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Well, this morning we are diving right in into the sermon in Genesis, chapter 9. And we are looking at verses 18, all the way to chapter 10. Now, I'm sure you all can appreciate that this is an extremely challenging passage. I pity John, he had to do the Scripture reading. He had to read through the names, names that we are not familiar with, even names I can't even pronounce properly.

And you must be wondering, "What is this all about? Why do you make us read this?" Well, first of all, I did not write the Bible, God did. And our job here; our goal here; our desire here is just to be able to explain and apply God's Word meaningfully to ourselves.

So, I think this is a passage that you will most probably not have heard about in a sermon. I've tried to look for sermons in these verses, few and far between, but all Scripture is profitable, isn't it, that's what God says in 2nd Timothy, chapter 3? So it is our responsibility to go in and try as best as we can to understand the intent of God.

So I hope to encourage you today though difficult, to put on your thinking caps. Stay there with me for maybe half an hour or so, and I hope we will emerge with a clearer idea of what God is saying, and be encouraged in our hearts thereby, alright.

So Genesis 9, verses 18 onwards, what in the world is this about? I like to start with the big idea so that you can follow me more easily. And the big idea is this, I think Moses, who is writing Genesis, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is conveying - the entrenchment and the spread of sin during Noah's time.

He's conveying to us that sin is very stubborn and resistant, is very hard to get rid of. And it certainly was the case in Noah's time, and it continued to spread and multiply in the generations that will follow thereafter.

You see, this is the question that exists in the new normal, right? Last week, we looked at how God is establishing a new norm in Noah's days. In the new normal, would it be a sinless; perfect; righteous world? Did the flood eliminate all traces of sin? Will we go back to the days of Eden where man and woman would live in perfect holiness and joy before God?

That's the question. And it's as if the author Moses had no time to waste that he immediately introduces us to the answer. The answer is a big fat NO. It's not going to be like what Eden was. It's not going to be perfection. It's not as if sin is eliminated, because immediately we read in verse 21, "Noah drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent."

Not only that, "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, saw the nakedness of Noah and told his two brothers outside." [Gen 9:22] So one was sinning in the sin of drunkenness, the other was sinning in the sin of dishonor.

So did the flood eliminate all sin? No, it did not! Even in its very beginning, Noah and his family, the righteous ones who have been saved by God in the ark because they are believers, sin still resides and rears its ugly head.

Now, I used to be a medical doctor, I practiced for several years, and after that, I quit. And that has been more than a decade, 15 years already since I practiced. So please don't ask me about medical stuff, I always say, "I'll kill you rather than heal you." But I still remember during medical days that one of the hardest diseases to treat must be that of cancer.

Cancer is very difficult to treat. The doctors may perform surgery on you, give you chemotherapy; radiotherapy. They do all kinds of things, and then they look at the scan and they say to you, "Congratulations, Mister! Your cancer cannot be detected on a scan anymore." And you go away really happy, but then he will also tell you, "But you got to come back for follow-up call. Every one month, every three months, every six months, you've got to come back and we need to check on you, we need to scan."

Why? Because cancer is known to be quite resistant, it's intractable. It can have a chance of recurrence and relapse. I can't see it on the scan, doesn't mean it will not come back. And so when I think about that, I think about Noah, I think about the times of Noah. God had sent a flood, it's like a huge surgical knife that has excised a lot of the cancer in the world. But cancer can still remain and indeed it does remain in the family of Noah.

So this morning, the sermon title is a rather chim one, alright. It's called - 'The Oncology of Sin'. Now, I know you're churchgoers, you're not medical doctors, not medical students. So you're not familiar with the word, 'oncology'. Have you heard of the word, 'oncologist'? No? Oncologists are doctors who specialize in treating cancers. They are the ones who give you chemotherapy and so on.

So the oncology ... oncology simply means the study of cancer; the specialists in cancer. So we are looking at the oncology, the study of sin, as if sin is like cancer. Alright, the study of the cancer of sin, that's what we are all saying today. So I'm going to highlight to you how sin is really like cancer.

