Genesis 9:18-28, A Family’s Tragedy & Prophecy

Welcome back to our study of the book of Genesis, today we’ll turn our eyes to Genesis 9:18-28, a family’s tragedy and prophecy. God had just made a covenant with Noah and His three sons and the entire earth, it was a new beginning. God started with Noah, a man who was referred to as more righteous than any of his contemporaries. But in this section, we’ll see how even the best of man is prone to moral failure. We’ll also get an insight into the hearts of Noah’s three sons.

Genesis 9:18-28

¹⁸ The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) ¹⁹ These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.^[b]

²⁰ Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard.^{[c] 21} He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. ²² And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.²³ Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. ²⁴ When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, ²⁵ he said,

²⁶ He also said,

²⁸ After the flood Noah lived 350 years. ²⁹ All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

I. Noah’s Three Sons

A. Shem, Ham, and Japheth

The author of Genesis wrote about Noah’s three sons for both historical and record-keeping purposes. It was important to show that these three sons were actual people, with names and families, and they would go on to have a great significance in biblical history as prophecies were made concerning each one of them. We also learn in this passage that it is from Noah’s three sons that the whole earth was populated.

B. Ham is the father of Canaan

The Bible puts an emphasis on Ham for a reason and this is made clear in the verses that follow. We learn that the Canaanites, one of Israel’s fiercest enemies, came to be seen as a stench in God’s sight as a result of the curse they incurred because of their ancestor, Ham’s sin. We’ll see  the far-reaching effects sin can have on future generations.

II. Noah Becomes a Man of the Soil

We have to remember that after the flood, vegetation and plants were  not optimal and agriculture had to restart. The Scripture begins by saying that Noah began to become a man of the soil, in other words, he had to learn how to work the ground in order to produce crops, he became a farmer. I’m not sure what Noah did prior to the flood, but  one thing is certain, He was a learned man, or at least he learned how to adapt to whatever situation he was put in. He became a man of the soil when the need arose, which is an incredible testament to God’s blessedness on Noah. Basically Noah became a farmer out of necessity, we can learn a thing or two from him.

A. Plants a vineyard

We are not told why Noah specifically planted a vineyard but the Scripture mentions it and the only thing we can do is discuss possible reasons why he did so. A vineyard is an area of land used for the cultivation and production of grapes. Vineyards are generally used to produce wine but can also be used to produce table grapes, juice and raisins. But in Noah’s case, it became the catalyst to sin.

B. Drinks wine and becomes drunk

Why did Noah get into drinking? Maybe he was suffering from PTSD, he had probably heard the wailing, cries and seen a lot of dead corpses and maybe it took a toll on him. And he might have opted to drinking  as a temporary solution to the depression he was under. Or maybe he drank because he wanted to drink, we can’t know with absolute confidence why he started to drink but one thing is certain, he drank and became drunk. the Bible warns us not to get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery but to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In both cases, it is a matter of control, when we are under the influence of alcohol, we exude irrational behavior but when we are under the influence ( or led by the Spirit of GOD), we display the fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5.

We can also learn from this that the best of man, in this case Noah doesn’t cut it in God’s sight. Noah was considered a righteous man in comparison to his contemporaries and God started the whole earth with him, and it doesn’t take too long to see how even Noah felt into sin, maybe grave sin in the eyes of God.

Noah’s actions became the catalyst to more devastating consequences as we’ll see in the next verse.

III. Ham Sees His Father’s Nakedness

Sin never affects just one person; Noah’s mistake of getting drunk and lying uncovered in his tent had repercussions on his son Ham.  Some of the interpretations of this specific portion of Genesis 9 have left me speechless. There are folks who think that Ham violated his own mother or his own father, and they use Leviticus to support their argument. I personally don’t believe that’s the case. One thing is certain, because of Noah’s poor choice, his son was led into sin; now this doesn’t excuse Ham’s own vile actions. Because we’ll see how his brothers acted differently than he did. According to the narrative, Ham went and told his brothers about his father’s nakedness. I believe he found it amusing or comical that his father laid uncovered, which shows us how darkened his own heart was. In essence, Noah’s sin exposed Ham’s wicked heart.

If you also look at verse 22 closely, we are again told that Ham is the father of Canaan. It isn’t by accident that this connection between Ham and Canaan is mentioned again. Canaan, who is the grandson of Noah, will become the father of the Canaanites, a group of people who will become a thorn on Israel’s side. The Scripture is mentioning Ham, as the father of Canaan as a way to prepare us for that which will be prophesied about the Canaanites later on, basically like father, like son.

A. Shem and Japheth cover their father’s nakedness

Unlike Ham, Shem and Japheth were of a more noble character, instead of partaking in the sin of their brother, they wouldn’t even dare to look at their father. They walked backward to keep themselves from looking at their father’s nakedness. Let me pause for a second and draw attention to the fact that once again, the instrument of sin in this case is the “eyes”. Ham saw his father’s nakedness while Shem and Japheth didn’t violate their father’s nakedness with their eyes. At the moment of the Fall, Eve was also deceived by her eyes.

Shem and Japheth covered their father’s nakedness, they could’ve chosen to go the other way and further expose their father’ nakedness but they didn’t. What can we learn from their actions? We are told in the 1 Peter 4:8 that,

⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins

By covering their father’s nakedness, they were not excusing or tolerating sin but they were doing damage control. As an example of this, we can look at what happened after the Fall: Adam and Eve had sewn fig leaves to cover themselves, but their ( nakedness) guilt remained exposed before God. In His love and mercy, He chose to replace the fig leaves with animal skins as a covering. Just like that, Shem and Japheth chose to cover their father’s nakedness out of love – something all believers should strive to do when one falls into sin. This doesn’t mean toleration or lack of consequence – we must both admonish our brothers and sisters and handle it in private without gossiping or taking pleasure in exposing them. Next we’ll see how Noah deals with the action of his children.

IV. Noah Curses Canaan and Blesses Shem and Japheth

A. Cursed be Canaan; servant of servants to his brothers

After Noah came out of his drunken state, he probably realized that someone had covered him and it is very possible that he inquired about what had taken place from his eldest son, Shem. And after finding out what Ham did, he proceeded to utter some prophetic words. Interestingly, even though Ham was the one that committed the violation, the prophetic words were directed at his son, Canaan, who also happened to be Ham’s youngest son. Noah’s words to Canaan, Ham’s youngest son were not favorable because of what Noah observed about their character. This discourse by Noah is similar to Jacob’s words own prophetic words to each of his twelve sons in Genesis 49.

Noah predicted that the descendants of Canaan would become the lowest of servants. The Canaanites are mentioned in Genesis 10:15-19 and they are the very nations the Israelites conquered and whose land they inhabited ( Genesis 15:18-21, Exodus 3:8, 17, Joshua 3:10). God warned the Jews not to  compromise with the Canaanite way of life and to destroy everything that would tempt them in that direction, see Exodus 34:10-17, Deuteronomy 7.

B. Blessed be the Lord, God of Shem; let Canaan be his servant

Noah didn’t bless Shem, he blessed THE LORD, THE GOD of Shem. In doing so, Noah gave glory to God for what HE ( GOD) will do with the descendants of Shem, the people of Israel. Noah was essentially declaring that whatever blessing came Shem’s way was purely because of the grace of GOD. He is the ancestor of Abraham ( Genesis 11:10-32) who is the father of the Hebrew nation, so it is clear that Noah was giving a prophetic word about the Jewish people. That the Lord would enrich them spiritually was promised to Abraham. It is through Israel that the rest of the world will have the knowledge of the true GOD, the written word of God and the Savior, Jesus Christ.  Now let’s look at Japheth

C. May God enlarge Japheth; let him dwell in tents of Shem; let Canaan be his servant

Japheth is the ancestor of what we generally call the gentile nations. The descendants of Japheth spread out much further than their relatives, they were a people who would multiply and move into new territory, in keeping with the prophetic words from Noah. However, while they were enlarged, when it came to spiritual things, they would have to rely and depend on Shem, or more precisely the God of Shem. God, the true God is the God of Shem and the descendants of Japheth however many they are would find  God in the tents of Shem what an amazing prophetic word. Israel was chosen by God to be a light to the gentiles ( Isaiah 42:6, Isaiah 49:6) for as Jesus said, salvation is of the Jews, John 4:22.

V. Noah Lives 350 Years After Flood and Dies at 950 Years Old

Eventually just like his father Adam, Noah also died, in keeping with what God had said. It is clear from what we read that Noah certainly walked with God, HE is called a preacher of righteousness.

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