God's interactions with humans change with time; and humans' interactions with God vary from one time to another time and to every other time. Take Noah, for example. The Bible's book of Genesis, chapter 6, verse 8, states that of all the mostly-wicked humans on earth Noah "found favor" in the eyes of the LORD. Reading today in Genesis, chapter 9, verses 21-22, the Bible tells how Noah's favor turns into a curse for his son, Ham. Noah plants a vineyard, drinks wine to excess, takes off his clothes, and passes out in his tent. Ham goes into his father's tent, sees everything there, and tells his brothers, Shem and Japheth, outside. They cover the old man (without looking!) and exit his tent.
When Noah wakes up he curses Ham for "what his youngest son had done to him." Although the curse falls on Ham, Noah seems complicit through his thoughtless, risky, drunken behaviors. I imagine these are not the same behaviors exhibited by Noah at an earlier time when he "found favor" in the eyes of the LORD. And if Noah is still "favored" in the eyes of the LORD after cursing Ham, then I imagine it to be a different kind of "favor" altogether.
Does God have respect for Noah's cursing of Ham? Possibly--One of Ham's sons, Canaan, fathers a number of tribes, known collectively as the Canaanites (See Genesis 10:15-19). They appear both in the story of Abram and Sarai, told in the Bible's book of Genesis, and in the story of the Exodus, where they appear as enemies of the Hebrew people. Hold onto that fact for now, reader. Remember it when reading the Bible's book of Exodus.
In the meantime continue reading the Bible's book of Genesis...
No comments:
Post a Comment