Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood

OUTLINE

(Gen 6:9-9:29) The Generations of Noah

“Generations (Toledot) of Noah…”

(2:4-4:26) Of Heaven and Earth (5:1-6:8) Of Adam (6:9-9:29) Of Noah (10:1-11:9) Of Noah’s Sons (11:10-11:6) Of Shem (11:27-25:11) Of Terah (25:12-25:18) Of Ishmael (25:19-35:29)Of Isaac (36:1-37:1) Of Esau (37:2-50) Of Jacob

10 units in Genesis story: From creation of the world to the covenant in the wild, Genesis is the story of the beginning

EMPHASIS

COVENANT: An elected, as opposed to natural, relationship of obligation under oath.

(Daniel C. Lane) A covenant is an enduring agreement which defines a relationship between two parties involving a solemn, binding obligation(s) specified on the part of at at least one of the parties toward the other, made by oath under threat of divine curse, and ratified by a visual ritual.”

(Gordon Hugenberger) “In the history of Israel, a covenant always entails (1) a relationship (2) with a non-relative (3) that involves obligations and (4) is established through an oath.

(John A. Davies) “the fundamental image … is the use of familial categories for those who are not bound by ties of natural kinship.”

(Gentry and Wellum) “Thus, by a ceremony or a (quasi) legal process, people who are not kin are now bound as tightly as any family relationship.

“Marriage is the best example and illustration of this. A man and a woman, who are not previously related, are now bound closer than any other bond of blood or kinship.”

Ancient Near Eastern Covenants:

(Suzerain-Vassal Treaty): diplomatic treaty; reinforce interests of the suzerain by arguments from history and oath-bound affirmations of loyalty on the part of the vassal states, back up by divine sanctions.

(Moshe Weinfeld): “Treaty constitutes an obligation of the vassal to his master… the curse is directed towards the vassal who will violate the rights of the king….the treaty comes to protect the rights of the master…the treaty is an inducement for future loyalty.”

(Royal Charter/Land Grant) a grant of property or privileged position, of a priestly or royal office given as a favor by a god or king; focusing on honor and the interpersonal relationship.

(Moshe Weinfeld): “Grant constitutes an obligation of the master to his servant…the curse is directed towards the one who will violate the right’s of the king’s vassal…the Grant serves mainly to protect the rights of the servant….the grant is a reward for loyalty and good deeds already performed.”

Major Biblical Covenants

(Gen 1-3) Creation (Gen 6-9) Noah (Gen 12,15, 17) Abraham (Ex 19:3b-8, 20-24) Sinai (2 Sam 7, Psalm 89) David (Jer 31-34, Ezek 33:29-39:29) New Covenant

“The covenants are the heart of the metanarrative plot structure…. they are the backbone of the biblical narrative”

(Rabbi Richard Elliot Friedman) With the Noahic covenant promising stability of the cosmic structure, the Abrahamic covenant promising people and land, the Davidic covenant promising sovereignty, and the Israelite covenant promising life, security, and prosperity, the biblical authors and editors possess a platform from they could portray and reconcile nearly every historical, legendary, didactic, folk, and the like, account in their tradition. If we could delete all references to covenant - which we cannot do, precisely because it is regularly integral to its contexts - we would have an anthology of stories. As it is (with covenants) we have a structure that can house a plot.”

(Gentry and Wellum) The Biblical story begins with the fact that there is only one God. He has created everything and especially made humankind to rule under him. In this context, God is the centre of the universe and we humans find our purpose in having a right relationship to God and one another. The first man and woman, however, rejected this way. Now, what happens when God is no longer the centre of our universe? Who steps in to take his place? Why, we do. I want to be at the centre of the universe. Will this work? No, because you want to be there too. And so chaos and evil have reigned since the rebellion of Adam and Eve because we no longer had a right relationship with God and did not treat each other as genuinely human.

God judged the entire human race and made a new start with Noah. This too ended up in chaos and evil, as is clear from the story of the Tower of Babel.

Finally he made a fresh start with Abraham. He would restore a creation and humanity ruined by pride and rebellion by using Abraham and his family as a pilot project. The people of Israel would be an example, a light to the world of what it means to be properly related to God and to treat each other properly according to the dignity of our humanity. We many call this the Mosaic covenant, set forth in Exodus and restated in Deuteronomy.

