The men whose names were listed came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites in their dwellings and also the Meunites who were there and completely destroyed them, as is evident to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks. – 1 Chronicles 4:41

Today’s Scripture Reading (August 17, 2013): 1 Chronicles 4

In 1994, the Tutsi people of Rwanda were just about wiped out by their Hutu neighbors. Estimates of the death toll in Rwanda over the 100 days of insanity range from 500,000 to 1,000,000 people – as much as 20% of the total population of the nation lay dead by the time the anger of a nation subsided. History will recall the genocide as the result of a longstanding ethnic competition between the minority Tutsi, who had been in a position of power in the nation for centuries, and the majority Hutu’s. But the real story possibly went a little deeper than that. The Hutu’s were just one example of a people group that had been labeled as the descendants of Ham – and therefore under a curse and worthy of mistreatment. But in 1994, the so-called descendants of Ham rose up to violently claim their place on the world stage.

The Hamites have lived since the days of Noah under a biblical curse. And cultures have been quick to label their enemies as descendants of Ham – and because they were descendants of Ham they were a people that were worthy of destruction. During the days of slavery in the United States, the argument was made by Bible believing people that all black people groups were the descendants of Ham. It was this idea that gave Biblical legitimacy to the idea and the practice of slavery. Slavery was a biblically just concept because the descendants of Ham stood under a curse.

We do not really know if the Hamites that were within the borders of Judah during the days of Hezekiah were really the descendants of Ham or not. But the reality found in this verse is that the people of Judah used the idea of the curse of Ham as one reasons for the extermination of a people group. This story also indicates that even as late as the days of Hezekiah (which was close to the end of the history of the Kingdom of Judah) it is possible that the Promised Land still had not been totally taken by Israel. Within the borders of the kingdom there were still people groups living in the land that had neither been assimilated into the nation nor were in any other way under the control of the king.

It might be that we could understand the use of the curse of Ham in a pre-Christian society. But the use of the curse of Ham after the time of the Cross, especially by Christian nations is unthinkable. Paul makes this thought clear. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole” (Galatians 3:13.)   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 5