What Did Ham Do?

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers. [Genesis 9.22] 

This has to be one of the most wide-open-for-interpretation verses in all the Bible. 

From what is said in Genesis 9.22, Ham and his descendants were cursed to servitude to his two older brothers. The list of Ham's descendants includes names of many people groups who will ultimately become enemies of Israel.

What did Ham do? All the text of this story tells us is that Ham saw that his father was naked and went outside and told his brothers.

While many will argue that Ham perhaps took advantage of his father's drunken stupor in some physical or mental way, that may be overthinking the story. The only reason it might be assumed overthinking is because of Shem and Japheth's detailed response:

Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked. [Genesis 9.23]

Shem and Japheth's refusal to "see" their father naked under any circumstance might simply say that "what we see" matters. They entered the same tent of Noah that Ham apparently did but with every precaution in place to prevent their eyes from seeing what Ham had reported. Did Ham just barge in unannounced and uninvited? We have no way of knowing. But what we do know is that what Ham did was terribly wrong.

In today's One Year Chronological Bible reading, it is seen that Ham's descendants not only became many of Israel's enemies, but also the infamous residents of Sodom, known for its homosexuality:

Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, the ancestor of the Sidonians. Canaan was also the ancestor of the Hittites, Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, and Hamathites. The Canaanite clans eventually spread out, and the territory of Canaan extended from Sidon in the north to Gerar and Gaza in the south, and east as far as Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha. [Genesis 10.15-19]

As humanity progressed, it would seem the prohibition against seeing nakedness waned. Historically, the Renaissance pretty much eliminated inhibitions about nakedness with shameless (albeit artistic) paintings and sculptures depicting nudity in intricate detail. Much of this prized art is on display in some of history's most "holy places."

Ham's incident of seeing his father's nakedness was NOT just an "oops" moment. It changed the course of his and his descendants' lives.

There are many conclusions that might be drawn from this, but I am going to focus only on the most important one. As Ham looked upon his naked father and was forever changed, so we might look upon our naked Savior (on the Cross) and be forever changed. If we look at the intimate nakedness of any other, as did Ham, the resultant change will be nothing but sin and curses.

Father, I know there is more to this than I am understanding. Please continue to speak to this matter and give revelation of Jesus in it all. So be it.