We are not
told how Noah knew what had taken place after he was drunk. He must have awakened
and shocked, to realize that he was naked, and someone had draped his naked
body with his garment. It’s not difficult to imagine that he got all the
information from his three sons. When he learned of what Ham had done, he impulsively
brought a curse upon Canaan, the son of Ham. And for what Shem and Japheth did,
he carefully crafted words of blessing upon them. The words of curse and
blessing on his sons were the last word of Noah’s heart, after which verses
28-29 briefly speak of his death and the duration of his life.
We do not know
why he cursed Canaan, his grandson instead of Ham. Noah could have already
detected the wickedness of Canaan and that he was behaving like his father,
Ham. The proverbs, “Like father, like son” could well be in its fullest
expression in the life of Canaan. It underscores how important the role a
father plays in the life of his son. It reminds us of the idiom that says “A
child is father of the man.” This idiom originated from Williams Wordsworth
poem, “My heart leaps up,” simply means that an adult is the product of the habits, manners
and behaviour that he had inculcated during his childhood. We all know that a
son is susceptible to influence when he is young. What he sees his father does
has deep and lasting impact in his life. Since a child’s activities will deeply influence his overall character
as an adult, we fathers need to help our children form good habits in life when
they are still young. Here’s calling all fathers, let us play our role
responsibly. The way Ham lived his life must have left his imprint
in his children’s life. The question we ask is should Noah shoulder part of the
blame for the person Ham became.
Bear in mind that both the words of Noah’s blessing and curse
have prophetical elements. In and of themselves, what he said would just be mere
words. But the God he worshiped and served chose to honour this patriarch and
fulfil the words of his pronouncement. What could have made Noah said what he
said? Bear in mind that he had a close walk with God. It would not come as a surprise
that he would have noticed the tendencies displayed by each of his children.
And he saw the tendencies of Ham in Canaan his grandson. We will learn that the
Canaanites were essentially a sensual and corrupt people. In the later
chapters, we will see their decadents in full display as they continuously sought
to promote their negative influence. We will see that these depraved Canaanites
would become Israel’s nemesis and adversary in the nation’s journey into the
Promised Land. Everything the Canaanites became could be traced to Ham’s
sensual and carnal behaviour. They had developed into an idolatrous culture in
the passage of time. We will see that in Abraham’s sojourn, the Canaanites were
already there spreading their corruption. They became Israel‘s earliest
stumbling block, when Israel as a nation sought to advance the cause of God in
their life. We can roughly see what God was doing. Firstly, He used the
Canaanites to test and build obedience in His people. Secondly, He used them to
toughen His people’s resolve. Thankfully, Proverbs 26:2 tells us that “Like a
sparrow in its flitting, so a curse without a cause does not alight.”
When Noah learned of what Shem and Japheth had done, he
prophetically foresaw the future of Shem’s descendants, the Israelites. What he
foresaw ushered him into a state of euphoria so he burst out with a beautiful
doxology. Notice it was God that Noah blessed. Notice in verse 26, Noah used
the term “LORD” in blessing Shem. This is the covenant name of God. And it
suggests that Shem was possibly already in covenant relationship with God. The
greatest blessing in life is when we are found in covenant relationship with
God. The blessing of Japheth was for his enlarged tent to dwell in the tents of
Shem. It reminds us that we, who were aliens and outside the commonwealth of
Israel, are now brought near to God through the New Covenant in Christ. Believers
of Christ, the New Covenant people, are in a sense now dwelling under the tents
of Shem.
Spoken words have deep and lasting impact. Noah’s words of
cursing and blessing remind us to be careful of what we pronounce over our
children. More importantly, as parents, we must seek to inculcate right and
godly values in our children. We must help our children to grow up with those
values. Parents, that’s our responsibility. Our children’s future depend on us.
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