did the first world hold Noah's prophecy in ridicule when he
spoke of the flood. Had they believed that such a punishment was close
at hand, would they have gone on in a feeling of security? Would they
not rather have repented and begun a better life? If Ham had believed
that to be true which he heard from his father, he would have sought
refuge in mercy and, confessing his crime, craved forgiveness. But he
did neither; rather did he haughtily leave his father, to go to
Babylon. There, with his posterity, he gave himself up to the building
of a city and of a tower, and made himself lord of all Greater Asia.

178. What is the reason for this feeling of security? It lies in the
fact that divine prophecies must be believed; they cannot be perceived
by our senses, or by experience. This is true both of divine promises
and of divine threats. Therefore the opposite always seems to the
flesh to be true.

179. Ham is cursed by his father; but he lays hold upon the greater
portion of the earth and establishes vast kingdoms. On the other hand,
Shem and Japheth are blessed, but in comparison with Ham, they and
their posterity are beggarly.

Where then are we to seek the truth of this prophecy? I answer: This
prophecy and all others, whether they be promises or threats, cannot
be understood by reason, but by faith alone. God delays both
punishments and rewards; hence there is need of endurance. For "He
that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved," as Christ says (Mt
24, 13).

180. The life of all pious people is wholly of faith and hope. The
evidence of our senses, history, and the way of the world, would teach
us the opposite. Ham is cursed, yet he alone obtains dominion. Shem
and Japheth are blessed, yet they alone bear reproach and affliction.
Since both the promises and the threats of God reach out into the
future, the issue must be awaited in faith. Habakkuk says (ch 2, 3),
"It will surely come, it will not delay."

181. Great is the wrath of the Holy Spirit which here prompts him to
say of Ham, "A servant of servants shall he be;" that is, the lowest
and vilest of slaves. But if you let history speak, you will see Ham
rule in Canaan, whereas Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and others who
followed, and had the blessing, lived like servants among the
Canaanites. The Egyptians are Ham's offspring, and how cruel was the
servitude Israel suffered there!

182. How, then, was it true that Ham was cursed and Shem was blessed?