Revelations through reaction

We are coming to one of the pivotal points in the story of Noah. After all the learning, preparations, building the ark, survival of the flood and trying to rebuild the whole world –
Noah misjudged the amount of alcohol he could tolerate. Regardless of the motivation behind it, this was a rather embarrassing situation. It is hard for us to understand what
exactly has happened, therefore we should try not to judge Noah based on it (especially not based on it alone).

Overall, we have to be honest and admit that the consumption of alcohol is always a sensitive topic of conversation. As adults, we discuss the laws surrounding the acceptable levels of intoxication. Eventually arriving at some artificial figure or measure, we are looking to the government rulings to ensure that agreed levels of compliance is backed up by the law of one form or another.

More and more complications will arise once there are zealous people in power. Once the ability to limit anyone’s freedom is in place, it becomes easier and easier to move the goal posts around them. It will come in the form of amendments to the current laws, which will often be easier to implement. As such, we are constantly discussing the system in place, trying to ensure that the balance is struck.

Even in that environment, we see some lobby groups pushing for guidelines which have nothing to do with science or lived experience. Since we are discussing alcohol, as an example, we see advertising for the full prohibition of the consumption of wine during pregnancy. Make no mistake, alcohol consumption should be monitored much more carefully at that point, however it does not need to be fully stopped.

Why is it relevant? Simple, although it can be suggested to be on the safe side and stop drinking alcohol, we need to convey the full data available and provide the guidelines. In this situation, we can expect a much calmer and more balanced approach to it. Similar arguments can be used for driving after a party and much more.

However, Noah lived at a time when there were no policies or guidelines. Strictly speaking, we do not have a clear description of Noah’s experience with wine prior to the flood. Did he have it? If yes, how did he know when to stop drinking? Was he in any embarrassing situations before? Was it due to overconsuming alcohol? Or maybe the reason behind this embarrassing situation was his lack of experience? Not sure at this point (and yes, there are a lot of very interesting possibilities, but I personally doubt they make much difference to the topic of our discussion).

Now Noah’s sons are coming into the picture. We see Ham and his reaction, humiliating and mocking his father. Without any background story, the reaction is clearly inadequate to say the least. We can talk about the description of some actions, like saying “saw his father’s nakedness” in the story, however there is nothing positive we can say about Ham in this situation. And to add insult to the injury, he has decided to tell his brothers about it. Why? If we understand the moral low point, we cannot be really surprised that Ham’s son
Canaan is not stopping his father.

Now, let us get to Japhet. Where is he? What does he think? Actually, we do not know. There is no description beyond obviously listening to Ham and not stopping him. Why? Could it be just shock? Was the gossip too juicy? Or maybe just indifference? We do not know, but we can see the lack of an immediate response. This is a space of doubt and uncertainty. At this point, let us remember the famous saying – “I do not fear my friends – all they can do is betray me. I do not fear my enemies – all they can do is kill me. I fear indifferent – it’s with their silent approval that friends betray and enemies murder”.

Japhet is not showing any initiative in the situation. He seems to be indifferent up to the point that Shem is offering the solution – to walk backwards with some clothes on his shoulders and try to bring some dignity to their father. Japhet helps Shem, so we see that he is trying to be on the right side of the story. This is encouraging.

Now we are up to the point of Noah waking up and realising what has happened. His reaction is to give blessings to his children. This is the moment when we see the most human reaction with consequences still projected to our lives. First reaction is being upset with Ham, so Noah is cursing Ham’s son. Canaan is promised to be a slave among slaves to his brethren. If we are reading the text carefully, we see that Ham is close to his son. Therefore, this is the biggest punishment for Ham – his actions saw a curse brought on his child.

Now, Noah goes right to Shem. Noah starts with blessing the Almighty first and giving an unconditional blessing to Shem. Again, the point of Canaan being a slave to Shem is brought up. Only afterwards, the blessing for Japhet is recorded, however it is a blessing of expending and living with Shem. It is a wonderful blessing, yet we can see the clear difference. And once more, we hear that Canaan is going to be a slave to them.

So to summarise, there is not much dialogue recorded in this part of the story. We are left to wonder what thoughts went through their heads and even what particular words were spoken between brothers and Ham’s son. However, the reaction is recorded, and it is all that matters. Sure enough, Noah knew the behavioural patterns of each of his sons and his grandson, thus he understood the situation without the need to recap it. Sons might have spoken that way before, however now they have moved to action, and it was enough to have the blessings at that stage. Important point, especially if we consider that Noah lived for another 50 years afterwards.

Many lessons can be learned from it, but let us name a few. We should always try to help people around us to overcome embarrassing situations. This is just the right thing to do. Furthermore, there is a point when we need to choose which advice we are ready to follow -Ham or Shem. Above all, we need to show respect to our parents as well as for parents to teach their children. The latter is not just a friendship or partnership, but rather a very specific family structure.

Our reaction reveals more about us than we may anticipate. Let’s continue to learn together.