THE CURSE OF CANAAN
By Chad Taylor
"Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren." (Genesis
9:20-27)
As I have been facing some my own personal issues and conflicts recently, it has
revealed some truth and revelation that I was unaware of previously. I believe
that from my own external and internal struggles that I have glimpsed something
that is overshadowing the entire Body of Christ. "...knowing that the same
sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world..." (1 Pet 5:9).
Often our own struggles have the power to reveal the struggles and trials of
others on a more larger scale. It is our reaction to one another in that
struggle or tribulation that will have the most dramatic and long term impact.
Tragically we have often reacted out of the flesh and fear and produced curses
rather than blessing. I pray that the following truth will shed some light on an
area in the Church, that if not confronted and broken, has the power to injure
this great harvest that presses in on us. I pray that my own conflict and
struggle can produce "gold tried in the fire..." In Jesus name. Read on.
The story is found in Genesis 9. It tells of a moment in Noah's life when he was
vulnerable and naked. "And Noah began to be a farmer, and he planted a vineyard.
Then he drank of the wine and was drunk, and became uncovered in his tent." (vs.
20-21). Many times the Lord will allow us to be "uncovered" before those around
us, not to reveal our nakedness and need for covering, but rather to reveal the
motives and intents of the hearts that are around us. Watch the younger son's
reaction to his father's obvious nakedness and vulnerability, "And Ham, the
father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers
outside." (vs. 22). Ham's tragic mistake was that he revealed or exploited his
fathers moment of weakness and nakedness. Whatever his motive was, it brought
down a curse that is still alive and active in the Body of Christ.
Look at the two elder brothers reaction to Ham's revelation, "But Shem and
Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and went backward and
covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned away, and they
did not see their father's nakedness." (vs. 23). The garment they took to cover
their father is symbolic today of the blood of Jesus. "Their faces were turned
away..." They wouldn't even allow themselves to see their father's nakedness.
Now watch what happens when Noah awakes from his stupor, "So Noah awoke from his
wine, and knew what his younger son had done to him. Then he said: "Cursed be
Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren." (vs. 24-25). We are
still abiding under Canaan's curse today. When we run to reveal our brother's
and sister's nakedness and obvious vulnerability we ignorantly and even
willingly at times bring down this curse upon our household. The curse of
Canaan.
Now look at the second part of this curse, "a servant of servants he shall be to
his brethren..." The church has become by and large a slave to a system. Bound
by laws and traditions and archaic formulas and rituals. Instead of a Body where
every part has equality we have become a ruling faction where the stronger rule
over the weaker, we have become slaves to one another. Jesus taught us just the
opposite, "But Jesus called them to Himself and said, "You know that the rulers
of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority
over them. "Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become
great among you, let him be your servant." (Matt 20:25-26). But the curse of
Canaan has created an opposite force to be at work amongst us. The root of it is
our exposing and exploiting of one another. Yet the greatest tragedy in this
whole scenario is that the world sees right through it and eventually a harvest
is lost...
What we so desperately need right now is the blessings of Shem and Japheth, "And
he said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem, and may Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Shem; and may Canaan
be his servant." (vs. 26-27). The major reason we have not been "enlarged" and
come to fruition in our visions and desires is because we have walked in the
footsteps or Ham and exposed and exploited one another in the Body of Christ. We
have become like the mob that drug the adulteress woman to Jesus and cast her to
His feet demanding judgment and justice. Jesus did give them His justice though;
His mercy.
Until we are able to stoop down in the dirt with the downcast and broken, with
our brothers and sisters, we will never look revival eye to eye. We will
continue to skirt around true transformation, entertaining each other from
meeting to meeting, and all the while the world perishes around us. We must
break this curse of Canaan at all cost in Jesus name. The only way to do this is
to react in the opposite spirit that Ham did. We must become Shem's and
Japheth's and cover one another. In doing this the curse can be reversed.
The word "covered" in Hebrew is (kaw-saw) which literally means to: fill up
hollows; by implication, to cover (for clothing or secrecy): clothe, conceal,
cover (self), or hide... This is exactly what Shem and Japheth did to their
father in his nakedness, they concealed him, hid him and literally clothed him.
We find the same principle in the New Testament, "And above all things have
fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins." (1 Pet
4:8). Does this justify my sin or anyone's sin? God forbid. But our reaction to
one another is critical.
The world watched the spectacle of the Church and her reaction to Jim Baker and
they screamed, they cried, and they died. Every time we react out of the context
of God's love the curse of Canaan extends its borders to encompass more of this
generation. We need to cry out above all for WISDOM in this hour. We need to
cling to the wisdom of the Lord as the battle intensifies. We need to put out
the fires of gossip and slander, not add wood to them with our words and
accusations. "Where there is no wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no
talebearer, strife ceases..." (Prov 26:20).
Lord, give us your heart in this hour. As the greatest harvest in earth's
history dawns upon us, give us the wisdom of Solomon, the heart of David, and
the prayer of Paul, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love
does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek
its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but
rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Love never fails... (1 Cor 13:4-8). Then and only then will
the world know that we are Christians by the love we have for one another.
In Him for them, Chad Taylor
"A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a
matter." (Prov 11:13)
Chad Taylor
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