Shem

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

SHEM

Gen 10:1-32

10:1 This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, who themselves had sons after the flood. 2 The sons of Japheth: 6 The sons of Ham: 22 The sons of Shem: 32 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.

NIV

This is a very shortened version of the whole of Chapter 10, which is an account of the sons, grandsons, great-grandsons, and on of each of the clans of people and the territories they spread out to. One that is notable was the grandson of Ham, Nimrod, whom we are told grew into a mighty warrior, a great hunter before the LORD. He built the city of Nineveh, the city that God sent Jonah to, who had to spend those three days in the belly of a great fish before he obeyed and went to declare the judgement of God on that city. We know that story, plus the judgement brought through Nahum and Zephaniah. We are only told that the line of Japheth became maritime people, who could have become what is known as Vikings, who were a war-like people. Only the line of Shem will bring the good news to mankind, for Jesus comes through his line. We know that Canaan, the son of Ham, was to be slaves to the sons of Shem, whose line would become Israel, who occupied the land of Canaan.  Shem was the one who covered the nakedness of his father. This reminds us that Jesus covers our nakedness, for without the righteousness of Christ we will stand naked before the Lord. Anyone who is not covered by the righteousness of Christ will stand naked before the judgement seat of the Lord, having no defense, no covering for their sins, and will be completely destroyed in the flames of the lake of burning sulfur. The word used is perish. However, those of us who have been adopted as children of God through our acceptance of Jesus as our Lord and Savior have had our nakedness covered by the righteousness of Jesus, washed clean by his blood, so we will stand in white robes, whiter than new-driven snow before the throne of God and hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your master." Although Jesus said these in a parable, the words will ring true on that last day when we are covered in his righteousness. 

Love or Gossip

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LOVE OR GOSSIP

Gen 9:18-29

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. 24 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." 26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.   27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave." 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.

NIV

The first question is: if Noah was a man of the soil, why is it recorded that he planted a vineyard, but we are not told that he planted any corn, wheat, barley, or other food grains?  This vineyard would have taken a few years to produce grapes, and then some time for them to ferment into wine, which caused Noah to become drunk and pass out in his tent. Yet all that is covered in one verse. What Ham did was wrong, and if we consider what he did, we could say that he gossiped about his father, because he told his brothers about their father being drunk and passed out naked in his tent. Had Ham covered his father and kept his mouth shut, he would have never been under a curse. This could be the main clue about the horrible act of gossip and how the Lord does not look with favor upon it. Certainly, when we are not cursed if we gossip, for we live in the age of grace, that should not mean we have the right or the freedom to speak about the happenings of another, which would bring about some negative feelings about them. On the other hand, Shem and Japheth covered their father's nakedness, without looking upon him. This shows an act of love that covers a multitude of sins. Love is the opposite of gossip. We have Jesus' command to love others as we love ourselves. Why would we gossip about ourselves? If we love others, why would we gossip about them? There was a reason Noah was not pleased with what Ham did, and why he responded by cursing Ham, who became the father of the Canaanites, where God brought the Israelites out of Egypt to Canaan and gave them their land. Let us not give ourselves over to the same fate as Ham; let us decide to love, not gossip. 

Signs to Remember

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

 SIGNS TO REMEMBER

Gen 9:8-17

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 "I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you — the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you — every living creature on earth. 11 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." 12 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: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 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. 16 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." 17 So God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth."

NIV

God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants as well as with all the living things that came out of the ark with him, all life, all that has the breath of life in it. We are those descendants of Noahwith whom the LORD God has this covenant. We never have to worry about another flood destroying all living creatures on earth. He gave himself a sign to remember his covenant, which is more like a promise. God set the rainbow in the sky to remind himself and us of his covenant. This is an affront to God for those who live some alternate lifestyle to claim the rainbow as their symbol. The rainbow is a symbol of God's eternal covenant between him and all mankind, and every living creature that shares this planet. However, God also said another pending destruction is in the works. We only have to pay attention to the Revelation that was given to John to know how the end and the beginning will take place. But for now, we live under the protection of this covenant between God and us, with the rainbow as a reminder. However, we have a newer covenant God made with us through the Cross of Jesus. He came to earth in the most humble of circumstances, not as a king or powerful ruler. He came to take our place on a cross. He died in our place, so that we would not have to die, but that we could live. This new covenant does not replace the one God made with Noah and his descendants with the rainbow. Still, this new covenant through Jesus is also an eternal one, an everlasting promise that whosoever believes in Jesus will not perish but have everlasting life. Of course, that means all who live that alternate lifestyle, the one that is an affront to God, will not see this everlasting life, but instead they will perish. That is the sad reality of making the wrong choice of refusing to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. Yet, we have a promise, a covenant, both the Rainbow and the Cross, signs to remember. 

