Oh – sometime I feel so cheated in the coverage, really lack of coverage, which Torah gives to some subjects. Today is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Torah does not introduce Abram until the end of Genesis chapter 11 when he (at 52 years of age) takes Sarai as his woman in Ur, and then again in Genesis 12 when he leaves his family in Haran and goes to Canaan (for the 2nd time) in his 75th year.
Yasher 8:1 And it was in the night of Abram’s birth, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night. 2 And when all the wise men and conjurors went out from the house of Terah, they lifted up their eyes toward heaven that night to look at the stars, and they saw, and behold one very large star came from the east and ran in the heavens, and he swallowed up the four stars from the four sides of the heavens. 3 And all the wise men of the king and his conjurors were astonished at the sight, and the sages understood this matter, and they knew its import. 4 And they said to each other, “This only betokens the child that has been born to Terah this night, who will grow up and be fruitful, and multiply, and possess all the earth, he and his children for ever, and he and his seed will slay great kings, and inherit their lands.”
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The light of Elohim begins to shine in the midst of a very dark world. The 70 nations are now gathered with Nimrod (and his princes) at the helm. They are leading all of ha-a-dam’s seed into ways they should not go. It is in this context that the light of Yehovah is raised for all to see in the life of Abram who, we will see in future lessons, warns Nimrod to turn from his wicked ways.
And they [Nimrod and his princes] said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Gen 11:4)
Yasher 8:21 And all the princes of Nimrod and his great men took counsel together; Phut, Mitzraim, Cush and Canaan with their families, and they said to each other, Come let us build ourselves a city and in it a strong tower, and its top reaching heaven, and we will make ourselves famed, so that we may reign upon the whole world, in order that the evil of our enemies may cease from us, that we may reign mightily over them, and that we may not become scattered over the earth on account of their wars.
These wicked men, Ham’s seed, are rebelling against every thing that Yehovah has commanded them.
So Elohim blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. (Gen 9:1)
We are still building Nimrodian kingdoms for ourselves, and establishing our own statutes, and ordinances and judgments; nothing has changed! Yehovah saw what was happening in Babylon and divided the people, the men (with their families), all over the face of the earth. We can read this story in the first part of Genesis 11.
The remainder of this chapter is all about the genealogy of Shem through Abram. It is in this context, of the rebellion of ha-a-dam’s seed, in which Yehovah brings great light in into our very dark world through his current Melchizedek, Shem.
The Melchizedek, the highest ranking member in Yehovah’s kingdom on the earth, who came from the line of Seth, and then the line of Shem after the flood. Each Melchizedek had the rod of Elohim passed down to him by the previous Melchizedek. It went from Adam, to Enoch, to Methuselah, to Noah, to Shem, to Abraham, to Jacob, to Joseph, and finally it came to Moses just before he brought Yehovah’s people out of the land of Egypt. Continue reading Genealogy Of Shem – Abram→
Part of the portion that we went through in our class this week was an “incident” between Noah and His youngest son, Ham.
And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard. Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 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.” (Gen 9:20-25)
What?! Ham did something to his father and Noah cursed Canaan?
What do we know about Ham from Torah? Practically nothing. He does not seem any different from either of his two older brothers, Japheth and Shem.
But Yasher gives us some very interesting clues as to the temperament of Ham. I like that word Temperament. “Themanner of thinking,behaving, or reactingcharacteristic of a specificperson.”
Get this! Yasher does not even record the birth of Ham. His name is not even mentioned until after everyone comes out of the ark. And here is the only thing Yasher tells us about the birth of Japheth and Shem, and their early years.
Yasher 5:16 And Noah was four hundred and ninety-eight years old, when he took Naamah for his woman. 17 And Naamah conceived and bare a son, and he called his name Japheth, and Noah said, Elohim (the law-maker and judge) has enlarged me in the earth; and she conceived again and bare a son, and he called his name Shem, and Noah said, Elohim has made me a remnant, to raise up seed in the midst of the earth. 18 And Noah was five hundred and two years old when Naamah bare Shem, and the boys grew up and went in the ways of Yehovah, in all that Methuselah and Noah their father taught them.
It appears to me that Ham did not sit at the feet of Methuselah and Noah, learning Yehovah’s ways. Was he a man of the flesh and not interested in spiritual things?
