# 97 The Righteous Line of Shem

The Book of Genesis Day 97 Ge 11:10 This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. 20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31 And Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran. Lots of names as God the Holy Spirit moves Moses to go to ancestry.com and record the righteous line of Abraham. (Just kidding of course,) but when you think about it, this is amazing! How does one trace a family line from the time of the flood to the time of Abraham with such detail? I mean, I can go as far back as my grandparents and that’s it! A couple of things stand out in this genealogy. Notice that the average lifespan has slowly but surely decreased and the age of recorded child bearing is getting younger, and note also the first mention of a barren woman, namely Sarai. The barrenness of Sarai will come into play big time in the faith story of Abraham! And also note that marriage of a man and his half sister was permissible. It would not be specifically forbidden by God until the time of Moses. With this more detailed genealogy of Shem, the story of redemption that had been promised to Adam and Eve begins in earnest with a man named Abram, about 2000 years after the fall of man. 400 years after the flood, God called Abram to become the founder of a nation having for its object the reclamation and redemption of mankind! We pick the story up with Terah, the father of Abram. Terah had three sons. Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot and he died while Terah was still living in Ur of the Chaldeans. Abram marries Sarai, but she is barren and they have no children. At this point Terah decides to take Abram, Sarai, and Lot to the land of Canaan, but he gets no further than the city of Haran. He died before they could get to Canaan. That leaves Abram, Sarai and Lot. The stage is now set for the call of Abram. The example of righteousness by faith is about to be demonstrated for all people for all time! Lord, prepare our hearts to learn the lesson anew! Reflect: How far back can you trace your family tree? Any interesting characters? Pray: Lord thank You for the gift of faith. Help us to understand it to an even deeper level as we look at the story of Abram.

# 96 We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet!

The Book of Genesis Day 96 Ge 11:6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 "Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth. It is incredible what can be accomplished when people are united and speak the same language. A casual glance at any history book will show that one of the things all great empires had in common was language. Think about it. The technological advances we enjoy in our world today are the result of a common language, and I don’t mean English! I confess to being a computer illiterate, but it seems to me that computers basically use a common language of binary numbers to communicate. I know it’s a little more complicated than that, but this language of “math” has opened the door to tremendous technological advances, and we haven’t seen anything yet! I wonder sometimes if God isn’t looking down again and musing, “now nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them.” The sad thing is that many in their foolish pride, actually begin to believe their own press clippings, and head down the road to Babel, casting aside what they perceive to be the shackles of biblical morality, setting themselves up as gods who decide what is right and wrong. How far will God let us go down this road until He does something about it? The answer is only as far as He says. Ps 2:2-4, says, “The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 3 "Let us break Their bonds in pieces And cast away Their cords from us." 4 He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision.” God is in control! And by the way, this principle of unity and common language works both ways, and it’s time we, in the church, realized it, and tapped into it! Imagine what the church could do if it would be unified, properly motivated, speaking the common language of love and willing to be scattered! You don’t have to imagine, just turn to the second chapter of Acts and read all about it! This was the secret of the success of the early church! They had all things in common and they spoke the common language of the Holy Spirit, “and the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.” There is no technological advance that surpasses one sinner coming to repentance! Reflect: What technological advances have you seen in your lifetime? Pray: Lord, thank you for this gift of technology, may we move forward under biblical restraints of morality and seek to give You the glory rather than men!

# 95 The Power Of Unity and One Language

The Book of Genesis Day 95 Ge 11:1 Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. Having established the genealogies of all the tribes of the world in chapter 10, chapter 11 will tell us why they were dispersed and what caused all the different languages. Evidently, the families of Noah’s sons hung together and travelled westward from Ararat to a plain in the land of Shinar. There, the grandson of Ham named Nimrod, rose to power and he and the people decided to build a city and a tower whose top would be in the heavens. The reason stated for doing this was to “make a name for themselves, lest they be scattered abroad over the face of the earth. Enter the Lord. He came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men built and was impressed. We aren’t told how the Lord did this, or even why it was necessary to come down in person. Surely our omniscient God knew what was going on, why the personal inspection? It is reminiscent of when HE and two angels visited Abraham, before the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Why does God make these personal appearances? I think it is to cause us to consider His ultimate appearance among men in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. So God walk among the citizens of Babel and makes this observation: “With unity and one language, look what these people can do! Why nothing will be impossible for them” Now first off, there’s nothing wrong with unity or speaking the same language. Think of what the church could do in this world with unity and the language of love! The problem with Babel was their motivation. They were not motivated to serve God. Their only motivation was to make a great name for themselves and to stay in one tight knit little group. Stop and think about that for a minute, especially as it relates to your church. Are you (we) more interested in making ourselves look good, rather than making God look good? Is your (my) church involved in any kind of outreach beyond its walls, or are we content to stay in our own little country club clusters. This kind of an attitude was and is a recipe for disaster. Pray: Lord, help us to purpose in our heart to scatter Your Word and blessings outside the walls of our church. Help us to remember that You told us to “go” not stay.

