In today's entry we will be discussing the scripture found in Genesis Chapters 9:18-28 to Chapter 11.
Chapter 9:18-28: This scripture picks right up after the flood and God's covenant with Noah. It discusses Noah's immediate descendants in his three sons: Ham, Japheth, and Shem and specifically revolves around an instance of Noah's drunkenness and how his son Ham further shames his father, resulting in the "Curse of Ham/Canaan."
"The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth (Ham was the father of Canaan). These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed."
The first portion of this scripture explains that the three sons of Noah repopulated the earth after the flood. A specific reference to Ham being father of Canaan alludes to the origin of a land and people that would become immoral in future generations. This is also setting up the next passage and the "Curse of Canaan."
"Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became drunk ad lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father's nakedness. 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." He also said, Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. may God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell i the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant. After the flood Noah lived 350 years. All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.
Let's dissect this passage of scripture. Essentially Noah had a little too much to drink and was naked when his son Ham found him in the tent. Instead of respectfully covering up his father's nakedness, Ham went and blabbed about the incident to his brothers. In our modern world, this doesn't seem like a crime worthy of a curse on Ham's descendants. I researched this on several Biblical sites and read the Study Bible notes on the passage, and what it boils down to is the fact Ham probably saw something more indecent than alluded, and he probably didn't tell his brothers about their father to say 'hey we need to help Dad, he's drunk,' but Ham was probably joking about his father's state, which was disrespectful. The scripture is very vague so it's hard to know exactly the extent of Ham's actions, but it is apparent that whatever he did was not right, and sinful in the eyes of God and his family. It is also made clear that both Shem and Japheth took extra measures to avoid further disgrace of their father.
Why would an entire line be cursed because of the actions of Ham? The Curse of Canaan alludes to the fact that like Ham, his descendants would fall into sin and become immoral - therefore they would become cursed, not simply because of Ham's actions, but the repetitive immorality of his generations.
Genesis Chapter 10: Nations Descended from Noah. This chapter focuses on how the nations of the earth can be traced back to Noah and his sons. This Table of Nations describes the origins and interrelationships of many nations of the world. This is the only list in existence demonstrating the common descent of all human beings from Noah. Descendants of Japheth settled along and north of the Great Sea. Each had their own country, language (after Chapter 11 and Tower of Babel) and tribal divisions. Descendants of Ham were located in southwestern Asia and northeast Africa. Shem is the promised line the Hebrews can trace their ancestry to and it is the line in which would eventually produce Abraham, Jacob, and in the New Testament Christ, and therefore Shem's ancestry is detailed further than Ham or Japheth in Chapter 11:10-31.
Genesis Chapter 11:1-9 - "The Tower of Babel." This is a well-known Biblical story telling how man, in the generations after Noah decided to built a great city and within that city they built a tower that would reach up to heaven so man could be on the same level as God. The tower was not built to magnify God or worship him, but simply to show how great man on his own, without God could be. It was a structure to glorify man and not God. At this time all men spoke one language, and instead of using the gift of communication to work to do good, man used the gift of language and speech to go against God and work toward man's own prideful ambitions. In order to curtail man's pride and force men to desist from their evil purpose, God intervened by "confusing" the language into multiple languages so men would have a more difficult time coordinating their evil plans and also to encourage men to settle various areas of the earth. The word "Babel" means to confuse.
"Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. And they said, "Come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth." And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the lord said "Behold they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech." So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth and they left off the building the city. Therefore its nme was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Here is a link to an interesting article I found about archaeological history of the
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