A Man at Best

Image by Steve Buissinne 

One of the things that I have found myself doing more and more since becoming a dad is being prepared. Rob got me thinking in this direction by counseling me to keep bandaids in my wallet to upgrade my "Dadness" (which has come in handy many times since then, so thank you, Rob!). Since then I've started carrying around a multi-tool, a knife, Motrin, journal, pen, and even a flashlight. This has gotten so out of control I recently purchased a pocket organizer to hold it all. I know that takes me from "Dad" to straight up "Geek," but the thing is, you never know when you are going to need a particular thing. Jumper cables can sit in your car for years, untouched and getting in the way, but boy are you sure glad you have them when the car battery dies. 

While you can make fun of someone like me carrying all these tools just in case, it is no laughing matter that most of us are unprepared for the things that are absolutely going to happen that day. I can tell you with 100% certainty that you are going to face temptations to sin before this day is over. Honestly, I have 100% certainty that you are going to face temptations to sin in the next hour! What are you doing about that? If the answer is, "Not much," then this passage is for you. The horror that sin causes even post-Adam and Eve is worth us pausing. 

We have an example of this very thing before us in this passage. Noah was, as we saw, a man of incredible faith and trust in God. He built a boat in the middle of the land to prepare for a worldwide flood. He did this in faith for 100 years while all the rest of humanity likely hurled abuse and possibly sabotage on his work. Nevertheless, the Lord vindicated him and preserved him and his family through the flood. Upon leaving the boat, rather than bitter and exhausted from the trip, spent the first days after the flood in worship, offering sacrifice to God. 

After that, we have the sad episode in front of us. While sinners drowned in the flood, sin did not. It was still in Noah's heart, too. One scholar put it this way, "'With the opportunity to start an ideal society, Noah was found drunk in his tent'" (qtd in Ross, 212). As it has been said, the best of men are men at best. Adam's sinful nature is passed down to Noah, and as we will see, there will be generational consequences for sin committed here by both Noah and Ham. 

We will be looking at two points today: The best of men are subject to sin and the consequences of sin can last 

The best of men are subject to sin

Let's see how we got here. After the flood, we are introduced to our main characters in the story in verse 18. We get a sort of mini genealogy that details the three sons that left the ark. Only one grandson is mentioned, Canaan. This doesn't mean that the other two didn't have any sons, but it is introducing us to a very important character that is going to come up later. For the original audience, the recently freed slaves of Egypt, this name is going to be very significant, because the land that they are going into is occupied by the descendants of that very man, hence the name Canaanites. We are also being told that all the rest of the world is going to be populated by these three men, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This is foundational history for the rest of humanity as well as this passage itself. 

This passage is meant to explain where the rest of the conflict of Genesis is coming from. We know from Genesis 3 that there is going to be the line of the snake, and this passage answers the question of how they survive the flood. The line from Canaan and his father Ham is going to continue the line of the snake, but before we place all of our targets on the backs of those Canaanites, we must react with horror that Noah's heart isn't pure either. Yes, there are those outside the promise of God, but the only difference between the line of the snake and the line of the woman is the grace of God. The same is true today. The only reason why we are here and transformed is because of the grace of God. 

Even the mighty are subject to fall. Verse 20 tells us that Noah began to plant a vineyard. The word "began" is going to come up a couple of times in the next two chapters that don't signal good that is coming, according to one scholar (Ross, 213). Here Noah takes of the fruit and sins with it, just like Adam and Eve (Bible Talk Podcast). Here Noah gets drunk and acts lewdly. This is very shameful behavior, utterly unfitting of a patriarch, and yet, the Bible records it. The Bible doesn't engage in hero worship or legend-making. It presents the men whom God used as exactly what they are, sinful men. It is not meant to excuse our sinful behavior when we act in a similar way. Far from it. This is meant as a warning to us to not repeat the same mistakes and as a comfort to us, knowing that God's grace covers even moments like this. Maybe you have things in your past that you aren't proud of. If you don't, then you probably have a bad memory. This passage doesn't tell us that they aren't a big deal, they are. But God's grace is a bigger deal. You don't have to be defined by the lowest moment of your life. 

