God Remembers Noah (Gen 6-9)

I would like to take a moment to thank you for allowing me the opportunity to finish up my dissertation over the last few weeks….

Let me share with you one of the literary structures engrained in our writing. I think both Joe and I have struggled wanting to write creatively at times. They really didn’t want “creative” writing. They wanted clear writing. We were to begin with a proposition. Offer evidence through the rest of the paragraph which proved that proposition. Finally, we would conclude with a restatement of the point – just to make sure we had been clear. We applied this structure to every paragraph, and to some degree, we applied this same structure to a chapter section. We would offer an overall proposition. We would prove it through various paragraphs. Finally, we would right a concluding paragraph to restate our proposition. All this for clarity. We desire the reader know with certainty our intent.

This same principle applies to our study of biblical authors. Biblical authors as well desired to be understood and they creatively used literary devices to accomplish that purpose. However, sometimes their literary structures vary greatly from what we are used to.

Let’s consider one such structure. Biblical authors would at times use a chiastic structure to reveal their main point. A chiasm is a “literary structure where parallel elements correspond in an inverted order.[1] A true chiasm “reveals the focus, the pivotal point, of a passage.”[2] Consider Matthew 6:24.

A No one can serve two masters

B For either he will hate the one

C and love the other

C’ or he will be devoted to the one

B’ and despise the other

A’ You cannot serve God and money

In so writing, Matthew emphasizes the reality that we will love and be devoted to one master. We better be careful as to which master we follow. Matthew offers us a very brief chiastic structure. However, what I’m proposing this morning is that Genesis 6:9-9:19 consists of one chiastic structure.

Appropriately Leland Ryken offers a caution. Ryken does not doubt the use of chiasms in Scripture; however, he does argue “the incidence of chiastic structure in long passages has been greatly exaggerated in recent biblical scholarship.” Too often creative interpreters impose a structure never intended by the biblical author, and in so doing, offer interpretations “often totally confusing to the general reader of the Bible.”[3]

I agree with Ryken. However, I do believe Moses intentionally wrote Genesis 6-9 as a chiastic structure. I will point out a few places in the text which convinced me so. Many consider Genesis 6-9 to be part of a chiastic structure.[4] Below I offer my own chiastic structure.

A God chooses to destroy the earth with a flood but makes a covenant with Noah (involving his three sons) that he would protect them by means of an Ark (6:9-16).

B God commands Noah to enter the ark, with all the animals, and tells him to bring food (6:21-7:3).

C Seven days of waiting (2x) for the water (7:4-10).

D Noah and his family enter the ark and the Lord shuts the door (7:11-16).

E The waters increase for forty days (7:17-18).

F The waters prevailed for 150 days, covering the mountains (7:19-24).

G But God remembered Noah (8:1).

F’ The waters receded for 150 days, ark settles on mountains (8:3-5).

E’ The waters abated for forty days (8:5-6).

D’ Noah opens the ark window and sends forth a raven (8:6-9).

C’ Seven days of waiting (2x) for the water (8:10-13).

B’ God commands Noah to leave the ark, with all the animals, and he provides them with food (8:15-9:4).

A’ God makes a covenant with Noah that he will never again destroy the earth with a flood therefore he and his three sons may leave the ark (9:8-19).

Defining Remember

The Hebrew term translated “remembered” (zakar) throughout the Old Testament carries three potential meanings. First, zakarmay connote “bringing to mind”[5] by means of pricking or invoking[6]. Most likely, as we consider “remember,” this definition most often comes to mind. Typically, with this meaning, a memory has been set aside or completely forgotten, and something prods or provokes its remembrance. Hardly does this meaning best fit “God remembered Noah.” God didn’t abandon Noah to the Ark, get busy for a couple hundred days, and finally remember that Noah and his family were still floating around.

Secondly, zakar may reference a completely inward act such as “paying attention to.”[7] This meaning does not demand forgetfulness but instead purposeful attention. This meaning fits better than the first but still falls short of the context of Genesis 8.

Finally, zakar references, as TWOT states, an “inward mental act accompanied by appropriate external acts.”[8] In Genesis 8, Moses clearly includes God’s appropriate external acts which followed his inward mental attention. God remembered Noah. God had never forgotten Noah. However, God did redirect his primary work to Noah’s situation, and God made changes in Noah’s life based on his inward thoughts. After 197 days of tumultuous waters, God remembered Noah, and from that point, the waters began to recede.

God Remembers His People

The Old Testament authors reverberate this theme of God remembering his people throughout the Scriptures. (1) God remembered Abraham. Prior to God destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses reminds us in Genesis 19, “God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities” (Gen 19:29). (2) God remembered Rachel. Rachel remained barren. Her sister, Leah already had sons by Jacob. Even Leah and Rachel’s servants (Zilpah and Bilhah) had sons by Jacob. Yet, Rachel remained barren. However, Moses writes in Genesis 30, “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb. She conceived and bore a son and said, “God has taken away my reproach.” And she called his name Joseph” (Gen 30:22–24). (3) God remembered Israel. Israel groaned under their Egyptian slavery for 400 years.[9] However, “God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob” (Ex 2:24). Following this statement of God’s remembrance, Moses unfolds the story of how God came to him in the burning bush. Sometime later, God would deliver Israel from Egypt. (4) God remembered the land. In a section about the consequences for disobedience, Moses unfolds how amid Israel’s disobedience, God will “remember the land.”

then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. But the land shall be abandoned by them and enjoy its Sabbaths while it lies desolate without them, and they shall make amends for their iniquity, because they spurned my rules and their soul abhorred my statutes.

