in blessing Joseph's sons, is said to bless Joseph. Gen. xlviii. 15, 16. So Noah here, in cursing Canaan the son, did in effect curse Ham the father. Here the iniquity of the father was visited upon the son. Probably Canaan was wicked like Ham. And no marvel that the children's teeth are set on edge, when they eat of the same sour grapes of sin that their fathers ate of before them. Ezek. xviii. 2. The curse of Canaan was a curse to Ham; for usually when the children are made to suffer for their fathers' sins, the fathers are made to smart in the children's sufferings. And though Ham and all his posterity might be cursed, yet Moses mentions Canaan only; to comfort the people of Israel, that were going to possess the land of Canaan. shows that the inhabitants of it were a cursed people, that the Israelites might invade them with more courage, having this curse, as old as Noah, to fight for them; which might stand them in no small stead, considering that Noah's curse was God's curse; and that those whom God curses, are cursed indeed.

He

This curse was a curse of slavery. He that serves a prince may be a gentleman; but he that serves a servant is a very slave. We never find this curse fulfilled until the conquest of Canaan by the Israelites, above eight hundred years after this. So long the curse lay dormant, and never began to work;

and during all that time, the Canaanites were flour→ ishing nations,-so far from being servants of servants, that they were even rulers of rulers. Were they not so when Adoni-bezek, a Canaanite prince, had threescore and ten kings at his feet, fed with the crumbs that fell from his table? Yet all this while the Canaanites were under the curse, and that a curse of slavery. By which it appears that a nation, a family, a person, may lie under the curse of God, and yet enjoy outward prosperity. The curse doth not always work presently; there may be a curse entailed, where there are no visible effects appearing; but they will appear at last. This curse did come, (for it was not a curse causeless,) when the Gibeonites were enslaved, Josh. ix. 23; and also the rest of the Canaanites that were not destroyed. Judg. i. 28, 30, 33, 35. Divine curses, though they often work slowly, yet always work surely.

26 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Noah doth not directly bless Shem, but his God. To him the praise and glory of all that is well done, both by ourselves and others, should be ascribed. When the light of others shines before us, and we see their good works, we should glorify, not them,

but our Father which is in heaven, who works in them. Matt. v. 16. Phil. ii. 15. That blessing of David's when Abigail came forth to meet him, seems parallel with this of Noah: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me. 1 Sam. xxv. 32, 33. We rob God of his glory when we say, "blessed be the instrument," instead of saying, "blessed be the gracious Hand that moved it." Though means and second causes must have their due praise, yet the great First Cause must always have the principal glory. Wicked Canaan is cursed in his own person; for our wickedness is of ourselves, and there is nothing that we can so truly call our own, as our sins. But pious Shem is blessed in God, the first mover and chief agent in what he did. We must learn to look beyond instruments, to God; as in our expectations of mercy, so in our thankfulness for mercy.

Taking this as looking forward, (for so it certainly doth,) it seems to be a prophecy of the continuance of the church of God in the posterity of Shem; for it was from Shem that the people of the Jews came, who were at length the only professing people that God had in the world. This is hinted in the words, the Lord God of Shem; for though he be in a sense the Lord God of all the world, yet he is in a more peculiar manner the Lord God of his church.

And it is in his church only that he is blessed; for though all his works do praise him, yet his saints only do bless him. Psa. cxlv. 10. What greater blessing could be entailed upon Shem's posterity than this, that among them God should be known and owned, professed and praised? And for Shem himself, was it not blessing enough to call God his God? His, after a peculiar manner; his, in a covenant way; his God, to love him, and own him, and save him? Happy is the people that are in such a case; yea, happy, thrice happy, is that people, that person, whose God is the Lord. Psa. cxliv. 15.

And Canaan shall be his servant. This, that was part of Canaan's curse, is part of Shem's blessing. The subduing of the church's enemies, though it be a curse to them, is a blessing to the church. If God be Shem's God, Canaan his enemy, will quickly be his servant; for if God be for us, who can be against us? Rom. viii. 31.

27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.

Japheth's blessing comes last, though it is supposed that he was the eldest son of Noah.

God shall enlarge Japheth. So he did won

derfully. Japheth had the most numerous progeny, and therefore, as it was fit, the largest possessions. His posterity did people a considerable part of the world;-all Europe, a great part of Asia, and perhaps America; his demesne was from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. God is to have the glory of all our enlargements. Are our hearts enlarged to run the way of his commandments? "Tis his Spirit that enlarges them. Psa. cxix. 32. Have we been in straits of affliction, and are we enlarged by deliverance? It is the hand of God that sets our feet in a large room. Psa. xxxi. 8. Is the estate enlarged, the trade enlarged? 'Tis the divine providence that works those enlargements. It is an extraordinary word that is here used for enlarge: Japht, plainly alluding to Japheth's name; for the sake of which allusion, doubtless the word was chosen.

Some read it, God shall persuade Japheth; that is, he will bring the Gentiles into the fold of the gospel church. The Gentile world (Japheth's descendants) were for a long time strangers to the covenant of promise,-aliens to the commonwealth of Israel, had no ordinances, no means of grace,but were firmly wedded to idolatrous delusions. Now who shall persuade them to leave those dangerous courses which in the days of their ignorance