Digging for Spiritual Gems
It is possible that Canaan himself had been involved directly in the incident and that his father Ham had failed to correct him. Or Noah, speaking prophetically by inspiration, foresaw that the bad tendency in Ham, perhaps already manifest in his son Canaan, would be inherited by Canaan’s offspring. The curse was partly fulfilled when the Semitic Israelites subjugated the Canaanites. Those who were not destroyed (for example, the Gibeonites [Jos 9]) were made slaves to Israel. Centuries later, the curse was further fulfilled when descendants of Ham’s son Canaan came under the domination of the Japhetic world powers of Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.
The beginning of Nimrod’s kingdom included the cities of Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, all in the land of Shinar. (Ge 10:10) Therefore it was likely under his direction that the building of Babel and its tower began. This conclusion is also in agreement with the traditional Jewish view. Wrote Josephus: “[Nimrod] little by little transformed the state of affairs into a tyranny, holding that the only way to detach men from the fear of God was by making them continuously dependent upon his own power. He threatened to have his revenge on God if He wished to inundate the earth again; for he would build a tower higher than the water could reach and avenge the destruction of their forefathers. The people were eager to follow this advice of [Nimrod], deeming it slavery to submit to God; so they set out to build the tower . . . and it rose with a speed beyond all expectation.”—Jewish Antiquities, I, 114, 115 (iv, 2, 3).
What spiritual gems from this week’s Bible reading would you like to share regarding Jehovah God, the field ministry, or something else?
Ge 9:1, 7: Jehovah showed he cared and his purposed to have the earth fill with humans, but a day will come when the earth will be filled with perfect and loyal humans. Nothing can stop Jehovah from fulfilling his words that he spoke at Ge 1:28 before Adam and Eve sin.
Ge 9:3-5: After the Flood, Jehovah gave humans permission to eat the flesh of animals but not the blood. This command applies to all of Noah’s descendants’ right down to our day. This is showing life, or soul, of all creatures is represented by the blood. Also this establishes that Jehovah, the Source of life, will hold to account all humans who disrespect life and blood.
Ge 9:6: Jehovah reminds mankind how precious life is, showing that he will hold the murder who shed man’s blood responsible. Jehovah did not change for we see in the sixth of the Ten Commandments declared, “You must not murder,” and calls for punishment action. (Ex 20:13; 21:12; De 21:1-9; Heb 10:30)
Ge 9:8-17: The rainbow covenant was made between Jehovah God and all flesh (human and animal), in 2369 B.C.E.. Jehovah stated that he would never again destroy all flesh by means of a flood. The rainbow was then given as a sign of the covenant, which endures as long as mankind lives on earth forever. (Ps 37:29)
Ge 9:20-21: Warning not to jumping to wrong conclusion about Noah being a drunkard. Nothing in Bible indicate Noah was habitually drinking wine to the point of intoxication. Maybe in this situation the wine Noah drank had fermented to greater strength than he realized. Yes, making judgments of our brothers or sister without knowing the true fact can bring Jehovah judgment upon us. (Mt 7:1-2; Jas 2:13)
Ge 9:24-25: Very likely Canaan was curse because guilty of some abuse or perversion against his grandfather Noah. Though Canaan’s father, Ham, witnessed this, he did not interfere but appears to have spread the story. (WT04 1/1 p. 31 par 2)
Ge 10:1-32: The two records of genealogy records surrounding the account of the Flood connect the entire human race with Noah’s three sons. Assyrians, Chaldeans, Hebrews, Syrians, and some Arabian tribes, are descendants of Shem. Ethiopians, Egyptians, Canaanites, and some African and Arabian tribes descended from Ham. Indo-Europeans are descendants of Japheth. All humans are related, and all are born equal before Jehovah. (Acts 17:26) This truth must affect how we view and treat others.
Ge 10:8-9: Jehovah’s words at Ge 8:21 about human is true for it said:”the inclination of the heart of man is bad from his youth up.” Yes, we see that Noah grandson Nimrod stand against Jehovah became a mighty one and expanse his kingdom which indicate he was a king and Jehovah had never intended that humans rule themselves. (Ec 8:9)
Ge 11:1: All mankind “continued to be of one language and of one set of words.” The Bible indicates that the language later called Hebrew was that original “one language.” This does not mean that all other languages stemmed from and are related to Hebrew but that Hebrew preceded all other languages. (it-2 p. 202 Language)
Ge 11:5-9: No human scheme or effort can thwart Jehovah’s purpose. Nimrod thought he could in opposition to Jehovah’s direction to fill the earth by building a cities and tower so that they would not “be scattered over all the surface of the earth.”
Ge 11:27-32: To find the correct age of Terah at the birth of Abraham, we need only to read on in the Bible narrative. We learn that after Terah’s death at the age of 205, Abraham and his family left Haran at Jehovah’s bidding. At that time Abraham was 75 years old so, Abram must have been born when Terah was 130 years old, rather than 70.
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