Questions:
12.
a.
In love, they covered their father rather than ridicule or shame him
b.
Ham was engaged in stirring up conflict, Shem and Japheth in love that covers over an offense
c.
There is no place in a daily walk for gossip. I need to do more to help, in love, to cover the sins of my brother (and help him not repeat them) and less in discussing them with others. It doesn’t require a discussion or plan, just love and action.
13.
Shem be aligned with the blessing and praise of the Lord, God. David is a descendant of Shem and thus Jesus. God extends Japheth’s territory live in tents of Shem, Canaan slaves to Japheth. Canaanites were the inhabitants of the promised land.
My Daily Journal:
My first thought on this passage was, “aren’t we going a bit overboard here (no pun intended), Noah?” I mean, I get it that he was hung over from the beaujolais nouveau, but aren’t we over-reacting a bit? I know others have thought the same thing because there is this whole under-current of rationalization that there must have been more that went on in the tent to prompt such a curse. Of course, none of that is supported in the scriptures.
But the more I thought about it the more clear it became. It is our every day, seemingly insignificant activities that reveal the true nature of our heart. When I have heard accounts of people who have performed heroic acts, time and again the reaction is not one of surprise because this is the way they conducted themselves every day. In that light, Noah’s predictions/oracle about the future of his descendents isn’t based simply on this one night or one action. This is just an example of the behavior that reveals their heart. The patterns of their actions.
Almost all of us bow our head when someone says, “let’s pray.” But how often are we focusing on spending our day in conversation with God? How do we bring in the model of the good samaritan of conducting our daily life in a matter that shows love to our neighbor. There are implications that go far farther than to the impact today. They cascade down to our children and their children.
But we also have the opportunity to change. While the sins of the father cascade, each generation has the opportunity and choice (free will) to walk with God every day and change the pattern for themselves and their descendents.
The Notes are Good 