but we charitably hope the case was different. And perhaps he appointed this feast, with a design, at the close of it, to bless his sons, as Isaac, ch. 27. 3, 4, That I may eat, and that my soul may bless thee. At this feast, he drank of the wine; for who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit of it? But he drank too liberally, more than his head at this age would bear; for he was drunken. We have reason to think he was never drunken before or after; observe how he came now to be overtaken in this fault. It was his sin, and a great sin, so much the worse for its being so soon after a great deliverance; but God left him to himself, as he did Hezekiah, (2 Chron. 32. 31.) and has left this miscarriage of his upon record, to teach us, 1. That the fairest copy that ever mere man wrote since the fall, had its blots and false strokes. It was said of Noah, that he was perfect in his generations (ch. 6. 9.); but this shows that it is meant of sincerity, not a sinless perfection. 2. That sometimes those, who, with watchfulness and resolution, have by the grace of God, kept their integrity in the midst of temptation, have, through security, and carelessness, and neglect of the grace of God, been surprised into sin, when the hour of temptation has been over. Noah, who had kept sober in drunken company, is now drunken in sober company. Let him that thinks he stands take heed. 3. That we have need to be very careful when we use God's good creatures plentifully, lest we use them to excess. Christ's disciples must take heed, lest at any time their hearts be overcharged, Luke 21. 34.
Now the consequence of Noah's sin was shame. He was uncovered within his tent, made naked to his shame, as Adam when he had eaten forbidden fruit. Yet Adam sought concealment; Noah is so destitute of thought and reason, that he seeks no covering. This was a fruit of the vine, that Noah did not think of. Observe here the great evil of the sin of drunkenness. (1.) It discovers men; what infirmities they have, they betray when they are drunken, and what secrets they are intrusted with, are then easily got out of them. Drunken porters keep open gates. (2.) It disgraces men, and exposes them to contempt. As it shows them, so it shames them. Men say and do that when drunken, which, when they are sober, they would blush at the thoughts of, Hab. 2. 15, 16.
III. Ham's impudence and impiety: (v. 22.) he saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren. To see it accidentally and involuntarily, would not have been a crime; but, 1. He pleased himself with the sight, as the Edomites looked upon the day of their brother, (Obad. 12.) pleased and insulting. Perhaps Ham had sometimes been himself drunken, and reproved for it by his good father, whom he was therefore pleased to see thus overcome. Note, It is common for those who walk in false ways themselves, to rejoice at the false steps which they sometimes see others make. But charity rejoices not in iniquity, nor can true penitents, that are sorry for their own sins, rejoice in the sins of others. 2. He told his two brethren without, (in the street, as the word is,) in a scornful deriding manner, that his father might seem vile unto them. It is very wrong, (1.) To make a jest of sin, (Prov. 14. 9.) and to be puffed up with that for which we should rather mourn, 1 Cor. 5. 2. And (2.) To publish the faults of any, especially of parents, whom it is our duty to honour. Noah was not only a good man; but had been a good father to him ; and this was a most base disingenuous requital to him for his tenderness. Ham is here called the father of Canaan, which intimates that he who was himself a father, should have been more respectful to him that was his father.
IV. The pious care of Shem and Japheth to cover their poor father's shame, v. 23. They not only would not see it themselves, but provided that no one else might see it; herein setting us an example of charity with reference to other men's sin and shame; we must not only not say, A confederacy, with those that proclaim it, but we must be careful to conceal it, or however to make the best of it, so doing as we would be done by. 1. There is a mantle of love to be thrown over the faults of all, 1 Pet. 4. 8. Beside that, there is a robe of reverence to be thrown over the faults of parents and other superiors.
24. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. 25. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. 26. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. 27. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
Here,
I. Noah comes to himself. He awoke from his wine: sleep cured him, and, we may suppose, so cured him, that he never relapsed into that sin afterward. Those that sleep as Noah did, should awake as he did, and not as that drunkard, Prov. 23. 35. who says when he awakes, I will seek it yet again.
II. The spirit of prophecy comes upon him, and, like dying Jacob, he tells his sons what should befal them, ch. 49. 1. v. 25.
1. He pronounces a curse on Canaan the son of Ham, in whom Ham is himself cursed; either, because this son of his was now more guilty than the rest, or, because the posterity of this son was afterward to be rooted out of their land, to make room for Israel. And Moses here records it for the animating of Israel in the wars of Canaan; though the Canaanites were a formidable people, yet they were of old an accursed people, and doomed to ruin. The particular curse is, a servant of servants, that is, the meanest and most despicable servant, shall he be, even to his brethren. Those who by birth were his equals, shall by conquest be his lords. This certainly points at the victories obtained by Israel over the Canaanites, by which they were all either put to the sword, or put under tribute, (Josh. 9. 23. Judg. 1. 28, 30, 33, 35.) which happened not till about 800 years after this. Note, (1.) God often visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, especially when the children inherit their fathers' wicked dispositions, and imitate the father's wicked practices, and do nothing to cut off the entail of a curse. (2.) Disgrace is justly put upon those that put disgrace upon others, especially that dishonour and grieve their own parents. An undutiful child that mocks at his parents, is no more worthy to be called a son, but deserves to be made as a hired servant, nay as a servant of servants, among his brethren. (3.) Though divine curses operate slowly, yet, first or last, they will take effect. The Canaanites were under a curse of slavery, and yet, for a great while, had the dominion; for a family, a people, a person, may lie under the curse of God, and yet may long prosper in the world, till the measure of their iniquity, like that of he Canaanites, be full. Many are marked for ruin, that are not yet ripe for ruin. Therefore, Let not thine heart envy sinners.
2. He entails a blessing upon Shem and Japheth.
(1.) He blesses Shem, or, rather blesses God for him, yet so that it entitles him to the greatest honour and happiness imaginable, v. 26. Observe,