The passage doesn't spend much time on this, however, and instead focuses on Ham's reaction to this and Noah's reaction to Ham. As Matthews comments, "...(Noah's) culpability is irrelevant, and was passed over by the author since Noah's drunkenness is only incidental to the narrative's focus, the curse and blessing" (417). Again, this passage is telling us why the rest of Genesis is the way that it is. Curse and blessing are following through even a worldwide flood. 

Now, by modern standards, what Ham did doesn't seem so bad. Yes, no one would want this fact recorded about us, but does it really rise to the level of cursing an entire line of descendants? In fact, in an effort to understand why Noah reacts the way that he did, we assume that there has to be some sort of euphemism going on behind the word "saw," implying that Ham physically violates Noah or perhaps Noah's wife. But that doesn't seem to be the case here. While "see" does have sexual connotations in other places in Scripture, it doesn't have that meaning here. We can tell this because Noah's other sons take measures to *not* "see" their father's nakedness by walking backwards covering their faces (Belcher, 100). In other words, they avoid Ham's sin by simply not looking (Matthews, 419). 

So are we to think that all that happened was Ham, in an effort to see his father, happened to be in the wrong place, wrong time, accidentally saw something he shouldn't have, and now his son's whole line is cursed? No. It wasn't just that he saw it, but it was that he saw it, took no action to remedy that, and instead went out to his brothers to spread his father's shame even further. As Matthews put it, "Ham's reproach was not in seeing his father unclothed, though this was a shameful thing…but in his outspoken delight at his father's disgraceful condition" (419). another scholar noticed a key detail that seems to suggest this very point. When Shem and Japheth go to re-cover their father, they don't take just any garment, but in Hebrew, they take "the" garment. Now it is still possible that it is still correctly translated "a" garment, but if it is really "the" garment, then that implies, according to my Hebrew teacher, that Ham has Noah's clothes in hand (215-216). Not only does he not cover him, but he sweeps up his clothes in order to prove to his brothers that he is in this disgraceful condition. One scholar put it like this, "The sin primarily involves the disrespect that Ham has for his father because instead of quietly taking care of the situation by covering his father he makes his condition known to his brothers. It is easy today to overlook the seriousness in that culture of disrespecting the father" (Belcher, 100). We can see by the lengths that Shem and Japheth go to what proper respect looked like. It doesn't gleefully report sin, but takes the steps to remedy it. They aren't covering up Noah's sin, pretending like it didn't happen, but they are taking steps to mitigate it. 

Our culture doesn't think that way at all. If anything, that is somewhat the only commandment we are expected to break. How often do we see parents honored in movies and tv shows, particularly the dad? Could it be that our culture has weakened our ability to be shocked by this? 

The Consequences of sin can last
Well, Noah is shocked by it. When he wakes up from his wine, he finds out what happened to him and has something to say. He begins with a curse on Canaan. This is extremely strong language. This language showed up in Genesis 3, directed at the snake and the ground. It has the idea of binding something, which fits Canaan being bound by slavery (TWOT). 

Now, this brings up obvious questions that we need to look at. Why on earth is Ham's son getting punished when it was Ham who sinned? There are a number of things that we have to understand here. One, we are a very individualistic culture, and they were not. In fact, "...it would not be unusual for original readers to read that the actions of Ham would have consequences for his descendants" (Belcher, 100-1). Second, this isn't a curse against Canaan, *per se,* but rather his descendants that are cursed (Ross, 217). Third, Noah isn't some sort of wizard who can just curse people's lines willy nilly. This was a request that God carry this out, so only if it is the will of the Lord will Canaan's line be cursed (Ross, 216-217). Fourth, as Matthews put it, "In this case the curse is directed at Ham's son as Ham's just deserts for the disrespect he had toward his own father, Noah. Yet the imprecetation was spoken against future generations of Canaanites who would suffer subjugation 'not because of the sins of Ham, but because they themselves acted like Ham, because of their own transgressions'" (Matthews, 421-2). In other words, Canaan isn't being cursed because he just happened to be near Noah at the time, but because his descendants acted like Ham in the future time. 

