Genesis Part 1 - Week 18

Day 1 

READ 

Genesis 9:18-20 

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the boat with their father were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham is the father of Canaan.) 19 From these three sons of Noah came all the people who now populate the earth. 20 After the flood, Noah began to cultivate the ground, and he planted a vineyard. 

Ham is significant later in the story so his name is inserted here. If you have questions about who populated the earth after the Genesis flood, this passage tells you. Noah worked the ground and planted a vineyard. Nothing is said at this point what he planned to do with the grapes.  

REFLECT 

Do you find it interesting that all people who later populated the earth came from the three sons of Noah? 

RESPOND 

There are many references to vineyards in the Bible, but Genesis 9:20 is the first mention of one. This is also the only mention of one in the book of Genesis. With a friend, use your search engines to search for other vineyards in the Bible. 

Day 2 

READ 

Genesis 9:21-23 

21 One day he drank some wine he had made, and he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked. 

This passage does not specifically say what the sin was. Being a heavy drinker was not yet called a sin. Some say because of the culture seeing a father undressed was a serious shame to the family. Shem and Japheth shielded themselves in such a way they did not see the nakedness of their father.  

REFLECT 

Even if you are unable to understand what is happening in this passage, a more serious problem will soon come to light. 

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about what the Bible says about heavy drinking. Read 1 Timothy 3:3 and Titus 1:7. Grape juice would soon ferment in the hot climate. But later the custom was to dilute it with several parts water with one part of wine, or fermented grape juice.  

Day 3 

READ 

Genesis 9:24-25 

24 When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. 25 Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.” 

This is a passage that has been used and abused by many people. Believing that the descendants of Ham were primarily black people, some have used this passage to say that the black people are under a special curse. This passage does not say that Ham was cursed; it says his son Canaan was. Canaan was the fourth son of Ham (see Genesis 10:6). All of mankind is under one curse: the curse of sin that our first ancestor was guilty of that poisoned the human race (see Romans 5:12). 

REFLECT 

Hopefully you have not used this passage for prejudice against black people.  

RESPOND 

Talk with a friend about how this passage has been misused by some. Read passages such as John 3:16; 1 John 2:2; 4:9-11. Whenever you are tempted to question another person’s ethnicity remind yourself that Jesus loves them and died for them as He did for all people. 

Day 4 

READ 

Genesis 9:26-29 

26 Then Noah said, “May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant! 27 May God expand the territory of Japheth! May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.” 28 Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood. 29 He lived 950 years, and then he died. 

The descendants of Shem were the Jewish people. The “h” is dropped when referring to “anti-Semites” that is a reference to disliking the Jewish people. The descendants of Japheth were primarily Gentiles. The descendants of Canaan were the Canaanites who were eventually dominated by the Jewish people. This passage records the death of Noah, only 19 years less than the oldest man who had ever lived (see Genesis 5:27).  

REFLECT 

Determine in your heart that you will love all people as Jesus commanded. 

RESPOND 

Read Matthew 22:34-40 to see what Jesus said about the most important commandments when a specialist in Old Testament law tried to trap Him.  

Day 5 

READ 

Genesis 10:1-2 

1 This is the account of the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the three sons of Noah. Many children were born to them after the great flood. 2 The descendants of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 

Most genealogies are vertical in either tracing younger ones from ancestors or ancestors down to younger ones. What follows is a horizontal genealogy in that it will list the descendants of Shem, Ham and Japheth. It will begin with the descendants of Japheth, then Ham and finally with Shem. The descendants of Shem are the main story in the Bible.  

REFLECT 

Think of this as writing a paper in which you would talk about other people first and then come to the main character in the story.  

RESPOND 

Notice the vertical genealogies in the New Testament. Matthew 1:1-16 traces the genealogy of Jesus down from Abraham. Compare Luke 3:23-38 that traces Jesus’ genealogy up to Adam, the son of God.