Genesis 9:18-29 – The Curse
Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. From these three sons came the nations as we know it. Their descendants are listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10.
After the flood, Noah became a farmer. He planted a vineyard and drank some wine. He became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. He was probably not use to drinking wine and didn’t intend to get drunk. His son, Ham saw his nakedness and told his brothers, Shem and Japheth. Ham probably made fun of Noah. He gossiped and stirred up distention instead of promoting love as mentioned in Proverbs 6:16-19 and 17:9. These passages in Proverbs apply to us, too. We should not stir up distention with gossip. We should not be quick to point out the faults of others. Shem and Japheth had more love for their father than Ham. They covered Noah so others would not see his nakedness. “Honor your father and your mother” – Ex.20:12. They did just that. They honored their father.
It seems our culture loves to ridicule, gossip and call each other degrading names. Sometime the gossip is unintentional. Some Christians gossip calling it a prayer request. We need to check our motives.
When Noah found out what they had done, he cursed Canaan. Canaan was the son of Ham. He said Canaan would be the lowest of slaves to Shem. He blessed Japheth saying God would extent his territory and would live in the tents of Shem meaning he would share in the all blessings of Shem. Shem’s descendants were the people that God chose. Abraham and the people of Israel were among his descendants. Jesus would come from this line.
Did you notice that Noah blessed God for what Shem did, instead of Shem? “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem!” – Gen. 9:26. This is a great lesson for us. We should give God the credit and praise not the person who did the good works. God is the author of our good works.
Canaan did nothing wrong so why didn’t Noah curse Ham instead of his son Canaan? We are not told what actually happened, but it must have been pretty bad. The words “Noah found out what they had done to him” may indicate more happened that what we are told. Maybe Canaan was involved in some way. Perhaps the curse was not directed to Canaan personally, but rather to his descendants. The incident must have been bad enough for his line to be cursed. If you are a loving parent, wouldn’t it be much harder to see your child suffer for something you’ve done?
Noah’s actions show the foolishness of drunkenness. There are several scriptures warning against drunkenness. Here are just a few. “Wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them is not wise.” – Prov. 20:1. “Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.” – Prov. 23:20-21.
Drinking is not a sin in itself, but drunkenness is clearly a sin. Alcohol is a depressant. It loosens people and they lose self-control, wisdom, balance, judgment and even consciousness. Many drunks become victims of abuse. Many are involved in date-rape situations. Statistics say half of all rapes involve alcohol.
Genesis 10 – Table of Nations
Chapter 10 tells the origin of the nations of the world. We see that God is a God of details. He is sovereign over all the nations. It shows everyone on earth is descended from Noah and his wife. God made us one big family. It provides us with the knowledge of who we are and where we came from. It provides us with an understanding of the relationship between Israel and all the people of the world. We are different in languages, cultures, and locations, but we still are the image of God. It shows that God never intended for there to be a one world government. Verse 25 tells us the earth was divided. How did it become divided? That’s where chapter 11 comes in.
In chapter 9 we learned about Ham and how he dishonored his father Noah and how God punished Ham’s son Canaan for Ham’s sin. In chapter 10 we see the birth of a troublemaker, Nimrod. Nimrod was the grandson of Ham. “He was a mighty hunter before the Lord” - Gen. 10:9, meaning he was “against the Lord”. His name means “rebel”. He was a mighty warrior and hunter. He wasn’t a hunter of animals, but a hunter of men. His kingdoms were Babylon, Erech, Akkad and Calneh. We learn in Revelation 17-19 that Babylon was a government powered by Satan. Nimrod was associated with the Towel of Babel, maybe even was the leader. 1 Chron. 1:10 says he was a mighty warrior on the earth.
Genesis 11 –Tower of Babel
After the flood God told Noah and his family to replenish the earth. Their descendants spoke one language and migrated eastward to Shinar which is also known as Babylon. (Gen. 11:2) They became proud and decided to build a city and a tower to heaven so they could make a name for themselves and not be scattered over the earth. – Gen 11:4. This was probably headed up by Nimrod. This was pride at its fullest!
Today people continue to disobey God in many ways. They are full of pride and love themselves. They don’t love God. They don’t think of others. They are selfish and unforgiving. They have no self-control. They are lustful, liars, murders, and thieves. They use others to get what they want. They want power and fame at all costs. They simply don’t obey God’s commandments found in Exodus 20.
“People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, of lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.” – 1 Tim. 3:2-7.
God saw what they were doing and said, “Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” – Gen. 11:7. Notice the “us” in this verse which is a reference to the Trinity. The people were building this city and this tower to bring honor to themselves, not to honor God. Maybe they didn’t trust God’s promise never destroy the earth by water again. God judges those who rebel against Him. He put a stop to this. He confused their language so they wouldn’t understand each other. The word Babel means confused. God scattered them all over the earth and they stopped building the tower. – Gen. 11:8
God came down and inspected their work and He will inspect our work as well. He will inspect our motives behind our service for Him. He looks at our hearts. He’s concerned why we do what we do. Is it to gain praise of men? Are you doing it for the glory of God or yourself? “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” – 1 Peter 5:5.
Decide right now to follow God and obey Him. It’s OK to have possessions, but we should not use them to give us a sense of worth or even identity. We can enjoy the blessings God has given us, but we should always give the credit to God.
People can’t make themselves great. Only God can make people great. People think they are great and powerful, but God is in control. God showed how great He is by stopping the towel. People try to reach God through many ways - the giving of their money, their good works, or by church attendance. There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” – John 14:6. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12
Join me here next week as we continue our study of Genesis -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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