DEVOTIONAL 11/09/2021
1 Chronicles 1
8 The sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, Put, and Canaan.
9 And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabta, and Raamah, and Sabtecha. And the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan.
10 And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be mighty upon the earth.
11 And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Ananim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim,
12 And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (of whom came the Philistines), and Capthorim.
13 And Canaan begat Zidon his firstborn, and Heth,
14 The Jebusite also, and the Amorite, and the Girgashite,
15 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,
16 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite.
The Bible has an accurate record of human history, and we can learn about historical events by combing through passages in the Bible such as ones in the books of Chronicles. Ham was a son of Noah, who was among few remnants of the Earth after the flood. He had the potential to provide fruitful descendants across the world, but because of his sin his children inherited such a heavy familial curse.
To understand the reason for this curse, we need to visit a passage in Genesis 9.
Genesis 9
20 And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.
25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
We see here that the sin of the father Ham had brought severe curse on his child, Canaan. 1 Chronicles 1 13-16 reveals to us who are descendants of Canaan. We see names of idolaters such as the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Hivites, and so on. These people even allured Israel to sin against The LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.
Judges 3
5 And the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites, Hittites, and Amorites, and Perizzites, and Hivites, and Jebusites:
6 And they took their daughters to be their wives, and gave their daughters to their sons, and served their gods.
7 And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and forgat the LORD their God, and served Baalim and the groves.
Canaan is not the only son of Ham, who gave rise to wicked offspring. Mizraim (1 Chronicles 1 11-12) is the forefather of the Philistines who were long-lasting enemies of Israel. Samson, Samuel, and David all experienced Israel’s conflicts with the Philistines during their lifetimes (Judges 16 30, 1 Samuel 7 10, and 1 Samuel 17 51).
Also, Cush, another son of Ham, is the father of Nimrod (1 Chronicles 1 10). One of Nimrod’s kingdom is Babel which might have been the same Babel in which people had tried to build a tower toward heaven (Genesis 11 1-9)
Genesis 10 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
Based on the record of 1 Chronicles 1 8-16, we are uncertain about the descendants of Put, another son of Ham.
What can we learn from the example of Ham’s family? The action of the father or parents could lead to disastrous effects on the children. Sinful behaviors of the ancestors attract generational curses on their offspring. A family or nation who does not know God will bow down to idols and shut down the chance for their children to know Jesus. Adulterers, liars, thieves or murderers may serve as bad images for their descendants to learn from. The sinners give Satan the right to manipulate and destroy their families’ destinies. Thus, if we truly want the best for our children, we must repent today so that the LORD can bring blessings to them.
Sam Christian
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Vocabulary and grammar checks were done with the help of Collinsdictionary.com, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs.
The Bible used is the King James Version by Hendrickson Publishers. ISBN 978-1-59856-461-7. Some texts were inspired by boldfaced words and the reference system from this Bible book.
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