Pink on Genesis 9:25-27

@Quantrill @rsr @SavedByGrace @Earth Wind and Fire
@SGO

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.
27 God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. Gen 9


A.W. Pink:
..."The fulfillment of Noah’s prophecy. The wonderful prediction uttered by the builder of the Ark gives in a few brief sentences the history of the new world, and shows the positions that were delegated by God to the three great divisions of the human family. In the closing verses of Genesis 9 we have a remarkable unfolding of the future destinies of the new humanity. The various parts which are to be played in human history by its leading characters are now made known. The subjection of one, the religious preeminence of the second, and the enlarging of the third head of the postdiluvian race, is here revealed.

"Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren" (v. 25). Above, we intimated that as no blessing at all was pronounced upon Ham as was the ease with each of his brothers, it would seem that the curse was not intended to be limited to Canaan (there being a particular reason why Canaan should be thus singled out, namely, as an encouragement to the Israelites,) but included all of his children. By tracing the history of Ham’s other sons it becomes evident that the scope of Noah’s prophecy reached beyond Canaan. Nimrod sprang from Ham through Cush (Gen. 10:6-8), and he founded the city and empire Babylon. Mizraim was another of Ham’s children and he was the father of the Egyptians (Gen. 10:6 and Ps. 78:51). For a time Babylon and Egypt waxed great, but subsequently both of them were reduced to subjection, first by the Persians who descended from Shem, and later by the Greeks and Romans who were the children of Japheth. And from these early subjugations they have never recovered themselves. The whole of Africa was peopled by the descendants of Ham, and for many centuries the greater part of that continent lay under the dominion of the Romans, Saracens, and Turks. And, as is well known, the Negroes who were for so long the slaves of Europeans and Americans, also claim Ham as their progenitor.

"Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant" (v. 26). Two things are promised here: Jehovah was to be the God of Shem and Canaan was to be his servant. Shem was "the father of all the children of Eber," that is, the Hebrews (Gen. 10:21). Thus, in the Hebrews, the knowledge and worship of God was preserved in the family of Shem. The fulfillment of this part of the prophecy is well known to our readers. God was in a peculiar sense the God of the Hebrews—"And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God" (Ex. 29:45). And again, "You only have I known of all the families of the earth" (Amos 3:2).

"And Canaan shall be his (Shem’s) servant." This received its first fulfillment in the days of Joshua—"And Joshua made them (the Gibeonites) hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation" (Joshua 9:27). The following scriptures set forth its further accomplishment: "And it came to pass, when Israel was strong, that they put the Canaanites to tribute" (Judges 1:28). "And all the people that were left of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, which were not of the children of Israel, their children that were left after them in the land, whom the children of Israel also were not able utterly to destroy, upon those did Solomon levy a tribute of bond service unto this day" (1 Kings 9:20, 21).

"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem" (v. 27). Two things were also predicted of Japheth: first, he should be enlarged; second, he should dwell in the tents of Shem or, in other words, should receive blessing from Shem. The accomplishment of this prediction is witnessed to by history both sacred and secular. Those nations which have been most enlarged by God have descended from Japheth. The Greeks and the Romans who in their time dominated practically all of the then known world; and more recently the European Powers who have entered into the rich possessions of Asia (inhabited by the children of Shem); and, today, the Anglo-Saxon race, which occupies more territory than any other people, are all the descendants of Noah’s firstborn! In Genesis 10, where a list of Japheth’s sons is found, we read, "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands."

"And he shall dwell in the tents of Shem" intimates that Japheth was to be Shem’s guest, that he should share the rest and shelter of Shem’s tabernacles. How remarkably has this prophecy been fulfilled spiritually! "The revelation which we prize is that of the God of Israel; the Savior in whom we trust is the seed of Abraham; the Old Testament was written principally for Israel; and the New Testament though written in a Japhetic tongue, and, therefore for us, was penned by Jewish fingers" (Urquhart). To this may be added the words of our Lord, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John 4:22); and that remarkable statement of the Apostle Paul’s in Romans 11 where, writing of the Gentiles, he says, "And thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them (Israel), and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree" (v. 17). Thus do we see Japheth "dwelling in the tents of Shem."

Who but He who knows the end from the beginning could have outlined the whole course of the three great divisions of the postdiluvian race so tersely and so accurately!..."

