After the flood had passed and the Lord had dried up the land, Noah and his family along with the animals that God had instructed to put on the ark as well, came down from the vessel and became a new beginning, a new start for the reborn world under God. It had been sometime since the flood had passed and Noah had become a man very interested in the growing of grapes and he formed his own vineyards. He became very drunk off wine one day as he made his way to his tent, where he unclothed himself and was naked and uncovered before he passed out. God was very displeased and He frowned upon Noah 's actions. We find that although Noah allowed himself to get drunk off wine, God did not condemn him for his actions, but this account does in fact show a negative consequence coming from this incident. (Arnold, page 61) Ham, the son of Noah, discovered his father in the tent unrobed and exposed. Instead of doing the right thing, and covering up his father, he ran and told his brothers what his father had done. A violation of the biblical principle, Ham 's disrespect and dishonorable act towards his father was a sin. Japheth and Shem respectfully covered their father, even walking into the tent backwards, taking precautions to not fixate their eye 's on their father 's nakeness. Some author 's have said that Ham 's sin had to do with seeing his father 's nakedness and doing nothing about it, and others have argued that it was because he ran and gossiped about it to his brothers, is what made the incident a sin. (Arnold, page 61) If Ham would have been more respectful of his father, then his life and the that of his descendants would have never been rough. Now, lets look at a couple of theories as to why Canaan, son of Ham would one day be cursed. Noah had awaken from his drunken stupor and found out what his son Ham had done. This angered Noah and he cursed Ham 's son, Canaan. Which is why there is room left open to believe that Canaan was also involved in this
Cited: rnold, Bill T. Encountering the Book of Genesis. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 1998.Davis, John J. Paradise to Prison: Studies in Genesis. Salem, Wisconsin: Sheffield Publishing Company, 1998. Walvoord, John F, and Roy B Zuck. The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty. Nashville: WORDsearch, 1983.