A Second Chance Is Not Enough

A Second Chance is not Enough

Gen 9:18-29 NKJV 18 Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham [was] the father of Canaan. 19 These three [were] the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. 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.” 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.

This is a very strange story 

– First we need to ask why is the sin of Ham so bad that it needs to be cursed? 

– I imagine that accidentally seeing a family member in a state of undress is a more common experience than not. 

– For example, say a son accidentally walks in on his Dad while he is in the bathroom naked and he immediately rushes out embarrassed.

– His brothers ask him what happened, he says “Man, I just walked in on Dad and he was naked!”. 

– That doesn’t seem to be the kind of thing that would merit such a harsh response. 

– Now some people have tried to explain this disproportionate response by suggesting that something else happened that isn’t included in the text, maybe something sexual. 

– They suggest that “saw the nakedness of his father” is a euphemism (which if you don’t know, is when a word or phrase is substituted for another  that’s considered to be too harsh, blunt or embarrassing) so it’s downplaying the language while still implying the actual thing.

– I only mention this because it is a widespread interpretation of this passage by some scholars today 

– and by some notable ancient Jewish and Christian teachers 

– And there is some loose scriptural support for this view and if you are super curious about it you can come and ask me about it later. 

– I, however, do not think that anything more is happening than what is plainly stated in the text.

– I still think that what Ham is doing is worse than we might first imagine. 

– This isn’t just an accident, this is a deliberate exposing and shaming of his father. 

– Some people delight in the failings of others and instead of protecting the privacy of people 

– they delight in spreading gossip as soon as they get a chance. 

– This is compounded by the fact that this is Ham’s father. The scripture says 

Exo 20:12 NKJV 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.

– It’s one of the 10 commandments. The Mosaic law also says that if you strike or curse your parents or if you are overly rebellious to them you are to be put to death! Yikes! 

– This was serious to ancient peoples. Families needed each other to survive.

Deu 27:16 NKJV 16 ‘Cursed [is] the one who treats his father or his mother with contempt.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’  

– I was watching youtube while I was distracted from writing this sermon and I saw some famous youtubers reacting to a court case that has gone viral in recent days.

– I won’t say names but I do feel like this might bring some insight to this text. 

– There was a food delivery girl that received a request to deliver some fast food to a particular address and leave it on the front porch. 

– Now when she got there the door was open and the customer was passed out drunk on his couch naked. 

– She filmed the man on the couch and posted it to her social media. 

– She claimed that she was documenting a sexual predator who had orchestrated the events to expose himself to her. 

– However when law enforcement began looking into the case not all was as it appeared and felony charges were brought against her. 

– It turns out that there is evidence that she pushed open a partially closed door with the intent of filming this man and then presumably posted it on social media to get sympathy and clout. 

– The internet has totally turned against this girl. 

– Now I don’t know how this case will turn out but it looks like they are serious about throwing the book at this girl. 

– But imagine with me for a moment if she had done this to her Dad. 

– We could all agree that that would be even worse. 

– This is similar to what Ham did in this scripture. If the charges are true then this young lady sought to make a mockery of this man and perhaps ruin his life for little more than engagement on her social media. 

• There is a scriptural principle that love seeks to honor and restore rather than condemn and expose 
• If you juxtapose God and the Devil 
• the devil is the accuser of the brethren; he seeks to lure you into sin and promptly condemn and shame you for that sin.
•  He will lie to you and about you.

Rev 12:9-10 NKJV 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.

• God on the other hand will forgive your sin and cast them into the sea of forgetfulness and 
• He will provide a covering to cover your nakedness and shame. 
• In fact the word atonement means “to cover” in hebrew so when atonement has been made for your sins they are covered 

 

Psalm 32:1 NKJV 1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered.

Psalm 85:2 NKJV 2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah

Psalm 103:12 NKJV12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

• In our main passage it is Ham who is behaving as Satan does and Shem’s behavior is more Christlike. 
• We are told in scripture time and time again to love people especially the brethren 
• part of loving them is covering them rather than exposing them

Pro 17:9 NKJV 9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

Pro 10:12 NKJV 12 Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.

