Drunkenness: What we can learn from Noah, Ham, Shem and Japheth
“Noah… drank some of the wine and became drunk, and he lay uncovered in his tent… Ham… saw the nakedness of his father.”
Gen. 9:21-22
Noah had a drink and became drunk. The righteous man in the eyes of the Lord (Gen. 7:1), the man who saw and experienced the salvation of the Lord, the man who walked with God is now a drunkard who exposed his nakedness, seen by his son Ham.
It destroys health, character, family, peace, and brings about nakedness, shame, poverty and so on. Proverbs and many other books of the Bible are replete with such warnings. While we do not need to elaborate on them much, let us just continue this line of thought.
Meanwhile, let us also not forget what Ham did. While his father was drunk, he saw his nakedness and without covering him up, he went to his brothers and told them about it. What do we do when we see our brothers, relatives and friends doing shameful things? Do we walk away and spread their story, or do we help them up?
Who are we today? Are we Noahs who gets drunk, or are we Ham who looks simply on and tells others, or are we Shem and Japheth who helps others from their drunkenness and nakedness?
