The Knowledge of Men and God

 Genealogy of Characters It is no secret that parenting and upbringing and the context in which we grow up has a lot to do with our character. The people to whom we look up to in our childhood are probably one of the most influential people in our lives. They, and especially the parents, shape the character to a big degree. Of course free will does not cease to exist because of this, but habits and thought patterns learned young are harder to unlearn old.  This may be partly seen in the genealogies of Genesis. Already in Genesis 4 we see polygamy and a murderous spirit coming from the line of Cain in Laban while we see a righteous Enoch from the line of Seth in Genesis 5. But in Genesis 10 we see more of this. Ham was a rather wicked man who shamed his own father. It is from his line that we see the first recorded empire-building Nimrod. Canaan, the son of Ham, was cursed by Noah for what Ham had done. He would be a servant of servants. This was not really about genes, but als...

 Mighty Nimrod's Mind Before the flood there was much wickedness. Genesis 6 tells us of some elements or causes of this wickedness. Marriage between those of God and those who were not of God were arranged. And you also had  the giants, mighty men who made names for themselves. They were powerful, but of course the way it is portrayed is rather a spirit of pride which too many people glorified and loved since. After the flood this same spirit shows up again with Nimrod, a descendant of Ham who humiliated his father Noah and whose name means ‘rebellion’.  What does a full rebellion against God look like? What spirit or mind can we expect? [Gen 10:8-12 NKJV] 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 Ni...

 The Wine of Noah When Ham saw and gossiped about the nakedness of his father Noah, Noah himself was not completely blameless.  Of course his son should not have exploited the moment of vulnerability of his father, but at the same time he was, in this instance, vulnerable because of his own actions. [Gen 9:20-21 NKJV] 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. [Gen 9:24 NKJV] 24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Alcohol is an intoxicating substance. Noah gained access to it through the vineyard he had. And as soon as he had access to it, the temptation was there. He gave in. He did not just drink, he drank until he was drunk and sleeping because of the wine. In this intoxicated moment people may do things that they would never do if they could use their brains. The reasoning part of the mind is weakened and thus Noah ended up naked in his ...

 Exposing Shame Noah was described as a righteous and faithful man of God. But he too made mistakes. In Genesis 9, after the flood had already destroyed so much, Noah became drunk with some rather undesired consequences: [Gen 9:20-21 NKJV] 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. He drank the wine, became drunk and was now naked in his tent. The one of his sons came in: [Gen 9:22 NKJV] 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. Ham saw the nakedness of his father. He could have covered it, taking care for his father. He should have had pity and he should have made sure no one else would see. But instead he went to tell his brothers outside. Nothing was done, he just gossiped the nakedness of his own father around. His brothers, however, acted very differently: [Gen 9:23 NKJV] 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid [it] ...

 God's Disinclination to Destruction God destroyed earth with a flood. This was not the final judgment when this earth will ‘flee’ as Revelation says. But God spared a few. He had grace. After the flood God immediately works on restoring it.  A common theme we will see is that God is slow to anger and that destruction is a strange work to Him, but that restoration and creating is a much closer His heart. Humanity is still naturally evil from his youth to the very heart. Why do we not give Him a favor and repent from our evil ways? [Gen 8:15-19 NKJV] 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 wit...

 God Remembers The earth had just been flooded. All animals and all of humanity had just been destroyed in water: [Gen 7:23 NKJV] 23 So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who [were] with him in the ark remained [alive]. But Noah alone, with his family and the animals in the ark, survived in this terrible storm and destruction. All the rain, streams and destruction could have understandably moved Noah and his family to fear. The entire world was covered with the flood and they alone were left. If God had destroyed so many people, could they assume that God will care about them? What if they were stuck in the ark? What if the destruction would take the ark? But in all this God never forgot these few people who had trusted Him and had remained faithful to Him: [Gen 8:1-5 NKJV] 1 Then God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the ...