Noah did what he could to provide women of worth for his 3 sons.
Yasher 5:32 And thou shalt choose for thy sons three maidens, from ha-a-dam’s seed, and they shall be thy sons women. … 35 Then Noah took the three daughters of Eliakim, son of Methuselah, as women for his sons, as Yehovah had commanded Noah.
The next time we learn something about Ham it is not sequential but it discusses something that happened just as Noah and his sons were leaving the ark. Ham is stealing something of great value, both historically and tangibly.
Jasher 7:23 And Cush the son of Ham, the son of Noah, took a woman in those days in his old age, and she bare a son, and they called his name Nimrod, saying, At that time ha-a-dam seed again began to rebel and transgress against Elohim. And the boy grew up, and his father loved him exceedingly, for he was the son of his old age. 24 And the garments of skin which Elohim made for Adam and his woman, when they went out of the garden, were given to Cush. [This was the big picture, now let’s find out how that happened.] 25 For after the death of Adam and his women, the garments were given to Enoch, the son of Jared, and when Enoch was taken up to Elohim, he gave them to Methuselah, his son. 26 And at the death of Methuselah, Noah took them and brought them to the ark, and they were with him until he went out of the ark. 27 And in their going out, Ham stole those garments from Noah his father, and he took them and hid them from his brothers. 28 And when Ham begat his first-born Cush, he gave him the garments in secret, and they were with Cush many days. 29 And Cush also concealed them from his sons and brothers, and when Cush had begotten Nimrod, he gave him those garments through his love for him, and Nimrod grew up, and when he was twenty years old he put on those garments.
Nimrod became “the profaned mighty one” on the earth when he put on those garments.
So even as Ham stole those garments from His Father, garments which were to be possessed by righteous men, Ham appears to be thinking ahead in anticipation of his seed becoming elohim in the earth. I wonder if Noah knew it was Ham who stole the garments from him? I think he did.
Now we come to the topic of this article. What did Ham do to his father? In the beginning of this section it says that Ham “saw the nakedness of his father.” So are we to believe that he saw his dad in the buff? Yeah, right! They were all together on the same boat for more than a year. Where in Torah does it say “you shall not see your father nude”? How about your mother, or any man or any woman? It is not there.
No, there is more to this story which only those with discerning eyes can see. The answer is found line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. Seeing “the nakedness of one’s father or mother” usually means that a man has taken his mother or his father’s woman. It is a euphemism, a nice way of saying “don’t have sexual relations with a near of kin.”
The nakedness of your father or the nakedness of your mother you shall not uncover. She is your mother; you shall not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of your father’s woman you shall not uncover; it is your father’s nakedness. (Lev 18:7-8)
But Ham did not take his own mother or his father’s woman; which in this case is the same person, Naamah. No, it appears to me that Ham took his own father and humbled him while he was in a weakened state. Remember what Noah had understood after he awoke.
So Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. (Gen 9:24)
Was this egregious sin the result of Ham being in an unofficial subservient position in his family due to his lack of interest in spiritual matters? Is it possible that his love of the world and his frustrations in his life finally manifested in the humbling of his father Noah, a wholly righteous man?
So now the question you should be asking is why does Torah say that “Noah cursed Canaan”? Canaan is the youngest of 4 brothers, why not curse Cush?
Ham’s seed were Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. (Gen 10:6)
Noah said,
Then he said: “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants He shall be to his brethren.”(Gen 9:25)
So is Canaan to serve Cush, Mizraim and Put, his brethren? Who did those men serve?
No, there is more to understand in this as well; and you will have to watch the video to get “the rest of the story.”
And for the rest of you pitiful individuals who want to use this story to support your racist beliefs, Yehovah is telling Ham and His seed, men of the flesh, to serve Yehovah’s spiritual men. And that is how it will end at the end of this world also; flesh men will serve spiritual men or perish from the earth once again.
For more teachings like this one (beginning at Genesis 1), visit our Join Us for Sabbath page.
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Yasher 8:1 And it was in the night of Abram’s birth, that all the servants of Terah, and all the wise men of Nimrod, and his conjurors came and ate and drank in the house of Terah, and they rejoiced with him on that night.