# 94 Where Is Your Spiritual Genealogy?

The Book of Genesis Day 94 Genesis chapter 10 is a genealogy chapter which follows the offspring of Noah’s three sons. It is summed up in Ge 10:32 “These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.”It is often referred to as “The Table of Nations,” and it fills the gap between Noah and Abraham If you recall, Genesis 1 gave us an over view of creation and Genesis 2, filled in the details. Here in Genesis 10 we get an over view of where the offspring of Noah eventually settled, and in Genesis 11, we’ll get the details of what happened to cause the dispersal and the different languages. When you come across genealogies in Scripture, you have a couple of options. (1) Spend a great deal of time looking up all the names and places and finding them in other places in the Bible. (2) Underline any and all names that ring a bell with you for future reference. (3) Speed read the chapter and go on to the next. (Most people prefer option #3. Most of the time, I prefer option number 2.) As I go through this chapter, these are the names that stand out to me. (Of course my list will be different than yours. Magog, (referenced in Ezek 39:6, and Rev 20:8,9 as a heathen menace threatening to engulf God’s people. Cush, (settled in Ethiopia and Egypt) Canaan (we have already talked about the curse of Canaan, and we all know of the abominations of the Canaanites. Cush begot Nimrod (a mighty man and hunter) The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, more on that later. Shinar (the geographical area around Babylon) Assyria - the nation that would one day take the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity. Ninevah – a major city of Assyria Pathrusim and Casluhim – from whom came the Philistines. Canaan’s offspring brings up names like, the Jebusites, (ancient inhabitants of Jerusalem) the Amorites, Hivites, all people groups that the Israelites would one day have to deal with. Also it is in this part of the genealogy that we first here of Sodom and Gomorrah. Then we get to the offspring of Shem, the godly line, out of which the Savior would come. Peleg – offspring of Shem who lived when the earth was divided (the time of the tower of Babel) Genealogies may be boring reading, but they are important! They demonstrate how meticulous our Father God is. Detailed descriptions of various lines of people, always paying close attention to the lines of Righteousness, those descendants that would one day produce the Savior of mankind, God’s only Son, Jesus Christ. Scripture of course is complete. No need to add genealogies after the arrival of Jesus, but God is still keeping a genealogy book of sorts. His book is called the Book of Life and only those who believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized are in that Book! Re 20:15 says, “ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” There were three lines from Noah. Ham’s line became cursed enemies of God and His people. Japheth’s line, also produced enemies of God, but Shem’s line produced the King of Righteousness, Jesus Christ. What line do you want to be in on the Last Day? Pray: Lord, when all is said and done, may I be found in Your Book of Life.

# 93 One Path Led To Blessing, the Other Led To A Curse

The Book of Genesis Day 93 Ge 9:25 Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." 26 And he said: "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant." 28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died. We’ve been talking about uncovering and covering nakedness. In modern terminology, that could be anything from keeping your clothes on, to dressing modestly, and most importantly respecting those things that were designed for intimacy between man and wife alone. It covers improper viewing, improper touching, and improper flaunting. It includes any and all attempts at pornography, in short, all that concerns human sexuality should be reserved for the marriage bed. Heb 13:4 says, “ Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.” We have a choice in this matter. One path leads to a curse, the other to blessing. Ham chose to violate this God-given boundary through improper viewing of his father’s nakedness. His son Canaan was cursed because of it. How often have we seen this generational sin played out today? One family member disregards the sexual boundaries set by God, and the sin manifests itself in some form of addiction in the victim’s future. It seems only supernatural intervention from God is able to break the cycle. It’s the kind of supernatural intervention by the grace of God if you will, that allowed Shem and Japheth to defeat the temptation to join in their brother’s folly and cover their father’s nakedness without taking a peek. Canaan is cursed, while Shem and Japheth are blessed. Noah in his drunkenness became naked and set a path before his children. One path led to life, the other death. Somehow, somewhere, someone will likewise err today. They will inadvertently or willfully lay that path before you or a child. Uncovered nakedness is everywhere and access is instantaneous. . The question is, which path will you choose? Which path will you teach your child to choose? Will you linger and be carried into sin as Ham was? Or will you turn your eyes from temptation and remove it from your sight? God has promised to give us grace for every moment of temptation that we face. Today, when that moment arrives, turn to Him for help in choosing the right path. Ps 101:3 says, “ I will set nothing wicked before my eyes;” May God help it be so! Pray: Father, the temptation to uncover nakedness has been around a long time and seems to be heightened in today’s society. Give us the will and self-control to resist and keep sexual purity as You intended.

