Life goes better when we follow directions. Our car lasts longer when we service it according to owner’s manual. Staying under the speed limit eliminates tickets. We lose our employment if we don’t follow company guidelines. Disobeying our mother and father causes chaos in the home. This study will show how these principles play out in the life of Noah.

After the flood, God blessed Noah and his sons by renewing his original command to humankind to multiply descendants on the earth (Gen. 1:28; 9:1). Blessing literally means, “bend the knee,” which implies a sense of reverence and awe of God. Noah’s family could eat any animal (Gen. 9:3). At the same time, God forbid Noah or anyone to kill a human being and  argued for the legitimacy of capital punishment because “in the image of God He made man” (Gen. 9:5-7). God gives us great freedom. He also lays out guidelines for our benefit and protection.

God formalized His relationship to Noah through a covenant or contract accompanied by signs, sacrifices and a solemn oath. He sealed the relationship with promises of blessing for obedience and curses for disobedience. God established this agreement with all generations and provided a sign, the rainbow (Gen. 9:9-14). When we see the rainbow, it’s an instant reminder that blessings come when we obey and curses when we disobey. In addition, when we fear God through praise and prayer to Him, we experience real living because He always delivers on His promises. God’s covenant with Noah protects His creation forever from another devastating flood (Gen. 9:15).

Noah’s descendants through his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, repopulated the earth in obedience to God (Gen. 9:18-19). Noah farmed and planted a vineyard (Gen. 9:20). We have freedom to choose and enjoy a vocation.

Next we have an example of how blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience play out in real life using Noah as an example. After Noah got drunk, Ham, father of Canaan, told his two brothers of his father’s nakedness (Gen. 9:22). This shameful and disgraceful incident implied that something unclean occurred. In contrast, Shem and Japheth covered and did not see Noah’s nakedness (Gen. 9:23). Their action signified the covering of sin by confessing it and receiving God’s forgiveness. Here are the results of these two actions:
1. God cursed Canaan (Ham’s son) to be a servant for his
brothers
2. God blessed Shem and Japheth by ruling and enlarging
their territory (Gen. 9:25-27).

Here are the consequences of sin:
1. Sin, missing the mark in following God’s guidelines in the     Bible, devastates our families to the third and fourth
generations (Ex. 34:7).
2. When we confess sin, we experience God’s blessing,
lovingkindness and enrichment in every area of our lives.

Noah lived 350 years after the flood (Gen. 9:28). The word, lived, literally means enjoyment or revived. God doesn’t demand sinless perfection, but commands us to acknowledge any sin through confession of it. We really live and experience abundance when we either avoid sin or confess any known sin from us or our parents rather than hiding or saying we have no sin (I John 1:8-10).

Spend a season confessing your own and your parents’ sin. How does that make you feel?

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