Genesis 6:19-22

2006.Sep.14 08:55

Jehovah, the Sustainer

And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female. Of the birds after their kind, and of the animals after their kind, of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive. As for you, take for yourself some of all food which is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be for food for you and for them. Thus Noah did; according to all that God had commanded him, so he did.
(Genesis 6:19-22, NASB)

After God’s destruction rhetoric–"The end of all flesh has come before Me" (Genesis 6:13, NASB) –he takes a moment to make it very clear to Noah that he wants his creation more-or-less intact. Or, that is, a remnant of his creation. Jehovah is out to cleanse the earth of the sin brought into it and increased by humanity, but he desires a continuance of humanity on earth as well as all of the animals (Assumedly, enough plants would survive such a flood, although I still wonder about the mingling of fresh- and salt-water.)

I vaguely remember a discussion with a friend in high school who was wondering whether God may have created a succession of ‘humanities’, destroying each completely up until now, when they were overtaken with sin. I am inclined enough towards determinism and the belief in God’s intelligence being superb (I’m not sure what omni-intelligent would mean) that I don’t give that possibility much credence even without it seeming contrary to the Bible, but it is interesting because this history of the flood is just a few breaths from that sequence. Were God to have destroyed Noah’s family along with everyone else, then his options would have been either to create a ‘new humanity’ or to end the whole earth business then. Both of which might have seemed more inviting than watching his creations and desired friends do anything but follow him.

But, no, Jehovah is a sustainer and a healer. He desires humanity, whole, and he’s going to keep pushing towards it. He also desires the continuation of his other creations (and, yes, if for that reason alone, I think it is worth caring for endangered species). This flood story means a lot to me, then, because as God is healer and sustainer to humanity so is he to me personally. When I feel like a failure, he sees some branches that need to be pruned, some work that needs to done, some discipline needs to be added. Jehovah desires life for me. And if I will accept his authority at the expense of my pride, he gives me life, and that more abundant.

Genesis 6:14-18

2006.Sep.05 20:40

Instructions

Read Genesis 6:14-18 | Full Chapter

“Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you shall make it: the length of the ark three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit from the top; and set the door of the ark in the side of it; you shall make it with lower, second, and third decks. Behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish. But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall enter the ark–you and your sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.
(Genesis 6:14-18, NASB)

So. God instructs Noah to build a big floating box, more or less. He gives Noah some pretty detailed instructions, too. It’s possible that there might be interesting insights from looking at these particular instructions, but, to me, it’s more intersting to note that Noah does not interrupt as God tells him what to do.

I need to pause here, because this is something (although not to this magnitude) that God does to me, and I don’t respond very well to it. He says, “Do this and do it this way”. And… And I want to know why. In fact, I want to hear what the problem is first and then enter into a polite discussion of the best possible solutions over some salsa and a Diet Coke. Sometimes he tells me why, sometimes not, but there’s often not the discussion involved. I don’t mean to imply this is the way God always reveals His will. Often He will let me know there’s a problem and expect me to seek out His answers. Which is usually when I’d prefer He would just well and tell me what to do. But that’s the point: Jehovah is willing to work out my faith and, among other things, that means I have to trust him to tell me what I need to know.

Okay, jumping back. Jehovah tells Noah what to do, reiterates his intent to commit “acts of God or nature” on his creation, and then says “I will establish My covenant with you” (17) to save Noah’s family from the flood. It’s a cycle repeated throughout the Bible, as God established a covenant requiring some physical act from the other party. The covenant with Abraham and circumcision, covenant with Israel and building of the tabernacle, Solomon’s temple and God’s covenant with David and his line, salvation covenant and baptism.

One of the things we must do in order to become the friends God desires is to cease live according to our flesh, "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace" (Romans 8:6, NASB) . Our physical needs and desires are a primary source of temptation to sin, because it is so easy to listen to them first and God later. And while Jesus continually demonstrated that, as believers, we should meet the physical needs of others before trying to show them the spiritual needs that God fulfills, once we know God’s truth, we must actively deny our flesh. To require a difficult action of the flesh to affirm a covenant is then quite understandable. When Jesus says that we must take up our cross (Matthew 16:24), its meaning includes that we are to take physical action to show, not to others, but to God, our willingness to be in covenant with him.

