By Every Word

Ham’s Sin

Oct 152010

I hope this short lesson will help those with a passion for studying God’s word identify some techniques I use when studying. Let’s look at this.

Noah had 3 sons- Shem, Ham and Japheth. In chapter 9 of Genesis, Ham had committed a sin. This sin caused Noah to be so angry that one of Ham’s seeds, Canaan, was cursed… the entire lineage of people from the seed of Canaan. What was Ham’s sin?

Genesis 9: 18-29
18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23. 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.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28. And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29. And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.
KJV

First off, in verse 18 there is something significant.
“18. And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.”

Noah had three sons and Noah’s three sons each had children. So what made Ham’s seed significant enough to mention. A quick look at chapter 10 will reveal that this was not Ham’s only son…

Genesis 10:6
6. And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan.
KJV

We never want to just read over something so quickly in the bible and disregard anything as just “flavor text” or filler- everything written actually means something. So why if Ham had 4 sons is Canaan mentioned in verse 18? Why is this seed significant?

Look at verse 22
“22. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.”

In this verse Ham is, again, identified specifically as the father of Canaan. So we need to dig a little deeper with this text at this point and find out what is going on here. What does this verse mean by “saw the nakedness of his father“? By reading verses 20-21,

20. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21. And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.

-we could easily assume this was talking about Noah being naked and move on- but that would not explain the anger of his father and the cursing of an entire seed. There is something missing…

Well something we often overlook, especially those of us who live in the western world, is that when a man and a woman get married they become one flesh. They are no longer two, but one the bible says. So we overlook the fact that Noah had three sons and therefore had to have a wife to bear him these children. Sometimes you may see on an announcement about, or a letter to a married couple- addressed as “Mr. and Mrs. John Doe”. We know because they are married that this includes John Doe’s wife even though her name is not mentioned. When in verse 21 it says “and he was uncovered within his tent” this is referring to Noah’s wife.

Now back to verse 22- what does “saw the nakedness of his father” mean? Well a quick trip through the book of Leviticus will open up revelation to us on this…

Leviticus 20:11
11. And the man that lieth with his father’s wife hath uncovered his father’s nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
KJV

Whoa! Now Noah’s anger is definitely understandable! Now let’s seal this fact.

25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

I like the term used in the NASB which helps us to really understand who Canaan’s brethren are.

25. So he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers.
NASB

Well we know that Ham is Canaan’s father, so who are Canaan’s brothers? well… read on…

26. And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Wait a minute… Canaan shall be the servant of Shem and Japheth- so Shem and Japheth are his brothers… but that’s Ham’s brothers. So how can Canaan have the same brothers as his father? Only if Canaan’s mother is the mother of Shem and Japheth.

And there you have it. Canaan was a seed that was not supposed to be. The land should have been inhabited by the three sons of Noah, but because of Ham’s sin a fourth was added that would cause much issue for Abraham’s seed that was unnecessary. The promised land was the land of Canaan, that Abraham was sent into, which is where the descendants of Canaan dwelt. Canaan’s curse was so important to identify, that Abraham gave important instruction to his son Isaac not to take a wife of the children of Canaan- as did Isaac give instruction of this to Jacob. Esau in his rebellion to his father, took wives of this lineage from Canaan through Ishmael.

It never pays to break God’s laws- it only makes things harder. God has given us specific instruction about life- and it’s all for our good. He is the manufacturer of all creation and knows what is best for His design.

Praise God for His instruction, I will delight myself in His laws and in Him will I trust and obey!

-For the Kingdom!

Work It

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May 272010

How busy are you? How much more can you fit in your agenda each day? It may feel like you barely have time for a restroom break- no need to even consider adding to your day.

It’s amazing though what happens when we line up with the kingdom. When me and my wife turned to the Lord we didn’t think we had enough money to buy even a box of Nutty Bars at the store- let along pay tithes. But we knew it was the law so we followed it- even if it meant having the power turned off. All of a sudden we had more money than before and were able to pay extra on our debts. (Which is another kingdom culture- being debt free)

There is always a resistance to kingdom culture. When someone starts trying to have the Word manifest in their life, the enemy comes against it. He knows once you understand a benefit of the kingdom he cannot hold you back from that anymore because after all- culture is just normal- your lifestyle- it becomes a right. But satan also knows that activation of these rights in your life is a product of belief. You have to believe that you are supposed to live debt free, or be in good health, or prosper as your soul prospers.

