God Blesses Noah
After meditating on the words that are contained in the Genesis 9:1, “And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, ‘Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.’” (KJV), I have cried out, again, and again, “How merciful God is!” Yes, I took note that following the flood, God repronounced the original blessing on Noah and his three sons, that he had pronounced upon Adam (cf. Genesis 1:27). That is why I cry out, in the words of Jeremiah, “The steadfast love of God never ceases, his mercies never come to an end, they are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV). Despite the mess that humanity has made for itself and of itself, God had to bring the deluge (the flood), yet, God in his mercy, preserved humanity through Noah and his family, after the flood. Truly, again, as the Psalmist says, God “will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever.” (Psalm 103:9 NKJV). God blesses us.
Contrast God’s attitude with Noah’s and see what happens in the upshot of the blessing. As part of the blessing, Noah became a farmer. Genesis 9:20-26 states it thus, “And Noah began to be a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine and was drunken, and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father, and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem, and Canaan shall be his servant.”
I won’t go into the sardonic interpretations that have been used about the “Curse of Ham,” since they have been debunked by so many who understand that such was constructed to support the enslavement of Africans or the Canaanites or other peoples of the earth. No, there is no place here for such absurdity. Anyone today, who is thinking that they have a right to put people down and enslave them in one way or the other, better know that such is demonic; it is not authorized by God.
The blessing pronounced on Noah interests me greatly because I see it as something directed to all of us. It is a sharp contrast between the attitude of God and that of Noah. God blessed Noah. But after Noah got drunk and made a fool of himself and finally came to his senses, he cursed his grandson, Canaan, because Ham saw Noah naked and laughed. For how many generations that curse was supposed to be, we are not told. What is evident is that Noah was ashamed and embarrassed by his son Ham. Is it that Ham just saw his father’s nakedness and made mockery of him, by calling his two brothers to come look at him? Did he commit some act of immorality, as is suggested by some commentators? No one is sure, but, the point is that Noah got mad and cursed his grandson.
Noah’s actions, cause me to question whether or not I have made a fool of myself before my children by my actions? Did they get the curse for my foolish behavior? Have I, as a parent, passed a blessing or a curse upon my children, and grandchildren, by my hasty words or foolish actions? My reflections are profound, for I have seen so many parents who, after being reformed, began to blame and curse their children for their children’s behaviors, instead of praying for them and blessing them.
It is good that God is so merciful to us. If by any means God would curse us, as we have likely cursed our children and others when we have made fools of ourselves, we might all be living under a curse instead of a blessing. May God help us to pass on his blessings rather than curses.