Genesis 6:8-13

2006.Sep.05 20:35

God’s thoughts on people

Read Genesis 6:8-13 | Full Chapter

But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD. These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God…Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.”
(Genesis 6:8-9,13, NASB)

Some ten (if I can count) generations after creating humanity, Jehovah is disappointed. It’s turns out humans are, well, human. We want to do things our own way. Now, I’m not really sure why God let this first set of humanity go all the way to the deep end, but for some reason, he seems to have chosen a progressional display of his judgement/grace paradigm (no, I’m not sure what I meant by that). He first allows humanity to so forsake him that he decides the vast majority must be destroyed and a new start made. I’m inclined to believe he had a very specific purpose for this progression, but I’m far too tired to think about it.

However, God does not simply say, “two legs bad,” and wipe humanity forever. After all, he might have. Clearly Enoch at least had chosen to be humble, and received God’s grace, so God had at least one friend out of the mess. But Jehovah chooses to continue humanity’s time of Earth, as he spares Noah, “a righteous man, blameless in his time” who “walked with God” (9). It’s really awe-inspiring how much God wants both many, many individuals, and humanity as a whole to go through this process of turning to him, how he created a people who knew so much of our potential for godhood that we inevitably rebel and hurt him, because then we could also understand him enough to be true friends, and how dedicated he is to this crazy messed up people, this humanity.

Now, it was a foregone conclusion at my birth that I was gonna be one of these totally messed up self-centered folks for a while, and at least revert to it throughout my earthly life. And I’m okay with that because it means I can see myself for what I am and quit fighting God. But there’s the rub of being one of these people. It’s one way or the other. I accept his grace and live, but relinquish my claims to godhood, as Noah did, or I try to prove myself against him, to glory in my powers, and become the sort of person to God that you just cannot stand to put up with. I like the idea of being powerful, but I choose to be a Noah; I choose rather to walk with God.

Genesis 5

2006.Aug.18 08:44

Generations

Read Genesis 5:1-32 | Full Chapter

Genesis 5 is basically the quick and dirty flash forward to get us from Seth, son of Adam and Eve, to Noah. There are a few notes of specialized interest in the process:

Eve and Adam had children other than Cain, Abel and Seth, including daughters (Genesis 5:4), assumedly with names that would be anglicized to four letters, had they been recorded.
Enoch "walked with God; and he was not, for God took him" (Genesis 5:25, NASB) , whatever that’s supposed to mean. Hebrews 11:5 offers the clarification "Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death" (Hebrews 11:5, NASB) . Okay, despite my complaints about the wording here, Enoch apparently had something of an Eden experience. He walks with God, as did pre-lapsum Adam and Eve, and he does not die, despite the curses. His life is a testimony to us, that even though we all sin, we do not have to remain subject to the curses of sin. In any event, he gets a pretty lengthy write-up in Wikipedia.
Lamech says of his son, Noah, "This one will give us rest from our work and from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed" (Genesis 5:29, NASB) , which is quite frankly not the first idea that comes to mind when I think of Noah. While this statement might just have been wishful thinking on Lamech’s part, it can be read as an ironic prophecy: everyone, except Noah’s family, does get rest from their toil. Killer floods will do that. Another thing to note is that Jesus (like all of us, I suppose) is in the line of Noah, and it is Christ who offers freedom from the curses of sin.

What I really want to focus on is the idea of generations, something I mentioned last entry. Reading the geneologies, I have a ambivalent impression of statis and of progression. The story is basically the same for each generation, and perhaps that’s why we move from father to son, father to son, each in a few short verses. Sin, repentance, failure, turn back to God…or not. Next. At least, from reading the other stories in the Bible, and from living in my generation, that’s my guess.

Nevertheless, there is a tug as of progression, a movement toward something. Many (most?) of these geneologies throughout the Bible eventually lead to Jesus. And with that progression is a connection. I have a connection to each of these generations before their flood. I still find myself frustrated with my work. I find myself wanting to walk with God, and often failing. But I have a hope they didn’t. I cling to Jesus, where they must find imperfect sacrifices. I can worship in spirit and in truth. Do those who lived righteously in those days long that they had known the freedom of Christ then? I’m so glad I do know that freedom. But there’s much to learn from the whole story, from all the generations.

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