Crumbs for the Lord's Little Ones: Volume 2 (1854), Noah and His Sons. (9:8-29)
Genesis 9:8-29.
THIS passage presents some serious instruction. Noah received his name through the spirit of prophecy (Gen. 5:29). He found grace in the eyes of the Lord. He was a just man, and perfect in his generations. He walked with God (Gen. 6:8, 9). God’s testimony concerning him was, “Thee have I seen righteous bore Me.” “He was a preacher of righteousness;” and by faith, “warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith” (Heb. 11:7). Coming out of the ark his sacrifice is accepted. God blesses him and establishes the covenant, of which the rainbow was a token, between Him and every living creature that came out of the ark. Notwithstanding all this present grace, Noah falls into open sin. Let hits that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. But by means of all this does God take occasion to open a great mystery. The sin of Noah is the means of discovering what sort of a heart was in his son Ham. The godliness of the father, training up his children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, would check and restrain, though it could not change the evil nature of Ham, but at length it breaks out. In Ham and Japheth we see produced the peaceable fruits of righteousness; they anticipate in their doings the first commandment with promise, Honor thy father, &c. Ham’s deed is not without its significance. It marks a heart filled with bitterest hatred and scorn, destitute altogether of that charity which rejoiceth not in iniquity. It is the manifestation of the spirit which in after times we are warned against, namely, “speaking evil of dignities.” The patriareh Noah was a Priest and King in his family, and should have been, even in his fall, had in reverence by a son. But how wonderful, rich, and free is the grace of God in restoring. How merciful His dealings with His saints. Noah is raised up and made the mouth of God in judgment; a divine revelation is given to him, and by the spirit of prophecy he declares things to come. How wonderful the way of God in separating the precious from the vile. The whole history is a figure of what is before our eyes. “Every plant; that my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”
The mystery is, there was a Ham in the ark—an Ishmael under covenant circumcised, and yet put out of the household of faith. An Esau about whom Rebecca inquired of the Lord, and who, for one morsel of meat sold his birthright, and forfeited the blessing. A Judas amongst the twelve. “Have I not chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil.” The mystery of iniquity in the Church, and even now, writes John, are there many antichrist& “Little children, keep your, selves from idols.”
PRECEPT. ―The precepts which God has given us are generally grounded upon some revelation of God’s character; ―thus, “Be ye holy, for I am holy;” “Let us love one another, for love is of God;” “Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful;” “Forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you,” &c. &c.