Abram to get up from where he was in Haran on the journey to Canaan from his original home in Ur and follow Him as we are also told in Matthew 16:24 to follow God’s Son by the same trusting and acting (Genesis 26:5) faith.  He was to go to a country prepared for him as we look beyond such to the heavenly land of promise (Hebrews 11:8-10, 16) as he did also.  He was promised to father a people as a great nation by the blessing of God that all would look and remember his name because of the great promise realized for him and not for worship of himself as the blessed, for the one blessing him was the one to receive all glory, honor, and praise!  He humbly accepted this promise as we have humbly accepted God’s Son for our heavenly land to come.  Abram therefore was called our and given the blessing of the promise by faith to bless all the families (Romans 2:28-29, Ephesians 2:13-14, 3:14-15, Galatians 3:8-9, 6:15) of the world, not just the people of Israel through his son Isaac.  Those who curse us who are in Christ have to answer to God in the judgment and those who bless us will hopefully hear the good news that delivered us and receive it by faith as well to join us in that heavenly kingdom (Matthew 6:10) and promised land of faith to come.  Abram went and took Lot along with him by that faith when he was an old man; this is a poignant reminder that it is never too late to turn and follow the Lord!  God promised that land to Abram when he entered it by faith and so the man built an altar to worship the LORD of promise and call on His name before journeying onward.  Hearing these things, will you then call on Him (1 Corinthians 2:2, Romans 10:9-10, 11-13, 17) on your life’s journey to enter that promised land of faith, that heavenly country of God’s kingdom in Jesus Christ if you have not already?  The invitation is given to all who can hear to enter it by faith as Abram did long ago for our example.

Genesis 11:10-32 - Descendants of Faith

Genesis 11:10-32

Shem’s Descendants (1 Chr. 1:17–27; Luke 3:34–36)

10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

The genealogy of Shem from Noah out of the Ark is listed here with a specific focus on Terah.  This was because it demonstrated the lineage of Terah’s son Abraham of whom we have much to talk about in the promise of faith in the work of God through the Seed (Galatians 3:16, 18) who is the Messiah-Christ we know and trust just as Abraham trusted the LORD by accepting and receiving His word of promise to all nations through him.  There were seven generations from Arphaxad to Nahor whose son was Terah, father of Abraham.  It also shows Abraham’s brother having Lot as a son and how Lot’s father died in the land Ur of the Chaldeans.  These descendants of Terah got married and ended up leaving Ur to travel the long journey to Canaan where the promise for the channel of salvation would eventually be born out of in that promised land.  They ended up in Haran for a while on the way before moving on to the promised land.  This place was located in Mesopotamia in Padan-aram at the foot of Mount Masius between the Khabour and the Euphrates according to Strong’s.  The journey of faith had begun for Abraham and for us all who trust God and follow where He leads us to deliverance (Genesis 12:3, Galatians 3:6-7, 8-9) from sin’s penalty on the path of grace.  It is therefore worthwhile to understand God’s plan to bring us back to the uncorrupted image man had in Eden’s Garden when first created to step back and see the sovereign predetermined plan of the LORD to redeem His people (Titus 2:14) for Himself in eternity.  The look at Shem’s and Terah’s descendants helps us grasp the enormity of the long range plan of God come to fruition at the proper time (Galatians 4:4-5) of His visitation.  This gospel of grace unfolds over time from the fall at creation until the redemption of the purchased possession (Ephesians 1:13, 14) who is the church in the Son of God, Jesus Christ. 