So let's go into the verses a little bit more. Verse 21, we again, look at this verse about Noah's drunkenness. Drinking wine is not sinful in the Bible explicitly said, but drunkenness is sinful. So you can drink but you should never drink to be drunk, or you should never drink until you're drunk. I think that's clear!

In this case, Noah has sinned in the sense of drunkenness. Now, here, I want to make an apology. A few weeks back, maybe even a couple of months back, I was preaching through Genesis 6, and was talking about Noah and I mentioned Noah sinned and I said that, "He sinned very bad. He sinned with his daughters-in-law." Actually, he never sinned with his daughters-in-law, I got it, I was just pulling in Lot's name into this. I got confused and I said, "He sinned with his daughters-in-law." No, not Noah, it was Lot.

But Noah sin was one of drunkenness. But not only did Noah sinned, his son also sinned in that, "He saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside." [Gen 9:22] There's this brazen, disrespectful attitude, I think we can read in this passage, especially when you are later on going to contrast it with Shem and Japheth, his other two brothers' attitude towards the father's nakedness.

So there's dishonor here, he sees the father's nakedness and goes and broadcasts it to the brothers. Now, I want to highlight that 'seeing the nakedness' of his father can mean simply seeing the nakedness of a father. But it could also actually mean more. "You mean, what more?" It means, it could mean something really severe.

For example, Leviticus, chapter 20:17, uses the same phrase in the Hebrew about 'seeing nakedness'. And when you look at this phrase, 'seeing nakedness' in the context of Leviticus 20, go back and read it, you will realize that 'seeing the nakedness' of someone, whether it's seeing the nakedness of the daughter, or father or whatever, sister, it is more than just observing or looking, it is about having a relationship, a sexual relationship.

So that is severe! That's the way this phrase has been used in other passages of the Bible. Now, I'm not saying, "Exactly that's what happened in Ham's life, but it could be, we are not entirely sure." Nevertheless, we see that, "Ham saw the nakedness of his father. And he went to tell the brothers" [Gen 9:22].

The brothers, however, took a totally different approach, "Shem and Japheth, they took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders and walk backwards and cover the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backwards and did not see their father's nakedness." [Gen 9:23] Look at the way they are careful not to dishonor the father. A big contrast!

Now, the author Moses doesn't ... doesn't say a lot, right? He ... we do not know exactly when this happened, probably sometime after the flood, because you have Canaan, who will be mentioned, a son of Ham. It's sometime later, but Moses doesn't tell us a lot about details in Noah's family, except for this. And he carefully paints a picture that contrasts the disrespect of Ham and the respect of Shem and Japheth.

Now, "When Noah woke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan, and a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.’' [Gen 9:24-25] Now, notice the curse was not to Ham, the curse was to Canaan. Who is Canaan? Canaan is the son of Ham, the grandson of Noah. So people are often stumped as to "Oh, why did God curse the son of Ham, when it was Ham who did that sin and not really Canaan?"

Now, the Bible again doesn't quite tell you why. Perhaps some suggestions for you to consider, perhaps the greatest pain you can inflict upon someone is when the son is affected, maybe that's one. Another suggestion is that maybe Canaan was present in that time for this kind of immorality or this kind of sin, we do not know. Or it may be that Canaan is someone who sins in a similitude, in a same way like Ham is - disrespectful; immoral and so that curse lands upon Canaan himself. So we don't really know.

But you know Canaan was going to be someone who would raise a nation that is very immoral. We know that, because the Bible tells us about the kind of lifestyle, the Canaanites ... Who are the Canaanites? Canaanites are the descendants of Canaan. The Bible tells us about the kind of perversion and sexual immorality that the Canaanites were to live in.

For example, let me point you to Leviticus 18:3, it says, "You Israel ..." God is speaking to Israel, "... when you get into Canaan ..." when you go there, "... you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I'm bringing you." What do they do that we can't do? Well, "None of you shall approach any of his close relatives to uncover nakedness, I am the LORD. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; she is your mother, you shall not uncover her nakedness." [Lev 18:6-7]

So the Canaanites are doing something really terrible. It is not uncommon for them to have incest, to have relationships with their own parents and with their close relatives. "And you shall not lie sexually with your neighbor's wife, and so make yourself unclean with her." [Lev 18:20] So they also have adultery with people around them. "You should not give any of your children to offer them to Molech." [Lev 18:21] The Canaanites offer their children as sacrifices to their gods, including Molech, the idol.

