Posts tagged Noah
Bible in a Year – Day 120: Commonality
Apr 29th
Today’s Reading: 1 Chronicles 1 & 2
Some really fascinating reading today, huh? My question is: Did you read it all? I mean, let’s be honest, it’s pretty easy to skip through this big long list of names and not even bother reading it. In fact, we could probably get by with never reading this kind of genealogical list. And yet, I think there’s something in here for us to learn, even if we aren’t Biblical genealogists.
For me, this list highlights one of the main struggles of human beings – that we forget what we have in common. I have a friend, Dr. Rick Love, who is devoted to finding common ground among various people groups. It is Rick’s belief that peace and love (the God kind, not the hippie kind) can be found when we discover and focus on our commonalities rather than our differences. Rick leads a group called Peace Catalyst International. The stated goal of PCI is to “stimulate peacemaking between individuals and between peoples.” They do this by digging back through all the philosophical and cultural differences that have developed over time and finding one or more common guiding principles that all parties can agree on. In other words, they trove the cultural genealogies of people and look for common ancestry.
As we read these genealogies today, I’m reminded that all of the warring tribes and nations that we read about in the old testament (and indeed, those we see today) have a common ancestry – not just Adam and Eve, but Noah. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japeth. From these sons came every person and nation that has ever existed. The great nation of Egypt was settled by one of Noah’s grandsons, as was the land of Canaan.
And so, this genealogy serves not only as a historical record of family line, which was very important in ancient culture, but also as a reminder that not so long ago, we were one people. I would imagine that someone reading these verses shortly after they were written would have hung his head and wondered how in the world things got so bad so quickly. How did things do south so rapidly?
It’s good to be reminded of our common ground. For the tribes of Israel and Judah, they didn’t even have to go back as far as Noah. They only had to go back to Israel – a man who had 12 sons. What would Israel have to say to his warring ancestors? What would Noah have to say to us?
As we stand in our modern context and declare ourselves “Pro” this people group and “Anti” this people group, have we lost site of our commonality? Particularly for Americans, as we place our stake in the ground of “Americanism,” have we forgotten that there is no such thing as a true, pure American? We are a mishmash, melting pot of cultures, identities and genealogies. We have, in our past, heroes and villains. And, the people that we seek to keep out of our country may have a lot more in common with us than we think. At the very least, they are more like our own ancestors than we realize.
Would you think twice about kicking somebody out of our country if they were your 2nd cousin? Commonality changes the equation a little bit, doesn’t it?
Bible in a Year – Day 4: Family Feud
Jan 4th
Today’s Reading: Genesis 12, 13, 14 & 15
There is a lot of ground covered in these four chapters. Any discussion of Abram would be incomplete without mentioning the covenant that God initiated with Abram (and, ultimately, with his ancestors). We’ll get to that in a moment. But first, I want to take a moment to consider the theme that we’ve been exploring thus far in the book of Genesis – namely that the choices made by human beings continue to lead to a loss of innocence, which then leads to more severe consequences.
Now, at first glance, you may wonder where I’m coming from on this one, but consider this: the land that Abram initially moves his family to is called Canaan. It is a land that is inhabited by people who are potentially hostile toward Abram and his family. That is why Abram didn’t stop there, but moved on. Eventually, because of a famine, he and his family ended up in Egypt, a place where Abram felt so threatened that he had his wife pretend to be his sister so that the Pharaoh wouldn’t have him killed. The question is, where did these ruthless people come from?
For the answer, we only need to back up a couple of chapters to Genesis 10:6:
The sons of Ham:
Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.
That’s right! The ruthless, bloodthirsty heathens inhabiting these two lands – Canaan and Egypt – were the extended families of Ham’s sons. Egypt and Canaan were grandsons of Noah! Abram, you’ll recall was a descendent of Shem, one of Noah’s sons and the brother of Ham. And so, when God started over with 8 humans and a boat full of animals, it took less than 10 generations for this righteous group to splinter into multiple factions and to begin to be hostile toward each other.
So what in the world sparked this animosity? Well, if you recall in yesterday’s reading, we read how Noah got drunk and naked and how his son Ham essentially made a spectacle of him, while Shem and Japheth covered him up. Noah, in his anger, cursed Ham’s son Canaan (and ostensibly all of Ham’s offspring) saying “May Canaan be the slave of Shem.” What we see in these passages today, then, is the direct result of this family feud and curse. It’s another incredible reminder that our choices have lasting consequences even after we’re dead and gone!
Now, for a brief word about God’s covenant with Abram. While I may only write a few sentences here, this was one of the most important acts recorded in the Bible. Without going into great detail, you should first understand that the splitting of animal carcasses was a common way of sealing a contract or covenant in those days. They would split the animals in half and each party would walk between the halves to symbolize their commitment to keeping their agreement.