1Pe 4:8 NKJV 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” 

• We know this intuitively even criminals have an honor code concerning snitches. “Snitches get stitches.” 
• And if you don’t rat out your comrades even under duress or to save yourself it is seen as honorable. 
• Loyalty is a virtue, keeping confidence is a virtue, bearing long with imperfect people is virtuous. 
• But the enemy can pervert something beautiful into something obscene 
• So I want to caution you at this point that this principle of covering sin does not mean enabling sin or providing an accountability free environment.
• People will misuse these verses to reinforce coverup culture 
• gross unrepentant sins should be exposed. Remember that the bible best interprets the bible. 
• And the Bible has instructions on how to confront sin and when to expose sin. 

Mat 18:15-17 NKJV 15 “Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16 “But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ 17 “And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

• It is also important to remember that accountability is greater for those who are in leadership. 

Jas 3:1 NKJV 1 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.

1Tim 5:19-20 NKJV 19 Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses. 20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.

• Also remember that God himself is willing to record in holy scripture the failures of saints, even great ones. Think of David, Solomon, Samson, and Peter

Luk 12:2-3 NKJV 2 “For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. 3 “Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

• So again it is evident to me that covering doesn’t mean no accountability but a covering of shame with acceptance and forgiveness 
• this passage is less about whether or not a sin becomes known but what the response is to a sinful act is
• Person A responds in love to help and honor vs. Person B who delights in the failure and shame

Second issue to clear up is the curse falling on Canaan rather than Ham 

• We have to remember that this is a prophetic utterance. 
• Canaan is punished for Canaan’s sin not Ham’s but we do inherit flaws from our parents 
• what we choose to do with those flaws will affect what happens after. 
• Ham was a sinner and those sins impacted his descendants but not irrevocably. 
• We see examples of repentant Canaanites. 
• Think of Rahab or Canaanite woman who begged Jesus to heal her demon possessed daughter. 
• Rahab even becomes a direct ancestor of king David and Jesus. 
• This is a good reminder for us that although our children are responsible for their own actions 
• our sins have an effect on their lives and can change the trajectory of our family

  

• Another item of interest to me is that God is giving Mankind a fresh start. 
• Noah has a chance here to bring about a restoration of what existed in Eden.
• He could oversee a return to the ideal environment similar to what humanity enjoyed before Adam and Eve fell in the Garden. 
• Noah is operating as a substitute for Adam and If there was a man that could have corrected the course of humanity it would have been Noah  

Gen 6:8-9 NKJV 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 9 This is the genealogy of Noah. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God.

• I am not saying he should, but if he wanted Noah could brag about this a little. 
• When words like “perfect” and “just” and “walked with God” are used about you in the scripture you might have reason to puff out your chest a little. 
• There were some high hopes for him, his father said of him 

Gen 5:28-29 NKJV – 28 Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. 29 And he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”  

• So there was an expectation that Noah was the guy that would right the ship and fix the mess that Adam made. 
• He was Adam’s replacement
• And God through judgment provided a new beginning for humanity by washing clean the moral filth of the world and destroying all the wicked of the land. 

Gen 6:5-8, 11-13 NKJV 5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the LORD said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. … 

11 The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth.. 

• But Noah found grace in the eyes of God. So Noah and his family were saved by means of the ark and humanity had a chance for a fresh start. 
• Everything that man had done and built was washed away.
• I find it interesting that God is willing to let man try and fix the mess that he has placed himself in.
• I believe that he does this to remove any objection that one might have to his judgments.
• Some people might say that the test in the Garden was unfair that if God would only give humanity a do-over then all would be well and good again 
• People will often blame some external condition or some environmental factor for the ills of the world and their own life
• The secularist or humanist often gives humanity the benefit of the doubt and will argue something along these lines

 

Better Government:

