“Genesis 9:18-28”

Thursday, November 07, 2019

“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. Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He 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. When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.’ He also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.’ Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood. So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.”

---End of Scripture verses---

After Noah’s family exited the ark “and God blessed Noah and his sons” (Genesis 9:1), we are presented with an obscure little incident that helps set the stage for future developments in the affairs of their descendants and, in particular, God’s people. “The present episode illustrates the virtue and piety of the original ancestor (of Abraham), Shem, values that are to serve as the paradigm for his descendants, the Israelites. By the same token, the typically degenerate state of the Canaanites provides the reason and moral justification for their displacement.” (Nahum Sarna)

“Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.” (verse 20) Literally, Noah became “a man of the ground,” and began to cultivate grapes. Since the Lord does not condemn Noah for becoming “drunk,” some people give Noah a pass because he may have been ignorant of the intoxicating effects of fermented grape juice. More likely he just made a poor decision and chose the path of sinfulness like all of even God’s people do on occasion, and sometimes far too frequently. Why exactly he “uncovered himself inside his tent” (verse 21) is not divulged either, but both Habakkuk 2:15 and Lamentations 4:21 associate inebriation with indecent bodily exposure. This if the first mention of “nakedness” since Genesis 3:10 where it says that Adam and Eve knew they were naked and hid themselves in shame (consider Genesis 2:25).

“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.” (verse 22) Since the particulars in this story are so sketchy, many assume that it was a well-known oral account and therefore see fit to try and fill in the missing details. I firmly believe that God has revealed, through divine inspiration, precisely what He wanted to divulge, and exactly what we need to know in every Bible narrative. Most commentaries that I consult insist that there must have been some sort of sexual assault or mutilation for Noah to pronounce such an awful curse upon the descendants of Ham. But the simple truth is that we downplay the serious sinful nature of viewing the “nakedness” of another human being.

God associates shamefulness with the uncovering of nakedness repeatedly in the Old Testament and applies that metaphorically to the recurrent, disgraceful conduct of His people (Isaiah 47:3; Ezekiel 16:18, 22:10; Micah 1:11). It is a mark of decency and propriety when God’s people dress themselves modestly (1 Timothy 2:9), and Jesus said to even look upon someone’s body in a lustful way is to commit mental adultery with them (Matthew 5:28). Granted we can commit this sin when someone is fully and modestly dressed, but lustfulness is made all the more difficult to resist when private parts are exposed for public view.

Verse 22 reveals that Ham committed at least two heinous sins against his father, apart from that which MIGHT have been perpetrated and not revealed in the story for dignity’s sake. Firstly, he looked at his father’s naked body. And, since Noah did not make a public spectacle of his nudity in his drunken stupor, but was hidden behind the curtains of his own, private tent; this makes Ham’s actions all the more reprehensible. And friends, this was not a chance glimpse, having stumbled unintentionally upon his vulnerable father, and then quickly averting his glance. He looked, and, in his glee, he committed his second sin. He went and told his two brothers about the sordid spectacle he had found inviting them to join in the festivities.

What a repulsive and unloving thing to do! And to your father of all people! “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8) “He who conceals a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends. (Proverbs 17:9) “If sinners entice you, do not consent.” (Proverbs 1:10)

“But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father…” (verse 23) Ham’s two brothers didn’t take the bait! They did the noble and honorable thing. And notice, “their faces were turned away” and they refused to even look at their father’s naked body. This tells me all I need to know about the nature of Ham’s sin. He looked and his brothers’ did not. Just the “mere” looking constituted a great sin in the eyes of Shem and Japheth and God!

“When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.” (verse 24) The obvious question to be answered, and the problem to be solved, is how did Noah know what Ham had done to him? This is where most commentaries insist that some physical sin must have been perpetrated upon Noah by His “youngest son,” because Noah detected physical evidence. But Noah could just have easily been made aware of Ham’s vile action by Shem and Japheth telling him about it.

“So he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brothers.’” (verse 25) This “curse” presents the biggest problem in interpreting the text. Why did Noah pronounce a curse upon Canaan for the infraction of his father? Benson’s Commentary submitted this explanation: “Canaan may be here put, by a well-known figure termed ellipsis, often used in Scripture, for the father of Canaan, the title given to Ham in Genesis 9:22. And although Ham had more sons, he may here be described by his relation to Canaan, because in him the curse was more fixed and dreadful, reaching to the utter extirpation of his seed, while many of the other nations descended from Ham were, in after ages, blessed with the knowledge of the true God and the gospel of his Son.” Matthew Henry added, “Noah declares a curse on Canaan, the son of Ham; perhaps this grandson of his was more guilty than the rest.”

Canaan, and by extension, the Canaanites would be “a servant of servants,” or “the lowest of slaves.” We see in these verses the first patriarchal blessing and cursing of male offspring, invoking God’s power for judgment and approval. But it is interesting the way Shem’s blessing is imparted. Noah said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem.” (verse26) The delighted father gushes with praises of thanksgiving to the Lord for His righteous son’s godly behavior. All praise, glory and honor be to God for every good thing He allows us and empowers us to do!

“May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.’” (verse 27) Nahum Sarna observed: “A subtle point is the use here of the general term ‘elohim, ‘God,” with Japheth, in contrast to the sacred name YHVH, which is exclusive to Shem and later to Israel, his descendants.” “The Hebrew is Yapheth Elohim l’Yepheth, ‘God enlarge the enlarger’ (not ‘God shall enlarge’). While, then, it is the special blessing of Shem that through him the voice of thanksgiving is to ascend to Jehovah, the God of grace; it is Elohim, the God of nature and of the universe, who gives to Japheth wide extension and the most numerous posterity. If the most ancient civilization and the earliest empires in Egypt and on the Tigris were Hamite, the great world- powers of history, the Chaldean, the Medo-Persian, the Greek and Roman, the Hindu, were all of Japhetic origin, as are also the modern rulers of mankind.” (Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers)

Noah lived 950 years! (verse 29) Amazing! “And he died.” Like we all will! Make sure your life is right with God because nobody, no matter how long they live on earth, will stick around here forever!

Please read Genesis 10:1-5 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

- Louie Taylor

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