What's wrong in telling?

csldailydevotion

1 Mar 07

Gen 9:20-25

20 Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard.

21 He drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.

22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside.

23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

24 When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him.

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

Why must Ham be so severely shamed by his father? Why is a son cursed for telling his brother what he saw?

For those who attended my BS class, the clue is seen in v23 “BUT”.

The “BUT” reflected a change in atmosphere. It was an indication that there is a difference in response. Shem and Japheth did right but not so for Ham.

The issue lies in the attitude; one for information sharing, the other for protection. Ham saw and shared his father’s nakedness for information. There was no intention to protect or help.

However, the other 2 brothers were mindful of their duties as children that they went in to cover the father’s nakedness. They were also very deliberate to ensure that they do not see his nakedness OUT OF RESPECT FOR HIM. WOW!

Thus, they were praised by Noah.

(btw, it is good to note that bible is silent about Noah’s drunkedness, i.e. drunkedness is not the point of emphasis here)

Do we see ourselves here?

How often we are interested in the INFORMATION of someone’s failing more than the interest to help/protect?

How often we allowed ourselves to “see” more than necessary?

How often we focus on the vulnerability of our leaders (or knowing more about their fallibility) more than our ability to protect them?

Determine today that we will seek to bless more than information gathering.

Determine today that we will be sons/daughters like Shem and Japheth who are more interested in protecting more than gathering of information.


CSL