Why do Noah cursed his son for his fault?

Full Question:

Why do Noah cursed his own son for his fault to became drunk and lay uncovered?

Answer:

Including me, lot of people who read this part of the bible get stuck with the same question of doubt. I know it very well because many people already shared their dissatisfaction in the act of Noah. It was also a fact that still many people in the generations of Ham is suffering from this curse even in this 21st century.

We all consider Noah as a man who criticize others for his own faults. I was also one with such a consideration until I decided to find the fact and truth behind the scenes. For that I studied the Scripture to find out the fact about such an act from Noah and the to find the root reason for our misunderstanding about the act of Noah. It opened me a serious of facts behind the scenes which will help anyone completely to remove their misunderstanding about the act of Noah.

One of the root cause for our misunderstanding about the act of Noah is our attitude in drinking wine. Most of us consider drinking wine as similar to alcoholic consumption and consider it as a sin. There is much difference in drinking wine and alcohol. Bible prohibits to become drunk by the over consumption of wine and that is in the New Testament. Noah lived a long time before the time of law and commandments and to became drunk is not a sinful act for him. I want all of you to remove this misunderstanding before reading further.

Now we can take a careful look on this bible part with an intention to understand the things happened on that day, so that we can realize that what Noah done is right or wrong. It is written in Genesis 9:20 which says, "Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father's nakedness."

If you concentrate in reading the above verses by giving priority to the words marked bold, you can see that, Noah proceeded to plant a vineyard for him and from its extract he made his own wine. He drank some of His own vineyard's wine and he became drunk. The next sentence says he lay uncovered inside his tent. The point here is Noah lay uncovered not in the tent of Ham or some where in the field. He laid in his own tent and he got the right or freedom to lay in his tent. And it is very difficult to think of a situation in which Noah and all his sons and their wives and children all stayed in a single tent. At least for sure there will be a separation inside their tent. Even if Noah is lying in Ham's tent, Ham can't oppose him for Noah is his father. But here As Noah is laying in his own tent and there is nothing Ham to do with that.

Ham for some reason came to the tent of Noah and when he saw his father uncovered, there are two good things which he can do. One is to leave the tend without caring for what he had seen and to keep it hidden in his heart. Otherwise he can cover his father himself with a garment. Instead of doing this what he did was he went outside and shared that matter to his brothers. The more worse thing is that he shared that matter to his brothers as a funny thing. That is why it is written there that, "Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father's nakedness."

If you are able to view this incident in the point of view I described, of course you can realize the mistake that happened from Ham's part. But still we need to uncover the curse of Noah. We already knew that what Ham did is wrong. But still to curse his own son is up to Noah. We all feel it difficult to accept the act of cursing Ham by his father Noah. On studying I realized that it is because we consider Noah's curse as a punishment for the act of Ham and it is not so.

According to me, rather than an act of punishment, it was an outcome of Noah's uncontrollable sadness. If we consider the situations around, we can know that it was after the time of flood and there are no other people left on the face of earth other than Noah and his family. Noah is the eldest in his family and blessed with three sons Sham, Ham and Japheth

As he loved his family, he expected their love and care in return too. But, what Ham given in return for all the love and care of his father? Noah was never expecting such an act from his son whom he loved. But when Noah received such an act from his son Ham, it may be intolerable for him and and he may also become extremely sad. I do believe that from this intolerable sadness came the words of curse against Ham.

Almost all of us know that this curse of Noah came for real to Ham and to the generations of Ham. Some of you may think why this curse is so effective. I think it is because of the faith of Noah in God. What Noah done to God was not a simple thing as we imagine. He worked for God alone for long 400 years to build an ark according to God's commandment. Noah is a man who trust in God for a rain which he never knew before. I do respect Noah for this act. Even in this period of New Testament, we doubt God for many of his promises to us. But Noah keep on working for God for all those years believing that God will bring rain one day as he promised. Situations around him was not supporting and people around him considered him as a fool. There were many oppositions and building a ark is never an easy job even in this 21st century. Finally when God fulfilled his promise by bringing rain, there was for sure a tremendous increase in the faith of Noah.

In the New Testament, Jesus taught us, if you said anything without doubting in your heart, it will happen for sure.When Noah with great faith in God said such a curse from his heart without doubting about its fulfillment, the curse came for real to Ham's life and his generations. Now their only hope is that Christ died for them to remove this curse also from their generations.

May God bless you with this answer to understand the innocence of Noah and to remove every misunderstanding from that part of the Bible.