Men in the Bible: the Men that Cover their Parent’s Shame
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… And he said: “Blessed be the Lord, The God of Shem, And may Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, And may he dwell in the tents of Shem; And may Canaan be his servant.” – Genesis 9:22-24, 26-27
Today, we shall consider the counterpart lesson of yesterday’s spotlight by profiling two men who demonstrated unusual maturity by covering their parent’s shame. We shall be looking at the story of Shem and Japheth, who covered the nakedness of their father.
Shem, the firstborn of Noah, and Japheth, the lastborn, demonstrated wisdom and an uncanny sense of nobility in the way they handled the news of their father’s nudity and what they did thereafter to redress the situation. Contrary to the expectation of their frivolous brother, Ham, they did not see what was funny about the news of their father being drunk and naked.
Ham had come to them, hoping to give them a good laugh with his gist. But the two men were only sober upon learning about their father’s shameful state. And they must have left Ham giggling alone where he was to go and look for a piece of clothing to cover their naked father.
What they did when they found the cloth was even more impressive. Rather than giving in to their own natural instinct for curiosity to at least see what their father looked like in nudity before they covered him, as most people would have done, Shem and Japheth did not give in to this primordial instinct. Instead, each of them took the wrapper they found at opposite ends and then walked backwards into the tent where their father was to cover him up without looking down at him. This was a most noble gesture indeed.
More impressive was the case of Japheth, the lastborn, who could be forgiven for being young and immature to join his immediate older brother in the ridicule of their father and having fun at his nakedness. But Japheth showed that he was wiser, more mature and more grounded a character than his older brother, indeed, maturity is not a matter of age.
Interestingly, too, Noah, in his inebriated state, was still conscious enough to note all that his three sons did. He saw the one who was having a good laugh while looking at his nudity and was probably removing his clothing so that he could have a better look. Noah also noted the two sons who walked backwards, heads straight, eyes closed, into his tent to cover his nakedness.
And each got his due rewards. The first son, the immature Ham, was cursed with an everlasting curse to become a slave and servant to the descendants of both the older and the youngest sons. The mature and wise sons, Shem and Japheth, on the other hand, were blessed forever and decreed masters over the descendants of the fun-loving son. So, who had the last laugh?
Bringing this home, it is worth repeating that a child should never celebrate the nakedness of his or her parents. Nakedness in this regard can be literal, as in physical nudity, or metaphorical, such as their failings, weaknesses, flaws, wretchedness, struggles, or other forms of negatives that one should be ashamed of.
This can also be stretched further to include not making jokes about anyone occupying the role of a parent or authority in someone’s life. It is not advisable to make fun of them or joke about their failings, either in private or publicly. It is a dangerous breach of divine protocols, with retribution sure to follow a violation.
Selah!
Also read:
- Men in the Bible: the Portrait of A Gossip and An Accursed
- The Ordinance of Firstfruits (5): Who Should You Give it to? (Cont’d)
- How to Know for Sure You are Going to Heaven
- 45 Lessons of Life
- Genuine Identity in Christ
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