 

The quote is from ‘Gleanings In Genesis’.

I don’t know where Pink derives Japheth as Noah’s firstborn, there is evidence that Shem was firstborn.

 

The 'pecking order' is not what you might think...

Ahh, now I remember (sometimes I think I've forgotten more than I know):

KJV:
21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born. Gen 10

ASV:
21 And unto Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth, to him also were children born. Gen 10

I agree with the rendering of the ASV because it conforms to the continuity of scripture concerning the first/firstborn vs second//second born. It is consistent throughout the scriptures that it's actually the second/second born that obtains the favor of God, not the first/firstborn,

It was not Cain's sacrifice that God had respect for, but it was Abel's; 'Cain was of the evil one, and slew his brother....

Shem was the elder brother of Japheth, but, 'God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem...' [Gen 10:21 ASV & 9:27]

It was Ishmael, the firstborn, that was born after the flesh, and he persecuted Isaac, the second born, that was born after the Spirit. Isaac was the child of promise; Ishmael was cast out. [Gal 4:29]

It was said of Esau and Jacob, 'The elder shall serve the younger. Even as it is written, Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.' [Ro 9:12,13]

It was not Leah his first wife that Jacob loved, but it was Rachel his second wife. [Gen 29:30,31]

It was Ephraim the younger that Jacob blessed over his older brother Mannassah and that in spite of Joseph's objections. [Gen 48:13-20]

It was not the first generation of the exodus that entered into the rest of the promised land, it was the second generation; 'But your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected.' [Nu 14:31]

It was not Saul the first king of Israel that would do all of God's will, but it was the second king David that was a man after His heart; '...Saul the son of Kish...when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king; to whom also he bare witness and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who shall do all My will.' [Acts 13:21,22]

It was not the first covenant of the law ( I desire mercy, and not sacrifice) that God had pleasure in, but it was the second covenant of grace; '....a better covenant, which hath been enacted upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then would no place have been sought for a second.' [Heb 8:6,7]

Consider 'the first man Adam' vs. 'the last Adam, ' ... that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.' [1 Cor 15:45-47]

...and there's undoubtedly many other 'first/firstborn vs second/second born' examples than these noted.

 

The ‘motif’ from scripture, the ‘constant’ of jealousy/envy/enmity from those that were first towards those that were second. A few examples:

Cain the firstborn/Abel the second born
4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And Jehovah had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
5 but unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
6 And Jehovah said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? Gen 4
(see Pink on Cain & Abel)

Ishmael firstborn/Isaac second born
8 And the child grew, and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
9 And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Gen 21
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Gal 4

Essau firstborn/Jacob second born
41 And Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing wherewith his father blessed him. And Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand. Then will I slay my brother Jacob. Gen 27

Saul the first king/David the second king
7 And the women sang one to another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.
8 And Saul was very wroth, and this saying displeased him; and he said, They have ascribed unto David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed but thousands: and what can he have more but the kingdom?
9 And Saul eyed David from that day and forward. 1 Sam 18

To quote Brother @tyndale1946:
“…Jealousy exhibited from the firstborn to the younger is a recurring theme in the scriptures foretelling/portraying the enmity between the Jews and Christ and His infant church…”


…a few more examples on this ‘motif’ of jealousy that runs throughout the scriptures:

21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; They have provoked me to anger with their vanities: And I will move them to jealousy with those that are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. Dt 32

19 But I say, Did Israel not know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy with that which is no nation, With a nation void of understanding will I anger you.
20 And Isaiah is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I became manifest unto them that asked not of me.
21 But as to Israel he saith, All the day long did I spread out my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people. Ro 10

44 And the next sabbath almost the whole city was gathered together to hear the word of God.
45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with jealousy, and contradicted the things which were spoken by Paul, and blasphemed. Acts 13

17 When therefore they were gathered together, Pilate said unto them, Whom will ye that I release unto you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?
18 For he knew that for envy they had delivered him up. Mt 27

1 And as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being sore troubled because they taught the people, and proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Acts 4

16 And there also came together the multitudes from the cities round about Jerusalem, bring sick folk, and them that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one.
17 But the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy, Acts 5

5 But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. Acts 17


I believe God inserted Adam into the garden and gave him dominion over the earth knowing full well that it would provoke Satan to jealousy. Thus the story of our redemption began.

 

Absolutely.

Who Was The Elder Son? - scroll