Genesis 9:18-23

2006.Nov.13 10:12

Ham’s Faux Pas

Read Genesis 9

Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan.These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. (Geneis 9:18-19, NASB)

I don’t have much to say about these two verses, other than that they obeyed God’s instruction, earlier in the chapter, to fill the earth (v 1,7). Also, here is an interesting discussion about Noah’s grandchildren and their connections with later cultures.

The following passage is what I want to particularly comment on.

[Noah] drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. (Genesis 21-23, NASB).

I’ve heard a number of different explanations as to what Ham actually did that prompted his father to curse him and his descendents. I suppose there’s cause to consider whether the “saw the nakedness” is euphamistic, but I find a special interest in the uncertainty as to his sin. Compare Noah and his wife to Adam and Eve, then Cain and Abel to Ham, Shem, and Japheth. There’s an interesting brothers bit here that happens throughout the Bible, where one (in this case, two) brother acts righteously and one unrighteously. But in most cases, the sin (or at least foolishness) is blatantly clear. Cain murdered Abel. And many can understand the judgment on the “unrighteous fellow”. This situation is different to me, because I’m left scratching my head, thinking, okay, what exactly did this boy do?

What did he do? He at least dishonored his father, which is made clear by the way in which Shem and Japheth react. But I want to look at it another way: Ham sinned and it does not matter to the story how “bad” the sin was. Ah, there’s the crux. Sin is sin. And it’s contrasted with Noah’s drunkenness. Noah appears not to be disciplined for this. Appears, of course, but he is shamed by his youngest son.

Ah, this is the story of grace. My story of grace. Any sin is an affront to God as it is me telling God that I think I can do it all on my own. My sin therefore separates me from Him, regardless of the nature of the sin. Ham is cursed for his sin, just as I deserve to be for mine. So are his descendents. Indeed, the rest of the Bible is full of Canaanites being killed (and, to be fair, killing). And yet, were these not among those that Jesus came to save? Just like me. If I read this story as a massive punishment for a minor sin, and realize that, yes, that actually makes sense (I know it doesn’t for a lot of people, but it does more and more for me), then I can understand even better how great God’s grace to me is. He’s willing to hang out with me, to care for me, despite my sin, and he offers me a way to accept that grace.

And then I think of how I dishonor him…

Genesis 9:24-29

2006.Nov.28 20:37

A curse, A blessing

Read Genesis 9

Ah, the fatherly blessing, a lovely feature of Genesis. Ah, the fatherly curse… Let’s review. Ham saw his dad naked and bragged about it (or, perhaps, something completely different). And Noah finds out. Let’s see what the man who built a big boat has to say.

I now put a curse on Canaan!
He will be the lowest slave
of his brothers.
I ask the LORD my God
to bless Shem
and make Canaan his slave.
I pray that the LORD
will give Japheth
more and more land and let him take over
the territory of Shem.
May Canaan be his slave.
(Genesis 9:25-27, CEV)

I imagine Shem’s reaction to this: “Yeah, that’s right, bless me…and let Japheth take…over…my…territory… Um, thanks Dad…”

Noah blesses (although a mixed blessing for Shem) his children who covered him. He curses Ham. And like the curses on man, woman, and snake, this is interesting. The curse is slavery. There will be time enough later to explore how this blessing/curse plays out in human history, but for now I want to consider that this is all financial. Recall the curse on Adam: “You will have to sweat to earn a living” (Genesis 3:19, CEV). Noah’s blessing/curse is this: Ham’s sweat will not even earn him a living; Shem’s sweat will meak out a living; Japheth’s sweat will bring him a living, and will be augmented by the toil of his brother. Looking at it that way, it doesn’t bode all that well for any of them.

Without our high priest in Jesus and grace through him, all blessings and curses are constrained by those original curses. Ham’s hope is destroyed, but Japheth’s hope is merely shallow. One of the promises of Jesus’ sacrifice was the breaking of the curses of toil and birth pains. I can’t really imagine that life, but when I think of Noah and his three sons and how he curses them with destroying each other just to eat…I want God to teach me to imagine a better way.