When you see hopelessness it is arresting. I’ve seen it in a number of different places and on a variety of faces. I’ve seen it on the face of a convicted felon serving a life sentence. I’ve seen it in the eyes of a rich, successful businessman who has wrecked his life. I’ve seen it in a high school student who is desperate for meaning. I’ve seen it in the moderately successful suburban dad who seems to be doing everything right but can’t seem to turn off of life’s cul-de-sac. Hopelessness does not discriminate. It is a human problem.
We feel the air of hopelessness in one of the more unsettling and difficult passages of the Old Testament. In chapter nine of Genesis we read about Noah and his sons. Here’s a quick review/summary: Noah grows a vineyard, gets drunk, and then passes out naked in his tent. To make matters worse, after he passes out his son Ham (perhaps along with his grandson Canaan) does something to him. The text simply says, “Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside”(22). Noah’s drunkenness along with his son’s dishonor remind us that if the future of the world is in these guys’ hands we have reason to lack confidence that everything will be okay.
Thankfully there is more to the story. When Noah awakes he speaks with prophetic clarity as to the way things would unfold. Noah pronounces a curse upon Ham’s son Canaan, while blessing his other two sons, Shem and Japheth (vv.25-27). In the midst of the blessing we read:
May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. (Genesis 9:27)
We are now looking ahead of this mess in Genesis 9. The dysfunctional family is encouraged to look ahead to a time of blessing. Noah is lifting their chins to see the future.
What is the significance of this?
When we keep reading in Genesis we come to chapter eleven and the tower of Babel. Here the people congregate together instead of spreading out to the edge of the earth. Their goal is to build a big city and skyscraper to make their name great (v.5). Instead of making God’s name great through obedience they were committed to making their own name great through disobedience. God interrupts their building party and stymies their plans.
Then right away we go back to Shem and his genealogy. What is this about? Did the human author’s parchment blow away? Why Shem? What does this have to do with Babel? Well, in addition to being a son of Noah, Shem’s name means “name” in Hebrew. As we continue reading we see that Shem is the father of Abrahm. Coming right into chapter twelve we learn that it is this son of Shem, Abrahm who will be a great nation and the source of all the families of the earth being blessed (vv.2-3).
Let’s put it together. At the tower of Babel God judged the people because they were trying to make a great name for themselves apart from God. However, God would make a great name for himself through Shem’s son Abraham.
If you were a Jewish man or woman growing up studying the Scripture you would be saying, “I want to be in Shem’s tent.” This is another way of saying I want to be in the tent or house of blessing. Israel’s hope was built upon God’s promise to Abraham and his descendants. They wanted to be in Shem’s tent because this is where Abraham would be.
As we read the New Testament we learn that Jesus Christ is a descendent of Abraham. But even more, Paul teaches us that Christ is the offspring of Abraham (Gal. 3:16). And it is in Christ Jesus that the blessing of Abraham comes to the Gentiles (Gal. 3:15). God’s whole plan from the beginning was to pack the tents of Shem with all of his elect throughout the ages. Over the years, through progressive revelation, the description of the tent expands, Shem, Abraham, Israel. But the apostle makes the exclamation that all of those who by faith are in Christ, they have the promised blessing of the Spirit through faith.
I go back to thinking about hopelessness and I think of its arresting reality. We read in Ephesians chapter two that apart from Christ we are truly without God and without hope in the world (v.12). This is true hopelessness. Realizing that there is truly nothing and no-one to help is a crushing weight. However, “in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (v.13).
God takes the hopeless packs them into his tent. And it is in this tent that he has sufficiently stocked the shelves with everything we need. The infinite blessings of sonship in this family have been lavished upon his people through Christ. The hopeless have been made to hope.
Shem’s tent is filling up, but yet there still is room for more!
