We’ve already talked about how Cain’s first sin of an unacceptable offering that led the way to his second sin of murder. In this devotional reading, we look at how Noah’s sin set the stage for Ham’s sin.
Nuggets
- Temptation is not the sin — the sin is what we do with it.
- We will be given blessings for walking with God and curses for sinning against Him.
- Noah passed after a long, eventful life as a saint.
Noah, the saint, had sinned. He had overindulged in his harvest of grapes and had gotten drunk.
To make matters worse, his son Ham saw him drunk. How did he handle the situation?
Let's Put It into Context
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Devotions in the Creation’s Do-Over series
Ham’s Sin
“Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked” (Gen. 9: 22-23 NLT)
Temptation is not the sin — the sin is what we do with it.
Okay. What gives?
We talked about how Shem and Japheth were righteous. They followed God.
Ham maybe did, too. This may be his one big sin, just as Noah’s drunkenness seems like it was his one big sin.
But for sake of discussion, let’s say Ham was a bad apple in the bunch. The question of whether it was nature or nurture doesn’t seem to apply.
Yes, the triplets would have been brought up the same way. They would have been introduced to God together. They had just experienced the flood and their salvation from it together, so they had shared life experiences.
Their nurture was the same. But then so was their nature.
All three, while made in the image of God, had a sinful nature. All three could have committed the sin Ham did.
Ham was the only one to choose to sin.
Hughes reminded us that, when you have children that are righteous, it showcases their sibling’s impiety. Just like the Big, Bad Wolf telling Little Red Riding Hood, “The better to see you with.”
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So, what was Ham’s sin? I don’t think it was the seeing part. It was the telling part.
We’ve talked before about how the temptations themselves aren’t the sin. Thoughts creep into our mind (because Satan puts them there). If they come in unbidden, that isn’t the problem.
The issue was what we do with them. Ham ran to his brothers and told them what he saw. In other words, he gossiped.
Yeah, gossip can seem so harmless – but it really isn’t. We may not know what we are talking about; therefore, all we are doing is spreading lies.
We may have misinterpreted something. Or we may just be speculating.
Several verses describe gossip as idle talk.
- “A troublemaker plants seeds of strife; gossip separates the best of friends” (Prov. 16: 28 NLT).
- “A gossip goes around telling secrets, so don’t hang around with chatterers” (Prov. 20: 19 NLT).
- “Rumors are dainty morsels that sink deep into one’s heart” (Prov. 18: 8 NLT).
The big thing, as I see it, is that it is that we break the second greatest commandment. “The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Mk. 12: 31 NLT).
We may or may not be thinking of what we are doing to others. We could be ruining their reputations. We could adversely affecting how the ones we are talking to view and interact with them.
It isn’t as small a thing as we might think. In fact, gossip is listed as a sin worthy of death.
- “Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents” (Rom. 1: 29 NLT).
- “For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander” (Mt. 15: 19 NLT).
What I am reading this to say is gossip comes from our wicked hearts. “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (Jer. 17: 9 NLT).
What makes us so eager to jump into gossiping about someone else? Dods said that it was the fact that sin is a disease. We like seeing someone else — especially someone we see as more righteous than us — take a big fall.
We think, better them than us, right? Or worse, serves them right. Or maybe, at least we aren’t the only one still sinning.
Blessing and Cursing the Triplets
“When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: 'May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.' Then Noah said, 'May the Lord, the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant! May God expand the territory of Japheth! May Japheth share the prosperity of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant’” (Gen. 9: 24-27 NLT)
We will be given blessings for walking with God and curses for sinning against Him.
It is easy to read this passage of verses as Noah’s last Will and Testament. It was standard operating procedure for fathers to do this.
We may especially think this because of the next section. We will be discussing Noah’s death.
But we can’t gloss over the fact that this occurred right after Noah woke up. “When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him” (Gen. 9: 24 NLT).
There are times God waits to curse us, let alone punish us. Sometimes, He jumps in.
God’s Words does give predictions as well as prophecies. Murphy called this instance a prediction.
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Smith and Leale talked about what each of the blessings and curse meant.
“The blessing of Shem was RELIGIOUS PRIVILEGE.”
“The blessing of Japheth was ENLARGEMENT.”
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The curse of Ham – actually Canaan – was servitude.
This falls in line with what we already talked about. The holy line would come down through Shem. Japheth would play a significant part in the repopulation of earth.
Would Noah see Shem’s line as leading to the Messiah? To the church?
Probably. Jesus was prophesied in Genesis 3: 15. If Noah was looking for a Savior, somewhere down the line, his descendants got off track. Bradford believed that he even knew the Messiah would come as a baby.
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Japheth’s blessing seems to have a backhanded curse in it. Noah said that he would “… dwell in the tents of Shem …” (Gen. 9: 27 NLT). That seems like, though he will be blessed, he won’t have a land of his own.
Wilberforce saw this as Japheth’s moral character being weaker than Shem’s but possessing the activity and vigor needed to repopulate the earth. Another explanation brought up by Wilberforce was that this may be referring to Japheth’s rest in later years when his activity of enlargement would be completed.
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But the power of evil is strong. The curse Noah put on Ham was not a self-fulfilling prophecy. It was a prophecy none the less.
