Jen begins by saying Noah not only has to come to terms with the massive destruction that has taken place, but also the loss of extended family which is very personal.
She asks that we think of a news coverage of a major disaster. Think of Noah now - who walks out and sees massive destruction. There are only 7 now who can help him restart humanity.
Genesis 8:20-22
He walks out of the ark and in verse 20 is his first act - worship. The 7th day of waiting to come out of the ark. This correlates also with the day of Sabbath. He takes up the true work of worship.
Interestingly, he offers a sin offering. What's the significance of that? He atones for his personal sin. What does Noah know? That all of the time the ark carried him and his family through this flood, there was still a desire for sin, Jen says.
We see in these verses also declarations of what God will never do again:
never curse the ground
never again strike down every living creature
Genesis 9:1-2
It's clear language here pointing back to the creation narrative.
Genesis 9:3
Jen says here that something interesting happens. Do you remember back in the creation account how everyone was a vegetarian? Well, all of a sudden God is saying you are going to have animals and plants for your food now.
Genesis 9:4-7
God will now be specific about this. As will be the case for the rest of scripture, she says we will see great care given to any discussion of blood.
What is going on here? Why would God now say the animals are yours for food? In the first creation, no blood was shed. In the re-creation now they must shed blood for survival.
She says it seems God is heightening the understanding that in order for humans to live, blood must be shed.
In verse 4, Jen begins to discuss the Jewish dietary laws. It's required that all of the blood must be drained out in order for the animal to be eaten.
Why would God be concerned with this?
Look at Leviticus 17:14 "For the life of every creature is its blood; its blood is its life.
Remember that this original audience here is the Israelites who read this. They understood exactly what this meant. They're heading into Canaan. Do you know what the Canaanites practice was? They would drink the blood of a wild animal to acquire its life force to make them stronger, more fertile and for spiritual amplification.
A detestable practice to the God of Israel.
In verse 6 we see that it ties back to that we are image bearers and makes human life sacred.
What's being given here, Jen says, is a proto-typical government. A law code that precedes the greater law code that's given much later. It's a way for Noah to begin to govern in this new post-flood era.
Look what it's intended to do: Whoever kills someone, will be put to death. That's tough language. What it's doing though is preventing the spread of sin. It will also prevent over-punishment.
Do you remember Lamech? What did he do? A guy made him mad so he killed him and bragged about it. This gives a way to govern which combines mercy and judgment and makes sure that the penalty fits the crime and does not exceed it, Jen says.
Genesis 9:8-17
The word covenant is repeated in this section seven times.
Why over and over does God mention the word covenant? Because if you are Noah, the first time you see a dark cloud on the horizon, you're going to lose it and think "does the covenant still stand?"
God's covenant with Noah is unilateral. He establishes it, and establishes it on His terms. This covenant with Noah is eternal. It will endure according to His character for whatever period He determines. God's covenant is also gracious.
Not only is the covenant gracious, but God is gracious to repeat over and over again to Noah that His covenant stands.
God doesn't just tell Noah that the covenant will stand though. He says there will be a sign associated with the covenant - a rainbow.
Question About The Rainbow
The question Jen asked is why a rainbow and what two elements have to combine in order for a rainbow to form? Light and a rainstorm are the combination for a rainbow.
How Jesus Refers to Himself
Think about how Jesus refers to Himself in the NT. In John 8:12 He says "I am the light of the world." Jen states "when we think about God or think about Christ, we think about Him in general terms. It's when we endure a "rainstorm", a time of trial, that all that beauty that is tied up in that light begins to be refracted for us (just like the refractory light that makes a rainbow).
We then begin to see the blue of His holiness, the purple of His sovreignty, the gold of His royalty, and the green of His eternality. We begin to understand the red of His mercy." We see Him in a deeper, richer, broader way than we would otherwise.