But the people of Israel did not keep the Mosaic Covenant. They were to be blessed for obedience, cursed for disobedience. That is why the biblical story ends up by talking about a new covenant. This time it would be possible to keep this covenant.

Through Noah God RESTARTS humanity, but they rebel in sin as well. Through Abraham God restores humanity.

CONTRACTS VS. COVENANTS

The biggest difference is the place of personal loyalty in covenants. At the heart of covenants is a relationship between parties.

Form:

Con: (1) Date (2) Parties Involved —— Cov: (1) Speaker introduction (2) History of Relationship

Con (3) Transaction (4) Investment —— Cov (3) General Command (4) Detailed Stipulations

Con (5) Guarantees (6) Scribe (7) Witnesses —— Cov (5) Document Statement (6) Witnesses (7) Blessings and Curses

Occasion

Con: Expected benefit —— Cov: Desire for relationship

Initiative

Con: Mutual Agreement —— Stronger Party

Orientation

Con: Thing-centered negotiation —— Cov: Person-centered Gift

Obligation

Con: Performance —— Cov: Loyalty

Termination

Con: Specified —— Cov: Indeterminate

NOAH AND ADAM (Gen 6-9 compared to Gen 1-3)

(1) The Flood Story is presented as the New creation

God orders the earth out of the floodwaters just as he order it out of the chaos of the “deep” “waters” in creation

(waltke 7 steps)

(1) Pre-creation: Just as God’s Spirit hovered over the abyss (Gen 1:6-7), God sends a wind over the engulfing waters to renew the earth. (Gen 8:1-2)

(2) Second Day: Just as God initially divided the waters (Gen 1:6-7), God regathers the waters, reestablishing the boundaries between sky and earth

(3) Third Day: Just as God separated the dry arable ground from the water to sustain vegetation (Gen 1:9), so again, the dry ground emerges in successive stages (Gen 8:3-5)

(4) Fifth day: The sky once again houses the winded creatures, as God first proclaimed it to be (Gen 1:20-23) and (Gen 8:6-12)

(5) Sixth Day: The living creatures of cky and land are called out from the ark, as in their first creative calling from the voice of God (Gen 1:24-25) and (Gen 8:17-19)

(6) The Reappearance of the nuclear family, all of whom bear God’s image, as the heads and sole representatives of the human race functions as a reprise of the creaion of adam, male and female in God’s image (Gen 1:26-28) and (Gen 8:16,18; Gen 9:6).

(7) The heavenly King graciously grants his blessings on humanity, feeds them with the fruit of the restored earth, and, renewing the cultural mandate, restores them as lords over creation (Gen 1:28) and (Gen 9:1-2)

(2) Noah is presented as the New Adam

Noah is recommissioned with all of the ordinances given at creation to Adam and Eve

(A) “be fruitful” and “increase in number” and “fill the earth”

(B) in Gen 9:2, it says “the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon all the wild animals of the earth….” God assigns mankind to command and rule over all the earth and subdue it, but now in this new fallen world God assists them in this task by placing a fear of them upon all creatures. (May help in catching/hunting animals)

(C) The Animals are given to the human race for food, just as the plants were given to at creation for food (Gen 1:29-30).

No eating of blood, preserving respect for all life.

Human beings are set apart, not taking of human life

(D) Human life is special and of priceless value and worth.

Human race is one family, all are related. (Gen 9:5) “Fellow man” is the same word translated as “brother” in the Cain and Abel story. Implying that God would require an accounting for the shedding of blood.

God requires retributive justice, a societal responsibility to place value on human life but justly punishing those who have taken it. This is to be carried out at the hands of governments, not vengeance or blood feuds. This is demonstrated later in the Bible as God arranges the promised land, specifically designating a network of cities of refuge where an accused party may go into protection from familial vengeance before the case and conviction are set.

(E) God holds the human family/society responsible to administer retribution when a human live is taken maliciously

NOAH AND ADAM COMPARED

APPLICATIONS

God keeps his promises