The Curse On Canaan Series

So right here we see a warning against abusing alcohol. We see a warning against dishonoring your father or mother. Parental authority doesn’t come from the fact that they are older than you, and it doesn’t come from the fact that they feed and clothe you. It comes from God. God set this system of authority into place for a reason, and all of us should honor our parents if they are living, and their memories if they have already gone on to the Lord. And, we see a warning against immorality.

Now I want you to notice here, that Ham fully expected his brothers, to at the very least, mock their father, but that’s not what they did. And this is a lesson on how we should treat those in authority who have stumbled. They showed their father respect, even though he had fallen into sin, and had stumbled in his walk. And it’s interesting, because there is no doubt that Noah had sinned, but then in verses 24-27 God actually uses him to prophesy against Ham and Canaan. This is the 1st time in Scripture we see God use a man to prophesy – prior to this point, God Himself had given all prophesy. Noah was still God’s man… he was still chosen by God. And in Noah’s prophesy we see both a curse and a blessing. The curse is that Canaan, Ham’s son, will suffer the consequences for his father’s sin. Now people say that’s not fair. But that’s reality. How many times do we see parents who are into alcohol and drugs and their kids wind up doing the same things? How many times do we see parents fall into certain behavioral patterns and then, their kids fall into those same behavioral patterns? We see it all the time right? Whether those patterns are good or bad. And so here, Ham sinned against his father, so Ham’s own son bears reproach for Ham’s sin – for his breach of family, his own family would falter. But also… if you look ahead in history, we see that this curse on Canaan is in anticipation of Canaan’s sin. In Genesis 15 Moses tells the Israelites to drive the Canaanites out of the land! The Israelites had been in Egypt for around 400 years or so, and Genesis 15:16 says part of the reason is because “the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete…” So Israel had been separated from Canaan, Canaan was living in immoral sin, idolatry and rebellion, and God had given them some 400 years or so to repent. But they won’t and they don’t, so God frees the Israelites from Egypt and brings them to the land of Canaan, not only as a fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, but as judgment upon the Canaanites. The people of Canaan were guilty of their own sin. Their religion included child sacrifice, idolatry, immoral sexual behavior, and divination. And so in this prophesy, a curse is pronounced on Canaan, but also in this prophesy we see God’s grace as well.

First of all, not all of Ham’s children are cursed, only the Canaanites. We see that Shem is blessed, and actually verse 26 suggests that Shem is already in covenant with the Lord. In verse 27 we also see Japheth is blessed in Shem; and in case you didn’t know it, most of us here are descendants of Japheth. If you’re of European descent, then most likely you’re a descendant of Japheth. And so Moses is prophesying about how Gentiles would be grafted into this covenant through Christ.