SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 04/17/2006
My Worship Time Focus: The character of Ham
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Genesis 9:22-23
Message of the verses: “22 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 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.”
It seems that
Ham had enjoyed the sight of seeing his father naked and drunk, and perhaps he
though that his two older brothers would too, but he was wrong because verse
twenty-three describes the actions of Shem and Japheth, as they would not look
upon the nakedness of their father, and walked backwards into his tent to cover
him up.
Verse twenty-two
starts out by saying that Ham, who was the father of Canaan, and the actions of
Canaan are well described in the Scriptures as being very, very sinful, so
sinful in fact that the Lord directed Israel to destroy all of them, and these
were the descendents of Ham through his son Canaan. I have read that Ham’s son Canaan was not
even born at this time when Moses wrote in verse 22.
The character of
Ham is seen in these two verses along with the character of Shem and
Japheth. Through the decedents of Shem
would come Israel and eventually would come the Lord Jesus Christ, as the godly
line to the Messiah would go through Shem, and it is good to see the character
of he and his brother Japheth here, for they both showed love in covering their
father’s sin, and not exploiting it as Ham had done.
Spiritual meaning for my life today: Good character in a person demonstrates love
for others when they fall into sin. Good
character does not put the person down, but tries to bring them back to the
Savior as Gal. 6:1 says: “Brethren, even
if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one
in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will
not be tempted.”
The Word of God has been very
convicting to my heart as I read and thought about it this morning.
My Steps of Faith Today: I
want to consider my actions whenever I see someone sin and then act in love so
that I can do as Galatians 6:1 prescribes, to restore them in gentleness back
to the faith. I would also like to look
at my character, especially when I am alone, and do the things that will please
the Lord.
Memory verses for the week: Philippians 2:14-15
14. Do all things without grumbling or disputing;
so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God
above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom
you appear as lights in the world,
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