In Genesis chapter 1 after God had created Adam and Eve he sent them forth and gave them their authority and dominion in the earth: Gen. 1:28 "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth."  Now after the flood God again gives man his authority and dominion: Gen. 9:1-3, 7 "And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.  And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things...And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein." 

These two times that God sends forth men are similar and yet they are different.  The first time God sent forth man and gave him authority and dominion man had not sinned.  He was placed in the best of environments and yet the results for man were that he sinned and the corruption followed.  The second thing different was the diet.  The first time man's diet consisted of the herb of the field and the fruit of the trees.  Now God sends man forth and he is still polluted with the inward corruption of sin.  This was no doubt a new beginning with man, but as we will see the same old results as sin and corruption will soon follow.  Now man's diet is expanded to allow for the consumption of meat. 

Man's authority and stewardship given to him of God is still basically the same both before the flood and after the flood.   

Noah's Life Span after the Flood

Gen. 9:28, 29 "And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.  And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died." 

The flood removed the envelope of water from the outer atmosphere of the earth.  This allowed for the ultraviolet oxidizing rays of the sun to reach the earth's surface and begin shortening men's lives.  However, it took some time for these rays to become concentrated in our local atmosphere and thus for a period of time, men continued to live much longer than they do today.  Yet, with each subsequent generation the time span of man on earth shortened until it reached about what it is today.

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.  This made for a total of nine hundred and fifty years that Noah lived before he died.  Only Methuselah lived longer on earth than Noah. 

Sin of Ham and the Curse on Canaan

Gen. 9:20-27 "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent.  And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.  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.  And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him.  And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.  And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant.  God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

Sometime after the flood, Noah planted a vineyard and drank of the wine until he was drunken.  In his drunken state he was uncovered within his tent.  Later in the scriptures drunkenness is condemned.  Noah's drunkenness set off a chain of reactions.  Ham saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers without.  Shem and Japheth knew that they should not look upon their father's nakedness and took a garment and went backward with their faces backward and covered their father so as not to look upon his nakedness.  When Noah awoke from his wine he knew what his younger son had done unto him.  The sin was not so much what the younger son had seen, but what he had done.  Since we are not told exactly what he did, we will not speculate.  However, the sin was such that Noah pronounced a curse upon the youngest son of Ham and a blessing upon Shem and Japheth.

Ham is the one who sinned, yet the curse was placed upon the youngest son of Ham, Canaan.  Ham had sinned against his father, yet the curse was placed on the son of Ham.  Many have said that this is unfair.  However, it should be noted that Adam sinned against God and subsequently all the descendents of Adam have sinned against God.  The scriptures are plain that Adam brought himself and all mankind under the curse of the law of sin and death: Moreover, we read in Gal. 3:10 "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them."  That places all mankind under the curse.  Thankfully, verse 13 of Gal. 3 tells us: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Christ was "made to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him."  The son of man was made to be a curse for the sins of God's sons (elect children). 

Moreover, in the curse and blessings pronounced by Noah Shem is favored.  The kingdom rested with the descendents of Shem through the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Christ came as the seed of Abraham.  The oracles of the Old Testament were given to the children of Israel.  The ceremonial worship and service was given to the children of Israel.  They were greatly blessed with these things. Next, we see that Japheth was enlarged and that he dwelt in the tents of Shem.  After the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the gospel was sent to the Gentiles beginning at the house of Cornelius.  The Gentiles have carried the gospel since that time.  The Gentiles came to dwell in the tent that was originally established with Shem.  Now it is a much bigger tent (enlarged).  The Gentiles have been greatly blessed with the gospel of Jesus Christ.