17. Ham Was Led by Satan

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And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan. These are the three sons of Noah: and of them was the whole earth overspread. And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without. 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. (Genesis 9:18~23)

Ham Felt Uncomfortable with His Father’s Nakedness

Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. He entered the ark with his three sons and received salvation. Noah’s three sons were saved in the ark, but it was not that Satan did not work upon them. They too would fall into wickedness and sin when Satan would work upon them. One day, Noah was drinking wine, became drunk, and fell asleep naked in the tent. Ham, the father of Canaan, saw this. Since they were in the tent, Ham could easily see everything and in his heart, he thought, “Father may get drunk, but this is too much. What would his daughters-in-law do if they saw this?” Ham always had an uncomfortable heart toward his father, and one day, told his brothers, “Father was once again drunk and naked in his tent today. I can’t take seeing that anymore.” When Shem and Japheth heard these words, they took a garment on their shoulders and, walking backwards so as to not see their father’s nakedness, they covered the lower part of their father’s body. It is very easy for us to simply think, “Ham was bad, while Shem and Japheth were thoughtful and good.” But what Ham did wasn’t just something that simply happened. Satan was leading Ham’s thoughts. In John chapter 13, verse 2, it says that the devil put into the heart of Judas Iscariot the thought to sell Jesus. If Satan suddenly entered into a bottomless pit, the whole world would be shocked. People who are swinging their fists and fighting would say, “What am I doing? Why am I fighting?” and all the fighting and blaming would come to an end. Hatred, sadness, despair, distrust, lust, etc., such things do not arise from nowhere in our hearts. Satan stirs up such thoughts inside of us. Ham was one among the saved who was used by Satan, while Shem and Japheth were people within the guidance of God. What did Noah do after waking from his sleep? He knew what Ham had done and cursed him, saying, “Cursed be Canaan: a servants of servants shall he be unto his brethren.” When we see this, we feel, “Did he have to go as far as to curse his own son?”

Which Side Do You Belong to?

Who do the soldiers shoot at during a war? Do they shoot at people who have committed adultery, theft, murder, or those who have lied? Soldiers do not shoot based on whether a person is good or evil. The only standard is whether that person is the enemy or not. No matter how good a person he is, it is the enemy the soldier will shoot. And no matter how evil he is, if he is an ally, the solider will not shoot him. When I was serving in the military, there were many seniors of mine who had participated in the Korean War. They would say that during an actual battle, they would become terribly exhausted and fall asleep, and when they woke up in the middle of the night, they could not tell if the person next to them was an enemy or an ally. At the time, the North Korean soldiers cut their hair extremely short while the South Korean soldiers had a small amount of hair remaining. In turn, they would touch the person’s hair, and if it was extremely short, he was killed. Their only standard in fighting was to see if that person was an ally or an enemy. The standard of good and evil that God has is completely different from our standard of good and evil. In our standard, we are good if we help our neighbors, and we are evil if we commit theft, adultery, and murder. Is that also the standard of God? Does God allow us into heaven because we did something good, and would He send us to hell for doing something evil? This is the standard of good and evil Satan has taught us, which is very different from God’s. Adam and Eve, the ancestors of mankind, departed from the domain of God’s heart and dwelled within the domain of Satan’s heart. There, they received thoughts from Satan, and committed sins of hatred, adultery, and murder. There can be no murder, hatred, or curse within the heart of God. Satan entered the heart of man, and man began to sin from that point onward. Therefore, God does not question the results of sin; whether or not you have committed adultery or theft. God judges according to: “Do you belong to God or to Satan?” God not only made the eyes, mouth, and flesh of man, but He also created the heart. The heart is the channel by which man can connect with God. We can believe in God, receive God into our hearts, and serve God from our hearts. Even if a person has committed many terrible sins, all things change in a single moment when his heart enters God. This is exactly like the prodigal son becoming holy and clean through the father when he returned to his father’s house, although he did nothing. This was so even though the son returned in filthy clothes as a beggar. No matter what sin we may have committed, our hearts are restored, cleansed, and made holy when we enter the domain of the heart of God. On the other hand, no matter what good we may have done, if we are outside the domain of the heart of God, it leads to destruction because we are connected with Satan. One may think that he is doing well or doing good things, but that person is being controlled by Satan and will ultimately go against God. According to the standard of good and evil of man, people are considered good if they go to Sunday services, do good deeds, and refrain from committing sins. But this is a thought resulting from Satan’s deception. From the moment Adam and Eve left the heart of God through eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they belonged to Satan. Man’s thoughts then became dragged by Satan to commit various sins. The problem is not that you are committing sins, but that your heart has left the domain of God and has entered the domain of Satan.

