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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.”
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Noah who is best known to most people for the account of the flood and the ark that he built, had three sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth. When the flood waters had finally abated and he and his family were on dry land once again, Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. It is recorded that ‘He drank of the wine and became drunk.’ {Gen.9:21}

The core of today’s verse is the fact that when Ham saw his father drunk and naked he went right away and told his brothers. {Gen.9:22} Jesus, the eternal Word, would instruct us that if we see a brother (or a father) sin we are to go to that person—and that person alone—and then as Jesus said, to reprove him or her in private. {Mat.18:15} The Lord’s desire is to use His word to reprove, to correct, and to train in righteousness so that person will be adequate, equipped for every good work. {2Tim.3:16-17}

Going to any others outside of God’s plan (Mat.18:16-17) and revealing that person’s error is known as gossip and will only generate more sin! I used to tell the students in our Christian school that receiving gossip was just as bad as telling it in the first place.

When all is said and done, Ham’s sin, telling his brothers about his father’s failing, certainly resulted in his own disgrace. Noah said, “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.” He also said, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.” {Gen.9:25-26} Ham would then become the man whose lineage included Nimrod, who first ruled in Babylon. Later accounts would identify him as the ruler responsible for the building of the tower of Babel.

One thing is certain, the sins of the father are visited on the sons generation after generation. {Deut. 5:9} That was true in the days of Noah and still is today. The breakdown of fathers and sons who are in godly relationships are so incredibly and horribly evident in our culture today. It continually fills the news of the day, a testament to the disobedience to God and His Word. It is so wonderful to see a father and his children in a right, godly relationship—but unfortunately all too uncommon.

That curse has been broken for all who will hear and obey what the Lord spoke to us though Jeremiah the prophet, saying that we will not say again, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. But that everyone who sins will die for his own iniquity.” {Jer. 31:29-30} God our Father had provided the answer long before when He commanded fathers—not suggested:

“And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

TEST EVERYTHING BY GOD’S WORD