Why Canaan?... and the Curse Goes On

Throughout the Bible men who achieve heroic stature—Abraham, David, Solomon, Samson—are soon whittled down to size by their own fallen natures.  Noah, the subject of this painting, is a classic example (Gen.:6 :9- 9: 29) Two very different aspects of the life of Noah are represented here. The plan of the arc, drawn to scale, represents his heroic faithfulness and God’s plan in saving humankind and terrestrial animals from the great flood.  

This central image is over- laid by images of Noah’s post-diluvium life. He, being “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.”” planted a vineyard, got very drunk with the wine and wound up drunk and laying naked in his tent. His son Ham, stumbling on his father’s embarrassing condition.” When Noah woke he cursed his own grandson because his father, Ham, had exposed his nakedness to his siblings instead of hiding it as they had done. 

So not only had Noah behaved foolishly but he had compounded the damage by cursing his progeny—a curse which would haunt the people of God right through the reign of Joshua and the Kings on to the time of Jesus and down to present day Israel. The overall look of this painting is serene and garden-like but the real message is from1 Cor. 10: 12.