The Younger Son

So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.
But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father's nakedness.
So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him.
[Genesis 9:1,18-24 NKJV]

Our last meditation was on fruitfulness and mentioned the younger son, and that reminded me of a word that I had heard a few years back of how God many times reveals His truth through the younger son.

The first mention of this is in Genesis, chapter 9 shown above; but who is the younger son to which Noah refers? Is he referring to his grandson Canaan, or to his younger sons Shem and Japheth? Ham was his firstborn son, although he was the one who had acted incorrectly.

What is clear is that, although Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God; Noah was not without sin. This is important for us to get hold of — we can be just, perfect in our generations, and walking with God; but we can still fall short of the perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

There is a lot to be pulled out of these verses; but we shall stick with ‘the younger son’. Various sources differ as to who was Noah’s younger son. Some say Ham, some say Japheth; but whatever order they were born, we can be assured that God is saying many things through these verses.

To look at the story, it makes clear that Noah and His sons were to populate the earth spiritually. It seems that Ham and his offspring went south to Africa, while Shem covered the Jewish people and Japheth the gentiles; in this way they filled the earth.

As if this was not enough to the story, there is also the personal aspect. Noah had too much wine and exposed himself to approbation. Ham (hot) saw this and pointed it out to Shem (name) and Japheth (opened), who, rather than condemn, covered their father (literally) and refused to see him in his exposed state. In other words, they protected him; they showed love and confirmation, in a way that Ham did not.

Shem and Japheth showed love and wanted to cover their father. Our Lord shows exactly that to us; He is our covering.

But as to the Younger son; we can see that most notably in the stories of Ishmael and Isaac, as well as Esau and Jacob and, in the New Testament, the story of the Prodigal Son. Our Heavenly Father reveals His line and His plan through the younger.

Of this there is much more to be said — but not today. May the Lord bless you and keep you; holding you to Himself in these difficult times.

Put all “supposing” on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our feet and worry is caused by calculating without God.

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