"You shall not do these things. Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean." [Lev 18:24] Do you know why I drive them out? Do you know why I give you Canaan - the promised land? Now, because I love you and because I promised your parents, your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And also because the Canaanites have committed great sin. "The land has become unclean, I punished its iniquity and the land vomited up its inhabitants." [Lev 18:25]

So there's a dual reason why Israel will inherit the land because God sets His love on Israel and because Canaan is absolutely worthy of judgment. "So keep my charge, never to practice any of these abominable customs that have, that were practiced before you, and never to make yourselves unclean by them, I am the LORD. [Lev 18:30]

So now is this the reason why Canaan is cursed in that they have already and he has already, his family has already been involved in such things? Or is it because Canaan's sin continued on and he raised children that were also loose in their moral values? We do not know, but ultimately, Canaan is cursed and Canaan's descendants are horrible; horrendous.

So now, "Canaan will be the servant of Shem and Japheth" [Gen 9:26], that is the curse pronounced because of his sin. And the Bible tells us the, "After the flood, Noah lived 350 days and he died at 950 years." [Gen 9:29]

Now, Moses only wrote about this after the flood regarding Noah. Is it because Moses was jealous of Noah and therefore make ... make it shameful for Noah? No, I don't think so at all! But Moses wrote this so that you and I would appreciate the fact that even though there was a judgment, there was a flood, it was something scary, sin is like that cancer cell that is very hard to remove, even in the lives of godly men, like Noah.

[1] Sin, Like Cancer, Can Strike Anyone
So in the new normal, this is what we can gather, In the new normal, sin remains entrenched. It's not absolutely eradicated, as seen in Noah and Ham, and possibly even Canaan. So I'd like you to consider with me the oncology of sin, the ... the study of sin as if it is cancer. Why? Because sin, like cancer can strike anyone, even Noah.

Now we all know Noah is one of the top godly men in the whole of the Old Testament. I've already showed you the verse and I show you again, one example in Ezekiel 14:20, "Even if Noah, Daniel and Job ..." What a list! I mean, if your name is put together there you're... you're 'takong' (dialect for “outstanding”), you're super Christian. Yes, super holy man, because these guys are really the stellar heroes of the faith, especially according to Ezekiel.

But if sin can happen in Noah, then sin, like cancer can happen to anyone. You know, some of us we are health ... ah you, not me, okay, you are health freaks. You love to stay healthy. You eat well. You ... you eat all organic food. No meat, no barbecue, no fried foods, wah, everyday very careful! You exercise like crazy. Wah, you super fitness person! You drink lots of water, drink until you pee every time. You ... you sleep well. You're such a health freak. You don't want to get diseases. But even though you're very meticulous in taking care of your health, I don't think any one of you would dare say, "I will never ever have cancer."

Because we all know, cancer can strike anyone, even with the best care you give to your body. And you know, cancer is like sin and sin is like cancer, it can ... it can happen to anyone. No one is immune.

I think this is a very appropriate segue to ... to maybe talk about the most dramatic Christian scandal in the past one or two weeks. If you have been looking at Christian news, social media and so on, you will have read about this man, Ravi Zacharias.

Now it's sad that this all unraveled after his death. There is no explanation possible from him anymore, so we can't really hear from him. But it's really sad that after his death, there is this report. Actually, when he was alive, there was already scandal, there was already an accusation, there was already rumors going around, that he was behaving inappropriately in sexual ways to many women.

He owns spas, anonymous contributor to the company and apparently he is part of the ownership of spas. And there were women who have come forward to say that he has been sexually inappropriate, not just a few but several, in ... in the States and in other parts of the world.

