The Kingdom of God Devotional Guide - Friday, February 4

Scripture Reading: Genesis 9

Explanation and Review: As time moves along in the early history of the world, by the time Noah comes on the scene, several key elements of God's plan to restore the earth as a place where His rule is fully honored and obeyed become clear:

• His provision of a Virgin-born, Deliverer-King
• Faith in Him and cooperation with His plan as the means of securing the blessings associated with His Kingdom
• Covering for sin through the bloody sacrifice of a substitute
• The promised "life" under God's rule involves intimate fellowship with Him and appropriate relationships with all others
• The promised "life" under God's rule does not end with the time one spends here on earth prior to the establishment of His Kingdom
• There is ultimate victory over death for all those who believe in God and cooperate with His plan

 After the Flood, God promises to "never again destroy the earth with a flood". This promises introduces yet another key element of God's plan; namely, that God intends to actually restore the earth itself. He has something better in mind than ever again returning the earth to anything like its original uninhabitable state (see Genesis 1:2 - More details on this point can be found in a pastorrandysblog entry from 2006). All of this laid down a foundation of great hope for Noah and his descendants.

Unfortunately, sometime later Noah became drunk and his "nakedness" became exposed. The text doesn't explain what happened exactly. The primary hint it gives that Noah did something wrong is found in the word "nakedness". After the Fall, "nakedness" as it is used in the Scriptures became symbolic of shame and guilt.

Noah's son, Ham, discovered Noah in his uncovered condition and reported it to his brothers. Once again, the text doesn't explain much. However, we can assume that Ham's behavior was blameworthy based on Noah's cursing him for it.

The curse that came from Noah actually focused on Canaan, one of Ham's sons. The curse itself was a clear indication that Ham's line would not be the line of the promised Virgin-born, Deliverer-King, which is the apparent reason why Noah cursed Canaan and not Ham. Declaring Canaan to be a "servant of servants" indicates a destiny opposite of the dominion God had in mind for human beings in the beginning and the dominion of human beings in association with His plan to restore the earth as a place where His rule is fully honored and obeyed.

The curse did not remove Ham's line from the possibility of ever experiencing any of the blessings of God's plan. Nevertheless, Ham's line quickly came to the mistaken conclusion that if they were to experience any of the blessings God now promised to deliver through Shem, they would have to secure them for themselves. Thus, Ham's line through Nimrod was responsible for building the Tower of Babel "to make a name (literally, a "Shem") for ourselves.

God's judgment on the people of Babel shows that it is impossible for anyone to secure the blessings of God's Kingdom for themselves. Instead they must cooperate with God's plan and place their faith in Him. Cooperation involves accountability for responding properly to those elements of God's plan that He has already revealed. The complete fulfillment of much of God's plan still lies in the future; however, much has already been revealed. Like Ham and others of old, we too face questions of whether we will trust God and cooperate with Him in relation to what He has revealed of His great plan.

Coming tomorrow: What Ham's line could have done differently in response to Noah's curse.

Reflection Questions: How would you describe a life that is "cooperating with God's plan" today? Does your life match up to your description?