August 18, 2026; Genesis 9:18-28

Daily Dose of Hope August 18, 2026   Scripture: Genesis 9:18-28   Prayer: Holy God, We come before you today in humility and awe.  You are a good God.  You, who put the stars and planets in motion, also created us.  You care about the most minute details of our lives.  You have numbered the hairs on our head.  Thank you for loving us.  Thank you for caring so much.  Help us be put even a small reflection of your love toward those around us.  More of you and less of me, Jesus.  Amen.   Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope Church daily Bible reading plan.  We are currently doing a deep dive into the book of Genesis, which will be followed by a deep dive into Exodus.  I think you have already realized there is a lot of substance in these chapters!  Today, our reading is the second half of Genesis 9.    Although the judgment of the flood changed the earth, it did not change the heart of humans, which is still inherently sinful.  Today's reading is strange.  Most of you probably noticed that.  But I don't think the point of the story is Noah's drunkenness.  Rather, the point is that even though we have this beautiful renewed earth and humans are given a second chance, sin is still rearing its ugly head.   Let's go deeper.  The Scripture says that Noah, as the new Adam, is a man of the ground, which means he was a farmer.  He plants a vineyard and gets drunk on his wine.  Here is where things get odd.  In his drunken state, Noah is naked in his tent.  Thus, his nakedness was seen by his three sons.  Most of us would say, well who cares?  Not that big a deal.  But there is more here than we can see on the surface.  What does it mean that the three sons "saw Noah's nakedness?"   There are different theories.  One is simply that Ham saw his dad naked and didn't do anything to cover him up.  He then shared this bit of gossip with his brothers.  That is the most straightforward, but it seems a little extreme that his father would then curse him and his sons forever.    More scholars tend to think that some kind of sexual sin occurred here.  Some think that Ham sexually assaulted his father and others think he assaulted his mother, who was most likely laying next to Noah.  Regardless, it was bad and then he went and told his brothers.   His brothers had more wisdom.  In contrast to Ham, Shem and Japheth went to great trouble to cover up their father and not look at his naked body.  They actually walk backwards so they don't have to see his exposed parts.  And they end up being blessed for this.   And Ham ends up being cursed.  Actually, its his son, Canaan, who really gets the curse.  This is a painful lesson.  When we sin, we make the assumption that we are going to bear the consequences of that sin.  But with so many things, it isn't just the sinner who bears the sin, it's their offspring and future generations.  The sin of Ham results in the Canaanites being cursed – they become horribly perverse in the next few hundred years.  In fact, the Canaanites are often held up as an example of how we are not supposed to be.  The whole Canaanite culture was shaped by Ham's sin.    It isn't until Jesus that we see this begin to change.  I think of the Canaanite woman who begs Jesus to heal her daughter who is suffering.  It's an odd exchange in the Scripture (look up Matthew 15 or Mark 7), and she and Jesus have dialogue about how even the dogs get to eat their owners' scraps.  In the end, Jesus is amazed by both her wit and her faith.  Her daughter is healed.  And Jesus shows us that his mercy and love now extend even to the Canaanites.    Blessings, Pastor Vicki