I was hanging out at the homestead one afternoon, studying one of the best books of the bible, Genesis. When I came to chapter nine, I read a story that a lot of us may be familiar with. Noah, and the family had just gotten off a boat that they'd spent forty long days and nights all cooped up in. Meanwhile, the rest of the world perished. Imagine being Noah, stepping out of that beast of a boat only to see, that as land began to appear the corpses of many others were dead and lying about. Not a pretty picture at all. None of us take the time to see it that way because the author spared those gory details from the reader. But its obvious that the bodies couldn't have just disappeared, because, of Noah's response.

In Genesis 9:21 it talks about Noah getting drunk. Now bear with me, some of you are wondering what this has to do with spreading the shame of others-I'm getting there. Noah just got filthy drunk, and it doesn't tell us why. Maybe he just liked the wine too much, maybe he'd just had a fight with the wife, or maybe it was because of the world having died and gone to everlasting. No one knows for sure. But we do know that his drunkenness was a sin against God. In Ephesians 5:18 it says, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the spirit." Knowing that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever after, we understand that Noah messed up!

The same thing happens to our brothers and sisters in Christ sometimes. They may become jealous, rude, selfish, full of pride, and even greedy. Some of them even display their shame openly. Many of them may have seen terrible things like Noah did. Tons of bodies--or problems, may be outside the boat that God saved them in. They may have a hard time dealing with that. They may come to you for help. There are many responses we can give to a person in need. Noah's shame was exposed explicitly in Genesis 9:22. Ham saw his father as naked as the day he was born.

Unfortunately Ham responded much like we do sometimes when our fellow Christian's shame is exposed. We tell the world about it. In verse 9:22-23 we see two different responses, "Ham the father of Canaan, saw his father nakedness and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then walked backward and covered their father's nakedness. Their faces were turned away so they would not see their father's nakedness."

Ham responds by spreading his father's shame, but his brother Shem and Japheth cover up their father's shame. Shem and Japheth knew that it was not their job to judge, or disgrace their father. That was a responsibility of God. They also knew that if they dishonored Noah that they would dishonor God, for Noah was a child of God.

At time, Ladies, we too, act like Ham. We become our brothers and sister adversary instead of helper. We spread the shame of some sin they are trying to conquer and be victorious over, instead of covering their shame and helping them become pure again. The scary part is when we pass judgment on a person as a result of being exposed to their shame. Ham told on his father, as a result God dealt with him for trying to play the part of the Lord Almighty.

In Genesis 9:24-10:1-12 I recognized God's way of dealing with people who judge his children. God allows Noah to curse Canaan, who happens to be Ham's child. Canaan ends ups starting cities that fight God's kids all throughout the Old Testament. Those of you who have read a lot of the Old Testament may recognize some of these armies, the Amorites, and Hittites. Even Cush, another son of Ham had some impacting influence. Cush's son Nimrod started cities like Babylon, Assyria, and Nineveh. These places are commonly known as places of shame and disgust to the Lord, and full of lawless people. One act of Ham, taking it upon himself to shame his father, effected his son and generations to come. What we do and how we treat others is important. The tongue is a dangerous weapon.

As far as I know, we don't directly see how God deals with Noah's sin of drunkenness, but he really lays the hammer on the judgmental Ham. So before you find yourself gossiping about someone else's situation of shame and struggle, remember what happened to one of the first gossipers in the bible. The tongue of destruction became a lineage of destruction.

They weren't kidding when they said the bible has something on everything! God bless you all and remember as you walk out in this world to Love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself!

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