Now, just for those who do not know Ravi Zacharias is a very well-known apologetic champion. He ... he speaks very eloquently, very well, he seemed to be well versed in Scripture. He's able to convince people about the reality of God and the Scriptures and truth. And so he's ... he's very influential. Many people across the world, listen to Ravi Zacharias. And many people in the world credit their salvation to the fact that they have heard his preaching.

So when all this came out, people did not quite want to believe that these accusations were true, but a full report was given just about last week, end of last week. And it details the kind of conversations; text messages and witness testimonies that were absolutely damning. I think no one having read that report would conclude that he is absolutely innocent of sexual immorality and inappropriate behavior.

So it began to dawn upon people that a supposed spiritual man or giant, a preacher well-known; respected like him, could fall into sin. They had ... they felt betrayal, they felt betrayed, they wanted to throw his books and CDs all away. But I think Ravi Zacharias just reminds us sin, like cancer can strike anyone.

One of the questions people like to ask today is, "Pastor, do you think, Ravi Zacharias is saved? Do you think he's in Heaven?" I will say to him, "Next time when I go to Heaven, then I will come back and tell you." The reality is - I don't really know for sure. That ... that is the same question that was raised just now. Before second service in our 'Meet the Pastor Zoom Q&A', people asked, "Is he in heaven? Is he saved? How can you be so ... how can you say he's not saved?"

I say," I can't know for sure because he can absolutely turn out to be like a Judas Iscariot." Now Judas, look every bit Christian, right? He looks like a sincere follower of Jesus, otherwise, he wouldn't be the treasurer. He wouldn't be the one in charge of the money! I mean, he's probably the most trusted one amongst the twelve.

But at the end of Judas' life, his true colors were revealed when he betrayed Jesus. So we conclude Judas was never saved in the beginning, he just pretended to be. Could that be the case, in Ravi Zacharias' life? Could very well be. If the disciples couldn't tell Judas out, neither can we tell Ravi out that he might be a hypocrite.

But on the other hand, he might not be a Judas. He might be a David, who sinned in a sin of Bathsheba. For two years or so David's sin in the sin of Bathsheba, he killed Uriah, he was full of deception. He was a liar, he was a murderer, but for two years, he sinned, and you know what, David was still God's child. Didn't change.

So the fact is, Ravi Zacharias, is he in Judas' camp or David's camp? I'll tell you when I get to heaven and look for him. If I see him there, I say, "You belong to David's camp. Wow, thank God for that!" If I don't see him, I say, "Aiyoh, he has been a Judas all his life." I'm sorry, ah my theology wrong, I can't come back to tell you lah, but you will find out together with me where we are there. And if you're not there, that would be really sad.

Okay, but I hope you will, we will not ... so basically the answer will be known when we stand before God next time, alright, not now. But I just want to convey the fact that sin is like cancer and sin can affect anyone. If Noah was a Christian, I know he is, he's not immune to sin. If Zacharias is, if Ravi Zacharias is a Christian, it can affect even a giant like him, that's the point.

[2] Sin, Like Cancer, Grows And Multiplies
But secondly, I want you to appreciate from chapter 9 and 10, that sin like cancer grows and multiplies.

Now, it's very tactful, I think Moses, he just revealed a sin of drunkenness and a sin of dishonor. Let's assume that seeing the nakedness is not more than seeing nakedness. Actually, sin is bad, alright, sin is bad, don't get me wrong. But actually, it's not such a bad, dramatic, horrendous sin. I think that's what Moses is trying to convey right at the beginning, but you will see that sin like cancer will grow and multiply.

Why? Because what we're going to read now is the ... is the spread, is the multiplication of Noah's family. We're going to see Shem, Ham, Japheth and their descendants. And they will form what we call, 'The Table of Nations', forming some 70 nations. And that's all going to be given to you in chapter 10.

But you know, what's happening after chapter 10, after all this genealogy is given? The next event is the building of the Tower of Babel. And the Tower of Babel is a strong symbol of outward defiance before God. So, I think what Moses is trying to do, is let you see that sin is intractable, it's relentless, it's right there. And like cancer, it will grow and it will multiply amongst the people until it is full blown cancer - ugly; hideous; foul smelling before God. But it begins with the little seed in Adam, er not Adam, in Noah’s, Ham’s and maybe Canaan's life.

