Title: Happy Family, Destroyed Family
Contents
Genesis 9:18-29 A happy family, a broken family
The family should be happy. But statistics show that many homes today are destroyed. According to a survey result, about 10% of those who confess that they feel happy about their family are also surveyed. What kind of family has been destroyed? The following assumptions are not considered destroyed.
1. A family in which one member of the family has passed away is not a destroyed family. A family in which the wife died first, the husband first received God's call, or the child died first is not a destroyed family. It is a matter of time for any family, because everyone dies.
2. We do not see poor families as destroyed. Because every family has a time to be poor and a time to be rich. But the Talmud, a book of Israeli folk lessons, says: “Poverty is not a sin, but it is not an honor either.” That is, people must overcome poverty.
3. A divorced family is not a destroyed family. Divorce is bad, but getting a divorce is because you should be greatly comforted. And in this world, there are cases where divorce is unavoidable.
4. We do not refer to families with sick members as destroyed. Any household and anyone in the East or the West has the potential to become ill. And as people get older, their bodies become weak and prone to illness.
So, which families are destroyed, and which ones are the happy ones? I would like to talk to you by looking at Noah's family in today's text. First of all, Noah's family was a happy family with very good characteristics.
1. It was a righteous family most recognized by God.
When the whole world was full of sin, Noah's family was not stained by sin. So, when God destroyed the whole world with the flood, God saved only Noah's eight family members on this earth. Noah, his wife, three sons, and three daughters-in-law. There are many families in the world, and when all of them fell into sin, Noah's family did not fall. It was a holy family recognized by God as righteous.
God recognizes righteous individuals, righteous families, and righteous nations. Of course, there is no righteous person in this world who has never sinned. However, as children of God, we must keep away from sin and strive not to sin. No, we must declare war on sin. Hebrews 12:4 says: “You have struggled with sin and have not yet resisted it to the point of shedding blood.”
In other words, we must fight a fierce battle against sin. Likes to sin, living a life that rationalizes sin without being vigilant about it is a shortcut to destroying a happy family. In Korea today, many families are destroyed because of sin. It is because of sin that Adam and Eve lost the Garden of Eden. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That is how great the destructive power of sin is. At that time, Noah's family was not destroyed by sin. They protected their homes from the destruction of sin.
2. This is a family where the whole family worked together to build the ark.
Noah's family of 8 built the ark for 120 years. The size of the ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. That's 1.5 times the size of today's soccer fields. But it's on the 3rd floor. Eight people from Noah's family built such a large ark. It was also made over a long period of 120 years. It was a big job that required patience and cooperation from the family.
As they built the ark for 120 years, people misunderstood and ridiculed them as crazy. But they believed the word of God. And putting that belief into practice, the whole family worked together to build the ark. In today's terms, all of our family members are people who believe in Jesus and are faithful in the church.
However, after the flood, Noah's happy family, which God recognized as the best and lived in harmony, was ruined and destroyed. The beginning was Noah, who was declared righteous in the world. After the flood, Noah was relieved. You drank too much. Then he got drunk and took off his clothes in broad daylight and slept. The second son, Ham, was the first to discover it. And he went around telling his family that his father had been drinking and drunk since broad daylight and was naked and ugly.
Ham did not hide his father's mistakes. Hearing this, the first son Shem and the third son Japheth took their clothes back and hid them without seeing their father's shameful parts. After waking up from the wine, Noah learned of this and cursed Ham's fourth son, Canaan. Ladies and gentlemen, Ham had four sons, and perhaps the fourth son, Canaan, together with his father Ham, exposed the shame of his grandfather Noah even more. Later, Sodom and Gomorrah, who were judged by God, were descendants of Canaan. And in the Bible, the seven Canaanite tribes worshiped idols and were stained with sin and were always the object of God's wrath. Noah's curse has come.
Anyway, Noah cursed the grandson he should have blessed. I haven't seen grandchildren yet, but those who have seen them say that grandchildren are prettier than children. However, Noah cursed his grandson Canaan, whom he should have loved so much. From here, Noah's home begins to be destroyed. When family members cover up each other's faults, love and care for each other, and say negative things, the family will be destroyed.
