Unraveling Noah and the Curse
Why did Noah curse his grandson for something his father did? Just what happened when Noah was drunk?
If you’re not familiar with this passage, it’s found in Genesis 9:20 - 27. Let’s do a quick read of this.
20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done of to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
27 May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem,
and let Canaan be his servant.”
Today, we’re going to look at some theories about what happened, who did what, and what the curse means.
Let’s lift up some things we often overlook.
First, the Bible does not say Noah removed his clothes. We often make the assumption that if Noah was uncovered, it was Noah himself that did it. The Bible doesn’t say that.
Second, from all indications, Ham was not the youngest of the three brothers that is normally mentioned. The list is ALWAYS Shem, Ham, and Japeth. I know this doesn’t require Ham to be the second born - but it certainly seems like it. I’ll explain a little later who the youngest son might be.
Third, this incident involved exposing the “nakedness of their father.” We noted that Noah was uncovered and Shem and Japeth covered the nakedness of their father. We will discuss the meaning of this in just a minute.
Fourth, the Bible doesn’t actually say Noah was in HIS tent - but simply in a tent.
Fifth, some action took place. The Bible says when Noah knew what his youngest son had done to him. However you view this incident, we can see that some action took place.
Let’s try to draw this together now.
There are strong indications that something sexual took place.
Leviticus 20:11 says “If a man lies with his father's wife he has uncovered his father's nakedness.” Leviticus 18:8 says, “You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife. It is your father's nakedness.”
Looking at the curse, it is likely describing an encounter between Noah’s wife and the youngest son of Noah. Noah’s youngest son is the one responsible for uncovering the nakedness of his father.
But who is Noah’s youngest son and what does this have to do with Ham?
Noah is cursing because of what his youngest son did to him - but Ham isn’t Noah’s youngest son. As I said earlier, the list of Noah’s sons is ALWAYS Shem, Ham, and Japeth. Ham is the middle child.
According to the Bible, Ham’s sons were Cush, Mizraim, Phut and Canaan. So Canaan is the youngest son of Ham and quite possibly the youngest of all the grandchildren.
So how is a grandson a son?
The book of Genesis, in two places, refers to grandsons as sons. One of those times is in Genesis 31 when Jacob is fleeing his father-in-law, Laben. Laben accuses Jacob of taking away his sons and daughters. But Laben only had two daughters, the wives of Jacob. So here, the grandsons were referred to as Laben’s sons.
How is Canaan the youngest son of Noah? He is the youngest son of Noah because he is the youngest grandson.
A power play?
Did Canaan have sex with Noah’s wife to try and achieve power? In the Bible, having sex with a man’s wife was a power play to usurp the patriarchal authority.
We see this in the life of King David where Absalom sleeps with all of David's concubines as a way to disgrace and usurp the authority from his father David. Also, when Adonijah later requests to be given David's wife Abishag, Solomon sees that as the power play that it was and has Adonijah executed.
What was Ham’s blame?
In this theory, Ham saw what Canaan had done and didn’t do anything about it. Just like Jacob, later in the book of Genesis, doesn’t do anything when his daughter is raped, Ham does nothing more than tell his brothers.
In this case, although Ham is not cursed, he doesn’t receive a blessing like his two brothers, Shem and Japeth.
To sum up the story, Noah is in a tent, possibly his wife’s, and passes out from drinking. Canaan then has sex with Noah’s wife to claim leadership of the group. Ham sees what happens and doesn’t stop it. And Shem and Japeth cover Noah and his shame.
Is there a connection with Moab and Ammon in this in Genesis 19?
In Genesis 19, we have the story of Lot and his daughters. The daughters get their father drunk and get pregnant by him. In both cases, we have nations come out of that act of incest which become enemies of God’s people.
So three of Israel’s main enemies are the result of incestuous relationships: the Canaanites, the Moabites, and the Ammonites.
How the curse played out.
We can see how this curse was played out in the history of the nation of Canaan and the Canaanites and to see that God follows through with his promises. God does not reward wickedness and obeying God's word and living lives and honoring your father in a proper way are very very important to God.
It says cursed be Canaan. They'll be slaves to the descendants of Shem and the descendants of Japheth.
Genesis chapter 10 tells us the descendants of Canaan were Sidonians the Hittites the Jebusites the Amorites and the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah.
By the time of Moses Sodom and Gomorrah had already been taken care of by God but there were still the Jebusites and the the other groups that were in Canaan and they were all descendants of Canaan
Moses is writing this showing the people of Canaan are a cursed people. And we know from the book of Joshua, some of the Canaanites were not destroyed and became slaves to Israel.
Is this a genetic curse? Is it in the DNA?
We find out later, that Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute in Jericho, becomes part of the nation of Israel and is included in the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Likewise, Ruth, a Moabite, is brought into Israel and is in the genealogy of both King David and Jesus Christ.
God is a god of mercy for all who turn to him and place their faith in His good promises - especially the promise of the savior Jesus Christ.
This is Pastor John and Christ is still king!
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