The Sins of the father

Genesis 10:1-32

Verse one begins in this way; “These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.  Sons were born to them after the flood.”  I found it very interesting the positions taken by the sons of these three men; the sons of Japheth were coastland people, the sons of Ham; Ham had four sons, Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan.  What got my interest is that chapter 9:22 states “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.”  If we drop down to verse 25, it says; “he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” For the first time it became clear to me that the brothers he is going to serve are Crush, Egypt-Mizraim, and Put, and their children, but why Canaan?  As with so many things in God’s word that are not clear to my small mind, this is one.  Could it be that Ham’s favorite of the sons was Canaan, and that is why Noah cursed him and his children?  This is a mystery to me but not to God who has seen the beginning and the end of time.

We are told that Crush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man, he was a mighty hunter before the Lord, and he built kingdoms like Babel, Assyria, and in Assyria he built Nineveh.  Egypt – Mizraim, (Scripture gives both names for this son) had six sons and from them came the Philistines and the Caphtorites. 

Verses 15-20 states; “Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, and of the Hittites, Jebusties, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha.  These are the descendants of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.”  You may want to check this out but most of these groups or nations became enemies of God and stood against the commands of a holy God.  Sodom and Gomorrah may have been the most sinful of all, when the angels of God entered the city in the appearance of men, the men of Sodom and Gomorrah wanted to take them by force to have sex with them.  The Bible gives this account in Genesis 19:4-5, “Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom-both young and old-surrounded the house.  They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight?  Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” 

I believe it is important to recall that these people came from Ham’s son Canaan whom Noah put a curse on.  What was Ham’s sin, the Bible tells us only that Ham looked on his father’s nakedness and told his brothers.  One thing that history has been clear in is the next generation will always go farther into sin than their fathers did.  This is what the angels of God told Lot in Genesis 19:12,13, “The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here – sons-in-laws, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you” Get them out of here, because we are going to destroy this place.  The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.” 

Two thoughts to ponder, first Lot came with many servants, his daughters were married or promised in marriage and yet he left Sodom and Gomorrah with only his two daughters and his wife; the others did not fear God, and they loved the life of sin.  Second, who or where did the outcry to the Lord come from?  I believe the answer may come from Job 1:6-7, “One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them.  The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”  Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.”  It is at that point God brings up the name of Job and Satan begins to accuse Job of only trusting God because of the hedge God has put around him and his family.  Satan went after Jesus trying to tempt him, and in Zechariah 3:1, we have this account of Joshua the high priest; “Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him.”  The apostle Peter gave us this information in 1Peter 5:8, “Be self-controlled and alert.  Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaming lion looking for someone to devour.” 

I must always remember God is holy, and because of that one fact, He will always be true to His character, God is holy, He will not allow sin to go unpunished!  He is love, and He is mercy, and all of that buys sinful men time, but in the end, God is holy and that requires that He be just.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice