Posted March 28, 2018 under Blog

Essential No. 10: Finish Strong

The story of Noah does not end on a positive note, “Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.” Genesis 9:20-21

Noah got drunk. The Bible does not teach total abstinence from wine, it even tells us that Jesus’ very first miracle involved making more wine for a wedding reception. The Bible’s prohibition is on getting drunk. And it is clear that Noah was just that, drunk as a skunk he laid naked in his tent.

Accidentally his son Ham walks into his quarters and sees his father’s disgrace. “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.” (Genesis 9:22) His was an honest mistake of seeing and telling his brothers about their father’s transgression.

Now you must understand that in those days the only people in the world were Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives and probably a handful of grandchildren, possibly a total of 8-12 people. By telling his brothers and they telling their wives— the whole world would have known of Noah’s big faux pas.

Ham’s act of telling his brothers was tantamount to posting a naked picture of his father on Facebook for the whole world to see. It was not a good thing then to dishonor your father, it still isn’t today.

The Hangover

“When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, ^‘’Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.’” Genesis 9:24-25

No doubt Ham made a mistake in broadcasting his father’s blunder. But regardless of how bad his error may have been, Noah’s reaction of cursing him to the high heavens seems too harsh in comparison to his fault.

You will also notice that while Ham was the guilty party, Noah cursed Canaan, Ham’s son and not Ham himself. Noah knew enough to know that what God has blessed he could not curse, after all God set his blessing on all of his sons, including Ham (Genesis 9:1).

So why did Noah put such a harsh curse on Ham’s descendants? That’s because when you are drunk, what follows is a hangover. And we all know that when we are in a state of drunkenness or even a hangover, we make faulty decisions and pronouncements, if not foolish undertakings.

An Underserved Curse

Interestingly, While Noah’s curse did have an effect on Canaan, his anger towards his son Ham did not have an effect on his other sons, it was God’s blessing that did:

“The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD.” The beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city.” Genesis10:6-12

Notice that Ham’s first two sons became rulers. Cush’s son Nimrod became a ruler and a king, Egypt’s descendants became an empire on it’s own. God’s blessing over them prevailed over their grandfather’s anger against their father’s wrong action. But that’s not the end of the story.

”Canaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed.” Genesis 10:15-18

The curse on Canaan did take effect. The verses above declare that the clans of the Canaanites were dispersed.

The Implication

The implication of all these is that the clans of Canaan, the Jebusites, Amorites, and all the other “ites” became the enemies of Israel. Sadly, these clans were related to them, since the Jews came from the line of Shem, Ham’s brother. Worse, the descendants of Ham’s other children; the Assyrians, Ninevites and the Egyptians became the enemies of the Jews too. They have must have thought if our brother is your enemy, then we too are your enemy.

This is not the first and last time such a thing has happened. A similar incident happened with another hero of the Bible, Abraham.

He too had the major blunder of siring Ishmael by listening to his wife’s prodding to produce a son by any means. And instead of making things right by owning up to his folly, he again listened to Sarah and sent Hagar the mother and her son Ishmael away. They too are Israel’s enemies to this day.

Finishing Strong

Noah’s seemingly small infraction of getting drunk had life long implications that sent ripples down into history. You could say that the man who weathered history’s worst storm did not finish strong. His story ends with these words:

“After the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.” Genesis 9:28-29

This is what makes the Bible is a special book. It does not veil the truth. It calls a spade a spade. That’s because while the likes of Noah and Abraham are often referred to as heroes of the faith, the real HERO of the Bible is God. Finishing strong is looking to Him and Him alone. This is the ultimate way to storm proof one’s life.