So, all of this helps us answer why Noah gets off without a curse, but Canaan's line doesn't. You could respond, "I thought you said that you don't have to be defined by your lowest point? But it seems like Canaan does!" I did say that, and I stand by it because the reason why you don't have to be defined by your lowest moment is the grace of God. It is not about what you did, but Who you ran to afterwards. It is obvious that Canaan's descendants didn't run to God but instead ran deeper into the sin of Ham. The Canaanites don't get to blame their ancestor, as they make the same choice, but this whole passage suggests to us that the consequences of one's sin can be very far reaching. We don't sin in isolation. 

Now, there is one sidebar issue that I have to deal with quickly here, because there has been a line of thinking from this passage that has been used to horrible effect. Some have taught that the line of Ham (which they errantly think is related to the Hebrew term, "black"), means that black people came from Ham and are therefore cursed to be slaves forever, making American slavery not only allowable but Biblical. This is horribly, horribly wrong, but this sort of thing was taught in certain Christian circles as late as the Civil Rights movement in America. With the help of another pastor (link here), let's set this straight. One, Ham, according to recent scholarship, isn't related at all to the Hebrew word "black," and even if it was, Ham wasn't the one cursed, but Canaan. Two, Canaan wasn't even Ham's only son, as he had three others (Cush, Egypt, and Put). While none of them went on to do great things, Canaan's line was uniquely evil in that they had "defiled the land" (Lev. 18). Third, this curse wasn't because of dark skin but evil actions. 

Finally, and most importantly, there is a blessing coming. Shem and Japheth were blessed by God, Shem having the honor of Abraham in his line. The promise made to Abraham later on would be that any nation that blessed Abraham would be blessed. It is in that line of thinking that one commentator says, "The blessing that befalls all peoples is carried forward by the Abrahamic promises, which counter the old curses by the blessing received by all peoples in any era who acknowledge the Lord. 'Any attempt to grade the branches of mankind by an appeal to 25–27 is therefore a re-erecting of what God has demolished'" (423). We don't get to automatically enslave anyone because of skin color, but we are called to love our neighbor and give them the gospel hinted at in Shem's blessing. 

So where do we go from here? Well, sin still has generational consequences, particularly in the area of sexual sin. We will see this played out over and over again in Genesis. Noah’s lewdness, Abraham and Hagar will produce conflict still in force today. Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his daughters, Issac nearly allowing great punishment to fall on Abimilech, Jacob’s multiple wives bringing about grief. Your sin doesn’t just affect you. Past righteousness doesn’t end the need for vigilance. The best can fall. 

Mom and Dad, your lives have an impact, particularly Dad. It isn't because there is something magical about you, but there is something serious about sin. You have a major influence whether you like it or not. In the same way, righteousness doesn’t just affect you either. Shem and Japheth’s descendants benefit from their faithfulness to God’s law. We have got to drop the idea of radical individuality from Christian living. We affect each other for good or ill. The Bible sees families as units. We are all individually responsible for our actions, but that includes what our actions do to influence those around us. 

Now, the beautiful thing is that Christ can rebuild your family and you. He can work under the hardest of circumstances to bring you to Himself. You are not fated to repeat the sins of the fathers because you can have a new Father. You can be brought up in a new image, reborn into a new family. This is an option for you such that if you don't take it, then when you sin in the same way your family did, it is your sin, too. If you are a father looking out at the mess you made from your sin, you still have hope in Jesus. A strong testimony of Jesus' work is the transformed life of a deadbeat dad or the continued faithfulness of a great one. 

Sin has consequences, but so does grace. Run to Christ for the grace that you so desperately need, and see if that doesn't have an affect in the long run on those around you.