Noah, and the power of the tongue

“Now the sons of Noah who went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated” (Genesis 9:18) God had blessed Noah and his sons, and told them to “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (9:1). This was the same commandment that God had told Adam and Eve before the fall, and it was essentially the renewal of that command to make the earth like Eden. God's intention was, and is, that the whole earth be filled with the glory of God as the waters cover the sea. It will happen, God has declared it (Habakkuk 2:14). But we have already seen that there was a lot of opposition to His plan in both the earthly, and the heavenly realms.  After the flood, God was starting over again with Noah and his family, but it would get messed up again, almost immediately.

“And Noah ... planted a vineyard.. he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. .... So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brethren” (Genesis 9:20-25).  The commentators agree that the sense of the Hebrew, is that Ham's telling was done in a scornful, deriding manner. And perhaps what happened here, is that Ham knew better than to let his father see his disdain. But Canaan was not so wise,  and that's why the curse came on him rather than his father.

We discussed in previous meditations that the father's sins tend to get repeated by the children (Exodus 20:5). And what comes to me here, is that “life and death are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21). In the recovery circles in which I move, I have become very aware of the life long wounds inflicted on children by the words of significant care givers. “You'll never amount to anything.” 'You're no good, you're just like your blankety, blank father.'  When such words are taken to heart, as they so often are, they become both part of that person's identity, and a kind of self fulfilling prophecy. We need to see such words as curses on our children.

Unfortunately, these things tend to be passed down to multiple generations (Exodus 20:5).  And this was certainly true with Canaan. The descends of Noah's sons would eventually form the various nations (Genesis 10:32). And Canaan's descendants seem to have been the most prolific (Acts 13:19). In fact, a large part of the middle East became know as the land of Canaan. And the destruction of the nations in that land at the time of the  conquest, was so that Israel would not learn their  “abominable practices.” Such practices included cult prostitution and child sacrifice (Deuteronomy 20:18; 23:17; Leviticus 18:21). It all started with Noah's curse, and we must not underestimate the destructive power of our words.

Father, please help us to take our identity from what You think of us.  And to You, we are Your precious, beloved children (1 John 3:1).  Help us to be especially careful Lord, when speaking to the vulnerable. Forgive when we fail (1 John 1:9), and help us to guard our hearts and tongues,  in Jesus Name Amen