THE TENTS OF SHEM

BLESSED BE THE LORD GOD OF SHEM

Genesis 9:26-27 'And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant'.

THE FAMILY OF NOAH

When we read or hear someone mention the name of Noah, we immediately relate it to the 'flood' and its cataclysmic effect on our planet. Well, beyond the circumstances surrounding that great intervention by the Almighty God upon humanity because of sin, we read in Genesis chapter six:

6:1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them,

6:2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

6:3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.

6:4 There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

6:5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.

6:7 And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.

THE REASON FOR

Thus in the above text, we have the reason for and the end result of God's reckoning upon His creation that completely disregarded the Lord and His holiness.

In this brief article, we will not spend time on the entirety of the events of 'The Flood', but rather, we want to focus on one of the sons of Noah by the name of 'Shem', which by the way means 'Name' in Hebrew.

Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth that not only came through the flood safely, but in actuality they were the instruments by which the Lord started all over in the proliferation of the human race into three distinct people that would populate our planet.

AS WE SLOWLY PROGRESS

As we slowly progress through the book of Genesis, we arrive at chapter nine, where we are confronted with our starting text. There we are told that one of Noah's sons is related in this fashion, 'Blessed be The LORD God of Shem', setting a precedence that out of the three sons, one would be related to Noah's God, Who is, the Creator of heaven and earth, known later in Biblical history as the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their seed known as the children of Israel (The Jewish people).

Since the days of father Abraham approximately over four thousand years have transpired and still 'today' we have his descendants with us known as the Jewish people.

OUR MAIN THOUGHT

Now, as we go back to our main thought, 'The tents of Shem', let us consider that there are two ways in which any individual can be in 'the tents of Shem' and receive the blessing of dwelling with the God of Shem, and that is:

1) Being born of the seed of Shem... Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the promised seed, today referred to as the Hebrew children, the Jewish people, the Israelis Jews and so on.

2) Also, there is a 'grafted seed' (Spiritually) through the promise of the redemptive work of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, thus, these individuals known also as the Church, are by faith brought into the commonwealth of Israel, receiving the blessings to dwell within the confines of 'the tents of Shem' through the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

NOW LET US BE PERFECTLY CLEAR

Now let us be perfectly clear, these individuals do not become 'Jews', but rather they experience the blessings pronounced by God of being in Shem's blessing through the Messiah Y'shua (Jesus) Spiritually.

THE SEMITIC BLESSING

The 'Semitic' blessing is further elucidated in the following text in Genesis 12: 3,

'And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed'.

Therefore, the grafted members of 'the tents of Shem', can receive blessings on top of blessings if they will individually and willingly bless the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob through their deeds of kindness, what a great and wonderful offer! Perhaps you have never thought of your position in 'the tents of Shem', nevertheless, if you have believed and received the Greater Son of Shem, Who is the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour, then, you are not only eligible for the blessings, you are in them and need to understand, accept and practice them, and now you know.

EVERY CHILD OF GOD

You see, every child of God, by grace through faith in the Messiah are blessed in 'the tents of Shem'. The problem is that so many Christians are not aware of this and as a result miss out on this wonderful blessed honor that is ours because the greatest descendant thru 'Shem' Who is our precious Lord and Savior, the greatest 'Semite' (Jew) that has ever lived invites you and I to participate with Him as recorded in Matthew 11: 28-30,

'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light'.

AREN'T YOU GLAD

Aren't you glad now that you know that not only are you, by faith, in the shelter of God's abiding Grace through our Messiah, but that you can experience the wonderful blessings of being in 'the tents of Shem' and knowing that it all started with 'the LORD God of Shem' long ago and is a full reality today in His blood bought children through Y'shua Ha-Masshiach Adonai (The Lord Jesus Christ).

HE..., IS ABLE

Jude 1:24-25 'Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen'.