To all:
Here are some points that don’t add up with the Literal Interpretation on the Story of Noah and Ham:
#1.
God's Morality or Goodness.
God is into fair justice.
Luke 12:47-48 says,
Lk 12:47 "And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not
himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many
stripes.
Lk 12:48 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few
stripes."
The person who interprets the story of Noah and Ham literally is suggesting that God had Noah curse Canaan over a very minor transgression. For neither Ham and nor Canaan do anything even worthy of many stripes that he and his descendants were going to receive. Looking at one's father's nakedness and telling your brothers about it is like J-walking. I know most today if they seen their father naked in his room and they told their sons or daughters about it, they would be like ... "So what?" "He can do whatever he likes in the privacy of his room." "Maybe he has to air out a rash in his lower regions or something." "Maybe he got frisky with his wife." "Maybe he was hot."
In either case, cursing Canaan (who is Ham's son) for Ham looking at his father nude is overkill. It is a curse upon all the descendants. Over what? His father looking at his own father naked? Really? It not only does not make any sense but it is not in any way deserving of a crime to curse scores of unborn people. Question: Is it ever mentioned in the Bible that the Canaanites struggled with looking at their own fathers in the nude? Surely not. But we do see the Canaanite's sin being mentioned in relation to incest laws in
Leviticus 18 (See
Leviticus 18:3). This was the crime from the very beginning that was befitting of God's judgment.
#2.
God's Word on the Teaching of Idioms or Figures of Speech.
For example:
Revelation 17:3 says,
"...and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads."
Yet,
Revelation 17:9 says,
"And here
is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains." (
Revelation 17:9).
What the literalist on Genesis 9 is basically saying to me is that the same phrase or figure of speech that is explained to us in
Leviticus 18 and seen in
Genesis 9 is like ignoring the example given to us in
Revelation 17:9. In other words, it would be like ignoring that the seven heads are not seven mountains according to
Revelation 17:9. No doubt there are probably people out there who do not think the seven heads are seven mountains.
For the idiom in Leviticus 18:7-8,
Leviticus 20:11, Leviticus 20:17 are still true. It is not erased by what is said in earlier part of the Bible (For God had used Moses to write all five books of the Torah). But let's look at verse 10 in
Leviticus 18. What
Leviticus 18:10 is saying is essentially this: A father who sleeps with his own daughter is forbidden in doing so because she is genetically related. It is saying that the daughter is genetically related to her father. Hence, why she is his own nakedness. They have similar traits physically when they are both nude. They are both of the same flesh. So the possession is different than say a husband and wife who are joined together in marriage. That kind of possession is different because they are not supposed to now be sleeping with close of kin. So the possesion between a husband and wife is different vs. the possession of a father and his daughter. It still does NOT change the idiom or figure of speech that is defined for us in the Bible. In other words, it is like a person who comes along from another country and they are attempting to change the word "cool" within our culture here in America because they prefer people to speak more literal. But life does not work that way. The Bible has figures of speech that defines things for us (just as the real world has figures of speech).
#3.
How the Real World Works.
In a person's literal wooden reading of the "Story of Noah and Ham", they have to ignore how the real world works in order to make their interpretation or view on this story true.
Here are problems a person may run if they ignroe reality or the real world within Gensis 9:
(a) Most people today do not stare at their own father's nakedness.
(b) If somebody was sick and perverted to stare at their father naked, what would it accomplish or serve to tell his brothers about it? Surely, he should know that they would not share his perverted views and it would be like admitting to your own crime.
(c) If Ham's gazing upon his father was not sexual but merely was a means to tell his brothers about how silly their father was by his drunkenness, I highly doubt they would be concerned about his father being naked within the privacy of his own tent. Now, if Noah was out in the open outside of his tent all naked and passed out drunk, that would be different. But nothing like that has happened here.
(d) What purpose does it serve for the brothers to put a sheet on their father if he was inside the privacy of his own tent? Where was Noah's wife in all of this? Eight people were saved on the Ark. As for Noah's wife: At this point, during sleep, her duty is to be by her husband's side. Could not Noah's wife cover her husband's nakedness? Why did she need the two brothers to do it?
(e) Noah woke up and knew what his son had done unto him. How is this possible? If a person is unconscious and sleeping, they are not aware of what is going on in the world around them (unless Ham was given divine intervention or unless Ham threatened to have a child by his wife so as to assert his power).
(f) Why would Noah immediately wake up and then start to curse Canaan (Who is a son of Ham)? Why curse the son for the father's crime? It makes no sense.
(g) Now, if you are into the idea of Ham sexually abusing his father theory: Then how did Noah not wake up during such abuse?
These are the things that IMHO cast serious doubt on the literalist interpretation on Noah and Ham's Story. In either case, whether folks here agree or disagree, I love you all in Jesus Christ.
May God bless you all greatly today this fine day.
With loving kindness to you all in Christ Jesus.
Sincerely,
~ BL. Highlighter.