Genesis 9:18  And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19  These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread.
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 both 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.
26  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
27  God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.
28  And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29  And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

We are reminded once again of the names of the sons of Noah. Of interest is that God named a son of Ham here. Canaan would be a notable son to remember, but not in a good light.
In verse 19 we are reminded that all human beings come from Noah and his sons. There were no others that survived the flood. Some people believe that somehow the descendants of the giants in chapter 6 survived after the flood. There were giants after the flood, but they were not descendants of those from before the flood. There are big people today as well. Giants do not need to be evil people but their size tends to go to their heads and unless they get saved, they have more weight to throw around in a destructive manner.
In verse 20 we read that Noah chose to be a husbandman. He planted a vineyard. Nothing wrong here yet. Noah chose to grow grapes. He probably grew other things as well, but that is what was mentioned here.
In verse 21 we read of the sin of Noah after coming out of the ark and choosing to make an offering to God for His mercy and grace. Noah walked with God, but he obviously was not walking with God when he chose to turn grape juice into alcoholic wine. This was a deliberate act on his part. He had no good reason for doing so, but chose to do so anyway. There is never a good reason to get drunk. Anyone who thinks they can handle a little wine is already deceived.
Noah lived for 500 years prior to the flood. He would have observed the sins of the people then. He obviously did not make wine then because God says he walked with Him. God condemns alcoholic drink of any kind.
Noah chose to allow sin to rule in his heart for that time frame and he made an alcoholic drink and drank it. The result of this was that he was deceived, and he got drunk.

Proverbs 20:1  Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.

The good news here is that he did not give this poison to his sons. He got drunk and with that he was extra warm and he chose to undress in his tent. In his tent he should have had privacy, but we read that Ham saw the nakedness of his father. Again we are reminded that Ham is the father of Canaan. The context suggests that Ham took pleasure in what he saw and he went and told his brethren what he had seen.
Shem and Japheth show us that man understood the importance of right relationships. Children are not to see the nakedness of their parents. Shem and Japheth understood this and they took a garment and laid it on their shoulders and went backwards into the tent to cover their father. Noah had brought shame upon his family, but they would cover the outward evidence of that shame. They could not deal with the shame that Noah had brought upon himself before God.
Ham chose not to honour his father and from the context, he also chose not to teach his son to respect his grandfather.
In verse 24 we read that Noah awoke from his drunkenness and he knew what his younger son had done. In verse 25 we read of Noah’s response to this sin. Noah placed a curse upon Canaan, the son of Ham. The curse was not just on Canaan, but also on his descendants. The Canaanites were a godless people who would be under God’s judgment. By the time of Joshua, it was time to destroy them. Unrepentant sinners multiply their sin and they pass it on to others. All people are born as lost sinners, and it is not difficult to encourage lost people to commit sin. It is only by the grace of God that a sinner repents and is saved. From our text we learn that Canaan chose not to do so.
In verse 26 we read that Noah blessed the LORD God of Shem. Of course the LORD is always to be blessed. Canaan would be a servant to Shem. The Hebrews came out of the seed of Shem.
In verse 27 Noah prophesied of the enlarging of Japheth. The tents of Shem would also be blessed. Again we are told that Canaan would be the servant of them.
Noah lived another 350 years after the flood. He had opportunity to see how things grew after the flood. He had opportunity to have an influence over his children and grandchildren and beyond. In verse 29 we read that Noah lived a total of 950 years and he died. God gave him longer life than the rest of mankind after the flood, for His own purposes. Noah would have seen the increase in rebellion after the flood. He would have been reminded of how things were prior to the flood and that sin was truly the natural nature of man. He knew that in his own heart and he saw it in his own children.
We also learn here that even though Noah sinned in making wine and getting drunk, he still had the responsibility of speaking out against sin. If he would have continued in his sin, he would be a hypocrite. There is not a parent alive that has always done everything right. The important thing is to trust in the Lord for His salvation and for His forgiveness. When a saint sins, he or she must confess that sin unto God to be forgiven. God does not overlook unconfessed sin. There are consequences to sin. We can be forgiven, but sometimes our sin leaves an indelible mark on others. We may wish it did not, but God warns us of the destructive nature of sin. We do not need to experience that destruction due to our sin, but we tend to be slow learners. It is important to learn from what God says and avoid the grief of the consequences of sin. It is also important to learn to ask God’s forgiveness when we are saved and commit sin. We cannot use the false philosophy of some which suggests it is easier to ask forgiveness than to walk right. That is a fallacy. It is far more fitting to walk right and not need to ask forgiveness. Careless living is never a good thing. The consequences of sin far outweigh any “pleasure” it provides.
God recorded this sad event in the life of Noah to show us the consequences of alcoholic wine. He will continue to give more teaching on the destructive nature of this poison. The wise person heeds God’s warnings and stays away from this stuff.
Pastor Bartel