• If only humanity had a better government then he would overcome his base instincts
• This was the argument of revolutionaries throughout history, ranging from the french revolution to the communists revolutions. 
• And people often fall into this trap. If we could just rid ourselves of the tyrant or the offending governmental system, 
• if we could just oust the current political party from power then we could set all things right. 
• Then we could have the peaceful utopia that we crave but it never seems to work does it? 
• When society makes progress in one area a whole new set of social problems arise 
• or old ones resurface as we try failed strategies over and over.
•  It’s like a game of whack-a-mole. 
• Even when Europeans found the “new world” and had an opportunity to build a new society with an ideal government 
• they just ended up importing their sinful and selfish nature with them. 
• They destroyed whole civilizations, they displaced tribes and stole their land,
• they kidnapped and imported slaves and used them in the most detestable ways 
• and engaged in all the same sins and excesses that existed in the old world even though they had a new form of government 

Better Laws:

• Related to this is the idea that we need better laws but 
• humanity has shown that he is perfectly willing to break laws whenever he feels he can get away with it. 
• The United Kingdom for example has heavily restricted the purchase of firearms but people kept killing each other 
• so they outlawed carrying knives and “pointed articles” in public places since 1988 however knife related crimes have increased significantly since then.
• In this country we outlawed alcohol which promptly led to widespread defiance and breaking of the law. 
• The sad truth is we can’t muster enough righteousness for ourselves to live rightly let alone force others to live right and obey the laws

Better Education:

• Some have argued that if only man had more education, training, or indoctrination, 
• his shortcomings would be resolved and his base nature would no longer hinder society. 
• History, however, has repeatedly shown that education does not produce righteousness,
• nor does it reliably impart truth. 
• We cannot even claim that education, at the very least, produces clever sinners. 
• On the contrary, in our own day we have seen the most prestigious institutions and celebrated academics 
• argue against the most fundamental and self-evident truths, 
• truths universally recognized by all societies throughout history. 
• Like there are only two genders and that you can’t change the gender you were born with

More Wealth:

• Still others have argued that if we could eliminate scarcity and financial lack
• then humans would no longer act out because all their needs are met.
• I remember during the Obama administration when ISIS was rampaging across the middle east burning down whole villages, 
• killing everyone except women young enough to serve as sex slaves. 
• That the media was lamenting the fact that these young men didn’t have jobs 
• and if only they had jobs then they wouldn’t resort to such barbarism. 
• What an absolute delusion. 
• Man’s love of wealth and of having more is insatiable and acquiring it doesn’t answer the problem of sin, it amplifies it. 
• We routinely see that the most rich and powerful are embroiled in scandal.
• Whether it is some hollywood superstar that is on their 8th marriage or it is some powerful elite that has ties to Epstein we know that wealth does not cure the human condition

Science:

• Moreover many scientists and secular thinkers have argued that science itself will ultimately resolve the deepest woes of humanity. 
• Given sufficient time and technological advancement, they claim, 
• humanity will progress until disease is eradicated, energy becomes limitless, and even the human form is perfected through genetic engineering. 
• So man doesn’t just improve his condition, he transcends it. 
• He gets to take the place of deity. He gets to rebuild Eden on his own terms, not God’s. 
• No need to petition the Almighty for entry into heaven when we can just build our own. 
• How many of you like science fiction? 
• I grew up watching science fiction and I enjoy it but the underlying mindset for much of science fiction is exactly what I have articulated. 
• Absolute skepticism in God, total faith in the progress of humanity and science.  
• It is filled with the spirit of antichrist. 
• This is a blind faith because we have generations now of profound scientific discovery 
• and it has magnified our vices, not diminished them. 
• We have seen that the more technology we get, each invention is used, as much for evil, as for good. 
• We split the atom and we promptly built bombs to vaporize cities. 
• The camera was invented and now obscene images are part of everyday life. 
• Social media was made for connections but is used for hate and vitriol. Young people are prostituting themselves online and doing nearly anything for clout.      
•  Have any of you heard of Ota Benga? Ota Benga was a man from a primitive pygmy tribe in Africa 
• who was abducted from Africa and brought to the World Fair and then later to the Bronx Zoo around 1906. 
• There he was labeled a missing link and placed on display in a primate enclosure as evidence of Darwin’s theory. 
• When discovered, the christians of New York were outraged and protested his treatment until he was finally released into their custody. 
• Why do I tell you this because “science” (which actually isn’t science because they were wrong) was used to justify and magnify evil not remedy. 
• I am not against progress or invention per se I am simply showing what I hope is obvious. 
• Scientific advancement cannot cure our moral ills 
• Even if we had some composite of these things or all of these things, 
• we would, maybe, be smarter, or richer, we might have decent laws and good infrastructure, 
• we might have cool inventions but we would still be be monsters of iniquity 

