Genesis and Matthew XVII

May God extend Yefet (Japheth), let him dwell in the tends of Shem, but may Canaan be servant to them!


Nor do they put new wine in old wineskins, because if they do, the skins break and the wine pours out and the skins are ruined; instead, they put new wine in new skins, and both are preserved.

We can learn about the Kingdom of God by looking at families.

I marvel at how it only takes a generation or two, to unravel what may once have been a close family. One of the major roadblocks in doing family research, is recovering information from family whose ancestors had become estranged from their siblings. Resentment that one sibling may feel towards the rest of the family, seems to get locked into the DNA, when generations later the descendants form no desire to reconnect with their family.

My great-great grandmother is a great mystery to many of us. Her daughter, my great-grandmother, when asked about her mother, would say, "You don't want to know about that," with anger. The next generation, that of my grandmother, learned never to ask about it. Or - what they knew, they learned never to share. But now, a hundred and fifty years later, we do want to know about it!

Relationships are destroyed like old written records that are cast into a fire. Photos are left behind, with no identifying labels. A brother that breaks away from his sister, never to speak to her again, results in grand-children that just want to know where they came from. Are there cousins living nearby, that they do not know about?

Other families, where the parents make an effort to keep their children connected, do much better. Their children seem to accomplish more, and fare more effectively in society.

Christ spoke about putting new wine in new wineskins. He came to simultaneously change everything to a New Order, while preserving the essence of the Old. The Old Covenant, with its emphasis on laws, rules, religious practices, families, nations, and military campaigns, served to define God's holiness, His expectations,  His vision for us, and to clearly define how we are to behave.

Humanity, in its natural state, thinks in terms of rules. Note how children learn the word "No!" immediately after they learn the word "Ma". In our natural, most basic state, we understand rules and  boundaries. So God started off with treating us this way.

We also like roles and positions. We understand authority. We like to know where we stand. Observe elementary-aged children, and their complaints of "that's not fair!" We see ourselves as part of a group, of belonging to something or some group. This explains the influence of gangs in lawless communities. We want to belong, and we want rules, even if the rules are violent (this is in our natural, unredeemed state).

Noah pronounces an order of authority for his sons. Shem would be on top, and Japheth was to be favored in Shem's world. Ham was to be their servant. How cruel this seems! But our parents' decisions always seem not totally fair, from our purview! But Noah's curse on Canaan has been used throughout history, to justify everything from Slavery to military conquest! Noah, a just man, committed a grave error on history, it would seem!

But, Noah's order was part of the world's order in those times. Your family identification mattered. And it still does today, for the world is not completely redeemed yet! Everyone reading these words can instantly identify  a close relative that is drifting away. Siblings and cousins, that once were closer than two people can be, today hardly ever say a word to one another! We identify with our group!

The redeemed person, the one living under Grace, does not just put away family identifications!

When Jesus sat down with sinners, he was sitting down with his own distant cousins that were unfortunate enough to be born into the wrong clan! The new wine in new wineskins, in this case, was that we are now free to hang out with these others, regardless of their birth circumstances, their inherited wealth, their college background, their lifestyle choices, the way they dress, their style preferences.

Families are God's gift to us, to train in Kingdom living. Embrace your family. Renew your connections with brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles. Put away the old bitternesses whose origins no one remembers. Set aside resentments. Stop being so judgmental! Help the relative in need! Stop gossiping about a niece or nephew whose personal choices have landed him or her in IC, and go pay a visit!

Our families serve a great purpose. And God has given us the chance to redeem the Canaans in our families, to sit down with them, once again, and to treat them as our equals.

 . . . which is exactly what they are!