Noah’s Sin and Prophecy
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Noah and his family
landed safely in the ark upon the Mountains of Ararat (Gen. 8:4). Noah promptly planted a garden. “Then
Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. He drank of the wine and became
drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent” (Gen. 9:20-21). Noah was a spiritual
giant who had been the recipient of God’s grace. But he reverted back to the
power of the flesh. It was not
God's design to remove the sin nature from man. Why? Maybe because the
potential evil within us continuously reminds us of who and what we are apart
from God's saving grace. We know that God
condemned drunkenness, the abuse of alcohol, or any drug, and the sins that
most often accompany such activity. Lot, Belshezzar, Ahazuerus, and Judah,
all experienced the results of the abuse of alcohol (Prov. 31:4-7; Isa. 5:11;
Isa. 28:7-8; Rom. 13:13). “Ham,
the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two
brothers outside” (Gen. 9:22). We are not given any
details here. Noah had evidently
passed out! Ham saw his father's
nakedness and either a homosexual act or an act of ridicule took place (or maybe
both). In Israel and in many
cultures throughout the ancient world and throughout history, to dishonor
one's father was sinful. The Word "Uncover" The Hebrew word for
“uncover” is found many times in this passage. In this case, it refers to
sexual type sins. “None of you shall approach any blood relative of his to uncover
nakedness; I am the LORD. You shall not uncover the nakedness of your
father, that is, the nakedness of your mother. She is your mother; you are
not to uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover the
nakedness of your father’s wife; it is your father’s nakedness. The nakedness
of your sister, either your father’s daughter or your mother’s daughter,
whether born at home or born outside, their nakedness you shall not uncover.
The nakedness of your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, their
nakedness you shall not uncover; for their nakedness is yours. The
nakedness of your father’s wife’s daughter, born to your father, she is your
sister, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover
the nakedness of your father’s sister; she is your father’s blood relative.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s sister, for she
is your mother’s blood relative. You shall not uncover the nakedness
of your father’s brother; you shall not approach his wife, she is your aunt.
You shall not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law; she is
your son’s wife, you shall not uncover her nakedness. You shall not uncover
the nakedness of your brother’s wife; it is your brother’s nakedness. You
shall not uncover the nakedness of a woman and of her daughter, nor
shall you take her son’s daughter or her daughter’s daughter, to uncover her
nakedness; they are blood relatives. It is lewdness. You shall not marry a
woman in addition to her sister as a rival while she is alive, to uncover
her nakedness. ‘You shall also not uncover the nakedness of your mother’s
sister or of your father’s sister, for such a one has made naked his blood
relative; they will bear their guilt. ‘If there is a man who lies with his
uncle’s wife he has uncovered his uncle’s nakedness; they will bear their
sin. They will die childless. ‘If there is a man who takes his brother’s
wife, it is abhorrent; he has uncovered his brother’s nakedness. They will be
childless” (Lev. 18:6-21). This evidence seems to
reveal that Ham had indeed performed a homosexual act upon Noah. The expression “Noah knew what his
younger son had done to him,” also suggests a sexual act had occurred. The words “had done to him” are words
that would easily explain the curse upon Ham's family. But also from the response of the
other two brothers, one could make a case for the scornful ridicule of their
spiritual leader. Either way, the results are the same. Note the contrast: “But
Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and
walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces
were turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness. When
Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So
he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants he shall be to his
brothers’” (Gen. 9:23-25). This is the first mention
of the word “servant” in the Bible.
The meaning is that of a slave! According to Noah’s prophecy, the
Canaanites were to be subjugated.
The prophetic curse that he would be a servant to his brothers was not
placed on Ham but on his youngest son, Canaan. God had given Noah some
prophetic insight that proved to be extremely accurate throughout history. Moral Degeneration of Canaan The moral degeneration of
the people who came from Canaan is recorded throughout the Bible. No religion
has been so perverted by sexual acts as that of the Canaanites. The land that
Canaan settled was along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, stretching
from the city of Sidon in the north to Gaza in the south, and reaching inland
at least as far as the Jordan Valley. “Canaan became the father
of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite
and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite and the Arvadite and the
Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were
spread abroad. The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go
toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah
and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha” (Gen. 10:15-19). Archaeologists have
recovered texts from the ancient Canaanite city-state of Ugarit, discovered
in 1928 in modern-day Syria. These documents reveal details of the political
and religious lifestyle of the Canaanites and fully support the way the Bible
pictures these tribes. The remains found by
archaeologists testify that the Canaanites were intelligent and very
aggressive. Around 3,000 B.C. they had settled the land of Canaan and by
2,000 B.C. they had written records. They had a language that contained over
30 different consonants. Politically, the
Canaanites were organized into independent city-states, each with its own
ruler and aristocracy (Joshua 12). The great majority of people in and around
each city were politically powerless farmers and workers. The Canaanites had a very
complex religious mythology. The
religion of the Canaanites focused on fertility, and its myths were
structured around the agricultural cycle that came from Nimrod and the tower
of Babel. The gods of the Canaanites were brutal and highly sensual. One myth
actually portrays Baal having intercourse with a young cow. Religious rites
encouraged sensual activity between persons not married to each other in
order to stimulate the gods and goddesses to grant fertility to the land and
to their livestock. The fertility of the
land, it was believed, depended on the deities’ sensual activity. The Canaanites
even designated homosexual priests and priestesses as their “holy ones.”
These were employed as cult prostitutes. The Old Testament shows
God's total contempt for these and other Canaanite practices. The Law
commands, “No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute” (Deut.
23:17), and established the death penalty for homosexuality (Lev. 20:13) and
bestiality (Lev. 20:15). Deuteronomy describes other practices of the
Canaanites and strictly forbids Israel from adopting them. “Let
no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who
practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or
casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.
Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord” (Deut. 18:10-11). The moral and religious
depravity of the Canaanites, portrayed in Scripture and substantiated in the
materials recovered from the Ugarit, explains why God commanded Israel to
totally destroy these people within the borders of the Promised Land. Behind the scenes there
was an obvious satanic attempt on the part of the Canaanites to infiltrate
the Jews, first religiously, and then to corrupt them physically. This may
have been done in order to prevent the prophesied Messiah from coming into
the world through Israel. This would not have been possible if the Jews had
lost their cultural identity. Much of the book of
Genesis records God's protection of His people from religious degeneration.
God warned Israel through Moses: “Completely
destroy them. Otherwise they will teach you to follow all the detestable
things they do in worshiping their gods” (Deut. 20:17-18). Seen in this perspective,
the command to exterminate the Canaanites was not only justified, but it was
necessary for the good of all humanity in the coming ages (Gen. 12:5; Num.
34:1-12). The ancient Phallic cult
and the reputation that followed it, was located in Carthage in North
Africa. Even the Romans were
shocked at the perversion of the Carthinians. It led to snake worship, human sacrifices, homosexual
orgies, sodomy, bestiality, and other insidious activity. So Ham’s sin and Noah’s
prophecy became very important to the religious history of Israel. Has Noah’s
prophecy completely come to pass? New American Standard
Bible Encyclopedia Britannica Brown, Driver, Briggs’
Hebrew Definitions R. B. Thieme, Jr. |
Who are the
Canaanites? And what part do they play in the history of Israel? |