Noah After the Flood: Lessons from His Indiscretion

The judgment of the flood was due to the sin of mankind; however, the flood did not destroy sin as evidenced by Noah and his family after the flood. But should we be surprised that after the flood Noah did not act so righteously and fell into sin when he got drunk and became naked (Genesis 9:21)?

Noah in the New World

Although the judgment of the flood changed the earth, it did not change mankind’s heart, which is still evil (Genesis 8:21; cf. Deuteronomy 30:6).

After the flood, when Noah came out of the ark, he worshipped God by building an altar and offering sacrifices of clean animals and birds (Genesis 8:20). Noah’s worship was a “pleasing aroma” to God and therefore acceptable to him (Genesis 8:21). God’s commitment to creation is seen in his response to Noah as he promised never to judge the world again as he did with the flood. This promise ensures the regular functioning of creation as the seasons will continue as long as the earth remains (Genesis 8:21–22). God guaranteed the fulfilment of these promises by making an everlasting covenant with Noah, his family, and all living creatures on the earth (Genesis 9:8–17). As part of this covenant, God reiterated his promise never to destroy the world again through a flood (Genesis 9:11, 15) and gave the sign of a rainbow as reminder of his covenant promise (Genesis 9:13, 16).

Although the judgment of the flood changed the earth, it did not change mankind’s heart, which is still evil (Genesis 8:21; cf. Deuteronomy 30:6). This is important, as part of the covenant is the provision of the protection of human life because it is made in the image of God (Genesis 9:6). God’s commitment to creation is seen again in that the same commandment he gave to Adam he now gave to Noah: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1; cf. Genesis 1:28). Noah is seen as a new Adam who was to continue the original creation mandate. Therefore, marriage and the family are still relevant in the new world, but because sin has not been eradicated, the family is still under threat from complacency.

Noah’s Drunkenness

As Noah began life with his family in the new world, some things have not changed. Although God’s judgment removed the wicked, sin remained. It was from Noah’s three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth) that the whole earth was populated (Genesis 9:18–19, cf. 10:1). This is important to the narrative as Genesis 9:18 identifies Canaan as one of the sons of Ham, who would become the object of Noah’s curse (Genesis 9:25). The sin in Noah’s family would have consequences for his descendants (cf. Genesis 49).1 This final account of Noah’s life is not meant to be a strange account of his drunkenness. Instead, it shows that even on a renewed earth in which life is still troubled by human sin, “God will remain faithful to his promises and continue with his plan to redeem humans from the curse of sin and death.”2

In the new world, Noah (the new Adam) is described as “a man of the ground” (הָאֲדָמָה, cf. Genesis 2:7) who planted (וַיִּטַּע, cf. Genesis 2:8) a vineyard to make wine (Genesis 9:20, LEB). The Old Testament does not forbid drinking and making wine (Deuteronomy 14:26; Psalm 104:15; cf. John 2:1–11), so this was not a sin. However, Noah drank enough wine to become drunk, which is sinful (Leviticus 10:9; Deuteronomy 21:20; 1 Samuel 1:14; Isaiah 5:22; Proverbs 21:17, 23:20–21; cf. Ephesians 5:18). Noah’s drunkenness led him to uncover himself3 in his tent (Genesis 9:21). Drunkenness followed by nakedness denotes shame (Habakkuk 2:15; Lamentations 4:21). Noah, the righteous man who survived the flood, succumbed to too much wine and lay naked in his tent. The result of Noah’s sin was that his nakedness was seen (cf. Genesis 3:7). In the ancient world, unlike much of the modern world, nakedness was shameful and was contrary to living in God’s presence (Exodus 20:26). Drunkenness can often be the reason that leads to immorality (Genesis 19:31–32).4

Noah’s Nakedness

It was Noah’s son Ham who went into his tent and “saw the nakedness of his father” (Genesis 9:22). Ham apparently left the tent and told his two brothers, Shem and Japheth, about it. Knowing Noah was naked, Shem and Japheth showed their modesty by taking a garment and walking backward into the tent to cover his nakedness (Genesis 9:23; cf. Genesis 3:21). By doing this, Shem and Japheth did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his drunkenness, he discovered what Ham had done, probably because his sons Shem and Japheth told him (Genesis 9:24). Noah’s response to the situation was to pronounce blessing upon Shem (Genesis 9:26) and Japheth (Genesis 9:27), but the disrespect shown to him by Ham led him to pronounce a curse upon Canaan (Genesis 9:25), the son of Ham.