The Problem Is Having Become One with the Heart of Satan

Ham was saved, but he was deceived by Satan and his heart was steadily led by Satan. Although they were brothers, Shem and Japheth thought in their hearts, “Father has gotten drunk and is lying asleep, naked. He is not usually like this, but he is this way because he is drunk. We’d better cover him before anyone else sees him.” Ham did not feel this way. He thought, “Father always gets naked whenever he drinks! He did that last time, and the last time, my wife almost passed by! I don’t know what’s wrong with my father!” He was full of complaint in his heart. His heart of complaint, itself, was not the problem, but his heart had become one with Satan who had stirred up that heart. Therefore, repentance is not repenting from the results of the sins of stealing, committing adultery, or murder, but one must repent from having left God. One must say, “It is not working because I am trying to do good without turning to God. I can only do evil regardless of how much I try to do good!” and turn his heart around. His heart must be led into the world of God. Deep in your heart, you must realize, “Why is such an evil, hateful, and lustful heart arising in me? What is wrong with my heart? This is how dirty the heart of man is who has departed from God!” and from your heart, return unto God. This is true repentance; true faith. We can see words like this in other places in the Bible. When Esau begs for blessings after Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, we see that Isaac cursed Esau. I thought, “How could a father curse his own son like that?” and I could not understand. However, he was not cursing his son. He was cursing that heart that belonged to Satan.

Because Good Lies Only in God

We must return to God for us to live spiritual life well. We must depart from the world of our own hearts. All of our hearts have been connected to the heart of Satan from Adam’s sin since we are the descendents of Adam. Therefore, Satan continually puts evil hearts inside of us. One day, the devil put the thought into the heart of Judas Iscariot that it would be great to sell Jesus and make some money. At first, when Judas Iscariot had this thought, he felt, “What? Why am I having such thoughts? I can’t believe I want to sell Jesus!” But he thought that this thought was his own, and he ultimately followed this thought. He eventually sold Jesus, but he did not spend any of the money. He committed suicide. Satan puts thoughts inside of us by stirring up the heart in us to make us feel that all will be well. Why do we become cursed and destroyed? The people whom God destroyed during Noah’s flood were not people who committed murder, adultery, or some terrible sin. When God said, “Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart is only evil continually,” this evilness is the condition of having left God. Good is entering the world of the heart of God. When someone asked Jesus, “Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Why callest thou me good? There is no one good but God alone.” Because God is the only one who is good, we must come before God if we want to receive goodness. When there is no water deep in the mountains but from a small fountain, one should look for that fountain when he is thirsty. He cannot get any water elsewhere. Likewise, good exists nowhere in this world, but only in God. Therefore, we must come before God. In your heart, Satan makes you think, “All I have to do is go to church and be good. I only need to live honestly and not sin.” Today, there are many Christians who pursue after goodness in this manner. But there is no one who can do good through pursuing goodness with their own effort and determination. It is because our hearts are connected with Satan and evil continually flows inside of us. If you closely search within yourself, the evil hearts of hatred and lust continually arise in you even though you want to do good. If you think objectively about yourself, you will be able to see that no matter who you are, you are as dirty, filthy, lustful, and deceitful as anyone else if all the things of your hearts were revealed exactly as they are. That is why people try to hide their evil heart when it arises and act as though it is not there. People try to suppress that heart and create good. This may appear to be good to you, but in the eyes of God, it has already come from an evil place, and therefore, He does not call it good.

