The
sad fact of Noah’s fall, so soon after his literal ‘coming down to earth’ (having
spent a year in the ark), should not surprise us. Noah was after all a descendant of Adam, and as such we should not
be amazed that Noah was able to sin. The
life of Noah is no fairy tale, and there
is no living happily ever after for him and his family. Sin with its
many tentacles (and in this case
Noah’s drunkenness) remains a curse
and it is this that accounts
for the complicated history of mankind. So let
us not be amazed that Noah would sin so soon after his exit from the ark.
Rather, let us be amazed that God, for whom every sin is
contrary to His pure and holy
being, should have chosen to bear with
mankind for so long after the flood.
We
have seen that God deals with Noah, not in the
way of what he deserves.
He deals
with Noah by way of a covenant.
We have first seen a
confirmation of this covenant in Genesis
6:18 & 9:9, “Then
God said to Noah and to his sins with
him, “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after
you.”
A word that is often used in the OT to describe God’s heart behind this this covenant is the word translated as “loving
kindness“ or “steadfast love”
(ESV). The best word to describe this loving kindness may be summed up in a single word: Grace! Noah found grace (favour) in the eyes of the Lord. (Gen. 6:8).
God's
loving-kindness is illustrated in the OT in His relationship
with Israel. Despite Israel's persistent waywardness could God would not
relinquish his love for her. The book of Hosea bears eloquent testimony to this (see for instance Hosea 11). Even
though Israel was faithless, yet God remained faithful. But the supreme and final token of God’s covenant kindness is seen in the
cross of Christ.“But God shows
his love for us in that while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us.”(Rom.5:8) The “us”, according to John are those “…who
did receive Him, who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children
of God.”
So
then as Noah wakes up from his drunken
stupor, a series of events is set into
motion which would profoundly affect
the history of the peoples of the world.
And so it is.
It is often the small,
seemingly unimportant things that trigger huge events. You may have heard this before, but it’s worth repeating[1]:
“For
Want of a Nail”
For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the message was lost.
For want of a message the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Such
illustrations we find in the Bible. One disobedience in terms of eating the forbidden fruit
drives Adam and Eve out of the garden of
God’s presence. This act of disobedience
by our first parents has huge consequences for the whole of
mankind.
One
murder drives Cain and his future
offspring even further away from God and into the land of wandering.
A
little too much wine causes Noah to behave inappropriately, and a little too
much gazing upon the naked body of his father, as he lies exposed in the tent, affects Ham and his future family.
Noah
discovers upon awaking
from his hangover that
he had been dishonoured by his youngest son, Ham, and following this he utters
a
prophecy with far reaching consequences, containing a curse upon his youngest son Ham and a
blessing upon his two other sons, Shem and Japheth.
THE CURSE AND THE BLESSING
What
is the link between Noah’s fall and Noah’s prophecy ? Following
his own sin Noah in vv. 25-27 makes a profound
utterance concerning the future of his three sons which
is forms an outline of the beginning of the three great divisions of the human
family after the great flood. From Gen. 10:32 we know that the great races of the earth are all descended
from Noah through Shem, Ham and Japheth.
What
will be the history of the races that spring from Noah’s three sons? How will the new world begin?
It can only begin with human failure, and so we must not be surprised to see the rapid spread of sin and evil so soon after the flood . I remind you of the initial sequence of sin Noah
sins – Ham sins – and Ham’s son, and
Canaan, the father of the Canaanites, becomes
the epitome of sin in the
Bible.
But here’s what we need to understand. These words of Noah were not simply uttered
as a result of resentment against
Ham for having entered Noah’s
private space while he was lying drunk and exposed in his tent. That may be so at face value. There is however
far more in Noah’s words than just a temper tantrum or words spoken in anger. These words spoken in 9:25-27 were in fact spoken as prophecy. They were uttered
under a Divine impulse! This fact
is proven by the fulfilment of the prophecy itself. A careful comparison of
other Scriptures shows us this, and its remarkable fulfilment demonstrates
that this was indeed
a prophetic word.
This
prophecy consists of two pronouncements:
a
curse and a blessing.[2]
Initially,
the cursing and the blessing had something to do with
the way the sons had approached their drunk and naked father in his tent. Ham seems to have dishonoured his father by his irreverent approach. This is later
described as the 5th
commandment Ex.20:22. He had failed to honour his father here. It seems as if Ham may have
used this moment not only to gaze
shamelessly upon his naked father, but
he might have also ridiculed him
to his brothers. Philip Eveson says, “Corrupt minds feed on scantily dressed or naked bodies in suggestive
positions. The modern media have made their millions through pandering to human
lust” [3]
The
contrast in attitude is observed when his brothers, Shem and Japheth walk into the tent,‘backwards ‘ (i.e.
respectfully!) so that that they would not see their father’s nakedness, and
covered him with a garment. Their attitudes and therefore their action is in direct contrast
to Ham. Had he really cared for his father’s
reputation he would have acted as his
brothers did. The moral law (the 10 Commandments) which were given later with Moses, included the necessity of children maintaining respect for their
parents. Children who disrespected their parents, according to the OT law were
even liable the death penalty. (Deut.
21: 18-21) Shem and Japheth continued
to treat their father with respect, even though he had compromised
himself. We must never gloat
over the sins of others. We must never
add to their shame by our own
shameful behaviour.