One of the things I want to focus on in this post specifically is your work. One of my favorite quotes by Dr. Myles Munroe is “Your job is what they hire you to do, your work is what you were born to do. You can be fired from your job, but you can never be fired from your work.” Your work, which is your purpose, is what satan fights against the most. He sidetracks us by thinking it’s just about keeping you out of heaven. What he really doesn’t want is God’s purpose being revealed in His children and the kingdom of Heaven being manifested in the earth. If you get saved and you die and go to Heaven (by the way we’re coming back to the earth) then that affects just you. However if you get saved and seek out God’s purpose for you and you spread your seed, your gift, your work- then you ultimately affect tens of thousands, millions or even billions of lives. So which of these scenarios impacts the earth with the kingdom? See to carry out God’s purpose in your life is to “BE A PRAISE” to God.

Now for the resistance to your purpose. The enemy will try to keep you so busy and overwhelmed that you feel you don’t have time to do anything else. No time to work on starting my own business- I’m busy enough with my job. I can’t go to school to further my education- I don’t have the monetary resources or time. Can’t work on my dreams, I’m too busy with reality.

Listen to me- Life is more than just keeping a job to pay bills, adding to your savings, so you can retire and die. If we think we have to keep a job or we will not eat- we missed a kingdom concept.

Matthew 6
26) Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

So the enemy keeps us preoccupied with trying to provide these things all of our life and keeps us from our real purpose. There is a WORK that is inside of each and everyone of you that God wants to bring out of you. God doesn’t make anything without a purpose- it’s there. The thing is we have to work out purpose. We say “God has great thing’s in store for me” but we don’t work towards it. We say “The Lord has a better tomorrow for me” but our lack of work shows a lack of faith. After all if it’s already been established- might as well work on it.

If I was cooking and I realized I was missing an ingredient, and I called a neighbor to ask them if they might have it. They tell me “sure, I’ll be right over.” I don’t sit on the couch and worry, fret and cry thinking “Are they really coming with the ingredient? I know they said they were- but will it really happen? What will I do if it never gets here!?!” Noooo- I continue on with my recipe and prepare as if I already have the ingredient in my cabinet because it’s on the way. Why waste time waiting for everything to be here when I know it’s coming? Isn’t God more faithful to His word, than another person is to theirs? So why do we show more faith in people’s promises than to God’s? IF HE SAID IT’S YOURS – IT’S YOURS! Start working as if it is. This is active belief. It’s showing faith through works. Because without works faith is… (James 2:26)

So work it! Work out your gift. Don’t let the enemy remind you how hard your day was when you get home. Be about your work. The job is temporary- your work is permanent. So why let the temporary keep us hostage from our work? God gave you the job, so do it- do it well (after all you are a kingdom representative)- But when you get home get busy on your work. Remember the enemy wants to keep you busy, or tired, or overwhelmed- this is all overcome by reading of God’s Word and prayer. Remember this is the same as knowing and understanding the laws and promises of the kingdom so you will know your rights- and then bringing your petitions to God’s courtroom and presenting His evidence- so you know you’re going to win.

Look at this scripture…

Ecclesiastes 11
6) Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well. (NIV)

Whew! Work it! One of them is guaranteed to succeed…(I could shout right there.) One is guaranteed to prosper you- but it might even be both! What a blessing. His word says “you don’t know WHICH one will succeed” So something is going to succeed. But let’s not shout before we understand the key. Sow your seed in the morning, so do your job God has given you- and at evening don’t let your hands be idle, so work on your purpose. Eventually the work will out perform the job and you’ll have to quit your job to do your work. How awesome is that? Man I love the kingdom!

So don’t be lazy, don’t get tired- Get to work! Seek out your purpose- you will never be happy, never be fulfilled until you find your purpose. Seek out purpose, seek it out daily- then WORK IT!