Let me start by telling you an interesting and funny piece about some pastors titled, “PASTORS’ PERSONAL PROBLEMS (PPP)”
A renowned pastor in diaspora held a crusade and invited two other top preachers from two different countries. After the crusade, the three pastors shared their experiences about how God’s presence manifested during the crusade, their life experiences back home and how God uses them mightily. Then, in the course of their gist, they all agreed to tell each other their personal challenges as pastors which must be kept secret between them.
The host pastor confessed, saying “My problem is money. I steal even from church's tithe and offering. For example, I’ve already devised a perfect means to steal today’s crusade’s money. Please, pray for me.”
The second Pastor launched into his own problem of lust i.e women. “Whenever I see any woman, my desire will be to go to bed with her. In fact, I’ve slept with most of my female members. For example, I’ve slept with your wife today. Please, pray for me.”
The third pastor started crying. It took others some effort to calm him down. When forced to talk, still crying, he said “I've gone to meet powerful pastors for prayers but there hasn’t been any change since. My problem is GOSSIPING. I don’t know how to keep secrets of people. Most of our member’s secrets I have leaked out and destroyed their homes and ministries. For example, when we leave this place, everyone will hear what both of you have just told me. Please, pray for me.”
I know you must be smiling or laughing by now. That was really a serious matter. We shall be looking at what men use their eyes to see and look at; and also what they use their ears to hear, and the result. It can be so disastrous when men cannot keep secrets but are gossipers and backbiters.
Introduction
Let us consider the scriptures in Genesis 9:18-29. After the flood, Noah drank wine and became so drunk that he slept off naked. (Note: he was uncovered and lay naked IN HIS TENT).
Although Noah was uncovered and naked, he was within his house (tent) and that information should not have been made public.
Many homes have been destroyed by lack of restraint in sharing information about what they see publicly. There are things meant only for private consumption. You do not expose your secrets to a third party but keep it within your hearts.
Whatever you see should be kept to yourself. When necessary, corrections and adjustments should be made. What is that secret between you and your spouse that has now become a public knowledge?
Ham was the father of Canaan. He committed an offence which his children suffered for, for generations. In fact, the curse was such a great one.
“Ham saw the nakedness of the father, and he told his brethren.” I asked myself, and so what? But as I studied further, it occurred to me that it was way beyond what the story portends.
I strongly believe that Ham’s fault was in not taking the responsibility of covering his father’s nakedness. He could have either done it himself or at most, gone straight to Noah’s wife, who probably was the mother (as the two are one). They knew each other well enough to see each other’s nakedness. Instead, Ham told his brothers what he saw.
Adam and Eve were said to see each other’s nakedness and were not ashamed.
Noah’s wife was not dead as the scriptures had not informed us about that. The best thing would have been to inform the mother to see to the covering of her husband’s nakedness.
Consequently, when Noah woke up, he knew that Ham has exposed his nakedness even without any research. I want to believe that Ham had a particular character trait that was not explained in the Bible. We can however infer the following about the person of Ham:
In verse 22, it says, “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without”.
a. Firstly, Noah was said to be naked in his tent/room and not outside. Where else can a man be naked, outside? Of course, NO.
So, the question is, what was Ham looking for in the chamber, tent or room of his father? What was his mission? His character and person was questionable.
b. Ham, seeing the father’s nakedness, (note, not outside but inside his room), went out and told his brothers what he had seen.
This suggests that Ham was a gossip, one who could not control his mouth. What he sees, he says. He could not keep secrets.
Amplified version says, “And Ham, the father of Canaan, glanced at and saw the nakedness of their father and told his two brothers outside”
He glanced at and saw, then he went OUTSIDE to broadcast the news. The brothers who were not even within the tent got the news about what was happening inside their father’s tent.
How on earth can a man be more loud-mouthed than this? It was bad enough that he saw his parent’s nakedness, and even worse that he broadcast it.
“Nakedness” can be likened to “family problems or family issues”. But via your uncontrolled mouth, the brethren outside have gotten hold of such information.