And
now we see something peculiar. When Noah
wakes up from his drunken stupor he curses not Ham, but his son Canaan, and
in the curse passed upon Canaan we find a very solemn instance of the sins of the fathers
being visited upon the children.
Note
the consequence: he reaped exactly as he had sown—Ham sinned as a son and was punished in his son! [4]
(A.W.Pink). So, the curse uttered by
Noah did not fall directly on Ham but upon one of his sons, in fact, the fourth son who was called "Canaan" (see Gen. 10:6). So, we
discover that not all the sons of Ham
bore the curse! Canaan bore the curse!
We
have to make this point because there is some horrible theology that has been associated with this text. The appalling misuse of this passage had been
sometimes used by to
justify the enslaving of the African
people. This warped theology came mainly from the proponents of slavery in 19th Century America and Britain,
who ignored the unexplained transition from Ham to Canaan in Noah’s curse, and who drew
the simplistic conclusion that according to Ch. 10, Ham was the ancestor of Africans, concluding that his black descendants may be rightfully
enslaved. However , they ignored the plain fact that the curse is directed against
Canaan, and Canaan was neither black,
nor African!
The
Canaanites were the
inhabitants of the territory that was promised by God on oath to
Abraham and his descendants. And these
Canaanite tribes of which you read – they were the cursed people, and the prophecy was fulfilled
when Israel took over that land, and they
were either annihilated or subjected
to slavery with the conquest of
Canaan under Joshua. In many instances the Canaanites actually became a stumbling block to Israel
when Joshua and Israel failed to drive them out of the land. The point is
that this is the fulfillment of
the curse in relation to the promised
land. It has nothing to do with Africans.
Besides
that we do not actually know, who
exactly the Hamitic races might be
today. That issue is not exactly
relevant to the central message of the Bible , since it is now clear to us that
“ all have sinned and have fallen short
of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Today
there are really only two types of people in this world
today, Christians and non-Christians, and they are not separated along racial
lines!From
the clear perspective of the N.T. it is
important to understand that all tribes, nations and tongues are fallen. The curse rests on the entire human
race, and no man shall escape the coming
judgement by fire, unless they are washed in the blood of the Lamb!
THE BLESSING
The
curse was upon Canaan. And the
particular blessing expressed was
upon (note) the God of Shem."Blessed
be the Lord, the God of Shem; and
let Canaan be his servant.” (v.26)
Donald Grey Barnhouse says, “The
blessing is not upon Shem, but upon the God of Shem. Nothing can take root in
man. It is the God of Shem who will bring forth Christ from Shem “[5]
This fact
speaks of the continued covenant relationship in which God was to enter into a covenant relationship
with the children of Shem. The realization that Yahweh was to be the God of Shem caused Noah to
break forth into thanksgiving—"Blessed
be the Lord God of Shem." It is
very clear that the Shemites are the Semites, from which the Hebrew people are descended , and through whose line the Lord Jesus was to be born.
"May
God enlarge the territory of Japeth (v. 27). The name Japheth means "enlargement" so
that here there was a play upon words.
The Japhetites are most probably
the progenitors of Greeks, Romans etc. the first fruit among the gentiles following the preaching of the gospel to the
gentiles. It was through the influence
of the Greek and Roman empires that the gospel spread – and so it was: "May Japheth live in the tents of Shem."
THE FULFILMENT OF NOAH'S PROPHECY
This prophecy uttered by Noah gives us in a few brief sentences the history of the
new world and thus in the closing verses
of Genesis 9 we have an unfolding of the
future destinies of the new humanity. Shem is to have the spiritual pre- eminence among his brothers; to Japheth is given the task of enlarging their territory; and
Ham and his sons are left
without a substantial commission, except that Canaan is cursed.
An attempt to categorise exactly
as to who today descends from whom is futile.
The
NT view needs to guide out OT interpretation. We are
assured that all the nations today are in need of the gospel. The temptation to separate this or that nation as God’s
favourites (as has been attempted in many instances in history) will just not
do. “All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God”.
No single civilization, including the Hebrews have ever managed to live righteously before God.
What
we do understand clearly from this text is that God’s plan is clearly outlined
in history.
What
we know is that God’s blessing would be
upon Shem – but only, because this was the one through whom the promised
Messiah (the Lamb that would take away the sin of the world)
would be given. In this Shem was
singularly privileged – but (note!) the glory goes to the blessed God of Shem! Shem
himself, was subject to sin as were his brothers.
What we know is that the
whole world needs a Saviour.
What we know is that this Saviour has come.
And
all the nations must bow before Him.
He alone will present us perfectly before the presence of God’s glory.
That is the true future of the human race.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_Want_of_a_Nail The earliest
reference to the full proverb may refer to the death of Richard III of England
at the Battle of Bosworth Field. This short variation of the proverb (shown to
the right), was published in "Fifty Famous People" by James Baldwin.
The story associated with the proverb, describing the unhorsing of King Richard
during battle, would place the proverb's origin after the Battle of Bosworth on
22 August 1485. However, historically Richard's horse was merely mired in the
mud. In the story, the proverb and its reference to losing a horse is directly
linked to King Richard famously shouting "A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for
a Horse!", as depicted in Act V, Scene 4 from the Shakespeare play Richard
III, which was written circa 1591
[2]
See Deuteronomy 28 for a further example
[3] Philip Eveson :The Book of Genesis simply explained, p. 202
( Evangelical Press)
[4]
A.W. Pink :Gleanings from Genesis, p.
[5]
D.G. Barnhouse : Genesis , p. 66
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