The earth was cleansed.
Swift and complete judgment had fallen upon humanity, as well as the creatures that were not on the Ark. But, God gave the human race another shot–one more opportunity to spread His image throughout all the earth. The original command was echoed once again…
“Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth…”
Genesis 9:1b
Where judgment was decisively on display, mercy had triumphed over judgment. It was a most benevolent extension of incomparable grace given to a fallen humanity. God, in spite of Noah’s tainted sinful flesh, gave him and 7 others the privilege to propagate His image to a new world–a cleansed world. Would this be the redemption man needed to restore what had been previously lost? Would this be the new humanity to reverse the course of the old world order? Would man succeed in bringing heaven to earth–restoring the garden fellowship with God?
“Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.”
Genesis 9:20-21
In less than 20 verses after God’s recapitulation of His command to this chosen family, man once again showed his heart–his spiritually dead heart. O, the heart of man. His plight. But, what of his Noah’s sons? How would they respond to their father’s sin? Surely they would have heeded God’s command…
“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.”
Genesis 9:22-23
Ham, the youngest son this time, sinned. He exposed the shame of his father. Whereas Cain had taken the life of his brother, Ham now shames his father. He sinned, and he was cursed. The heart of man–his dead heart–is revealed again. The sin of a father exposed in sin by a son. The double catastrophe of guilt, and the failure again of man. But, the two other sons covered their father’s shame. There was a glimmer of hope. And one of them was blessed–Shem. “…Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem…” The line of Seth, Adam’s son has found its mark–Shem. From this son will come an explosion of color on the black and white canvas of history. It will be from this son that the Son of Man will descend–He will be born of a virgin and will be the second Adam. But, that’s way down the line–man has just begun to expand post God’s cleansing. Now, let us see how Noah’s family handles their privileged position. Will they, through learning and knowledge and innovation, reach the heights of holiness? Will they, in their craftsmanship and skill with their hands, ascend to the hills of harmony with the Father, God? Will they elevate and propagate a righteous line of humans who will reject and confound the accuser, the Devil himself? In the back of their minds, perhaps, was the promise of God: “…I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth…” Does this make any difference to man? Or does his journey continue to spiral out of control?
“Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name…”
Genesis 11:4a
The world had been populated, the imagination of man and his skillful hand had been refined, and there they were with their new technology–the brick. This marvelous harnessing of the created order. What handiwork. What genius. What a new way to live in their world with a firmer foundation. And, as soon as this brilliance is cultivated, the heart of man is once again exposed. “…let us make for ourselves a name…” The height of arrogance. The hubris of humanity. The denunciation of the Creator. The good became ultimate. The helpful became an instrument for power and position. The harnessing of creation was used to glorify man, not as it was intended–to glorify God. No, no, these humans are just like their father, the devil. The offspring of Noah has been weighed in the balance and is found wanting. These are walking dead people–spiritually speaking–and their highhanded rebellion unmistakably resembles their master. The apple did not fall far from the tree, and its fruit is bitter.
What will be God’s answer to man’s ambitious self-aggrandizing heart? Babel–Confusion.
“Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
Genesis 11:9
What hope that was lost. What opportunity that was squandered. What privilege that was punted. Man, generation after generation of man, continues the spectacular spiral down. He thinks he ascends, but his heart deceives him. He descends, and unless all hope is lost, there must be a Savior. Who will bring man into fellowship with his God–his Creator? Who will restore the lost world? Who will reconcile the Great Divorce? Who, I say, will make man right with his God? The answer is coming–O, yes! God has not left us without an answer. It is there–just down the line in the annals of history. In the meantime, we should gravely consider the plight of man. Not privilege, not mercy, not opportunity, not learning, not knowledge, not genius, not technology will bring man to a restored fellowship with God. There must be something else–or Someone else. But that’s not until later. Meditate on the plight of man. His sinful plight. But, lest you lose hope–consider…
“O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
a second Adam to the fight
and to the rescue came.”