Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Abba, Father! Blessed is Your Holy Name!
Blessed Are You, Oh LORD, Our God,
King of The Universe,
Mighty and Glorious,
Eternal,
Immortal,
and Almighty!
You Alone Are Worthy of Our Most Humble Worship!
For You Alone Are The Most High!
Shout Unto the LORD with Gladness,
Serve Him With Joy,
For He is The One True God Of Abraham,
And The One Who Delivers Us from Our Enemies!

Let all that has been Concealed
Be Revealed.

Father, We Pray For The Peace Of Jerusalem,
According To Your Will and Promise.
We Pray That You Will Forgive The Sins
of Our Own Nation,
and Lead us all to Godly Repentance.
Create in Us Clean Hearts, Oh LORD,
and Renew a Right Spirit Within Us.

This we Pray Together,
As We Await Your Messiah,
Blessed Be He,
To Set Up His Kingdom,
And Make All Things Right.

God Bless America.

ML/LTOS

Pray For The Peace of Jerusalem

Genesis 9

The Sons of Noah

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded[a] to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan!
    The lowest of slaves
    will he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
    May Canaan be the slave of Shem.

27 May God extend Japheth’s[b] territory;
    may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
    and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Noah lived a total of 950 years, and then he died.

Footnotes a Genesis 9:20 Or soil, was the first b Genesis 9:27 Japheth sounds like the Hebrew for extend.

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Dad was a great "Do-It-Yourselfer" and I learned most of my DYI Skills from him. My little brother Ed became so adept at carpentry and plumbing that he was able to build an entire addition onto his house, and pass code inspection with flying colors. Dad wasn't above a "Quick Fix" though, and his favorite expression was "A Coat of Paint Covers a Multitude of Sins."

The incident of Noah's drunkeness and subsequent interaction with his sons is disturbing to a lot of commentators. They try to drum up various reasons for what seems like an overreaction. My simple interpretation is that, instead of showing love for his father, Ham mocked him when he was most vulnerable. Although this isn't clear in the translations, most scholars agree that Ham didn't just tell his brothers about their father, he did it in a sneering, disrespectful manner. That is when information crosses the line and become malicious gossip.

The other brothers, instead of joining in with Ham in mocking their father, responded with filial love and respect. Avoiding the very sight of their father's shame, they backed into the tent with a sheet and covered him up. Their "love" covered a multitude of sins.

Having worked with the Elderly for many years, I know that sometimes they do unseemly things. The restraints of etiquette and societal norms slip away along with cognitive functioning, and sometimes their behavior can seem hysterically funny. But it's NOT funny. Just as a coat of paint san cover all the dents and dings and imperfections on a wall, Love will cover the failures of Old Age and preserve a person's dignity. Seen in that light, Ham's behavior was certainly disrespectful to his father, and a grievous sin.

Come and Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem, For Our FRiends in Need, For Persecuted Believers, and For Our Beloved Nation.

"He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification." (Romans 4:25)

God Bless America.

Blessings To All Who Visit This Garden of Prayer.

Hallelujah and Amen

ML/LTOS