Sunday, November 16, 2008

Genesis 9:24

And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
  1. After waking Noah knew what Ham had done to him (which is more, I think, than we know from this account - has Paul Harvey done a "rest of the story" segment on this?).
  2. How did Noah know what Ham had done? Was there evidence of some sort, or did the Lord tell him?
  3. I think it's interesting that there's no mention of Noah feeling any accountability for what happened, which further suggests there is more to this story. Certainly if it were just a matter of Noah collapsing drunk and naked in his tent with the tent flap open so anyone could see, and it was just Ham's luck that he was the first to come by, then it seems to me it was Noah's problem, not Ham's. I doubt if that's the correct story. Many people have tried to figure this out. There's a lot of speculation. I'm just going to leave it alone.
  4. If this story leaves out important details so as to cause confusion and misinterpretations, what guarantee do we have that this sort of thing does not occur in other parts of the Bible? Each student of the Bible, it seems to me, must come to grips with this issue. Fortunately, most Biblical teachings are repeated many times, so comparison can help resolve some confusing issues. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have other scriptural texts from the past, plus writings of living prophets, to which I can refer for a possible explanation, but those who believe the Bible to be the one and only source of revelation must deal with it as it stands here.

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