Genesis 11:1-9 - Sin Stopped in the Name of Love

Genesis 11:1-9

The Tower of Babel

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Confusion followed the ambitious pursuit of sinful man to once again seek to become like God (Genesis 3:5).  Men still wanted to usurp the authority of their Maker, this time by building a tower high in towards heaven as if to climb up there with him as the deceiver had done (Isaiah 14:12-13, 14) and tempted Eve and Adam to agree to which brought sin into the world.  Here there was unity and peace among the desc of Noah and his sons until the itch to reach back up to be like God was given attention and scratched with the desire to make a name for themselves above all others on their way to ascend to heaven on their own efforts.  They also wanted to band together to keep their power and renown to others by this work.  The LORD, however, saw this as the insurrection against divine authority it was and put a stop to it.  Like when Adam and Eve had taken the forbidden fruit and then might have next eaten of the fruit of the tree of life and live forever in sin (Genesis 3:22-23), here man was about to gather their forces to ascend heavenward and make themselves as powerful and equal to God as a warning to others as well.  The LORD therefore had to break up this effort by scattering them all over the earth and making their languages incomprehensible to one another to stop the collaboration of sin and make them trust Him again to understand (Hebrews 5:14) by listening to His word for direction in humility and submission.  Their effort to build a city into the place of God’s throne and temple was stopped abruptly and they went their way to be in this state until the Seed promised to Eve (Genesis 3:15) who is the Messiah and Christ would come to restore under as observed at Pentecost (Acts 2:5-6, 7-8, 11, 17-18) when they were for that moment able to understand all of one another’s languages spoken in the multitude.  This was a foretaste of things to come in eternity and a present reminder that seeking humility in learning from God and serving Him was the answer, not pride and self-will to become like Him in authority instead of in the character of His image portrayed to us by His Son to imitate (1 Corinthians 11:1) and not attempt to overtake as the evil one would have us do.  The place of this towering pride was called Babel which means “confusion by mixing” similar to the word used for how the LORD confused or mingled their language into incomprehensible languages mixed up among them to stop their sinful pursuits.  Confusion of communicating these rebellious ideas stopped their sinful pursuit of desiring to become like God to usurp His authority again as in the original temptation instead of heeding His word and commands in submission to His divine authority and plans for man.  His love stopped their pursuit of sin.

Genesis 10:1-32 - Descendants of Noah Fill the Earth

Genesis 10:1-32

Nations Descended from Noah (1 Chr. 1:5–27)

1 Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And sons were born to them after the flood.

2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 4 The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. 5 From these the coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

6 The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. 7 The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

13 Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, 14 Pathrusim, and Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

15 Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and Heth; 16 the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; 17 the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; 18 the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. 19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20 These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

21 And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder. 22 The sons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, Arphaxad, Lud, and Aram. 23 The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 24 Arphaxad begot Salah, and Salah begot Eber. 25 To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. 26 Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27 Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28 Obal, Abimael, Sheba, 29 Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. 30 And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. 31 These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

32 These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

The descendants of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth after the flood are recorded here to trace the restart of the human race and God’s channel of redemption through the people He chose to escape judgment.  The sons of Japheth settled along the coast to establish nations there, while those of Ham included the mighty hunter Nimrod and the infamous cities of Babel and Nineveh.  Most noteworthy among Ham’s descendants was Canaan whose descendants would later be routed out of the promised land due to their immortality and idolatry in the land they occupied.  The sons of Shem settled in the east.  Each son’s tribe settled separately “according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.”  Yet though they had their own languages, still they had a common language which they shared that eventually brought pride to them all before their fall in the next chapter of this account of God’s people and plan of redemption leading to the Messiah to crush the serpent in the end.  These families of Noah’s descendants filled the earth in obedience to the command to be fruitful and multiply as originally mandated to Adam (Genesis 1:22, 28) and reiterated to Noah (Genesis 8:17) after disembarking the Ark of deliverance from destruction.  We who are in Christ now who have descended spiritually through the lineage of the second Adam are called in a similar manner to go and make spiritual descendants called disciples (Matthew 28:19-20) of the Lord to fill heaven with offspring of the Father and restore the relationship with our Father in heaven in Him as one family (Ephesians 3:14-15) in Him.  The physical generations are therefore a template and foundation of the Church, a channel of redemption for we the people of God chosen and called out from the corruption of sin into the righteousness of Him who rescues us from judgment and redeems us as His own by an unbreakable covenant of grace. 

Genesis 9:18-29 - The Corruption of Sin Resurfaces

Genesis 9:18-29

Noah and His Sons

18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.

20 And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. 21 Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.

24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said:

“Cursed be Canaan;
A servant of servants
He shall be to his brethren.”

26 And he said:

“Blessed be the LORD,
The God of Shem,
And may Canaan be his servant.

27 May God enlarge Japheth,
And may he dwell in the tents of Shem;
And may Canaan be his servant.”

28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.