Dread and Harmony

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

DREAD AND HARMONY

Gen 9:1-7

9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 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. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 "But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."

NIV

This blessing upon Noah gives us the clue as to how God intended his creation to live in harmony with one another. Here, God tells Noah that from now on fear and dread of man will fall upon all the beasts of the earth, the birds, and every creature that moves along the ground, and all the fish. Once, as it was before the flood, man lived in harmony with all the animal kingdom, as well as it lived in harmony with man and each other. It would seem, although we are not specifically told, that all creatures, including man, were vegetarians, eating green plants, which, in our opinion, meant that the prey-and-predator system did not exist; the lion would have lain down next to the lamb. However, now God gives everything; that means the meat of animals for food. This would also have meant that the wild kingdom would become what it is today; the lamb would be prey for the lion. God also established his law concerning murder, and the justice for such an offense. All of us are made in the image of God; therefore, we do not have the right to kill someone who has been made in the image of God. The world has gone so far from the law of God; killing has become commonplace, for whatever reason man can fathom. Whole people groups have been subject to genocide, while one individual murders because of racism or some emotionally revengeful state. We, believers, have been given a stronger admonishment by Jesus. He correlated hatred with murder. If we were to get so upset and become angry with another believer that we refuse to love them, or refuse to forgive them for any offense, then we could be guilty of the same thing as murder. Jesus tells us that if we have any contempt toward another believer, we are subject to judgment. We wonder when we gossip if that is a form of contempt, or at least killing someone's reputation, thus killing them. It all goes back to the two commands of Jesus: that we are to love the Lord with our whole being and to love others as we love ourselves. We would never gossip about ourselves, nor would we do anything that would harm ourselves in any way. We want the best in our lives; we want the blessing of God in our lives, so that would mean we want the same for others. Although we may no longer be able to live in harmony with the animal kingdom, for they fear and dread us, we should be able to live in harmony with God and each other. 

A Pleasing Aroma

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

A PLEASING AROMA

Gen 8:15-22

15 Then God said to Noah, 16 "Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. 17 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 upon it." 18 So Noah came out, together with his sons and his wife and his sons' wives. 19 All the animals and all the creatures that move along the ground and all the birds — everything that moves on the earth — came out of the ark, one kind after another. 20 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. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.

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

NIV

The ordeal of the flood and the time of Noah and his family being within the ark had come to its conclusion. God told Noah it was time to come out of the ark. We can imagine how grateful Noah was that he and his family had survived, that he had found favor in the eyes of the LORD, and that he had been instructed exactly how to build that ark of safety. Noah saw, firsthand, the mighty power and salvation of the LORD. Was it any wonder that Noah built an altar and made a thanksgiving offering to the LORD? We are told the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, then made that promise of never cursing the ground again because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. This is where we must come to grips with our imperfection as mankind. From birth, we are born with our hearts bent toward evil. We cannot simply evolve into righteousness, for we never had it and will never have it unless we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior; then he becomes our righteousness. That must come at some point in our lives. For some, it may not happen until later in life, as a full-grown adult, while some can choose early in life, as a child, maybe one living with believing parents. Either way, we each must take that step, first into the ark of safety, the cross of Jesus; then we must follow Jesus through the path he has laid out for us, as Noah did. Although Noah sacrificed some of the clean animals, we must be living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to the LORD.  Our lives should be a sweet-smelling aroma, pleasing to God. What does that look like in the practical sense? Although the moment we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we become pleasing to God, we must then proceed with our daily lives, doing all that life requires. It is how that plays out that matters: how we follow the Lord's instructions, his guidance, influence on our hearts, walking the path he has laid out for us, all the while doing what is needed to live, to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth, all the while being a sweet aroma to the LORD. The other truth is in his promise: as long as the earth endures, which is the key truth, for he is the one who sustains the earth until his designated time for the end and the beginning of all things. In the meantime, let us live as a pleasing aroma to God.  

