Why do the Wicked Succeed? Example of the Sons of Noah

The prosperity of the wicked

Genesis 9:22-25 (KJV)

22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.

23 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.

24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Ham did something very wicked by humiliating his own father. Noah even cursed his grandson as a result of this. But in the worldly perspective, it appeared that the progeny of Ham was much more successful than that of his brothers. By that, his son Canaan was the father of a nation that encompassed the Levant, one which Abraham sojourned in centuries later. This is an impressive accomplishment by someone cursed to be a servant of servants.

An even greater accomplishment was done by his grandson, Nimrod. He united all the world and its people to be one nation and one tongue.

So what does this all mean?

Proverbs 10:25 (KJV)

25 As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation.

Genesis 11:9

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Joshua 6:5

5 And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him.

It appears that the more wicked their actions are, the sooner they fall. Nimrod tried to built his tower to heaven and was struck down very swiftly. Canaan's fall occurred many centuries later but when they did fall, they were gone.

So where is the righteous in the equation?

Lineage of Ham

Lineage of Sem

Notice the difference between the two lineages. Ham's impact was immediately felt for two generations, but his progeny afterwards lacked significance that they were not recorded in scriptures and have long been forgotten.

Whereas, Abraham was a whopping nine generations after Sem. Even then, he had no territorial legacy and his people would be in bondage in Egypt for four hundred years. Though they eventually got their promised land, Abraham's territorial legacy is nothing compared to his spiritual one.

Today, billions of people around the world can be proud to call themselves children of Abraham, whereas the likes of a Nimrod is forever lost in the history books.