Forsake Your Ways and Your Thoughts and Return

Ham’s heart departed from the heart of God. He accepted Satan’s thoughts into his heart. Since man’s heart became connected with Satan after Adam sinned, the thoughts in us do not simply arise, but come from Satan. That is why we must deny those thoughts. You must distrust yourself. “God, I cannot do any good. I am so filthy and dirty. I am evil to the core. Now I cannot do it, so you must lead me, God.” Throwing away your thoughts and your heart in this manner and accepting the heart of God is true faith. Isaiah chapter 55 says, Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. We must throw our ways and thoughts away and return to God. The thought, “I’d better live as a good person,” must also be thrown away. You must accept the word of the Lord exactly as it is into your heart. People who were destroyed at the time of Noah’s flood followed their own thoughts because they were deceived by Satan. When God said that He would destroy the world with water, Satan put into each person a heart different from the Word of God. “Why would God, full of love, punish the world? He is only warning us to not sin. We just have to be good.” People simply believed in this thought. It was a very uncertain thought, but they had no idea that it was from Satan. Thus, they did not help build when Noah was building the ark, but they despised Noah for building. Satan also said that man would not die from eating the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil while God said that man would die. Satan always puts into our hearts thoughts that are different from the Word of God.

Do Not Think That You Will Go to Heaven through Doing Good

I lived according to my own thoughts before becoming born again. I thought things would go well, but when I look back, I had failed, and I did not become good although I thought I would. Not one thing went well. But one day, I deeply looked at myself and saw how, as a whole, I was completely wrong and deceitful. I realized this clearly in my heart. From then on, I no longer believed in my thoughts, but in the Word of God, and accepted the heart of God as my own. I did not know what to do because I did not believe in myself. However, from then on, there was the guidance of God and the Word of God began to enter my heart. And in turn, God began to amazingly live and work inside of me. Loving folks, do not think that you can go to heaven through you doing good and obeying the Word of God. Leave yourself to God completely. The father could not do anything for the prodigal son outside his home, but when his son came home, the father thoroughly cleansed and perfected his son. Likewise, when you leave yourself to God, God will make you whole. He takes charge of everything and makes your life new. He washes your sins away no matter how many you may have and He renews your life. A long time ago, I believed in myself, and when I tried to live honestly and refrain from sinning, I fell into sin everyday. But when I left my soul in the hands of God, I could experience God making me distant from sin. I cannot say in words how thankful I am. True Faith Is Entering the Heart of God

Noah cursed Ham. Judas Iscariot was selected by Jesus, but was led by Satan down the path of destruction. Likewise, Ham was saved through the ark, but with the thoughts of Satan, he judged his father with his own standards, went out, and spoke ill of his father. This was not done by Ham himself, but Satan inside of him had done this. When Satan works inside of you, he first inserts a thought into you. If anyone continually follows that thought, Satan then enters that person’s heart. That person, in turn, becomes crazy. He loses his sanity, doing whatever Satan tells him to, and ends up committing evil. You must come to know that the thoughts that arise in you are not your own, but are thoughts inserted by Satan. If you simply follow the thoughts that arise in you, you can only be cursed. Let’s think about it: the hateful heart that suddenly arises in you, where did it come from? Where did the lustful heart come from? Where did the heart of wanting to steal come from? Those thoughts do not simply arise out of nowhere. They were inserted by Satan. We do not know that they are thoughts from Satan, so we simply follow those thoughts. That was how Ham was. Once again, believing in God is not realizing that you have stolen or committed adultery, then making up your mind and laboring not to do such things again. It is entering the heart of God. It is leaving yourself in God’s hands. There is the guidance of God from then on, and you will be able to live a holy life. Hatred will disappear if the heart of God enters you. David did not have the heart to kill Saul, and Joseph did not have the heart to hate his brothers. It was because David and Joseph had the heart of God. You cannot become good no matter how hard you try while you are in the heart of Satan. But if you enter the world of the heart of God, naturally, you will come to live a holy, good life of glorifying God.