Stay Away From Ham

The sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan… Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth… Canaan begot Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth; the Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite (1 Chronicles 1:8-16).

Ham’s lineage does not look like a good one to inherit. The Hamites have suffered severely throughout history. Dispossession of land seemed to be a common occurrence to them.

Let’s look at Ham’s son, Canaan. Canaan was the father of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites… All of them were enemies of Israel. The Canaanites were driven out from their land during Joshua’s conquest (Joshua 3:10). It didn’t stop there. During the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, the Simeonites dispossessed the Hamites from Gedor and lived in their broad, quiet and peaceful land which had rich, good pasture for their flocks (1 Chronicles 4:39-41).

Not only did the Hamites suffered great persecution. Ham’s lineage also became a source of problems to God’s people.

Let’s look at Ham’s grandson, Nimrod. After Noah’s flood, Nimrod became “a mighty one on the earth” by becoming a source of great evil on the earth. He was the husband of a beautiful witch named Semiramis, who was the Queen of Babylon. Historically, he was called the husband of his mother. The both of them created a satanic cult so powerful that it spread around the world. Nimrod was called by many names, including Moloch. Babies were sacrificed in his honor. After Nimrod was put to death, Semiramis gave girth to another child and claimed that Nimrod had been reincarnated. The child was called Tammuz, and he became the sun god, Baal.

What did Ham do to deserve such an accursed lineage? A dig into his past proved to get even more interesting.

And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside… So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.” (Genesis 9:22-25)

Apparently, there was a time when Ham saw his father, Noah, lying naked and unconscious in his tent. He went outside to tell his brothers, Ham and Japheth. Ham probably made fun of his father, and described what he saw in a disrespectful way by making a spectacle out of it. Ham’s offense resulted in a curse that affected his lineage, and even world history. Some believed that the African peoples were allegedly descended from Canaan, and this justified their slavery.

This incident just goes to show that we should be careful of the things that we do or say, although they may seem funny at that time. We may not be aware of how our careless sins may have serious repercussions at a later point of time.

On a lighter note, probably this incident also inspired the food industry to name a certain meat product after that particular son of Noah. Stay healthy, and keep away from ham!