With Noah and his family after their coming out of the ark we see both a seed of the church life and a shadow of the kingdom.
Before Genesis 9, man was under God’s direct rule and under the rule of his conscience. But starting from the time after Noah and his family got out of the ark, man was also under the rule of man – when man sheds blood, by man’s hand his blood be shed (see Gen. 9:6).
God’s original intention was that man would be under God’s direct rule, but man failed God and fell from God’s rule to the rule of his conscience, and then he fell further to be under the rule of God’s deputy authority, under man’s rule. Noah was the head of a new race and he was the deputy authority under God – this is a shadow of the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God today is in reality in the church life (Rom. 14:17; Matt. 16:18-19) and will be fully manifested in the millennium kingdom.
In Noah’s case, the kingdom was seen in shadow. Even though Noah had a failure, because Ham did not react properly to this but rather talked about it and exposed his father, he was under a curse. In God’s government, Noah is a good example even though he made a mistake and had a failure, because he was strong to represent God in speaking governmentally (see Gen. 9:18-27).
We need the Lord’s mercy so that we may be exposed of the rebellion in our being and deal with it, otherwise we will be the “Ham’s” of today and live under a curse even without knowing it! May we be the Shem and Japheth’s of today, those covering and not exposing the mistakes or seeming failures of the ones put by God in authority, so that we may receive God’s blessing!
Noah and His Family’s Living – a Shadow of the Kingdom
After Noah and his family got out of the ark, they had a new living in resurrection, which was a type of the church life today. Also, as seen in God’s speaking, Noah and his family had a living as a shadow of the kingdom of God.
In the garden of Eden, man was under God’s direct rule. After man’s fall, the conscience was activated and man lived under the rule of the conscience. But man failed lower and lower so that there was almost no one living under the rule of their conscience – man became flesh (Gen. 6:3).
After God judged that evil and corrupted world, He ordained that man would live not only under the rule of his conscience but under the rule of man, God’s deputy authority.
On earth, Noah was God’s deputy authority. He had the life and the work that changed the age, he worked together with God and lived by grace under God, and he represented God with His deputy authority. Adam had authority only over all the creatures, but now Noah had authority over men also.
In Genesis 9 we see a shadow of the kingdom – a shadow is a form, something not quite that clear to see but giving you an idea of a reality that is to come; it’s a reality in a form, a shadow. A kingdom is a realm where there is reigning, submission, and authority.
Noah being God’s deputy authority in his time signifies the reigning of God’s kingdom in resurrection life. It is a shadow of the kingdom of God, the reality of which is in the church life today (according to God’s New Testament economy, see Matt. 16:18-19; Rom. 14:17), and the manifestation of which will be the kingdom in the millennium (see Gen. 9:6, footnote 1 in the Recovery Version).
Today the church is in practicality the kingdom of God, and God has a government. Whoever sins against God’s government is under a curse. We need to be clear concerning our response, reaction, and action when we see a mistake or a seeming failure of one who has God’s deputy authority, so that we may be on the blessing side of this matter.
What is Our Response to Seeing God’s Deputy Authority Making a Mistake?
Genesis 9 continues to tell us that Noah planted a vineyard, had a good crop, drank wine, got drunk, and he uncovered himself in his tent. His son Ham saw his dad naked in the tent, and he went and told his brothers about it. Shem and Japheth took a garment, held it between them, didn’t look, but went in the tent and covered their father. Ham saw the mistake and talked about it, reviling his dad, but his brothers didn’t look or talk – they simply covered.
The failure of a brother with God’s deputy authority exposes the rebellion and the defiling element in us. The church life is not perfect, it is not an “ideal place” where everyone is perfect; there may be actual or imagined mistakes made by some brothers ordained by God in authority to bear some responsibility.
How will we respond to that? If we react as Ham did and look at the situation, talk about it, tell others about it, and revile the deputy authority, we will touch God’s government negatively and separate ourselves from God’s blessing – we will at least associate ourselves with the curse. But if we respond like Shem and Japheth did, and walk backwards, say nothing about it but cover the brother, don’t look, there will be a blessing!
There is a deep element of rebellion in our being which will be expressed in such situations. The Lord will never tempt us or cause us to fail, but He is faithful to expose what is in our being. May the Lord enlighten us concerning this, and may we apply Christ as the sin offering, never taking the way of Ham, so that we would be under God’s rule in the church life as the reality of His kingdom!
Whether it is an actual failure or an imagined one, may we never revile or speak negatively about one ordained by God with His deputy authority, but rather “walk backwards” and cover.
It must have been hard for Noah – after he realize what he has done – to speak governmentally concerning his sons and not stand with his mistake. This means that if God gives someone some responsibility and at one point he has a failure, if God still stands with him, he needs to deny himself, take Christ as the offerings, and speak governmentally concerning that situation.
Even though we shouldn’t make a big case out of it, the church is the kingdom of God, and God’s authority is here; He has assigned certain ones to bear responsibility, oversee, and carry out a ministry.
We need to settle this matter in our being for our whole life, so that whatever happens, if we are aware of a weakness of a certain brother with God’s deputy authority, we would cover it and never talk about it. May we be those who rather pray, ask the Lord, are before Him, and cover our brothers in the fellowship, never exposing their apparent or temporary weakness or failure. This will bring in God’s blessing!
Brothers Watchman Nee and Witness Lee really saw a lot in the Word and in the spiritual writings of those who went before them concerning this matter, and they have spoken and written about it. I would recommend the footnotes in the Recovery Version on Genesis 9:21, which crystallize their speaking.
Lord Jesus, enlighten us concerning the church being the kingdom of God. You know what is in us, Lord. You know the element of rebellion in us, ready to be manifested when the right situation comes. Work Yourself into us. May we be aware of the consequences of even speaking or uncovering the mistakes or imagined failures of those with Your deputy authority. Lord, have mercy on us, that we may be those who cover the brothers, pray for them, and never revile them. Keep us in the proper order in the Body, under the Head and properly related to Your deputy authority, so that we may be under Your blessing!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration (besides the Word of God and my Christian experience): bro. Ron Kangas’ speaking in this message and portions from, Life-study of Genesis (msgs. 33-35), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on the Crystallization Study of Genesis (1), week/msg 12, A Seed of the Church Life and a Shadow of the Kingdom.
- Further reading:
# Gen. 9:21 and footnotes.
# The Conclusion of the New Testament, msgs. 154-159, 240-242, 244 - Hymns on this topic:
# I love Thy kingdom, Lord, / The house of Thine abode, / The Church our blest Redeemer bought / With His own precious blood.
# God’s Kingdom on the earth is now / His sovereign government within; / ’Tis Christ Himself in us to live / As Lord and King to rule and reign.
# Cause us to grow in life divine each day / That we may be transformed and built by Thee / Into a body to express Thyself, / That Thou in us Thy Church and Kingdom see.