I Have Set My Bow
We can miss the fact that when He says "I have set my bow in the cloud" it's intended to make us think of a weapon (instead of the familiar thought of a rainbow). The idea here is that God is laying down arms, acting in peace towards Noah and his family.
A Reminder
This sign of the rainbow will be seen to remind Noah "never again, never again." This story is just a shadow of a much bigger story that is yet to happen. Because on a day, Jen says, several thousand years to come, there would be another flood of wrath, and it would be poured out not on all humanity but on Jesus Christ on the cross.
Because this flood of God's wrath was poured out on Him it is diverted from us. So anytime you look at the cross, you can remember "never again, never again. It is finished."
Genesis 9:18-19
We've already seen these names Shem, Ham and Japheth mentioned earlier. Perk up your ears anytime you see the word Canaan (Ham was his father). He mentions also the disperson here. We will see more about this in session 10.
Genesis 9:20-27
There's a lot to untangle in these verses. Noah is going to be caught in a state of undress and treated disrespectfully. He then wakes up and starts prophesying. This is not just ranting but a prophetic word that he speaks. It's interesting to note in verse 21 that when he drank of the wine and became drunk, that this is actually the first mention of wine in scripture and immediately related to drunkeness. This is not a favorable picture painted here.
Notice also that when scripture says he planted a vineyard, that this term vineyard is translated elsewhere as garden. Pay attention to what's going on here.
Notice the fruit of the garden is going to lead him into sin and a fall. This sin is going to expose his nakedness. His nakedness is going to be covered by another. Not only that, but the father's sin is going to lead to sin in his own son Ham, which will result in a curse on posterity.
There is a repetition happening. We have a second fall narrative.
So here is Noah drunk, naked and lying in his tent. Ham comes in. What is implied in the text? Ham mocks his father. How does Shem and Japheth respond? They very carefully and respectfully try to restore Noah's dignity.
Don't miss this: the reason that Ham sins is because Noah sinned. This is how sin works. It doesn't just affect you but affects others. Remember the pattern we already discussed in previous sessions regarding sin?
- I see it
- I want it
- I take it
- I share it
Here's why Ham's behavior is so reprehensible: he celebrates the sin of a righteous man.
We do this as well. Jen asked us to think about a church leader who falls because of sin. We sometimes will say "I knew it. I saw that coming." We tend to celebrate this righteous person falling. Why? Because we don't want to feel judged by their righteousness, so the second we see a chink in the armor, it validates all our own insecurities.
Noah speaks this curse in verse 25 to Canaan not to Ham. Why? A father shamed by his son pronounces a curse that will cause a father to be shamed by his son - a bit of irony here.
"Canaan" is in the prophecy three times (verses 25, 26 and 27). What's happening here? Canaan's descendants are whom Moses is preparing Israel to subdue as they go into the promised land. What is being established here is a right to the land. He is reassuring his original audience through the way he sets up the narrative.
In this curse we can see mercy. He does not curse all of Ham's line only part of it.
Genesis 9:28-29
We reach the end of the first geneology.
Think About This
We have no record of the last 350 years of Noah's life. What the text seems to imply here is that though there are many worthy things of comment in the first 600 years of his life, that in the last third, there wasn't much to say.
For Us
We are called to a long obedience in Christ - moving in the same direction, forward.
- we shouldn't coast
- we shouldn't lay off of obedience
- As we age, we should continue in obedience, continue in righteous living
The Question To Ask
Will I continue to do those things that constitute righteousness? "The longer we grow in holiness, there is more continuity in what we say and what we do."
In hearing this story of the flood, Jen states her prayer is that we would have ever-shrinking hypocrisy and that we would not live in fear of the wrath of God as the unbeliever must.
There will be storm clouds, she says, that will gather on our horizon. There will be rain that will fall in our lives, but we never need look on that and say "is God judging me?" Because no judgment remains for the children of God.
Closing
Song of Solomon 8:7a "Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it."
Next: Session 10 "Disperson and Descent"
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