The Curse of Ham

[bishoph]

The Curse of Ham

“Touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm” I can still hear my mother firmly say to me. I did not understand the scriptural principle she was trying to establish in my young heart, nor did I know at the young age of three or four the fortress it would build in my life.

Throughout the forty plus years I have been in the Apostolic church, there have been many men that I have regarded with great respect and admiration. As many young ministers do, there were some that I idolized to some degree and wanted to emulate in one fashion or another, only to be let down by their moral or doctrinal failure. Yet when I could not bring myself to denigrate them or as our current generation would say “put them on blast.” Today, however, we live in a church culture that has eroded nearly all respect for ministry and there seems to be no hesitation to not only assassinate ones character but to destroy them by blasting all of their hidden things for the world to see.

First, let me establish that I understand accountability and knowing them who labor among you. I also understand what it means to mark them who have departed from truth, and I am not advocating acceptance/tolerance of sin. “Covering the multitude of sins” does not constitute hiding the sin or sweeping it under the rug, rather, it addresses the sin with the sinner, to accomplish repentance and restoration. Once repentance and restoration has occurred, however, covering prevents the disclosure of said sin to those unaffected by it.

Genesis 9:18-24
18And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. 19These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. 20And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: 21And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. 22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 23And 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. 24And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

Noah, that “preacher of righteousness,” comes off of the ark and plants a vineyard. As harvest time comes around he presses out some fresh grapes. A few days later he drinks more than usual and apparently collapses in his tent unclothed. There are varied commentaries on what actually happened next, however, for this writing we will suffice it to say that at some point his middle son Ham went into the tent and found his father unconscious and “uncovered.” Finding his father in this condition was not the problem; the fact that he had accidentally saw the nakedness of his father was not the issue. Let us never forget; what he did with his discovery forever changed his destiny

Ham could have stopped the potential for embarrassment right then and there. He could have simply covered his father up, or had it been too much of a task he could have enlisted the help of one of his brethren. Instead, he was eager to reveal to others his fathers disparity. The scripture does not say that he made light of it, in fact he could have very well “warned” his brothers so they wouldn’t be exposed as well. The reality is that instead of covering and refusing to spread his fathers “private” matters, he was willing to disclose it to others.

Notice what the judgment for such action was:
Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: “May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives.” Genesis 9:25 (NLT)

Ham’s son, Canaan, was cursed! The judgment did not just affect Ham; it affected his son and all his future generations. What we uncover may not affect us in the here and now, but what affect does it have on our children? When they hear us talk about the “uncovered” state of our brethren, what will be manifested in the harvest?

Of equal importance is the principle we should glean from this Biblical example. Those who engage in this type of action are not qualified for leadership. The curse caused Canaan to become a servant to his relatives. There was no opportunity for leadership, because you cannot be a godly leader when you are always trying to “uncover” the wrongs of others. From the Garden of Eden to Calvary God was intent on providing a covering; it is the enemy of our souls that wishes to uncover.

Finally, let us examine the blessings of covering. I find it interesting that Noah proclaims, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem.” According to Blue Letter Bible’s Lexicon, the name Shem means: there is power in the name of Jehovah, or to celebrate the name of God. Noah is really telling his son I named you right son, our God is our covering, and it is realized in his name. He then blesses Japheth telling him that God will expand his territory and allow him to share in the blessings and wealth of Shem.

Let us never forget, the Mercy Seat is still God’s favorite seat, and you will find at the Mercy Seat the cherubim’s, which cover. Is it any wonder Jesus proclaimed, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.”

Respectfully Submitted

BishopH

These be the musings of an old time preacher, hungering for the old paths.

[pelathais]

What do you mean by old paths?

Noah's sin was one of despair and excess. He seems to have gone to lengths to isolate himself from the rest of the family/community before making himself vulnerable to the ravages of alcohol. Many writers have looked at this passage and seen a man overcome with the destruction around him. Others have speculated that it may have been ignorance of the effects of wine that led to his drunkeness. Neither case justifies his behavior, but the details are important.

When Noah sinned, he tried his best to make sure there were no victims.

When we see some of the criticisms directed at leadership here or in other media we seldom are looking at the isolated sin of a despairing soul. Sadly we often find people using their position and influence to ensnare others in sin as well. It is in these types of circumstances that we must cry "foul."

I know it is distressing for those who have benefitted from good leadership to see other ministers questioned and criticized. But put yourself in the shoes of those who have not been as fortunate as you and try to see how it was silence that facilitated the sin. By keeping silent we often hurt others, including others in leadership who would do the right thing if only they could hear from the victims.

More generally, right now we are dealing with a situation in an organization where many of us have invested years and a great deal of finances and service. There have been voices that have spoken out on this board and demeaned the leadership of that org because of alleged "compromise." Others are actively recruiting to pull as many out as they can. The best way to address this is to shine the light on what people are doing.

I'm sorry, but everytime I hear something about "the old paths" and such I just see that as a code word for a very damaging way of life. I know that's not what you intend, bishoph. But there is so much pain there for me that it has been actually debilitating at times.

I would like to see us go back to the "older paths." The paths blazed by the first generation of pioneers who were literally starved for the Word of God and didn't have all of the baggage that was added later.

[Hoovie]

I have read on this too.... So we are having turkey for Christmas