A question that often arises from this account is, what does it mean that “Ham . . . . saw the nakedness of his father” (Genesis 9:22)? Many different ideas have been put forward. Some believe Ham castrated Noah (the Jewish Midrash Gen. Rab 36.7), therefore explaining why Noah had no more children. Others believe an incestuous relationship between Ham and his mother took place (see Leviticus 18:6–7, 11, 20), while others argue that Ham committed a homosexual act on his father.5 This latter view is based upon the word “see” (rāʾâ) in Leviticus 20:17 where a man sees the nakedness of his sister, which suggests more than seeing her nakedness because the verse goes on to say that he has “uncovered his sister’s nakedness” (uncover = sexual relationship). But this interpretation is rejected by most commentators because it does not fit the context.6 For example, when Shem and Japheth “covered the nakedness of their father” (Genesis 9:23), does this mean that they refrained from having homosexual relations with their father? Obviously, this is not what is meant. The language in Leviticus for a homosexual act is “to lie with a male” (Leviticus 20:13), which is not found in Genesis 9:22. Furthermore, if the text meant that Ham had homosexual relations with his father, it should have said, “Ham uncovered his father’s nakedness,” but it states Noah “uncovered himself” (Genesis 9:21, NASB). Genesis can clearly state when sexual misconduct has taken place after drunkenness (Genesis 19:31–35).

What then was Ham’s sin? It seems that it was not just seeing his father’s nakedness, but the fact that he delighted to speak about it to his brothers. The public ridicule of nakedness brought shame in Hebrew culture (2 Samuel 10:4; Isaiah 20:4). Israel later had prohibitions to guard against public nudity (Exodus 20:26, 28:42). This helps explain the seriousness of the curse upon Ham’s son Canaan.7 Unlike Ham, Shem and Japheth did not delight in their father’s situation but treated him with proper respect. The disrespect shown to Noah by Ham led Noah to curse Ham’s son Canaan (Genesis 9:25), which was an appeal to God (Genesis 9:27).

But why curse Canaan and not Ham? Was it because Noah was grieved by the actions of his youngest son, Ham, that he cursed (cf. Genesis 3:14, 4:11) Ham’s youngest son, Canaan (Genesis 10:6)? Ultimately, it is not clearly stated in the narrative why Canaan bore the consequences of his father’s sinful actions (Exodus 20:5). What we do know is that Shem’s descendants (Israel) would later encounter the Canaanites, the descendants of Ham. Moses warned the people of Israel not to follow the immoral practices of the Canaanites (Leviticus 18).

Noah: A Righteous Sinner

Noah wasn’t saved because he was good, but like all who experience salvation, it was because God was gracious to him (Genesis 6:8; Ephesians 2:8).

How is it that Noah, a righteous man, ended up drunk and naked? It may be that after the judgment of the flood, which purged the world of a wicked generation, Noah became comfortable in the new world. If this event took place soon after they came out of the ark, then Noah and his family (children, grandchildren) were the only ones around. After his greatest trial, the flood, Noah seems to have become complacent and allowed himself too much freedom. It is a reminder that as Christians living during times of “ease,” we cannot become complacent in life. Although Noah’s behavior after the flood is surprising to some, it is a reminder that “we all stumble in many ways” (James 3:2). It is important to remember that Noah is described as righteous and not as without sin. Scripture is full of examples of godly and righteous people falling into sin—for example, Moses (Exodus 2:11–12; Numbers 20:1–12) and King David (2 Samuel 11), who is described as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). There has only ever been one person who did not sin, the Lord Jesus (1 Peter 2:22), who was made sin “so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The fact that Noah became drunk and then naked should direct us to look to God, not man (or our own works), for salvation. Noah is a biblical example of someone who was simultaneously righteous and a sinner (Romans 6–7). Noah wasn’t saved because he was good, but like all who experience salvation, it was because God was gracious to him (Genesis 6:8; Ephesians 2:8).