Word of Encouragement (01/11/2022)
He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant” (Gen. 9:26-27).
We move from Noah’s curse on Ham to his blessing on Shem. We see a close connection between the two. Noah’s curse on Ham was that Canaan, one of his sons, would be a servant of servants to his brothers. Here in Noah’s blessing on Shem, we are told that Canaan would be a servant to Shem (as he will be to Japheth as well). As we said, Noah’s curse was not about black people being condemned to slavery; it was about the Canaanites being defeated by the Israelites (who descended from Shem) at the time of Joshua. Its ultimate fulfillment would be in the defeat and punishment of the reprobates for their unbelief and rebellion against God on Judgment Day.
What distinguishes this blessing (and the blessing on Japheth) is that God is mentioned. Here, God is praised for His blessing on Shem (whereas in Japheth’s blessing, God is invoked only as the Agent of blessing): “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem.” Why is God blessed for Shem’s blessing?
This implies that God was behind Shem’s act of goodness in covering his father without laying his eyes on his nakedness as Ham did. Noah is confessing for Shem the principle of grace, which Paul confessed regarding his service to the Lord: “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me” (1 Cor. 15:10). If a fallen man, who is totally depraved, can do anything good, deserving of God’s blessing, it is by God’s grace. So then, all glory must be ascribed to God, not to man: “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness” (Ps. 115:1)! On that final day when we receive crowns of glory from God for our faithful service to Him, we will cast them back at His feet in acknowledgment of His grace, which enabled us to do whatever good we were able to do.
This doxology shows what Shem’s true blessing was: to have the LORD as “the God of Shem.” This implies that Shem was brought into a special covenantal relationship with God. So, after establishing His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel, God was delighted to call Himself “the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob” (Ex. 3:6). This was the crux of God’s covenant with Israel: “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians” (Ex. 6:7).
This blessing is the fountain from which all other blessings flow, isn’t it? If Shem was able to do the good he did, it was because God determined that he should be His and He should be his God. And if God blessed Shem to defeat Canaan, it was because Shem was His and Canaan was not. What a privilege to call the Lord of heaven and earth, “my God!” It’s like a proud son, exclaiming, “That’s my dad! That’s my dad!” as his father is receiving a gold medal at the Olympics. Of course, it’s an infinitely greater privilege to call the sovereign Lord of all “my God!”
But even more wonderful is the thought that God delights to be known as our God! How humbling and encouraging! How can we not be touched by His covenant loyalty to us, throwing in His lot with us as our God and sticking with us through thick and thin! His commitment to us is to protect us from the enemies because He is our God! Could it be that, when our enemies come against us, God will step in and say, “I am the God of (your name)! You may not come against him/her because s/he is Mine”? Because He is our God, He promises to do everything necessary to make us worthy of His name: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence...” (2 Pet. 1:3).
This marvelous blessing is ours because we trusted in Jesus Christ and God is “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:3, et al). Because we are united with Jesus Christ, the Father’s abundant and deep love for His begotten Son is directed to us. May the Lord bless your meditation on the blessing of having the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as your God!