#92 Uncovered Nakedness….It’s Everywhere!

The Book of Genesis Day 92 Ge 9:20 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. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said: "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren." We live in a society where the boundary line of “covered nakedness,” established by God, has been tossed aside. Everywhere we turn, it seems we are exposed to more and more flesh. It’s on the internet, in the movies, on TV, in the commercials, and in fashion magazines. Strip clubs are advertised in the sports pages of our newspapers and on billboards that dot our highways. “Exit now!” “Exit here!” It’s in our clothing styles which leave little to the imagination! It’s in adult video stores and even video stores supposedly geared for families! It’s at the corner gas station and at every checkout line in the grocery stores! Our culture screams, “Flesh! Flesh! And more flesh!” What was to be preserved for the marriage bed, has become common, profane, available for all to see, and it has come with a terrible price tag. We live in a society that is consumed by sex, and guess what? As befits the justice of God, (we get what we ask for) sex is consuming us! Think about it! STD’s, aids, rape, pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, incest, homosexuality, sky rocketing divorce rates, abortion, all can be tied to our society’s fixation with sex. Self esteem is crippled for young men and women because they don’t think they measure up! What would happen in a society that would return to God’s plan of covered nakedness, that He established at the very beginning? Nakedness that was meant to be undefiled on the marriage bed! How many of those diseases and problems can be caused with our clothes on? If we would stay behind that line, where would all the problems go? Ham crossed that boundary line and just as today, it affected the generations that followed! His son Canaan was cursed, and guess what land Sodom and Gomorrah was located in? Canaan! Guess who committed the abominations spoken of in Lev 18? The uncovering of nakedness of next of kin, (incest) adultery, child sacrifices (abortion( homosexuality, and even bestiality all committed by the Canaanites!, and it all started with a little uncovering of someone’s nakedness. Friend, fight for this God-given boundary of modesty in your home, and may your example lead the way for higher standards in your church, your school, and your community! Pray: Lord, help us to return to Your ways of purity. Let us learn anew to seek the true beauty that is shrouded in modesty!

# 91 Turn Your Eyes Away From Improper Sexual Viewing

The Book of Genesis Uncovering Nakedness Day 91 Ge 9:20 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. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness. Well, looky here! Sin is alive and well, even after the flood! It starts with the righteous Noah getting plastered and becoming shamelessly uncovered in his tent. So what’s the big deal? Well, you should know by now that drunkenness is a sin, but what is this business about being uncovered? It’s obviously about being naked. Ham’s problem was his “approach” to his father’s nakedness. In Le 18:6 we read, 'None of you shall approach anyone who is near of kin to him, to uncover his nakedness: I am the LORD”. “Approach to uncover” carries with it the idea of illicit sexual motivation. The rest of this chapter in Leviticus goes on to give the details of WHO is considered to be the next of kin. It’s clear that this familial nakedness is a boundary line God does not want crossed! There are many other references in the Old Testament concerning the uncovering of one’s nakedness, and they all deal with what could be described as a violation of something sexually sacred. So this has something to do with violation of the family bond and that’s what we are dealing with here in this incident with Noah. Ham violated a family bond by gazing upon his father’s nakedness. (something that should have been reserved for Mrs. Noah and no one else) To make it worse, he tells his brother’s about it, like a schoolboy who stumbles upon pornography for the first time. The proper response would have been for Ham to discreetly cover his father’s nakedness as Shem and Japhet did. Why these safeguards against nakedness in the family? Because nakedness is a gateway to the terrible sin of incest, and there is probably nothing more devastating to a family bond and family trust than incest. A family should be a sexually safe place! The only uncovered nakedness in a family is to be reserved for the marriage bed between husband and wife. Keep this God-given boundary forever in mind in all your family relations, and do not cross it, lest you be tempted to walk in the footsteps of Ham…..more on that next time. Pray: Father, guard our hearts against any and all sexual sin. Let us learn to dress and behave modestly in and out of our families!