It was not an agreed issue that you should go and broadcast the news of whatever shortcomings you perceive. You solely and independently carried out your own wish by calling people to see the issues and problems in your home, office, life, family, business or career. When one of the couple starts gossiping about the ills of his/her home or spouse to a third party, he/she is giving the devil a foothold in their home.
Again, Jesus said in Matthew 5:27 -29, “… but I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart…. and if your eyes cause you to sin, pluck it off…”
Underline the word “lustfully”. That you see may not be an issue, but how does what you see affect you? What is the aftermath of what you see? What is the purpose? What is your heart’s condition after seeing it? That is what matters to God. When you see, what is in your heart and what do you do with what you see? That is the key factor.
Now, let us see the concluding part.
Noah woke up and knew what Ham has done. How did he know? Did God tell him, or his knowledge about what Ham could do? Why did he not think that any of his other sons could have done it? How could he have been so sure that only Ham could have done it?
The issue is this…. Noah could never have expected a covering. Why? He was inside his house/room or to say bedroom. It is secured; his private space. However, he woke up to see a covering which informed him that his privacy had been violated. Who could have violated his privacy if not his youngest son, Ham?
He was young in age, young in mind, young in experience and young in understanding and wisdom.
Oh! Ham received a curse for his children from His father, Noah. In fact, the curse was so great that as I looked at it more closely, it seemed to mean, “What You see backed up with how you act determines what you become”.
If you noticed in verse 23, “And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.”
These two guys knew the gravity of seeing the nakedness of their parents, talk less of exposing it to the public. What did they do? They simply walked backwards into the room, with faces averted, and did the right thing by covering their father’s nakedness. What Ham could have silently done without much ado, the brothers did.
Hear the curse. In verse 25 to 27, “And he said, cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
I know and have heard of ‘Lord of Lords’, ‘King of Kings’, but which one is ‘Slave of Slaves’, or is it ‘Servant of Servants’?
In reality, even slaves have slaves. Imagine you being a servant of another servant working for another king. Or let me rephrase better, you seeing the servant of your own servant? That is terrible.
To be a servant is being in a bad position. Now, being a servant to such servant is a worse position. Not even the child or son of the slave but slave of the slave.
Noah cursed Canaan, the son of Ham that he would be a servant to his brethren i.e. Shem and Japheth (verse 26 & 27). When Ham became the cursed, his son Canaan and his generation suffered the consequences. Many have brought disgrace, shame and curse to their generation by their actions of not protecting the information they ‘see’.
Additional notes from the Comparative Study Bible reveal that the language of Noah was an actual prophecy and not merely an expression of personal feeling. That Noah placed a curse on his youngest grandchild, Canaan, who would naturally be his favourite, can only be explained that in the prophetic spirit, he saw into the future of the Canaanites. God himself found the delinquency of the Canaanites insufferable and ultimately drove them out or subdued them and put the descendants of Shem in their place. But Noah’s foresight did not include the extermination of the Canaanites people, for then he would have expressed it differently. He would not merely have called them “servant of servants” if he had foreseen their destruction. Japheth was the firstborn of Noah, Shem was the second while Ham was the last or youngest child.
The eleven sons of Canaan became the servants of servants to Shem.
• The generations of Canaan: Genesis 10:15-19
Canaan = Sidon; Heth (the Hittites); the Jebusites; the Amorites; the Girgashites; the Hivites; the Arkites; the Sinites; the Arvadites; the Zemarites; and the Hamathites.
Extending to Sidon – Gerar – Sodom, Gomorrah, Amah, Zeboiim – Lasha.
• The generations of Shem: Genesis 10:21 - Genesis 11:10 –
a. Elam
b. Asshur
c. Arpachsad: Shelah (Salah)
d. Lud:
e. Aram: - Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash
Shelah: Eber – Peleg – Reu – Serug – Nahor – Terah –
Terah begat Abram; Nahor and Haran
Abraham – Ishmael, Isaac (Jacob and his brother, Esau)
Haran: Lot
Jacob (Israel): Joseph and his brothers (Judah, Reuben, Benjamin, etc)
In conclusion, cover your eyes and flee when you see any appearances of evil. Not everything you see is to be broadcasted, especially when it was meant to be a secret. Ensure that you keep secrets secret.
