So here are some facts from today’s reading in the One-Year Bible that you might not have known or remembered.
Noah, his family and all the rescued animals were in the ark for more than a year because of the great flood. Actually, it was 375 days based on the biblical account.
Even after the ark bottomed out on a mountaintop, the doors of the ark remained shut for more than seven months.
When Noah set the dove free the last time and it didn’t return, he still waited about three months before leaving the ark.
Why did He wait so long to exit the ark after seeing the ground was dry some two months before the departure actually occurred?
Because he was waiting on God to tell him when to leave the ark.
Noah reasoned that God told him when to enter the ark and that God would tell him when to leave the ark.
That’s just what happened in Genesis 8:15-17.
“Then God said to Noah, ‘Come out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives. Bring out every kind of living creature that is with you—the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move along the ground—so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in number on it.’”
God didn’t condone the eating of meat until after the animals departed from the ark.
Animals had no fear of mankind until God placed it there following their departure from the ark. This makes sense in view of the fact that animals could not have feared being killed and eaten and still have willingly walked into a floating zoo with no escape path.
As bad as it was that Ham gazed upon his dad Noah’s nakedness when the old man got drunk on his own wine, Noah bears much responsibility for the mess as well.
If Noah had not failed to exhibit self-control, perhaps he wouldn’t have passed out on the floor of his tent and Ham wouldn’t have seen his dad without clothing.
Ham had no excuse for his voyeurism and trying to recruit his brothers Shem and Japheth to take a peek. Yet Noah was culpable as well by not knowing when to say when.
The curse that Noah placed on gawking Ham didn’t stop with that youngest of three sons. In fact, it is still punishing Ham’s legacy to this day and fostering conflict around the world.
Here are the descendants of Ham:
Canaan, the father of the Canaanites who tormented the Israelites throughout the Old Testament and still do — as Palestineans — to this day. The Canaanites eventually settled in and around Sodom and Gomorrah.
Egypt (yes, that was his name), the father of several large, subsequent tribes, including the Philistines who plagued the Israelites in the centuries before David.
Cush, the father of Nimrod who was a mighty warrior and established the cities of Babylon and Ninevah, the later capital of Assyria.
There has been a remarkable amount of generational hatred shown by these descendants toward the descendants of Noah’s good sons, including Abraham and his descendants.
This is classic “sins of the father visited upon the children” stuff.
How would you like to have your descendants include the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Egyptians, the Babylonians, Ninevites, and modern-day Palestineans?
Please be very careful to avoid sinning, my friend.
There’s always a greater cost than we see.
When you do sin — and everybody sins — repent quickly rather than wait until you’re discovered.
The risk of long-term damage is just too great to blow it off, as Ham did, as a big joke.
As always, I love you
Martin