So we see this table of nations in context. This is not a ... this is not a unimportant useless record of names. But God is showing you how the descendants will multiply and how sin is going to be multiplied until everyone here would gather in open rebellion against God.

So let's look at the table of nations. We see first of all Japheth's family line. Please don't squint your eyes. Please don't, "Pastor, your slides so small." I know I always get that but I'm going to help you later on by zooming in, okay. So, relax, just enjoy, just ... just listen.

The table of nations, essentially three sons of Noah - Japheth's line, then you have Ham's line, and then you have Shem's line, alright.

So let's take a look at first of all, Japheth's line. It's the simplest, I don't have a lot to say. I'll zoom in for you, I told you don't worry, relax. And in Japheth's line, many words here, but I just want to again help you by seeing India, Germany, Wales, Armenians, Turkey. Why? Because scholars would tell us that Japheth's would give rise to the Indians and the Europeans.

So if you are Indian, and you are European, you know who your 'lao peh' [father in Hokkien dialect] is. You know who your 'apa' [father in Hokkien dialect] is. Your big, big, big apa, alright. In a sense, all of us our apa is Adam, is Noah. But you could also say my apa is Japheth. That's my ancestral roots. Okay, that's all I want to say about Japheth, alright.

Next, we are going to go to Shem. Now chronologic, not chronologically, but in the Bible, in chapter 10, it goes by Japheth, then Ham, then Shem. But I'm going to save Ham to the last because the Ham here, very juicy. I hope you catch the pun. There's a lot of things to say about Ham, so I keep it to the end, alright.

But I'm going to show Shem first and Shem is significant in the Bible, because Shem is ... is that name from which we get the word, Semitic, from which we refer to the Jews. Alright, so I will tell you that Shem is the ancestor of the Hebrews, the Jews. Not only the Hebrews, the Jews, but also the Persian Empire, and Assyrians and so on. Okay, alright.

Next, we look at the great grandson. By the way, one star, if you see one star, is just for you to know lah, one star is son, two stars is grandson, three stars is great grandson. So the great grandson of Shem would be Eber. And it is from this name, Eber that we get the term, Hebrew. And the very first Hebrew mentioned in the Bible is Abraham, Genesis 14:13.

So the ancestor of the Jews, Abraham, actually it's Jacob, but it's Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. And Jacob's 12 sons become the 12 tribes or 12, yah, 12 tribes of Israel, the Hebrews, alright? So that's the storyline, that's the origins, that's the genealogy.

And then of course, the great, great grandson of Shem is the word, Peleg. So great, great grandson, four generations down, alright, four generations down, you have this guy whose name is Peleg. And it's significant because Peleg, his name is given an explanation. It's said here, "To Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days, the earth was divided." [Gen 10:25]

Now, this must therefore refer, I think, to the division and the spreading of people during the Tower of Babel. So you're tracing the genealogy, you're looking at timeline as to what has happened there. Okay. So the table of nations bring us even up to that moment, that time of rebellion against God in the Tower of Babel.

So let's come to the juicy Ham. The juicy Ham is juicy because of a few things, couple of things, alright. But first, Ham would be where you get the Palestinians and the African dwellers. Okay, so these races would come from Ham's line. And you would see some of their descendants or his descendants, in particular, I just want you to be ... be able to see the highlight in Nimrod and Babel.

Now, when I was a young Christian, I hear people talk about Nimrod. Actually Nimrod, very 'ulu' [remote/seldom encounter in Hokkien dialect] you know, it's only found here. But you hear people talk about Nimrod, and of course you hear about Babel, right? But what's so special about Nimrod and Babel?

So we have a commentary here in Genesis 10, verse 8 to 11, "Nimrod ... he was a mighty hunter before the Lord, therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the Lord." The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech," and so on and so forth. And you will see Assyria and built Nineveh and so on.

So what is special about Nimrod? First of all, his name. The word, Nimrod means to bring a rebellion or revolt or a rebel. That's what he is! Imagine you give birth to a son, and you call him, rebel. I mean, my ... my ... my sons are naughty, but I don't call them rebel by name. But this guy is given a name, rebel.