 

• Philosophers have been trying to solve the problem of the human condition for thousands of years. 
• Do we need better rulers or governments? Better laws? Better education? more wealth and resources? More science?  
• In a sense we do but even if we have all of these things it still will not address the underlying issue. 
• That is what this account of Noah begins to show, a second chance is not enough.
• Judgment can delay and restrain sin for a while but it can’t eliminate it, not while preserving man.
• After the flood humanity is supplied with what many have longed for, a fresh start and a clean slate. 
• The wicked are destroyed, violence is removed and Noah, a righteous man who walked with God, is preserved as the new head of humanity. 
• If ever there was a time where man could succeed, this was it church. 
• But sin resurfaces almost immediately. The problem was not the environment, it wasn’t some outside factor or external force. 
• It was smuggled into this new world through the human heart. 
• This is why second chances, by  themselves, are not enough. 
• You can change the circumstances and reset everything, improve conditions but you can’t fundamentally alter the nature of man, which is sinful and fallen. 
• Noah’s sin shows us that even the best men, in the best of situations, will still fall short. 
• Sin is not merely the kinds of things we do, it is something we were born with. We are natural born sinners. 
• The flood cleansed the world but not the heart. Men need a savior not a second chance, a redeemer not a restart.
• And thank God I turned 40 yesterday and I am old enough to know that if God only gave me another chance it wouldn’t be enough. 
• I would just fail again. It was the same for Noah, he had this chance to reboot humanity and he fell flat on his face (literally). 
• Matthew Henry has some insight on this he says that God wants to teach us

“That sometimes those who, with watchfulness and resolution, have, by the grace of God, kept their integrity in the midst of temptation, have, through security, and carelessness, and neglect of the grace of God, been surprised into sin, when the hour of temptation has been over. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunk in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed”

 

So what does it mean to you

 

• It means you must see your absolute need for Christ. We are no better than Adam. We are no better than Noah or any of the saints in scripture with recorded failures. 
• Even if God were to give us a second chance, or a third, or thousands more, we would still fail each time. 
• Not because we didn’t have enough chances but because we need to be born again and receive a new nature. 
• We might be tempted to think that if only I had a different upbring, different parents or different peers, if only I wasn’t raised poor or had better opportunities, 
• if only I was smarter or better educated, if only…, if only… but it wouldn’t serve to save you, your sin would still be ever present.
• Look at the similarities both Adam and Noah were the beginning of a new start for humanity. 
• And both fell by consuming fruit. Adam ate it, Noah drank it. Both sins led to a curse and shame in nakedness. 
• But then comes Jesus offering redemption, offering his flesh to eat and His blood to drink 

John 6:54-55 NKJV 54 “Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 “For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

• Jesus is offering to take the curse on himself by allowing himself to be nailed to the cross; 
• He is stripped naked and displayed as a criminal in shame while he allows us to be clothed in His righteousness. 
• Society and false religions will chase their man-made solutions like a dog chasing its tail but Jesus has always been the answer . 
• He is the only one with the power to redeem us, and to rescue the world. That is why a second chance is not enough but Jesus is