There was a man who walked in and out of prison like my house. Now he has been convicted of 16 criminal offenses. He never got married because he was in and out of prison. Eventually, he was in his late 40s. Now, after he accepted Jesus, he decided to live. Finally, I met a decent woman, got married, and started a family. It was the first time in my life that I was experiencing happiness. However, a trivial problem started a couple quarrel. The angry couple began to pour out emotional remarks. Extreme words came and went, and the woman said: “You can’t be called a criminal!”
Hearing this, the man couldn't stand it and his emotions exploded. Suddenly, with the remote control in front of him, he smashed his wife in the head. His wife collapsed on the spot and died of a concussion. In an instant, the wrong emotions completely destroyed the family. When people touch a sore spot, they feel even more hurt. Therefore, even if a couple fights, if they fight while revealing the other person's pain or teeth, their feelings will be seriously hurt, and it will take a long time for treatment. And if you touch the wound again even though the wound has not been healed, it is easy for even a married couple to become enemies in the future.
When people get close, they see flaws in the other person they were not aware of before. When you get close to family members, friends, neighbors, and church members, you can see faults you didn't know you had. If you expose your faults at this time, you will hurt each other and destroy each other. Therefore, in order for couples, friends, neighbors, and church members to stay close, they must also make the decision to cover up each other's faults. Only then can we achieve a happy family, a happy society, and a happy church.
Of course, being close to family, friends, and neighbors can sometimes offend and upset you. But how angry can you even curse your children? As a result, Noah's family is destroyed. Noah's family would not have been so destroyed if Noah had not cursed his grandson, no matter how angry he was.
will be
There is a Korean proverb that says, “We release in a hurry”. No matter how angry you are, you have to keep your limits, but when you are angry, you do not turn your back on fire and it is easy to commit sins. So the Bible says: “Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and let the devil take no advantage” (Ephesians 4:26-27).
In particular, there are times when a couple argues in life. There are times when I get angry. But don't take those quarrels and anger with you to bed. A foolish woman complains that she is angry when a couple quarrels. are separated. But it actually only makes the situation worse. In order to keep a happy family, the Bible commands couples not to be indulgent in each other.
A closer look at the statement reads: “The husband shall fulfill his duty to his wife, and the wife shall do the same to her husband. The wife does not rule over her own body, but the husband does, and the husband does not have authority over his own body in the same way, but the wife is one. Just to get a chance to pray, do it for a while by agreement, but then join again. lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:3-5).
Ladies and gentlemen, the Bible says that sleeping in the same room as a couple is not an option, it is a duty. And he warns that if you do not keep the word and get distracted, you will easily fall into Satan's temptation. In other words, the main culprit for destroying a family is that they do not resolve their quarrels and anger on the same day and take them to bed. In other words, it's easy to destroy yourself by not completing small events properly, magnifying them, and pushing your limits.
And behind the destruction of such a happy Noah's family, there was a medium called alcohol. Noah should have stayed away from alcohol that was driving him to his downfall. However, Noah was close to drinking alcohol for some reason. And he ended up destroying his own family through that alcohol. The Bible says “Don’t get drunk. This is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 5:18).
The Talmud, a collection of lessons from Israel, says this: One day Satan came and said to a man. “You will die if you don’t listen to me. Choose one of the three. Will you kill your mother? Would you sell your sister to a whore? Would you like ten drinks?” The man could not kill his mother. I couldn't even sell my sister to a whore. So I decided to drink 10 glasses of alcohol. Satan told us to do that. After drinking 10 glasses of alcohol, the man got drunk and killed his mother and sold his sister as a prostitute. In other words, alcohol is the most dangerous thing.
conclude the word. Noah lived to be 950 years old. For the first 600 years, they had a harmonious, righteous, and happy family. But for the rest of the 350 years, the family was destroyed. It is really sad to see such a wonderful family of faith destroyed. I pray that the medium of alcohol, the family that exposes Noah's shame, and Noah who can't control his emotions and curses his children.