We can’t forget that these predictions were based on a single incident. However, Noah would have known his children. He could see what they where they were heading.
We also have to make sure we don’t gloss over the fact that Noah was cursing Canaan, Ham’s son, instead of Ham himself. Was he delaying the dispensation of the curse because this was only one unusual instance of his character, his usual character, or his son’s upcoming character?
Whatever, Fuller said that fulfillment of the prediction took a while. He wrote,
“So far as the curse had reference to the other descendants of Ham, it was a long time, as I have said, ere it came upon them. In the early ages of the world they flourished. They were the first who set up for empire; and so far from being subject to the descendants of Shem or Japheth, the latter were often invaded and driven into corners by them. It was Nimrod, a descendant of Ham, who founded the imperial city of Babylon; and Mizraim, another of his descendants, who first established the kingdom of Egypt. These, it is well known, were for many ages two of the greatest empires in the world. About the time of the Captivity, however, God began to cut short their power.”
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Yeah, Ham – and especially Canaan – would have seen this as punishment. Even if they turned back to walk with God, they would still know that their descendants would feel the bite of the curse.
Let’s look at this from probably what is God’s perspective. Yes, Noah sinned first. If he hadn’t, there would have been no nakedness to see. There wouldn’t be fuel for the gossip machine.
God knows that, once sin enters into the family, it will stay for generations. (But He also knows He rewards obedience for a thousand generations.)
- “The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, ‘Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren; the entire family is affected — even children in the third and fourth generations” (Ex. 34: 6-7 NLT).
- “But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands” (Ex. 20: 6 NLT).
Ham modeled his behavior for his son Canaan. Canaan then passed that viewpoint down the line to his descendants.
Unfortunately, it was not a Godview.
Think about this. Shem’s line — leading to the Church and the Messiah — would have remained focused on God. They would have been blessed.
Ham’s focused on Satan. Satan’s followers will always be servants to God’s true followers.
Noah’s Death
“After the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died” (Gen. 9: 28-29 NLT)
Noah passed after a long, eventful life as a saint.
We talked about how Genesis 6: 3 gives a time limit to humankind’s days. “Then the Lord said, ‘My Spirit will not put up with humans for such a long time, for they are only mortal flesh. In the future, their normal lifespan will be no more than 120 years’” (Gen. 6: 3 NLT).
There is some debate as to whether that meant 120 days until the flood or lifespans were going to be really shorter. These verses promote the flood deadline being the correct answer.
But it could be, being the righteous man that he was, earned Noah the privilege of living longer. Or maybe God phased that in.
We’re back to the short summary of a life. The only difference between here and the ones in Genesis 5 is there is no mention of other sons and daughters given to Mr. and Mrs. Noah.
Whatever the case, Noah’s obedience was rewarded with him going to meet God. God accepted his worship, forgave him if his sins, and used him in witnessing to others.
What better summary would we want for our lives?
Making the Connections #1
When Pastor Steve and I were listening to Bradford’s lessons in Leviticus through the Torah Class, it flitted through my mind that the national as a whole was punished at times.
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Since Christ, we know salvation is an individual choice.
But aren’t nations punished even today? Fuller helped me understand this. It is talking about different judgments. He wrote,
“In the last judgment, ‘everyone shall give an account of himself to God, and be judged according to the deeds done in the body’ [Rom. 14: 12]: but while we are in this world we stand in various relations, in which it is impossible that we should be dealt with merely as individuals. God deals with families and nations as such; and in the course of His providence visits them with good and evil, not according to the conduct of individuals, but as far as conduct is concerned, that of the general body. To insist that we should in all cases be treated as individuals, is to renounce the social character.”
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We know what happened to Ham and Canaan’s descendants. They were punished as a nation.
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the LORD your God. So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life’” (Lev. 18: 1-3 NLT).
But we have to realize that the predictions for Shem and Japheth were also for their descendants, not just them. Like I said, though, what they modeled was passed down throughout their line.
Making the Connections #2
Hollis reminded us that we are never going to be sin-free. Age doesn’t give us a pass. Character really doesn’t, either.
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Ooo, baby. That bites, doesn’t it. We keep saying the Sanctification Road is changing our character to be more like Him.
Wouldn’t that save us from sin? Well, no. Remember, sinful nature?
Being pastor, deacon, Bible study teacher, praise team member, part-time attender – they still sin.
Making the Connections #3
Okay. I have to process what Hughes wrote.
- When a church divides — either in times of blessing or strife — it is God Who is dividing it.
- That doesn’t mean that they will physically split or, even if they don’t, settle their differences.
- We access the blessings prophecy through prayer.
- Only God Himself can heal the divisions of the church by enlarging their hearts.
- It is in God’s plan to heal the division of Jew and Gentile.
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All the way from Cain and Abel, God chose to separate those who follow him from those who do not. Still, He calls all to salvation.
It is up to us to accept the gift.
How Do We Apply This?
- Be a good role model for our descendants.
- Live our lives — whether short or long — walking with God.
Father God. We are tempted by Satan. May we always stand firm so that we do not sin. Help us not to gossip about others. Amen.
What do you think?
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