Just after departing the ark of deliverance from God’s judgment on the sin of the world through the flood, Noah began farming the ground as Cain had done in following Adam’s curse (Genesis 3:17, 18-19, 4:2-3).  However, when he cultivated grapes and fermented wine from them, he became so drunk that he passed out naked on his bed.  His son Ham the father of Canaan came in and did not avert his eyes from his father’s exposure but just went to tell his two brothers what he just saw as if unashamed and forgotten how Adam and Eve were naked in Eden’s Garden until sin exposed the eyes of their corrupted hearts (Genesis 3:6-7, 10-11) to confuse good and evil as one and the same.  When Noah awoke, he remembered enough to know what Ham the younger had done and how his other sons, Shem and Japheth, had covered the nakedness of him as God did with the sacrificed animals (Genesis 3:21) to cover the sin of Adam and Eve by covering their bodies from view.  Because Ham had not considered these things, God cursed him and his children who formed the nation of Canaan.  He used Noah to pronounce the consequences of servitude to their brother’s children and descendants for all time to follow.  As for the others, Shem was identified as having God as his as a blessing and Canaan his servants, while Japheth was blessed to be fruitful and multiply while dwelling with his brother Shem’s descendants with Canaan as his slaves as well.  With this slip back into sin’s curse, the children lived on while Noah died at nine hundred and fifty years old, a full three hundred and fifty years after the deluge had wiped the slate of mankind clean to begin again.  Unfortunately, the inherited sin (Romans 5:12, 15, 17, 18-19) was passed on as if the spiritual descendants of Adam by Cain lived on through the flood to once again contaminate the souls made in God’s image and delivered through the first judgment of destruction on the world.  The corruption of sin always resurfaces no matter the deliverance from it, yet the hope we have is forgiveness in the second Adam once and for all to deal with sin’s staying power and penalty.  He gives us strength to resist sin and daily put it to death (Romans 8:13-15) in our souls and will wipe it clean by fire in the final judgment (1 Corinthians 3:13, 1 Peter 1:7, 2 Peter 3:6-7) on the world with a hope of vanquishing sin’s presence forever in the resurrection of the just with sinless and incorruptible bodies uncorrupted by sin’s presence and power over us.  This judgment on the world will not leave sin in us as after the flood because we will be made new in the untarnished image of Christ, unlike our present corrupt image through the first Adam.  The second Adam (Romans 5:14-15), Jesus Christ, will give us this inheritance of sinlessness in the new earth cleansed by fire with the tempter and source of sin removed from our presence, the dragon and serpent of old (Revelation 12:9, 20:10) as it is written and promised.  Though the corruption of sin has resurfaced after the flood, it will be removed in the world to come so we can worship in the very presence of God (Revelation 21:22-24, 22:3-4), untarnished and holy in the original image in which He created us to walk with Him (Genesis 3:8) in His presence as in the beginning of creation. 

Genesis 9:1-17 - The Image of God and His Covenant

Genesis 9:1-17

1 So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. 4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.

7 And as for you, be fruitful and multiply;
Bring forth abundantly in the earth
And multiply in it.”

8 Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9 “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. 11 Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15 and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” 17 And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

