A STUDY IN GENESIS
There is nothing in God’s word that is minor, if it is written by God, there is significance that must be addressed by the reader. Today we come to another significant gem hidden in God’s Word. The initiation of the Geo-Political structure post Flood. God’s judgment has ended, the world is set up for new generations. We know that Noah lived 350 years post flood. During this time, he was there to witness his sons and daughters have sons and daughters and so forth, Genesis 9:28-29 “And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. 29 So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years; and he died.”
We know that Noah’s three sons all had children post flood and in particular we want to focus on one specific child and the curse laid upon him and their generations. This event identifies the subject of this curse at the very beginning, Genesis 9:18 “Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham [was] the father of Canaan.” The writer, “Moses” is wanting the readers to understand something specific about the decendants of Canaan. Moses wants the reader to know Canaanites origin story. Canaan is the fourth born to Ham, Genesis 10:6 “The sons of Ham [were] Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.” We also know that Noah went immediately about cultivating the earth while his sons began to rebuilding the human population. Genesis 9:18-20 “Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham [was] the father of Canaan. 19 These three [were] the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated. 20 And Noah began [to be] a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.”
The scene is set, Noah is now a farmer, boat building is behind him, his sons and daughter-in-laws are rebuilding the human population and all looks right. However, as discussed in previous posts, sin is still innate in humans since the fall of mankind. Thus, Noah gave to his sons and they will give to their sons the spiritual death sentence. As discussed before, this is why Jesus was born of a virgin.
However, something happens next that needs to be addressed. Noah drinks the wine and gets drunk. Genesis 9:21 “Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent.” Some have speculated that the atmosphere had changed, and catapulted what was pure into something that could make human beings drunk. Personally, I find this hard to believe based on the needed steps to make wine. Fermentation is not something that would have been quickly identified and mastered by a brand new farmer. While the Bible does not give us a clear understanding on when fermentation became a part of humanity, it is clear by Noah’s life span post flood to be present.
Noah is so drunk that he becomes naked. Genesis 9:21-23 “Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. 22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid [it] on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces [were] turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.” Now at this point there is large aspects of speculation on what has happened. I am not going to attempt to bring to light all the ideas of what has transpired but will identify aspects we can confirm. Ham saw his father naked and went to his brothers. Based on Shem and Japheth’s reactions, it indicates Ham did not rape his father but only laughed and mocked him. Shem and Japheth wanted to keep their father’s dignity intact and protected their father’s dignity. So how does Ham’s son Canaan come into this?
Well for this we need to recognize that scripture answers scripture and we have to examine other areas of scripture for a hint. Read Leviticus chapter 18. We are given a detail description of what not to do with observing others naked who are not our spouses. God indicates that the Canaanites practiced this and much more!
Examine Deuteronomy 20:16-18 “But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you [as] an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, 17 “but you shall utterly destroy them: the Hittite and the Amorite and the Canaanite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite, just as the LORD your God has commanded you, 18 “lest they teach you to do according to all their abominations which they have done for their gods, and you sin against the LORD your God.” From this it appears that Canaan’s descendent are several groups while one particular group keeps his name as their identity. But what does this mean? We are given another clue in Amos 2:9 “Yet [it was] I [who] destroyed the Amorite before them, Whose height [was] like the height of the cedars, And he [was as] strong as the oaks; Yet I destroyed his fruit above And his roots beneath.”
We are given another clue in Numbers 13:32-33 “And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies [is] a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it [are] men of [great] stature. 33 “There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”
However we have another clue to examine, Genesis 10:19 “And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.” Sodom and Gomorrah were so far into sexual immorality God wiped them out. In fact, the populations of these two towns are revealed as wanting to mate with the angelic host.
We have examined several clues, but our greatest clue is the one given by Noah himself. Genesis 9:24-27 “So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. 25 Then he said: “Cursed [be] Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.” 26 And he said: “Blessed [be] the LORD, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. 27 May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.”
Now that we have examined the clues given in God’s word, we can summarize the facts and formulate what has happened. Noah was drunk and became naked, his son Ham saw that nakedness and told his brothers. When Noah wakes up he knows what his son has done. Now at this point, you would think it would be right for Noah to curse Ham not Canaan for the action? But for some reason Noah identifies Canaan of the target of the curse. Why? It is because Noah is being prophetic. Scripture does not tell us, but we can examine the clues and see that the descendants of Canaan are very immoral. In fact their immorality leads them to the ultimate climatic sexual immorality and the causation of the Nephelim to return to the earth. We are not given the perimeters of what they were and were not allowed to do, but for some reason they had returned. Some very good Christian scholars will tell you they had not. However, we can tell from scripture that the Nephelim do return. Canaan’s descendants have been identified as villains in an ultimate showdown that is yet to be established. What is more important in this section of scripture is what Noah identifies with Sham in verse 26, “And he said: Blessed be the Lord the God God of Shem and may Canaan be his servant.” Here we have Noah identifying something rather unique, Sham is not only a believer. This forshadowing is painting a picture for you and I and establishing the stage of what we see happening throughout the rest of scripture. A fight for land, a fight for a bloodline, and salvation to come to mankind. Next week we will see what else happens between the three sons of Noah and the first United Nations.
Hold until relieved, our Blessed Hope is coming
JL