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“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!” (Genesis 9:26a, NIV)
In the divine plan, God anticipated humanity’s fall from grace. From the outset, He ordained a means of salvation through a promised Messiah, first mentioned in Genesis 3:15:
“I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel.” (ESV)
God, foreseeing mankind’s eventual corruption, made provisions for the Messiah’s lineage. He instructed Noah to construct an Ark to preserve humanity and continue His divine plan.
Noah, blessed with three sons—Shem, Japheth, and Ham—bestowed a particular blessing upon Shem in Genesis 9:26. Through Shem, the lineage leading to the Messiah persisted. Seven generations after the Flood, Abraham, a descendant of Shem, was born. Notably, Shem was the great-grandfather of Eber, whose name signifies Hebrew. Abraham, a Hebrew, descended from Shem, and his descendants are known as Semites. This genealogy is documented in Luke 3:23-38.
Easter stands as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. Jesus’ victory over Satan through His resurrection fulfills the initial Messianic prophecy, where the offspring of Eve would conquer the serpent. Through Shem’s lineage, Jesus triumphed over sin and Satan, restoring humanity’s relationship with God through His sacrificial death and resurrection.
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