This is one of the tough questions in the Bible. It’s also an amazing miracle: a curse turned into a blessing.
What people often call the curse on Ham (really the curse on Canaan) has been abused as an excuse for enslaving the black man. What a horrid misuse of the Bible! Ham’s mistreatment of his father Noah had caused this severe pronouncement, underscoring God’s insistence that we honor our father and mother. Here is Noah’s statement in Genesis 9:25 – “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants he shall be to his brethren.” This was a serious matter. The undermining of family order leads to societal collapse. But why was it on Canaan, Ham’s son, instead of on Ham himself? In Hebrew thought, a curse or blessing on the son reverted to the father. See an example in 1 Kings 11:9-12. God would divide the kingdom of Israel in judging Solomon, but not in Solomon’s day, lest it reflect badly on David. So God waited another generation. Thus a curse on Ham would have landed on Noah! But let’s think about the outcome of this statement. The Bible consistently demonstrates the way God’s grace turns curses into blessing. The Cross is the greatest example. The construction of the phrase “servant of servants” is familiar to Bible students. We read of the holy of holies, the heaven of heavens, the song of songs, the King of kings and Lord of lords, always used as superlatives. In fact, the Lord Jesus applies the identical idea to Himself who, being the Greatest of all, became the Servant of all (Mk 9:35). Though we were all under the curse of a broken law (Gal 3:13), Christ redeems us through the Cross, then commissions us to be servants like Him: “You, brethren, have been called to liberty;…but through love serve one another” (Gal 5:13). The world to come will have this unique form of governing: rule by servant-kings!