Genesis 9:12-23 – Seals and Sins
God seals His covenant with a rainbow. He repeats His assurance that He will never again destroy the world with a flood. When we have the greatest reason to be afraid of a flood, before and after rainfall, is when God sends His rainbow as a sign of His promise, to remind us of His mercy in the storm, and to comfort us. God always remembers to keep His promises; when we look at a rainbow, we should remember to keep our promises to Him.
Noah has no more children after these three sons, and from them come all the peoples of the earth. God can use small beginnings to accomplish His purposes. Noah doesn’t lead an idle life, but he plants a vineyard. Still, Noah isn’t perfect, and we see him sinning by becoming drunk. Before the flood when he is surrounded by sin, he leads a righteous life, now through carelessness, he falls into sin when it should have been easier to do what God says. We must always be watchful against sin.
Ham sees his father in a drunken, shameful state, and it pleases him. He is glad to see his father in sin, and he mocks his father to his brothers. He wants to let everyone know Noah’s sin because he has no respect for his father. Shem and Japheth, out of respect and love, not only don’t look at their father’s sin, but they make sure no one else will see it. We must not broadcast the sins of other people but deal with them in love and discretion.
Questions
- What was the seal of God’s promise?
- Which two sons respected their father?
Prayer Points
- Give thanks for God’s promises.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters