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 Introduction

One of the strangest stories in all of the bible is the one about a curse on someone’s child. The story goes like this, a great man of God has a son, who subsequently has his own son. The son sees his father drunk and naked and when the father awakes and realizes what has happened comes out and pronounces a curse, not on the son but on the grandson and his descendants. This seems a very strange story to modern ears. You read it and you automatically ask what exactly going on here? Why was someone cursed for something that his father did? And wasn’t it the grandfather who did something wrong in the first place. Stranger and stranger, the curse is not on the individual it's on a nation, a whole family line. Well, if that's the case then why is that the sin of one person falls on a whole family line of people who follow after?

Some people find all kinds of problems with this story. They even ask why is it in the Bible, and what can we learn from it? There are some extremists on the margins of the Christian church who say the grandfathers curse represents a curse on black people. How do we refute that ridiculous and devilish doctrine? Would you be interested in getting a handle on all this all of that then let’s return to Genesis Chapter 9. Where the people involved are Noah, His son Ham and Ham son Canaan, Noah’s grandchild. Let’s pick it up at the beginning again at verse 18

18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.

(Gen 9 18-19)

The whole earth is now populated, and these verses alerts us to the fact we're not just talking about these 3 individuals anymore. We're talking about how those individuals becoming families, then tribes and then nations, and then ultimately the whole human race. So, perhaps this is the first glimpse of the fact the significance of this incident is bigger than just the individuals involved. Noah’s grandson Canaan will later produce a family and these people became the Canaanites. We now get to the story itself when we are told this in verse 20

Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard.

(Gen 9:20)

So, Noah becomes a farmer and then he plants a vineyard. Think about this for a second when we started this section of scripture a few weeks ago we were introduced to Noah as a preacher of righteousness. He then became a boat builder and after being captain of a boat for while he now becomes a farmer and an owner of a vineyard. From a preacher to a boat builder to a farmer. So, Noah was the first multi-tasker, clearly, he was a man who was adaptable. The story continues in verse 21.

21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside.

(Gen 9: 21-22)

Verse twenty-one says he drank the wine he had made he became drunk, and then he falls asleep naked in his tent. In Matthew chapter 24 Jesus talks about the fact that, before the flood there was eating and drinking, and this is put within the negative context of how God viewed that sinful society. Noah wasn’t ignorant, he had witnessed the negative effects drinking too much had on people before the flood. The important spiritual point is clear, excessive use of alcohol leads to excess like drunkenness and immorality. The shame in this, was not that he drank wine, but that he drank to excess and thereby lost self-control. Which in turn resulted in shameful immodesty. This story, this incident should warn all of us of the potential danger of getting drunk, both for the drinker and for the drinker’s family.

Up to this point Noah is described a just man who was, perfect in his generation. Back in chapter 6 Noah he was also described as a preacher of righteousness, and we are also told, he walked with God. That a great man like this could slip up proves to me that we are all capable of messing up. This is a lesson we all need to hear. We all need to take heed lest we fall.

The plot then thickens, and we shall pick it up next time.