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The Curse of Ham Genises 9:20-27
Yes Noah could see it coming. Ham was a bad lot. The commandment to "Honour your father and mother" was taken very seriously and Ham laughingly talked and joked about his fathers nakedness showing how disrespectful he was towards his father, perhaps even interfering with his father sexually?
Poor old Noah when he found out what Ham had been doing swore at Ham and prophetically predicted that Hams brothers Shem and Japeth who had looked after their father would do well for themselves while the disreputable Ham or at least his son Canaan would end up in slavery. And so it happened. Events proved Noah right and it is true that we are often our own worst enemy. The Canaanites were notorious for their immorality. Slavery was common and there had always been servants, OT slavery was nothing like modern slavery and Noah could see the way Ham was headed and it is often the case of like father like son, Cain being the son of Ham, and the plight of the Canaanites serves to highlight the accuracy of the Historical record of the Bible and should be a warning to all those who disobey the commandments of God.
If you cannot respect your parents then you will probably respect no one, and gradually the downward slide begins leading to all sorts of immorality. You can often see it in teenagers today and can guess where they are headed and so it was with Hams son Canaan. He reaped what he sowed and nowhere is it implied that white people should take black people into slavery. That is the work of the slave traders whose nefarious activities Christians sought to overturn, the Christian teaching being that we should treat others with respect, with love and as equals, for Christ's message is for ALL people and all nations.
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