This is the initiation of the nation of Israel (which would later be formed by Abram’s descendents) as God’s chosen people. This covenant would last at least until Jesus came and established a new covenant. Some argue that the old covenant is still in place and that the people of Israel (Jews) are still God’s chosen people. Others argue that the new covenant established by Jesus abolished the old covenant and that all who follow Jesus are the “new people of Israel.” Whatever the nuances of your beliefs, most agree that God’s establishment of the initial covenant is one of the most important acts contained within the pages of the Bible.
Bible in a Year – Day 3: Animal Behavior
Jan 3rd
Today’s Reading: Genesis 8, 9, 10, & 11
In the first seven chapters of the book of Genesis, I’ve noted a common theme – the loss of innocence – which leads to severe calamities for the human race. First, there was Adam & Eve eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That led to the murder of one of their sons by one of their sons. Eventually, the whole world became full of wicked people who had to be destroyed in order for God to start over with his creation.
Now, in chapter 8, we find a new day dawning – a new era for the human race. With these 8 people and the animals that they rescued from the flood, God would start afresh. Of course, one problem remained. These people weren’t pure and perfect like Adam & Eve. And if the actions of the perfect first couple led to destruction, how in the world were these 8 going to have any better results?
That’s where God provides some reassurances. First, God promises not to destroy the earth by flood again. He takes that one off the table. Instead, he signals to Noah and his family that a new order is now in place. How does he do this? When God tells Noah and his family “Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything,” he isn’t just saying that they can eat meat. He’s saying that they are now living under a different system entirely.
Meat would have been foreign to Noah and his family. They probably had no desire to eat it. It may have even been repulsive to them. But in his instructions, God creates a symbolic representation of the reality of the situation. He continues to build on the theme of innocence lost. The animals which, up to this point, had been simply for work or pleasure, now had an additional function in the world which was caused by the loss of innocence and the resultant choices that inevitably had to be made because of it.
The loss of innocence, then, would lead mankind to eat meat – a concept that wasn’t part of the original created world, but which was clearly acceptable to God in this new order of things. In fact, it was God’s suggestion.
Bible in a Year – Day 2: The Inevitable Result
Jan 2nd
Today’s Reading: Genesis 4, 5, 6 & 7
In these 4 short chapters (especially short if you removed the genealogies) two very tragic events occur – events that would forever alter the course of humanity. First comes the very first instance of murder – and the murder of a brother at that – and then the ultimate destruction of nearly everything and everyone on the face of the earth.
It strikes me that this series of events is the inevitable result of sin. In my last post, I discussed the choice made by Adam & Eve and how the loss of innocence would ultimately lead to other choices and the stress of doing what was right. That choice would be visited on Adam & Eve in the worst imaginable way – one of their sons would take the life of another son.
That legacy would continue for 8 more generations and would escalate to the point that the world was full of wickedness.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. (Genesis 6:5)
God had to make the painful decision to start over and yet, this was not God’s fault. We brought this on ourselves and continue to bring it on ourselves. The inevitable result of consistently choosing the wrong path is complete and total destruction. The great flood, then, was the destination on a course that was charted by Adam & Eve several thousand years earlier. It was a course that could have been corrected by any number of people through the generations, but it wasn’t. And so, without any course correction, the human experiment careened off the cliff and God would be forced to go back to the basics.
And consider this about the flood: we understand that God wiped out every living thing from the earth except for Noah and his wife, his sons and their wives and the animals on the ark. But have you ever stopped to consider what that really meant for those who remained.
We are told that Noah’s father, Lamech, had Noah when he was 182 years old and that he lived to the ripe old age of 777 “and had other sons and daughters”. It stands to reason, then, that 600 years later, when Noah and his family boarded the ark, he had brothers and sisters watching him from the outside – brothers and sisters that would ultimately be killed by the flood waters. (Lamech, we’re told, died 595 years after Noah was born, so he witnessed the building of the ark, but was not killed by the flood.)
Then I started thinking: Not only did Noah have brothers and sisters who were being left behind. He likely had nieces and nephews, aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws and friends. His wife had family and friends, his sons had family and friends and his sons’ wives had family and friends. What must it have been like when the flood waters actually came and, undoubtedly, some portion of those family and friends came to the ark begging to be brought on-board? What must it have been like when the waters receded and these 8 people were left with the stark realization that everyone they had ever known was gone?
The inevitable result of the choices made over the course of those first 10,000 years or so landed hard and heavy on the shoulders of Noah and his family – heavier, even, than it did on those who perished in the water. These chosen 8, after all, would be charged with the re-launch of the experiment and with the charge to get it right this time around.
