Genesis 9:24-25 –
<24> When Noah woke up from his stupor, he learned what Ham, his youngest son, had done. <25> Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham:
“May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.”
I had a tough time choosing between talking about the rainbow and how it was a reminder of God not destroying us by flood anymore OR God commanding that if man’s life is taken, the doer (be it animal or man) must die OR this … I choose this. Now some background, Noah started to made wine. He got drunk and passed out naked on the floor. Ham came in and saw Noah on the floor, told his brothers, his brothers took a robe and covered Noah without looking … and that’s it.
This makes me wonder why such harsh punishment for something that seems so “normal” … granted I cannot remember walking in on dad drunk and naked … but I, well I, heck with it … i think we have all see our parents and sometimes grand parents naked. I can’t see why the curse … also with the fact Noah was drunk and passed out.
Should he not be the one to blame?? Oops … here Chuck the Public Defender is at work;-)
I think where the problem came was not the act, but the lack of respect given to his father that causes the problem. We are to respect our parents … this is clear.
Although the bible is not clear about Hams mindset, one can only look at our own experiences and wonder would that warrant a curse? Also, maybe this is one area we are wrong … and society has made it ok to view the naked body. Granted looking at ancient art, this is nothing new. Just now in many cases it’s NO LONGER ART!!
Anyway, take what you may from this … these books are the foundation of the bible as we know it … i would suggest reading them … as you will see soon, we will skip a bunch since it’s a lineage of the twelve tribes, and not much there, since we are not Jewish.
Proverbs 29:23 –
“Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.”