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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | I understand that but why did Noah curse | Gen 9:25 | gbea | 116788 | ||
Wow, it seems harsh that Noah cursed Canaan instead of Ham, since Ham is the one who saw him naked and tried to expose it to his brothers. I don't know the answer, but I'm going to offer a couple ideas… In Gen 9:18, when it lists the sons of Noah who went forth from the ark, Canaan is the only "grandson" who is mentioned. PERHAPS while on the ark, Canaan was in some way rebellious? God was giving him the just reward of his rebellion, for God will not be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. In the Ten Commandments given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, God says in Exodus 20… 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 "You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image -- any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. I know that these commands were not yet given, but they were clearly in the heart of God from the beginning of time, especially from the beginning of the creation of man. Jewish tradition says that the world was created in memory of the giving of Torah (first 5 books of Moses) at Sinai. Strange to think about, but it seems to at least make a good point that this Torah is in the heart of God. So, the relevant point is in verse 5 where God says that He visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Him. There are many different gods to choose from… there always have been. Not obeying GOD is in effect obeying some other god. Perhaps Ham’s disrespect for his father (which broke God’s not yet given (in writing) command of honoring our father and mother, so that “your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you,” vs 12)… perhaps this disrespect is what brought the curse to his children. It’d probably be difficult for Canaan to honor Ham if he was enslaved to his brothers. Since Ham dishonored his father, his son wasn’t going to honor him. It also seems that Ham did not choose to worship the LORD (YHVH) as God because Gen 9:26,27 makes it seem that only Shem and maybe Japheth served the LORD. You see the same things in families today… many children choose to serve the God of their parents, but many others choose to serve other gods (like drugs, sex, rebellion, you name it). It’s not such a new thing to rebel against parents, eh? I’m interested to see if anyone has something else. I really don’t know… just thoughts… GB |
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2 | I understand that but why did Noah curse | Gen 9:25 | gbea | 116799 | ||
Thanks for the response. Right about Canaan not being born yet… sorry. It actually is immaterial, though… whether Noah saw rebellion in him during or after the ark. I shouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion. So I checked out some commentary at http://www.ldolphin.org/canaan.html The author claims that Ham took sensual pleasure in seeing his father naked. Noah sensed this weakness in Ham but did not want to incriminate himself (for his drunkenness and nakedness) by cursing Ham directly. Noah sensed a more sever weakness in Canaan, so he cursed him to bear sow the continued fruits of this generational sin of sexual immorality. The site goes on to explain the immorality of the Canaanites through history, etc. Interesting that God chose that land (probably before any Canaanite ever stepped there, though) as the place His people would dwell, and His people were ordered to kill all of them because of their idolatry. God said that they had to kill them, otherwise they would be drawn away to worship their gods. This area of sin seems to be one of the most enticing for people still today. Another good point from the site, speaking to the idea of the curse to the 3rd and 4th generation (much more eloquently than I): “The curse on Canaan is the most difficult to understand because, as we suggested in an earlier question, it is hard to see why he should be cursed rather than his father, who actually did the wrong. But we note the following. First, it is a biblical principle (whether liked by us or not) that the sins of the fathers are visited on the children even to the third and fourth generations (Exod. 20:5). Second, the punishment, though inflicted on Canaan, was appropriate to Ham since he reaped exactly as he had sown. He sinned as a son and was punished in his son. Third, the assigning of the punishment to Canaan may have been (as is so often the case in God's judgments) a function of the mercy of God, who could have cursed Ham and all his descendants but instead restricted the punishment to only this fourth part, Canaan being only one of Ham's four sons. Whatever the reasoning may be, the judgment is nevertheless pronounced: "Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers" (v. 25).” For another interesting interpretation, check out this site: http://bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Library.showResource/CT/BQA/k/119 It claims that it's actually Canaan that saw Noah naked. I don't really agree w/ that... but it doesn't mean I'm not wrong. Hope this all helps in your search. GB |
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