Genesis 9:20-25 ESV — Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 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. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
As I read the passage about Noah's curse of his grandson Canaan, a few questions came to my mind's:
1. Did Noah sin in getting drunk?
2. Why was what Ham did so terrible?
3. Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?
1. Did Noah sin in getting drunk?
Noah drank of the wine and became drunk. Then he lay uncovered in his tent revealing his nakedness. The Bible doesn't say someone made him drunk but the results were the same as in the following verses:
Habakkuk 2:15-16 ESV — “Woe to him who makes his neighbors drink— you pour out your wrath and make them drunk, in order to gaze at their nakedness! You will have your fill of shame instead of glory. Drink, yourself, and show your uncircumcision! The cup in the LORD’s right hand will come around to you, and utter shame will come upon your glory!
2. Why was what Ham did so terrible?
When Ham saw the nakedness of his father, he didn't cover the nakedness but went and told about to his brothers Shem and Japheth. If Ham was genuinely caring for his father, he would have coverd the nakedness of his father quietly and quickly, rather than telling about his father's shame to his brothers. What Ham didn't do, his brothers did showing ample respect for their father.
Matthew 18:15 ESV — “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.
When Noah awoke, he learned what Ham had done to him. What did Ham do? The Bible doesn't tell many details about it except that Ham saw his father's nakedness and told his brothers about it.
His brothers 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.
Unlike his brothers, Ham saw the nakedness of This father, didn't cover it up quietly, but announced the shame to his brothers.
3. Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?
Noah then said, "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”
Perhaps Noah was angry at Ham for not showing the due respect for him. Yet as he cursed, we see the results of the curse in the Canaanites in the Old Testament.
Exodus 23:23-24 ESV — “When my angel goes before you and brings you to the Amorites and the Hittites and the Perizzites and the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, and I blot them out, you shall not bow down to their gods nor serve them, nor do as they do, but you shall utterly overthrow them and break their pillars in pieces.
Why did Noah curse Canaan and not Ham?Maybe because God had blessed Ham earlier.
Genesis 9:1 ESV — And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth."
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