No 12

(The prophet Noah)

Noah is one of the most familiar characters in the Bible because of the ark that he built and his gathering of each of the various species of animals before the great flood. His sons Shem, Ham and Japheth are also very well known. I used the word “prophet”; a title that Noah rarely gets but he is a prophet, nonetheless. In Genesis 9 : 20 to 29, there is a prophecy given by Noah that is one of the most far-reaching in the entire Bible. The prophecy follows Noah’s drunken stupor and his son, Ham’s indiscretion (Gen 9 : 22). In verse 25 Noah states, “cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren”. Why didn’t Noah say “cursed be Ham” instead? After all, wasn’t it Ham that disgraced his father? Most Bible scholars believe that Noah wanted Ham to feel the same disgrace as he had had with his son. In chapter 10, the Bible describes the generations of Noah’s sons and in verse 6 we see that Canaan is the son of Ham.

As we all know, God gave the land of Canaan later on to the children of Israel. The inhabitants of this land became slaves to Israel : “they put the Canaanites to tribute and did not utterly drive them out” (Judges 1 : 28) thus fulfilling part of Noah’s prophecy; but it goes on to say in verse 26 “Blessed be the Lord God of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant”. One of Shem’s sons is Eber (Gen 10 : 21) who is the father of the Hebrew people and the God of the Hebrew people is the Triune God that we know; another part of Noah’s prophecy is fulfilled; but there is more. In Genesis 9 : 27, the Bible says “God shall enlarge Japheth and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem and Canaan shall be his servant”. Japheth was enlarged in that his descendants were the ones who settled in Europe and most of us today take our roots in Japheth. Now, what is it to “dwell in the tents of Shem”? Again, Bible scholars are unanimous to state that this is symbolic of the gift of salvation that was first given to the Jews but was also given to the Gentiles (Romans 11 : 11, 12). Another aspect of the prophecy concerning Japheth is that “Canaan shall be his servant”. How was Canaan the servant of Japheth? One of Canaan’ s sons was Sidon (Gen 10 : 15) who went on to become the great Phoenician sea-faring people. The Phoenicians were defeated by the Romans who are descendants of Japheth. There are several other connections in this prophesy but these are the main ones. When God makes a promise or states a prophecy it is always, always fulfilled.