Most scholars believe that Genesis 1 to 11 serve as an introduction to the Book of Genesis, and also to the Pentateuch and finally to the Bible, itself. Many ancient records of ancient nations show a great interest in God, creation and a worldwide flood. Had it not been for the ancient records preserved from Adam to Noah (Genesis 1:1; 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1), and through him to Abraham and then to the souls who went down to Egypt (11:10; 11:27; 25:12; 25:19; 36:1; 36:9; 37:2), it is difficult to understand how Moses would have addressed these ancient matters.
Who was the God of the Jews? Moses claimed he is the Creator of the universe and all the life contained therein. He also claimed, it was the God of the Jews who judged the antediluvian world, by destroying it and all the life therein with the Great Flood, except for the eight souls, whom he brought through it, together with the various kinds of animal life. This is how Moses describes his God, the God of Israel. Thus, we have Moses describing how his God, the God of Israel, created mankind, how mankind became corrupt, how God addressed the corruption with the Genesis Flood, and how he saved mankind through this worldwide judgement. However, something happens at this point that few understand.
We already know that Noah and his wife, his three sons and their wives, eight souls, were saved through the Flood, but when the text shows that Noah and his three sons departed the ark, it also tells us that Ham is the father of Canaan (Genesis 9:18). Why does it do that? This phrase is repeated in verse-22, “Ham, the father of Canaan…” thus connecting verse-18 with verse-22. What is the significance of this identification? Notice that verse-18 is also connected with verse-19 in saying: “And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth… These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread (Genesis 9:18-19). The Ham/Canaan event is mentioned over against this, so what does it mean?
The text continues by saying Noah became a husbandman, when he planted a vineyard, and when he drank of the fruits of his labor, he became drunk, and the text adds “…he was uncovered in his tent” (Genesis 9:20-21). What is the text really saying here, or more to the point, what does Moses, the author of the text, tell us? Moses tells us that Ham uncovered the nakedness of his father, Noah, and then he told his brethren outside Noah’s tent (Genesis 9:21-22). Most scholars attempt to explain this detail, as immodest behavior on the part of Ham, Noah’s younger son. If this is true, why curse Canaan, Ham’s son? Cursing seems to be an ‘over-the-top’ reaction. Keep in mind that Genesis is also a part of the Pentateuch, or the Law. The Law states:
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the LORD. The nakedness of thy father, or the nakedness of thy mother, shalt thou not uncover: she is thy mother; thou shalt not uncover her nakedness. The nakedness of thy father’s wife shalt thou not uncover: it is thy father’s nakedness. (Leviticus 18:6-8)
Therefore, according to this understanding of the text, Ham wasn’t merely immodest or disrespectful to his father. He was more than that. He took his father’s wife, his own stepmother, and had sexual intercourse with her, making her pregnant. Moreover, the deed seems to have been done in Noah’s tent, where he lay unconscious due to his own drunkenness (Genesis 9:21-22). The point was that Ham thought he could increase his inheritance of the world by impregnating Noah’s wife. He assumed his wicked act would see the world populated by ‘four’ sons of Noah, instead of three (cp. verse-19). Thus, in reality he would have increased his inheritance to half the world instead of a third, leaving his two brothers to share the other half. His logic was that the Lord had blessed Noah and his sons (Genesis 9:1). If Noah’s wife bore a son, he would have to consider it his own son.
Smoodock's Blog 