Let Us See

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

LET US SEE

Gen 8:6-14

6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark 7 and sent out a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth. 8 Then he sent out a dove to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground. 9 But the dove could find no place to set its feet because there was water over all the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark. He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark. 10 He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark. 11 When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf! Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth. 12 He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him.

13 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. 14 By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry.

NIV

By our calculations, which could be right or wrong, from the time the rain began in the 600^th year, 2^nd month and 17^th day, until the 601st year, 2nd month, 27th day, when the earth was completely dry, is 1 year and 10 days that Noah was in the ark. Although that is not the story for us today, it is interesting that God wanted us to know the exact times this event took place. Next, we will see that God told Noah to come out of the ark. Although Noah had a window so that he could send out the raven and then the dove, it was doubtful that he could see much of what was out there, as he had not yet removed the covering over the ark. However, on the day recorded, Noah removed the covering from the ark and was able to see that the ground was dry. We do not know what this covering was made of, but it could have been some kind of canvas-type cloth or boards of cypress wood that were able to come apart. Whatever it was, Noah was able to remove it and see that the surface of the ground was dry. This is where we get the clue for our lives. We wonder if it is possible that we had a covering or, for that matter, still have a covering over our hearts that keeps us from seeing the truth of God. When we remove that covering from our hearts, we can see the truth of what God has done, is doing for us and in us, and what he wants to accomplish through us. Noah removed the covering over the ark, so it would seem that we are the ones who should remove the covering over our hearts and minds. Yet, at the same time, the Father sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within us, so that he could uncover our hearts and minds, opening them and exposing them to his divine presence and influence. However, because God never forces himself upon us but gently persuades, we can refuse and keep that covering in place, so we can do what we want to do, when and how we want to. That brings us to the question of whose influence we listen to: ours or His. Lord, if there is any covering left, remove that cover, and let us see. 

Came to Rest

 DEVOTION

GENESIS

CAME TO REST

Gen 8:1-5

8:1 But God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock that were with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. 2 Now the springs of the deep and the floodgates of the heavens had been closed, and the rain had stopped falling from the sky. 3 The water receded steadily from the earth. At the end of the hundred and fifty days the water had gone down, 4 and on the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 5 The waters continued to recede until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains became visible.

NIV

Interestingly, the word remembered seems to indicate that God had forgotten Noah and all the animals and livestock that were with him in the ark. That just cannot be, for how could God forget Noah? Was God's pain too much to think about Noah? Did he enact his revenge or judgement so severely on all mankind that he gave up on thinking he had Noah, who found favor in his eyes? That is not how the scripture reads, because the 'but' comes after the floodwaters had covered the whole earth, but God did not forget about Noah and all those who were with him in the ark, so he sent a wind to begin the process of drying up the water to expose the dry land. This gives us great encouragement because no matter where we are in life, God does not forget us. He always remembers us whether we are floundering in the water, being tossed to and fro by the storms of life, or we are resting in the ark, the cross of safety, secured on the top of the mountain of God. As the waters receded, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. It was just the bottom of the hull, so the ark was no longer floating around, but stood still while God caused the water to go down. This reminds us of when Jesus was sleeping on the boat, and the disciples, although at least four of them were fishermen, thought they were going to drown and woke him up. He calmed the storm, and they were safe. It does not matter what is going on in our lives, whether we are in a storm or resting in the cross, God always remembers us, always looks over us. Just as he caused the ark with Noah and his family to come to rest on the mountains of Ararat, he can cause us to come to rest, in a sense, on his mountain. This could be seen as the hills of Golgotha, the place where the cross of Jesus stood. From a certain angle, the hill takes on the appearance of a skull, so it is called the place of the skull. However, the point is that it is where we find rest for our souls, in Christ Jesus. All the storms of life, the waters, are caused to recede by the voice of God. There is where we came to rest.