3B28
© Jeff Stacey | Last updated: 18 February 2019
3B28. Noah sometimes responded with a divided heart-commitment to God:
Noah twice only partly obeyed God’s Covenantal commission
Cycle 3
3B28(a) Noah planted a vineyard, made wine, got drunk and lay naked in his tent
“Righteous” and “blameless” Noah had “walked faithfully with God” Gen 6:9b and maintained wholehearted commitment to God prior to, during and immediately after the FLOOD. So it was unlikely that he would ever respond to God in any other way.
Yet Noah chose to plant a vineyard and later to make wine and drink it. But he should have realised that getting drunk could result in him behaving irresponsibly, or at least being vulnerable to influencing others to sin.
Noah did get drunk and then lay naked in his tent Gen 9:21. Although he had retired to the relative privacy of his tent, he had put himself in a situation where he would have no control over himself relative to other people.
These outcomes would seem to indicate that Noah had not “done what was right” in his choices. Apparently he acted on a self-serving desire for indulgent pleasure. So his previous wholehearted commitment to God had become divided. God’s declaration after the FLOOD about all people’s hearts Gen 8:21b even applied to Noah!
God’s response to Noah [see 3B29(a)] followed three further acute heart-testing situations (Cycles 4, 5 and 6).
Continue to Cycle 4 [3B24(a)(iv)]
Cycle 6
3B28(b) Noah further prayed to God
Noah had initially reacted with outrage and declared a curse upon Canaan Gen 9:25. That sounded as though he was driven by humiliation, anger and revenge.
Then Noah seemed to calm down and be more composed. He prayed a fourfold petition beginning with an outburst of praise to God concerning Shem Gen 9:26a. He prayed for God’s favour upon Japheth Gen 9:27a.
But he also prayed twice more for the clan of Ham’s son Canaan to be slaves to the clans of Canaan’s uncles Shem and Japheth Gen 9:26b,27b. This further confirmed the curse on Canaan that Noah had initially declared. Yet he did at least delete the word “lowest” Gen 9:25b from their slave status.
Although Noah had praised God and prayed to Him, was he still harbouring resentment and wanting to take revenge on Ham? Why did he curse Canaan the youngest of Ham’s four sons Gen 10:6 instead of Ham himself? This apparent confusion suggests that Noah was again responding with a divided heart-commitment to God.