Word of Encouragement (01/12/2022)
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).
Noah now moves on to bless Japheth. His blessing consists of three things: for God to enlarge him; for him to dwell in the tents of Shem; to have Canaan as his servant. What the last blessing is about, we have already seen in the two previous reflections. Its ultimate fulfillment is the defeat and punishment of the reprobates on the last day. So, let’s focus on the first two.
In the first one, Noah prays that God will enlarge Japheth. To enlarge is “to make spacious.” Here, the idea is not just spatial but also numeric: Japheth’s territories will increase, and his descendants will be great in number. (It is understood that the Europeans, among others, descended from Japheth.)
In the second one, Noah blesses Japheth to dwell in the tents of Shem. Here, Noah presents Japheth’s dwelling in the tents of Shem as a blessing. It seems, then, that “then tents of Shem” are places of blessing. It also implies how God will bless Shem in another way: Shem, too, will be enlarged; he will be enlarged enough for the enlarged Japheth to dwell therein.
Why is it a blessing to dwell in the tents of Shem? Here, the tents do not mean literal tents. Judging from Noah’s blessing on Shem, the term, “tents,” refers to God’s covenant with Shem, from whom the people of Israel descended. So then, this blessing on Japheth looks forward to the Gentile inclusion to the people of God under the new covenant in Jesus Christ.
How amazing it is that the whole of God’s redemptive plan, though simplified, is outlined in these blessings and curses of Noah so early in redemptive history! Here, we are told that the enmity, which was established between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent at the time of the Fall, continues, now between Shem and Ham (or, Canaan). According to this scheme, Israel would be the main recipient of God’s covenant of grace and Canaan, its main opponent as the representative of the seed of the serpent. But there would be a twist. Those, who were initially outside of God’s covenant relationship with Israel, would be allowed to come into the tents of Shem and share in his covenant blessings—the elect people from the Gentile nations.
We see how beautifully this redemptive blueprint of God has been fulfilled under the new covenant in Jesus Christ. We have been so blessed to be considered part of the enlarged and ever-enlarging family of Japheth. What is more, Paul assures us that we are not secondary members of the tents of Shem; we are equal members in the covenant community of God: “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God...” (Eph. 2:19). Though we are “late-comers,” we are not the least in the kingdom of God: “So the last will be first, and the first last” (Matt. 20:16).
God is faithful. He never fails to keep His promises. Not only that, but God is also sovereign. He declared the end from the beginning. Nothing can happen unless God conceived of it first in His mind before the foundation of the world. The history of redemption is not an exception; rather, it showcases God’s predestination of all things without exception. It extends to each of us being included in Japheth and in the tents of Shem. We can, and we ought to, trust in the Lord in all things. What a blessing!