Noah’s Worldly Drunkenness

A Devotional Series from Genesis

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7/16 Reading Portions: Joshua 23; Acts 3; Jeremiah 12; Matthew 26

Genesis 9:20-21

Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.

WINE

The Hebrew words for wine and became drunk are first used here in the Bible. It says that Noah began to be a man of the soil. Literally, “Noah began, a man of the earth.” Figuratively, Noah began to be a man of the world.” Cain was a laborer in the earth, or rather the world (Gen 4:2), and his outcome was murder (Gen 4:8). Noah planted a vineyard. Some commentaries suggest that this may have been Noah’s occupation before the flood. It never says that he was; and if we take the verses at face value, Noah began at this time to do so; rather implying that he had not before. Noah didn’t plant a victory garden to supply food for himself and his wife. There were eight people on the planet and he planted a vineyard. He plants so many vines that the yield produced more than they could consume. The sugars in the crushed grapes fermented, and Noah drank to excess.

YHVH God did not intervene. This is exactly what happened to the two perfect people in the garden. They were given over to sin immediately and suffered the consequences. Now, Noah, a descendant of fallen Adam, would fare no better. God allowed this for an object lesson to you and me.

Noah was given over to the labor of the earth, whereas before the flood, we do know he was a preacher of righteousness (2 Pet 2:5). He could have been giving himself to the worship of God, seeking fellowship with Him, growing in grace and strengthening his faith in his old age. Wine and alcohol are not evil in and of themselves. It will only make you sin faster by its excess and abuse. And when we sin while our senses or faculties are numbed, it may cause another to stumble—as it will in Noah’s case, which we’ll look at tomorrow.

It is written,

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Ephesians 5:18-21