David Skull explains what happened after the flood, from Genesis 9.18-28
Sometimes you get to the end of a book or a movie and you’re left thinking, ‘Well what happened next?’.
If only the account of Noah had finished with the rainbow! No words of Noah are recorded during the Flood episode. He is silent. And as Hebrews 11.7 tells us, he is a hero of faith. But, in the latter third of his life, an incident occurs: in Genesis 9.18-29 we read how he gets drunk, which leads to disgrace, and that he utters a curse upon one of his grandsons, Canaan.
Why do we need to know this? The Flood had wiped out godless humanity from the earth but it didn’t wipe out wickedness from the human heart. Within Noah and his family is still the enemy that you and I know so well – sin. ‘The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan)… and from them came the people who scattered over the earth’, v.18 &19. What happened next? The heart of humanity expresses itself in drunkenness and sin, v.20-23, but God still has plans for the world, v.24-27.
Noah’s disgrace v. 20-23
Noah becomes a gardener like Adam, v.20. He plants a vineyard, like Eden. He is the new head of the human race. He drinks some of the wine, but he goes too far. ‘He became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent’, v.21. We realise that Noah, the hero of faith and the head of the new humanity, is deeply flawed. He was the one who’s faith in God’s word saved mankind. Yet here he is drunk and naked in his tent. In Ephesians 5.18, Paul tells Christians ‘do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead we should be filled with the Spirit’.
We live in times when excess drinking is seen as a virtue, not a vice. To get smashed on a night out is the norm. But we must be warned by the example of Noah to steer well clear of excessive drinking. Especially if you are the head of a family, you lead not just by providing for them but by setting them an example. Noah, the hero of faith, is deeply flawed. Doesn’t it make our hearts ache? But so are all the heroes of faith. David commits adultery and murder. Moses loses his temper. Peter denied Jesus. All fail – except one: Jesus Christ. And when you turn and put your faith in him, you are forgiven and clothed in his righteousness. Flawed Noah was the heir of the righteousness that comes by faith (Hebrews 11.7). That’s the gospel.
• Ham’s sin
Noah’s drunkenness led to his disgrace, but it was also the occasion for the sin of his son Ham. ‘Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father’s nakedness and told his two brothers outside’, v.22. Ham is a grown man, but the impression you get is that he looks, sniggers and then announces proudly the drunkenness and nakedness of ‘the old man’ to his brothers. He doesn’t treat nakedness with the privacy it requires and so dishonours his father, something forbidden among the commands of God (Exodus 20.12). Ham was crossing a boundary, the ‘uncovered’ and ‘naked’ language in Hebrew is associated with sexual sin.
• Shem and Japheth’s reaction
The other brothers, however, act very differently. When they hear the news they take ‘the garment’ – presumably Ham had brought it out of the tent with him – and lay it across their shoulders. They back into the tent, keeping their eyes away from their father, and cover Noah’s nakedness. Even though he was drunk and naked they still honour him. It can be very hard when you have parents who let you down, but good children respect even a deeply flawed father.
The actions of these three sons would have far-reaching effects, even down to today.
Noah’s oracle v24-27
When Noah wakes from his stupor and finds out what Ham has done, he speaks. It’s the one and only time you hear Noah’s voice in Genesis. He speaks both a curse and a blessing. Human words have no power. But Noah prophesies, speaking God’s word.
• The curse
Surprisingly, Noah’s curse is not addressed to Ham, but to one of Ham’s sons, Canaan. ‘Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers’, v.25. Noah can see the heart of Ham which has lingered over his father’s nakedness and shamelessly told others. He can see that this same heart will be passed down through Canaan to his family. Who were the descendents of Canaan? The Bible gives us a very clear answer. ‘Canaan was the father of… the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites…’ (Genesis 10.15). They were the tribes which Israel eventually confronted as they came into the Promised Land.
These are the very peoples Moses tells Israel live in the land and on whom they must make war and make no treaty and with whom they must not intermarry. ‘When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations – the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites..Hivites and Jebusites…’ (Deuteronomy 7.1-4).
This war becomes understandable as we realise what kind of practices and lifestyle these descendants of Canaan pursued. In Leviticus 18.2-24, Moses tells Israel that they must not do as they do in the land of Canaan: ‘You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules’. Then Moses goes on to talk about the Canaanites using precisely the same words as we find in Genesis 9 (made clear in the ESV): ‘You shall not uncover the nakedness of your father, which is the nakedness of your mother; …You shall not uncover the nakedness of your sister…You shall not uncover the nakedness of your son’s daughter …You shall not lie sexually with your neighbour’s wife… You shall not lie with a male as with a woman… And you shall not lie with any animal… Do not make yourselves unclean by any of these things, for by all these things the nations I am driving out before you have become unclean’.
The Canaanites were known for sexual immorality and perversion. The sanctity and privacy of sex within a God-honouring marriage between a man and a woman had long since been abandoned. Now nakedness was uncovered with anyone and everyone.
As we live in our pornographic, permissive society which has just legalised same-sex weddings we must take note. Such a path leads to a curse and to slavery. But God’s way leads to blessing.
• The blessing
Once again there is a surprise. Noah’s blessing is not directed in the first place to Shem and Japheth, but to the LORD. ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! May Canaan be the slave of Shem’ v.26. The LORD is the covenant name for God. By blessing the LORD and calling him the God of Shem, Noah prophecies that the future of Shem’s family will be one of covenant relationship with God. The descendents of Shem will include Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (Genesis 11.26). Shem’s family is Israel the Old Testament people of God. Although flawed, like Noah, theirs will be the line of faith, the line of God’s promises and blessing. From their line the one who will crush the serpent’s head will come (Genesis 3.15). They will enter the Promised Land and drive out the Canaanites and the Gibeonites will become their slaves. Here we have the events prophesied by Noah. And the story takes us eventually to Jesus, the promised Messiah.
And Noah’s blessing includes us. ‘May God extend the territory of Japheth; may Japheth live in the tents of Shem’ v.27. Who were the descendents of Japheth? Genesis 10.1-5 tells us ‘these maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language’. They are those in distant lands, over the sea, far from Israel. It’s us. It’s the Gentiles.
And notice, not only would their territory extend, but they would live in the tents of Shem. They will find life there. And so we have the gospel promise to Abraham: ‘All peoples on earth will be blessed through you’ (Genesis 12.3). We have the promises to the prophets concerning the Messiah: ‘Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn’(Isaiah 60.1-8). And we have the command of Jesus: ‘Therefore go and make disciples of all nations’ (Matthew 28.19}.
What happened next? Noah’s oracle takes us to our inclusion in Christ and to mission!