It is said that he's a mighty hunter before the Lord. Now, the word can also be translated - against the Lord. And probably that would be the right sense that he is not just a hunter of animals, but he was a bully; a tyrant, someone who kills. And he is someone who does it in great pride and arrogance and hubris before God. He is a mighty hunter against the Lord.

He is the founder of the Kingdom of Babel. Now Babel, you must know, right? Babel is a ... is consistently in the Bible throughout the ages, portrayed as a system that is against God. Is the anti-God name, Babel. From the Tower of Babel, to the nation of Babylon, led by King Nebuchadnezzar to Revelation 17:18, "That great Babylon, the prostitute who drinks of the blood of God's people," Babel has been synonymous with defiance against God. It's an anti God set-up.

Who is the founder? Nimrod, the rebel, the mighty hunter against the Lord. And of course, you see the land of Shinar, that's where they will build the tower of Babel, we will read that next week. So join us next week, how it is a symbol of rebellion and he built Nineveh which likewise is an anti-God nation in the Scriptures.

Now, looking at Nimrod, I ... I kind of have a deja vu, a kind of remembrance of someone who is like him earlier on. Do you know who? We have only journeyed 9 chapters in Genesis, not a lot, but there's someone who Nimrod reminds me of, earlier days before the flood. 'Si mi lang?' [who is it in Hokkien dialect]. Cain? Cain ... Cain will remind me a bit like Ham. Someone after Cain, someone who is after Cain, like how Nimrod is after Ham. And that someone is also very 'hao lian' [proud in Hokkien dialect]; arrogant. His name very 'ulu' lah, that's why you all don't remember, but we went through that before. His name is? Lamech.

The Bible says, "Lamech said to his wife ..." by the way, the name Lamech means powerful. Mr. Hao lian, Mr. Strong. "He says to his wife, ‘Eh dear, darling, listen to my song.’ “Adah and Zillah hear my voice; you wives of Lamech, listen to what I say: I've killed a man for wounding me, a young man for striking me. If Cain's revenge is sevenfold, then Lamech is seventyfold." [Gen 4:23-24]

Now, the Bible doesn't give you a song for nothing, doesn't give you lyrics for nothing. But the lyrics are given by God through Moses to convey the kind of pride and arrogance about this song. It's a mafia boss song; 'pai kia' [gangster in Hokkien dialect] song. This is a 'hao lian' song. A song that says, "I'm so great that if God could avenge Cain sevenfold, I'm going to outdo God seventy-seven times. I'm greater than God! I'm the powerful Lamech!"

And so when you come back to Nimrod, it's almost like the same story over again. Yes, there was a reset button pressed. Yes, God eliminated a lot of sinners, a lot of sin, but sin remains entrenched, it spreads, it grows. And look at Nimrod! Look at his kingdom! Look at the tower of Babel! And look next at the Canaanites! Look at this race of people!

Now, I've already shown you the verses in Leviticus, how Canaan ended up really bad and perverse. Sins then, that we would be totally ashamed of talking about even today. But that was then, that was what they did! Now before I talk about Canaanites and this and, and the rest of that, I just want to point out something about the Sinites because you'll be excited to hear that it might be the origin of our Chinese race.

Many of you here are Chinese like myself, and you might be hoping, "Eh, maybe we are in the Shem line, the godly line!" No! No! You're ... you're the Ham line, the 'jialat' [in a dire situation in Hokkien dialect] one. Alright, we belong to this one. We are the 'jialat' ones. Maybe the sin of the Chinese is we love money too much, greedy business, whatever. But we belong to this, alright? Our ancestor, our 'lao peh' [father in Hokkien dialect], may be Ham, the juicy one.

That's why we're the ... Okay, too much ... too much jokes. So, where was I? Okay, we ... okay, alright. I was going to say, "Well, that is what scholars suggest, but actually no one really knows for sure, alright, where the Chinese stock comes from, but most seem to think we come from this one, okay?"

