Godly fathers-ungodly sons-5
Why are there so few godly fathers with godly sons in the Bible? God has given fathers clear instructions on raising sons, yet so many of the exemplary fathers would appear to have failed. We will study Noah today. But, first we will summarize the times from Adam to Noah. It is another sad tale.
Genesis 4:17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.
4:18 Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 4:19 Lamech took to himself two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 4:20 Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock.
4:21 His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe. 4:22 As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
4:23 Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; 4:24 If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
This is the sad genealogy of Cain ending with Lamech. Murder, hatred, anger, and revenge seemed to have been emphasized from Cain to Lamech. Here we see him boasting about killing a man and a young man for actions that were not considered capital offenses. This is the legacy of the murderer Cain.
Genesis 5:32 Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6:6 The LORD was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 6:7 The LORD said, "I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them."
6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
Primarily from Cain we find a world of evil, wicked, sinful men. These men were not just a little harsh, but truly evil. Since we know God does not condemn innocent people, these people were guilty of violating God’s Holy Laws. But, those from the line of Seth, who in effect replaced Cain and Abel. From his line came godly men all mentioned in Genesis 5.
Noah had three sons, where they all godly like their father?
Genesis 9:18 Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. 9:19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
9:20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 9:21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
9:22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 9:23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
9:24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. 9:25 So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers."
9:26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. 9:27 "May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant."
9:28 Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. 9:29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.
Of these three sons we have three kingdoms eventually being developed. Shem was the first patriarch of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. So out of Shem would come the Jews, David, and eventually the Messiah. This does not make all of them perfect but it is in stark contrast to Ham.
Ham was the ungodly son who had an ungodly son name Canaan. When Noah divided up the land to his sons, Ham’s family was to go to Africa. But they did not as they coveted the land given to Shem. Shem would go to the Middle East and Japheth to the North into the Baltic states and what became Russia.
Genesis 10:2 The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 10:3 The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. 10:4 The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim.
10:5 From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.
We will focus on Ashkenaz, which became a large group later known as Ashkenazy Jews. While forsaking the one true god, they instead created their own version of Judaism. According to historians, a large people group are easier to control if they all share a common belief system. They were not Jews by blood and not by faith either.
Revelation 3:9 'Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.
Jesus reveals to us what would eventually come out of the family of Ashkenaz. They claim they are Jews, but are not. They go to synagogues, so they appear to be Jews, but are not. Once inside, they worship Satan! This is still true today. In fact, many of the ‘Jews’ who migrated to Israel in the late 40’s and 50’s identify themselves as Ashkenazy Jews.
Adam was godly, but Cain was not. Noah was righteous but Ham and then Canaan were not. We only have to look at all the ungodly nations around Canaan to confirm this. Ashkenaz may have been godly but all who came after him were not.
Being a man of God is not an easy task. Being a godly father may be the hardest job any man has ever attempted to tackle.
More next Saturday.