If you’re sailing, the rudder becomes your best friend.
The rudder determines the direction of your vessel. If you want to reach a specific location, you must set the rudder correctly.
Our lives are the same. Our direction in life sets us towards a particular location. We must change if we don’t want to be in that direction.
More than that, our lives impact those in our families. As parents and grandparents, we guide their lives as well. They don’t inherit our blessing from the Lord. They don’t inherit our dumb decisions. But we still influence them in powerful ways.
Last week, we saw that the evil of humanity didn’t wait long before reemerging after the Flood. Ham disrespected his father, Noah (although we don’t know exactly what the crime was). Ham’s brothers, Shem and Japheth, reacted with respect and concern for their father, Noah.
Today, we continue the story in Genesis 9:24-27.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
Genesis 9:24-27, New International Version
“Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s territory; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem, and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
Whatever Ham had done stirred the wrath of Noah. When he sobered up, Noah declared a curse on Canaan.
But why Canaan? After all, Ham (Canaan’s father) was the one who had sinned against Noah.
One possible answer goes back to the unspoken sin against Noah that Ham committed. If Ham castrated his father and prevented him from having any more children, this act would justify Noah’s curse on Ham’s youngest son. But we don’t know that because the text doesn’t specify.
There could be a connection here. Ham was Noah’s youngest son, and therefore Noah cursed Ham’s youngest son. That would be consistent with ancient Near Eastern frameworks of blessings and cursings. But, frankly, we’re still not 100% sure.
Ham’s legacy would be enslaved by his brothers, Shem and Japheth. This slavery would create rejection in the family towards Canaan. Again, this goes back to Ham. Ham was being punished for what he did to Noah.
Adding to this curse, Shem and Japheth received a great blessing from Noah. The gap between their blessings and Ham’s curse would be significant.
Even in these blessings to Shem and Japheth, the curse against Ham (again, through his youngest son, Canaan) is ever-present. Their blessings were highlighted because Ham’s curse was so harsh.
Just like Cain in Genesis 4, Ham’s immorality was the downfall of his entire family line. This is a good time to remind us of tribal representation. As Westerners, we’re not used to the idea of punishing children and grandchildren for the crimes of their parents.
But Easterners don’t think this way. In the Bible, the honor or dishonor of parents is passed to their children. These parents—fathers in particular—were the representatives of their tribes. If they were blessed or cursed, that followed their family line.
The curse of sin given back in Genesis 3 continues with this dispensing of a prophecy against Ham.
No, the Lord doesn’t hold the children of Jesus’ disciples responsible for our sins. But our behavior still has consequences for our families. Our lives matter for those who follow us.
May we take this warning to heart: we are steering our families. Are we guiding them toward Jesus or away?
Life Meets Theology 