Noah's Clay Feet

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Genesis 9:18-29

Noah’s Descendants

18 The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the people of the whole earth were dispersed.

20 Noah began to be a man of the soil, and he planted a vineyard. 21 He drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. 23 Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. 24 When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,

“Cursed be Canaan;
a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.”

26 He also said,

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.

27 May God enlarge Japheth,
and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant.”

28 After the flood Noah lived 350 years. 29 All the days of Noah were 950 years, and he died.

 
 

God wipes the slate clean with The Flood and starts over with Noah.

Unfortunately, Noah’s potential for sin wasn’t wiped clean, and after he begins to rebuild civilization, he foolishly gets drunk and lies “uncovered” in his tent. Seeing his father in that state, Noah’s son Ham does something shameful to him. At the very least, he doesn’t respect his father and tells his brothers about his father’s foolishness; at the most, there could be some kind of incestuous activity involving Ham and Noah’s wife.

Either way, the man who was supposed to be the hope for humanity clearly isn’t, and neither is his family.

Did God make a mistake? No.

Genesis 1-11 is teaching us that there is no simple fix for humanity. Even the good ones among us are susceptible to sin and foolishness.

God will have to fix humanity another way....

 

P.S. Genesis Part 2 begins one week from today! Want a Daily Reading Guide? Pick one up at Asbury.

If you live in Dallas, email Sandie and she’ll tell you how to pick one up.

If you live out of town and NOT in Dallas, email Liz and she’ll mail you one this week.

 

The Rainbow

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Genesis 9:1-17

God’s Covenant With Noah

1 And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. 2 The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every bird of the heavens, upon everything that creeps on the ground and all the fish of the sea. Into your hand they are delivered. 3 Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything.

4 But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5 And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man.

6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.

7 And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.”

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9 “Behold, I establish my covenant with you and your offspring after you, 10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark; it is for every beast of the earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.”

12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

17 God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.”

 
 

Like everyone else I know, I get excited when I see a rainbow in the sky. “Look! Look! A Rainbow!”

But, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rainbow and consciously reflected that it is a sign of God’s mercy and steadfast love. Have you?

Next time I see one in the sky, I want to do better.

 

P.S. Note that this first giving of the law, which we read in today’s passage, includes in it the fact that every single person is equal before the law: no one’s “blood” is more or less valuable than anyone else’s.

 

P.P.S. Note on what’s next.

Part 2 of our reading plan begins on Monday, September 26 and consists of Genesis chapters 12-36, chapters which recount the history of the patriarchs of Israel: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  It is the story of the formation of the family that will carry on the covenant promise—in fact, it’s all about family; or, to put it another way, the main theme of Genesis Part 2 is:

Family is How We Fight.

 

Readings are Monday-Friday, and there are 2 ways to read along:

1. Pick up a Genesis Daily Reading Guide at Asbury starting this weekend! Readings are given for each day, along with a brief commentary I’ve written to help you get something out of your reading. (Books will be available all around the church, including near the Guest Services Desks.)

or

2. Just hang tight and if you currently receive these posts over email, you’ll continue to receive the daily readings each morning at 4:00 AM. New subscribers can sign up here.

[Note that the daily emails and the Daily Reading Guide both contain the same content!]

 

The Uncreating Flood

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Genesis 7:1-24

1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation. 2 Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, 3 and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.

4 For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.” 5 And Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him.

6 Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters came upon the earth. 7 And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him went into the ark to escape the waters of the flood. 8 Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, 9 two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah. 10 And after seven days the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. 12 And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. 13 On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark, 14 they and every beast, according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kinds, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, according to its kind, and every bird, according to its kind, every winged creature. 15 They went into the ark with Noah, two and two of all flesh in which there was the breath of life. 16 And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him. And the Lord shut him in.

17 The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. 18 The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. 19 And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered. 20 The waters prevailed above the mountains, covering them fifteen cubits deep. 21 And all flesh died that moved on the earth, birds, livestock, beasts, all swarming creatures that swarm on the earth, and all mankind. 22 Everything on the dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of life died. 23 He blotted out every living thing that was on the face of the ground, man and animals and creeping things and birds of the heavens. They were blotted out from the earth. Only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.

24 And the waters prevailed on the earth 150 days.

 
 

When God created the heavens and the earth, he brought order out of disorder. He separated light from dark, and the waters from the land, and fixed a boundary for the waters. Etc.

Now, with the Flood, God is uncreating that which he previously created:

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” [7:11]

God removes the boundaries and allows the waters of chaos to roll back in.

The question is, Why? We’ll need to keep reading to answer that question.

 

Did God Make a Mistake With the Flood?

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God wipes the slate clean with The Flood and starts over with Noah.

Unfortunately, Noah’s potential for sin wasn’t wiped clean, and after he begins to rebuild civilization, he foolishly gets drunk and lies “uncovered” in his tent. Seeing his father in that state, Noah’s son Ham does something shameful to him. (At the very least, he doesn’t respect his father and tells his brothers about his father’s foolishness; at the most, there could be some kind of incestuous activity.)

Either way, the man who was supposed to be the hope for humanity clearly isn’t, and neither is his family.

Did God make a mistake?

I think the message of Genesis 1-11 is that there is no simple fix for humanity. Even the good ones among us are susceptible to sin and foolishness.

God will have to fix humanity another way….

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 9:18-28

When's the Last Time You Reflected on a Rainbow?

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Like everyone else I know, I get excited when I see a rainbow in the sky.

“Look! Look! A Rainbow!”

But, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a rainbow and consciously reflected that it is a sign of God’s mercy and steadfast love. Have you?

Next time I see one in the sky, I want to do better.

P.S. Note that this first giving of the law includes in it the fact that every single person is equal before the law: no one’s “blood” is more or less valuable than anyone else’s.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 9:1-17

Earth's Permanence & God's Promise

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After The Flood, the Lord promises that he will never destroy the earth. I think this means that we can be certain that complete destruction will not come from outside. What the Lord does not promise, however, is that destruction might not come from inside.

Would the Lord permit us to destroy Creation from within?

I’d be interested in your thoughts.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 8:1-22

The Uncreating

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When God created the heavens and the earth, he brought order out of disorder. He separated light from dark, and the waters from the land, and fixed a boundary for the waters. Etc.

Now, with the Flood, God is uncreating that which he previously created:

“In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month—on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.” [Genesis 7:11]

God removes the boundaries and allows the waters of chaos to roll back in.

The question is, Why?

We’ll need to keep reading to answer that question.

 

Today’s Scripture

Genesis 7:1-24