We read of how the image of God in man was called to be multiplied in the earth after the judgment of the flood, renewing the original mandate (Genesis 1:28) given Adam, but interrupted by the deluge to cleanse the world (Genesis 6:13) of rampant violent sin.  Before the flood man ate only plants, but after being set free to repopulate the earth, he was given the mandate and permission to also now eat the animals who would likewise now have a fear for man as a means of protecting themselves.  He was commanded, however, in no uncertain terms never to consume the life of the animals by eating their blood which gave and sustained their lives.  This is why the sacrifices had to be drained of blood to allow their lives to be poured out to cover sins.  This also had the larger meaning of the sacrifice of God’s Son and our Passover Lamb (Exodus 12:12-13, Isaiah 53:7, 1 Corinthians 5:7) whose lifeblood was poured out to cover and atone for our sin, but as a perfect offering to cover all sin forever (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12, 10:10) with a single supreme sacrifice of His life to redeem ours.  The warning extended in the command to Noah and his offspring therefore to never take the life of another as what led to the necessity of the flood.  Since the life was in the blood, killing another person would hold them accountable for the lifeblood as of Cain, Lamech, and all the others earning the wages of sin, and murder would then hold the sinner accountable by the death penalty returned on his or her own head.  This was again because each person is made in the image of God, bearing that image to be honored in like treatment and not destroyed in jealousy or anger.  Noah and his family then had this warning along with the mandate to continue to be fruitful and multiply in the earth to create godly offspring (Malachi 2:15) to tend His creation.  He then established a covenant with man from that generation and following to never again flood the earth to deal with the corruption of sin.  Indeed, the earth has been corrupted (Genesis 6:11-12, Romans 8:21) by our original sin passed through our spiritual DNA of Adam to all (Romans 5:12, 17-18, 9-20), yet the promise to judge us will no longer be by such a deluge.  In the end, it will be by a consuming fire to (2 Peter 3:7) cleanse sin’s presence from the earth.  This covenant made by the LORD God is to all people and every living thing on this world.  It has a sign for us to remember every time it rains again that no world covering flood will follow, the sign on the sky of a rainbow of peace and comfort in its assurance of goodness to us.  This sign is not to commemorate immortality as it does lately in our spiritually corrupt culture, but to assure us of God’s mercy and grace in the face of deserved judgment and destruction for that immorality and other heinous crimes like murder that destroy God’s image of holiness in His creation whom we all are.  Remember the image of God and His covenants.  Look to the sky to remember this mercy and sin no more lest a worse end comes on us if we are not covered in the sacrificial lifeblood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ in the New Covenant of His blood (1 Corinthians 11:25, 1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 9:15, 12:24) to redeem His children.  This then explains the importance of the Image of God in us and His Covenant in relation to the corruption of sin and judgment on the world.

Genesis 8:15-22 - Our Promised Deliverance

Genesis 8:15-22

15 Then God spoke to Noah, saying, 16 “Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons’ wives with you. 17 Bring out with you every living thing of all flesh that is with you: birds and cattle and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, so that they may abound on the earth, and be fruitful and multiply on the earth.” 18 So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him. 19 Every animal, every creeping thing, every bird, and whatever creeps on the earth, according to their families, went out of the ark.

God’s Covenant with Creation

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done.

22 “While the earth remains,
Seedtime and harvest,
Cold and heat,
Winter and summer,
And day and night
Shall not cease.”

Noah and his family exited the ark of deliverance and led out all the living animals, reptiles, and birds, causing everything that had breath to praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6) for their salvation from death and destruction.  This is the pattern for us to follow who have been delivered and are being delivered (2 Corinthians 1:9-10) from so great a death of eternal judgment in Christ, our ark of salvation from the wrath of judgment to fall on this world corrupted by sin!  Noah led the way out into freedom and all followed in their families from the ark to the earth washed clean as a type of baptism; in contrast to this, our baptism in Christ secures our deliverance for all eternity out of the judgment by fire to come.  How much more should we be praising the LORD for His grace of deliverance!  Noah was,so,thankful and moved with praise that he sacrificed burnt offerings to express his gratitude as we should become living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) to serve Him who has delivered us from the penalty of sin, a deliverance which cannot ever be lost, abandoned, or taken from us.  We are safe and secure in His mighty hands (John 10:28-29, Ephesians 1:13-14) of grace and love, sealed as His forever by His unshakable promise in His Son.  When Noah sacrificed mere animals whose lifeblood temporarily atoned for his and his family’s sin, God answered with a promise to never curse the ground again and wipe the evil of mankind off by a flood.  He would not repeat that judgment, leaving the final judgment after much long suffering over our evil thoughts and imaginations to be purged by fire (2 Peter 3:10, 12-13) in the end.  We therefore look forward to a new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells in Christ.  We know that until that time predetermined and known only to God that all will continue as it is now, seasons and days with their nights, and food enough to eat.  He will provide for us until His coming to deliver us from sin’s corruption on the earth as a promise we can utterly rely upon.  The Lord Jesus Christ, our Ark of the New Covenant of our salvation and worship, is Himself our promised deliverance.  He alone guarantees our promised deliverance from judgment in Himself, just as pictured here by Noah and his family with the ark of deliverance.  We can look forward to that no matter what the new year brings!