Noah’s Family

Noah had a wife, three boys, and three daughter-in-laws. They were the only people that were allowed to enter the ark before the flood. They were on the ark for about half of a year. I can only imagine what that was like. They had all the animals, no natural light, and no idea when they were going to be able to get off of the boat.

They did know that when they got off the boat that they would be the only family on earth. God told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth with the flood. I wonder what they thought about the perspective of life knowing that when they got off that they would be the only ones left. They didn’t know what the earth would look like or what life would look like post-flood.

Immediately God gave them instructions on what the new life would look like. God told them that everything that creeps on the earth was food for them. He told them to be fruitful and multiply. (It was time for grand-kids!) They were told to respect life especially human life. They were not to kill one another. Then God told them that He would never flood the earth again and put a rainbow in the sky to serve as a reminder of the covenant.

Application

Imagine if you had to spend 6 months in a confined area with your family and family-in-law. Also imagine that you do not know what life would look like at the end of 6 months. How would you get along?

Family Trouble

When Noah got off the boat, he grew a vineyard and got drunk off the wine he made. He removed his clothes and passed out in his tent. Some theologians believe that Noah didn’t know that he would get drunk. This is not the case because people were getting drunk before the flood. Trying to justify sin out of respect for a person is wrong.

Although the point of this passage is not Noah’s drunkeness it is certainly a factor in the breakdown of his family. Sin is always a contributing factor to the breakdown of the family. It is between the husband and the wife, the parents and their children, and immediate family and in-laws. We must guard ourselves against sin to preserve the unity of the family.

Ham exacerbated the situation.

When he saw Noah, he could have just covered him up and left the tent. He chose to dishonor his father by mocking his sin. He went and told his two brothers to look on the nakedness and drunken state of their father. This was disrespectful to their dad. Not only this some theologians believe that what Ham did was much more than just look at his dad’s naked body. There are three theories of what happened in that tent.

1. Voyeurism - The practice of gaining sexual pleasure from watching others when they are naked or engage in sexual activity.

2. Castration - Some theologians believe Ham castrated Noah because their is no record of Noah having any more children.

3. Incest - The verbiage in looking at “saw the nakedness of his father” could mean that he slept with Noah’s wife his own mother. They get this from Leviticus 20:11 11 “‘If a man has sexual relations with his father’s wife, he has dishonored his father. Both the man and the woman are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

This could also be the reason Noah Cursed Canaan. Because Canaan could be the offspring of the incest relationship.

Any one of these reasons are significant to reveal issues in the family. I personally believe in the first theory based on the context of the event. The two brothers simply walked in backwards and covered their fathers nakedness.

So you may ask then why did Noah curse Canaan rather than Ham. I believe two reasons. First, when Noah pronounced blessing and cursing he was speaking prophetically. I believe this because everything he said came true. Secondly, culturally you did not curse your own son because in essence you were cursing yourself.

First He pronounced blessing on Shem. Shem is in the line of Abraham. God chose Abraham to be the father of a chosen nation by God. He was the father of the Israelites. Christ came to the Jews and through the Jews came salvation.

Japheth was the father of the Gentiles. His blessing would be in the tent of Shem. Gentiles are blessed through the holy tent of the Jews. Gentiles receive salvation from a Jew!

Lastly, Canaan was the father of all the “ites” . These were the nations that opposed Israel and tried to prevent them from the promise land. They are still in contention with the nation of Israel.

Application

We must make sure that we keep from sin because it can affect family relations for years to come.