Now, what is more important and relevant, however, is that Canaan would father Sidon, Heth, who is an ancestor of the Hittites, the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgasites, the Hivites. These are names you read about when you read about Joshua and about the conquest of the land of Canaan, alright?

So Ham, would father Nimrod, and ultimately Babel as the kingdom. And Ham would have descendants like the Canaanites. So they would be the ones, Nimrod would be the one and his family would be the ones that sort of organized the coalition of men to rebel against God in the Tower of Babel.

I hope you appreciate that the reason why Moses probably wrote this, therefore is to show that intractable nature of sin residing in Noah, in Ham and how that grows and multiplies, until it is like cancer that takes over the body - deforms you, dysfunctions you and makes you smelly and ... and ugly and deplorable before God, culminating in the Tower of Babel and in the perverse lifestyle of the Canaanites.

So what's the point? Corruption of men by sin. That's why chapter 9 and 10 is given. It is not as if Moses had nothing better to do and write all these names just for memory sake, you know. It's God saying, "Look at the trajectory of sin. Sin is never satisfied being by itself, it always seeks to spread. That one cancer cell is not cancerous if it stays by itself, but because it is wanting to invade, it multiplies to 2, multiplies to 4, multiplies to 8 and 16, and so on. It is seeking to overtake it all."

So we are learning about oncology, but not oncology of the human body, but oncology of spiritual sin. Sin, like cancer can strike anyone like a Noah. And sin like cancer grows and multiplies.
[3] Sin, Like Cancer, Needs A Radical Cure
And my time is up, but finally sin like cancer requires a radical cure.

Today, doctors can give you chemotherapy; radiotherapy; surgery; immunotherapy, and so on, gene therapy for all I know. But you know what, no one could say, "When I give you this cure, you are absolutely guaranteed to be clear of cancer." No one can! There's yet to be found a super effective radical cure for cancer.

But can I tell you the Good News? There is a super effective radical cure for sin. You know this whole passage, I think Moses is writing is to increase the tension; the longing, and then the appreciation of God's promise in Genesis 3:15, that, "He will give a offspring from a woman and she and He will crush the serpent's head."

The flood couldn't take away sin, but this Savior will. And this Savior is none other as we read on the rest of the Bible, Jesus Christ, who is born into this world, who will go to the cross, die and rise again to save us from our sins. There is a radical cure! And so God is giving us the story of the flood, the story of Noah so that we can understand how difficult sin is, to be eliminated. And then we can appreciate how amazing the gospel is.

And throughout human history, not just from this cycle, but the next cycle and so on and so forth. We can see how sinful sin is, the exceeding sinfulness of sin and the exceeding grace and power of God to save through Jesus Christ.

If you're here today, I want to tell you, "Your religious works can't save you; coming to church can't save you; chanting a prayer can't save you, because only Jesus is that radical cure. It's so radical that God would give His Son! It's so radical that it completely saves! That you're declared absolutely justified; righteous; holy not because of what you do, but because of what Jesus has done. And it is so radical in the sense that when Jesus returns, He will usher us, He will bring us into that everlasting bliss and joy and glory forevermore, where there will be no more sorrow, no more tears, no more sin."

Who can cure this cancer so thoroughly? Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. That's the purpose of Genesis 9 and 10. This is a blind spot for many people, don't miss it. I hope when you come back to this passage next time, you say, "Wow, it is an amazing text! It tells me the oncology of sin, but most of all, it prepares me to appreciate the radical cure for sin - Jesus Christ."

Let's bow for a word of prayer together.

Father, we thank You today that there is salvation, oh sin is so ... so entrenched and destructive! But how we thank You today, Jesus saves, Jesus paid it all. And I pray today that men and women will humble themselves to turn from their sin and believe in Jesus Christ. Christ alone is our hope this day and I pray that Your people would turn to Him in their hearts.

I pray today that Your church would also be warmed in our hearts to know of Your love, to know of Your power to save. So that in this lifetime, we would continue to drink in and live out and give out the Gospel. Bless each one here, bless each one online. May You be glorified in our lives. We thank You, in Jesus' Name, Amen.

 

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