But you shall not eat flesh with the life of it, which is its blood. (Genesis 9:4)
Why did God prohibit eating meat with blood in it?
One reason God prohibited the consumption of animal blood in the Old Testament was to inculcate respect for the sacredness of life. Blood is viewed as a symbol of life throughout the Bible (Read Leviticus 17:11).
The early New Testament church urged Gentile Christians to refrain from eating bloody meat in order to not offend their Jewish brothers and to distance themselves from the practices of the pagans (Acts 15:20).
Some have gone to suggest that God may have given this command purely for health reasons. Blood present in meat means it is not fully cooked, and eating uncooked meat can lead to disease or sickness.
Bottom line: Whatever we eat should be done to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God He made man. (Genesis 9:6)
Sanctity of Life: This verse underscores the sacredness of human life, created in God's image. The divine image in humanity is a fundamental concept, elevating the value of each life.
Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11)
The world will be destroyed by fire (2 Peter 3:10)
12 And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13 I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14 It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud (Genesis 9:12-14)
The Bible mentions several key covenants, each with its own unique sign or token:
Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:12-17)
- Sign: Rainbow
- God's promise never to destroy the earth by flood again.
Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 17:1-14)
- Sign: Circumcision
- God's promise to make Abraham the father of many nations and to give his descendants the land of Canaan.
Mosaic Covenant (Exodus 19-24)
- Sign: The Ten Commandments
- The covenant between God and the Israelites at Mount Sinai, including the laws and commandments.
Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
- Sign: David’s Lineage
- God's promise that David's descendants would rule Israel, culminating in the coming of the Messiah.
New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34, Luke 22:20)
- Sign: The Blood of Christ
- A new covenant was established by Lord Jesus during the Last Supper, signifying a new way of reconciliation between God and humanity through Jesus' sacrifice.
The rainbow has to do with the everlasting covenant, or agreement, that God made with all of Noah’s descendants and every living creature on earth after the flood. “Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood.” (Genesis 9:15)
That was God’s unconditional promise, and the rainbow is God’s beautiful and powerful sign of that promise.
And Ham, the father of Canaan, glanced at and saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside.
So Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it upon the shoulders of both, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness.
When Noah awoke from his wine, and knew the thing which his youngest son had done to him, (Genesis 9:22-24)
Shem, Ham and Japheth
Ham was not the youngest - He was the middle son
Just as Reuben (the firstborn son of Jacob) lost his right to be the elder son because he had sex with one of Jacob’s wives, so then Ham too lost his position.
After Noah uncovered himself in his drunken state, Ham saw his father and told his two brothers. Ham looked upon his father's nakedness but Shem and Japeth did not. Instead, they covered it. Noah awoke from his drunkenness, realized what Ham had done, and then proceeded to curse Canaan.
Then he said: Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren. And he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japeth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem and may Canaan by his servant (Genesis 9:25-27).
Several questions arise:
1.Why did Noah curse Canaan, was not Ham the one that committed the sin?
2.What was the sin of Ham that caused Noah to curse the descendants of Ham?
3.Why was the punishment so severe?
Sin Of Ham
Many explanations have been offered as to the exact nature of the sin of Ham, and the harsh punishment that was placed upon Canaan. The event may give only a brief outline of a more sinister episode.
1.Castration
Some argue that Ham castrated Noah-which showed why Noah had no other sons. This crime would, of course, warrant the punishment.
2.Incest
Others believe it was a case of incest. Ham slept with his own mother thus uncovering his father's nakedness. Canaan, it is argued, was the offspring of that union.
Leviticus 18:1-18, 20:17-21,9 where, for example, we read: "If a man takes his sister, a daughter of his father or a daughter of his mother, and sees her nakedness, and she sees his nakedness, it is a disgrace, and they shall be cut off in the sight of their people; he has uncovered his sister's nakedness, he shall be subject to punishment." (20:17, NRSV)
3.Something wrong done to Noah by Ham
Some bible scholars say that Ham had sex with Noah and hence the dreaded curse
Of course, we do not know for sure.
The most interesting fact to note is that there was no intoxicating wine or alcohol in the Garden of Eden. From the time of Adam till the time of Noah, the first 1650 years there was no fermentation and therefore no alcohol and no drunkenness.
The first mention of alcohol in the Bible is with reference to Noah and his sons. Whether Noah innocently drank for the very first time or knowingly we don’t know. All we know from scripture is that Noah got drunk and all this ended with his son Ham being cursed.
This curse certainly had generational implications. All this finally resulted in a family divided between the brothers that led to the infamous generational Israel-Philistia conflicts.
Chapters
- Chapter 1
- Chapter 2
- Chapter 3
- Chapter 4
- Chapter 5
- Chapter 6
- Chapter 7
- Chapter 8
- Chapter 9
- Chapter 10
- Chapter 11
- Chapter 12
- Chapter 13
- Chapter 14
- Chapter 15
- Chapter 16
- Chapter 17
- Chapter 18
- Chapter 19
- Chapter 20
- Chapter 21
- Chapter 22
- Chapter 23
- Chapter 24
- Chapter 25
- Chapter 26
- Chapter 27
- Chapter 28
- Chapter 29
- Chapter 30
- Chapter 31
- Chapter 32
- Chapter 33
- Chapter 34
- Chapter 35
- Chapter 36
- Chapter 37
- Chapter 38
- Chapter 39
- Chapter 40
- Chapter 41
- Chapter 42
- Chapter 43
- Chapter 44
- Chapter 45
- Chapter 46
- Chapter 47
- Chapter 48
- Chapter 49
- Chapter 50