Gen 9:20-24 | KingComments | STEP | The sons of Noah are named because they are the germ of the new earth. Out of them humanity develops in three directions. From them descend all future generations and peoples. One people is named by name: the Canaanites, of whom Ham is the father. The earth has been cleansed, but man has not changed. After the blessing there is the failing of Noah. So it has always gone in the history of man. We see it with Adam in the beginning and here with Noah. Later we see it after establishing the priesthood the sons of Aaron fail ( ) and after appointing a king, king Saul, he fails (1 Samuel 9-31). It has been not different with the church (Revelation 2-3). Noah, who has been given authority over creation, has no authority over himself. He uses the blessing of the earth for his own enjoyment, the blessing takes possession of him. Isn’t that what often happens, also with us Christians? Love of drink drags the former preacher of righteousness ( ) into the mud. Noah cannot handle the wealth of the new earth. He indulges in it and so his nakedness becomes public. It is like with the church of Laodicéa. She also finds herself so great and blessed. But blessing apart from God, blessing that is abused for one’s own pleasure, results in nakedness. Therefore the Lord Jesus says to that church: ‘You are naked’ ( ). Noah’s sin is the reason for Ham’s failure. That is a serious lesson for every father. Ham ridicules his father to his brothers. That is clear from the context. It is not a question of justifying Noah’s sin – that cannot be justified – but for the son, his father’s failure should not be a reason to mock him. This is an important principle at a time when parental authority is often undermined. Parents are not perfect, they make mistakes. Yet the Scriptures say: “Honor your father and mother” ( ). The other two sons treat their failing, naked father with the necessary respect. Not only do they not want to see the nakedness themselves, but they also make sure that no one else sees it. They use the garment as it were as a garment of love they throw over their father’s lack, something that is an example to us in our dealings with the evil of others ( ).

‏ Genesis 9:20-24

Noah Gets Drunk – The Reaction of His Sons

The sons of Noah are named because they are the germ of the new earth. Out of them humanity develops in three directions. From them descend all future generations and peoples. One people is named by name: the Canaanites, of whom Ham is the father.

The earth has been cleansed, but man has not changed. After the blessing there is the failing of Noah. So it has always gone in the history of man. We see it with Adam in the beginning and here with Noah. Later we see it after establishing the priesthood the sons of Aaron fail (Lev 10:1-3) and after appointing a king, king Saul, he fails (1 Samuel 9-31). It has been not different with the church (Revelation 2-3).

Noah, who has been given authority over creation, has no authority over himself. He uses the blessing of the earth for his own enjoyment, the blessing takes possession of him. Isn’t that what often happens, also with us Christians? Love of drink drags the former preacher of righteousness (2Pet 2:5) into the mud. Noah cannot handle the wealth of the new earth. He indulges in it and so his nakedness becomes public.

It is like with the church of Laodicéa. She also finds herself so great and blessed. But blessing apart from God, blessing that is abused for one’s own pleasure, results in nakedness. Therefore the Lord Jesus says to that church: ‘You are naked’ (Rev 3:17).

Noah’s sin is the reason for Ham’s failure. That is a serious lesson for every father. Ham ridicules his father to his brothers. That is clear from the context. It is not a question of justifying Noah’s sin – that cannot be justified – but for the son, his father’s failure should not be a reason to mock him. This is an important principle at a time when parental authority is often undermined. Parents are not perfect, they make mistakes. Yet the Scriptures say: “Honor your father and mother” (Eph 6:2).

The other two sons treat their failing, naked father with the necessary respect. Not only do they not want to see the nakedness themselves, but they also make sure that no one else sees it. They use the garment as it were as a garment of love they throw over their father’s lack, something that is an example to us in our dealings with the evil of others (1Pet 4:8).

Curse and Blessing

Noah curses Ham in his son Canaan (Gen 10:6) and blesses Shem and Japheth. The special curse is that Canaan will be “a servant of servants” to his brothers, that is the very lowest servant. We see this fulfilled, among other things, in the victories Israel achieves over them, when they conquer the land of Canaan (Jdg 1:28 ; 30 ; 33 ; 35), about 800 years later.

Not Ham himself is cursed. Ham and his brothers are blessed by God (Gen 9:1), and Noah will not undo this. Here the father’s sin is visited to the children (Exo 20:5-6), although the punishment for sin is also deserved by the children themselves.

The immorality of Ham is expressed in his descendants, the Canaanites. Israel is later warned not to behave in that way: “You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes” (Lev 18:3). In the realm of peace, the curse of Canaan will find its full fulfillment (Zec 14:21b).

The prophecy of Noah contains in a few words the course of world history. In Genesis 10 we see a further fulfillment of it. There we have the generations of the sons of Noah from whom the entire world population originated (Gen 9:19).

God is called here “the God of Shem”. Never before has God been connected to a human being in this way. Later He is also called ‘the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob’. This means that Japheth and Ham will have to seek their blessing from Shem, for God is with him (Zec 8:23).

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