Noah's Sons - Genesis 9:18-29

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the earth. 20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said, "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers." 26 He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem. 27 May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be his slave." 28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 Altogether, Noah lived 950 years, and then he died.- Genesis 9:18-29

The Lord had extended grace and mercy to Noah's family, by sparing them from the fate of the rest of the inhabitants of the earth. However, Ham did not extend the same grace and mercy to his father when he saw Noah drunk and naked in Noah's tent. Instead, Ham left his father's tent to tell his brothers what he had witnessed. 

There are those who believe that Ham's sin, and the resulting curse, occured because Noah's son  looked upon  his father's nakedness with "longing," "lustful," "lewd" or "evil" desire in his heart. However, that supposition would be as much a perversion of the truth as "the act" itself, if Ham had not looked upon his father's nakedness with depravity of heart. The text plainly records that, "Ham saw... and told." God had judged Ham based upon his telling his brothers of their father's shameful behavior.

What do you do when you learn that a brother, or sister, has faltered in their faith? It's only natural for us to reveal their indiscretion to the first person, or people, we talk with. However, is that what the Lord would have us to do?  Remember, that the Lord Himself sacrificed an animal to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness after their fall!

Ham's brothers recognized the severity of the situation. Rather than put their father to an open shame, by leaving him uncovered and telling others about his sinful condition, the two men walked backward into his tent, with a garment over their shoulders to cover his nakedness. 

Ham's sons were cursed as a consequence of Ham telling his brothers of his father's indiscretion. But, Noah's other sons and their descendants were blessed. Are you more like Ham or his brothers when you learn of another believer's shameful behavior?

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