Because the Israelite people failed to follow Sabbath laws concerning the land, God would remove Israel from the land allowing the land to rest. However, even though he would send the Israelites into years of captivity, he would not forget them. Moses goes on to write:

Yet for all that, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not spurn them, neither will I abhor them so as to destroy them utterly and break my covenant with them, for I am the Lord their God. But I will for their sake remember the covenant with their forefathers, whom I brought out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the nations, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.” (Lev 26:42–45).

God remembers us. God’s remembrance of us depends upon the promises he has made. Due to our faith in Christ, we have multiple promises on which to find hope. In Christ, we are blessed “with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Eph 1:3). In Christ, we “who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). In Christ, “you are all sons of God, through faith” (Gal 3:26). In Christ, nothing “will be able to separate [you] from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom 8:39), “not height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation.” In Christ, we “shall all be made alive” (1 Cor 15:22). In Christ, “[t]here is therefore now no condemnation” (Rom 8:1). In Christ, we will not be ashamed (1 Pe 2:6).

Like Rachel, or Lot, God’s remembrance depends not upon our perfect adherence to law or expectations of some kind, but rather on the promises God made to those who are in Christ.

Therefore, in your darkness and in your sin, God remembered you and he gave you Christ. In your present turmoil, God remembers you and works on your behalf based on the promises he has made.

Theological Implications

God remembers due his promises not our actions. God remembered Noah and acted – not because of Noah but because God had promised he would. God blessed Abraham and protected Lot not because Lot deserved saving but because God had made a promise to Abraham. God liberated Israel not because of some inherent value they possessed but because he had made a promise to Abraham.

God has promised to preserve all those who are in Christ. Our hope in our future, ultimate salvation and freedom from this broken world lies not in our actions but in God’s promise that he would save all those who are in Christ.

God remembers his people amid their darkness. In each of the examples, God remembered someone (or the land) amid great darkness. Noah had been tossed in what amounted to non-steerable driftwood for nearly 200 days before God remembered him. Rachel had grieved her barren womb for years prior to God remembering and blessing her with a child. Israel experienced 400 years of slavery before God remembered them and sent Moses.

God’s remembrance does not result in immediate change. Noah and his family continued to drift for 200+ days before getting off the Ark. Years would go by before Moses would come and liberate Israel from Egyptian bondage. Just because God remembered his promises to his people, God does not necessarily immediately relieve his people of their turmoil.

We, the people of God, as well still groan amid the darkness of a broken world. Scripture offers no promise that the people of God will avoid deep darkness, trial, and suffering. In fact, Paul acknowledges such suffering in Romans. He writes, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom 8:18–19).

God remembered his people. God promised to save a people to himself, and God gave his Son as the accompanying appropriate external action. However, immediate release from all the challenges and brokenness in the world came not at the death of his Son. We continue to experience that brokenness and pain.

Application Points

Our hope demands faith. The author of Hebrews specifically addresses this faith when he writes, “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Heb 11:7). Noah displayed his faith in the building of the Ark. The length of time it took to build the Ark is irrelevant[10] – save one purpose. Noah exhibited a great deal of faith throughout the years it took him to build the Ark. The longer this time, the more pronounced his faith.[11]

Additionally, Noah likely exhibited a great deal of faith throughout the time on the Ark. In looking at this text, we’ve determined Noah experienced nearly 200 days prior to “God remembered Noah” (Gen 8:1). Noah must have exhibited great faith throughout those 200 days.

Amid the darkness of nearly 200 days – not just floating but – of being tossed around in a world sized ocean – amid the annoyance of nearly 200 days of living in a confined ark with a bunch of stinking animals – amid the emotional and mental strain of nearly 200 days pondering on how everyone they knew had just died in a horrible flood (imagine their survivors guilt) – I would imagine at a couple points amid those nearly 200 days, a few of this courageous crew doubted whether God would keep his word to preserve them. How many times did Noah have to state to someone else or remind himself, “But God said he would keep us alive” (6:20)?

Holding on to hope that God would keep his promise and spare them from this catastrophe required immense and ongoing faith.

Our hope demands patience. Not only does Noah’s experience on the Ark demonstrate the need for faith for the maintaining of hope, but also our hope requires great patience. Nearly 200 days passed before “God remembered Noah.” But even still, once God remembered Noah, God did not immediately removed Noah from the hardship. The water immediately began to recede, but an additional 200+ days go by before Noah leaves the Ark.

Holding on to hope that they would eventually get off the Ark and walk on land again required an immense amount of patience.

Conclusion

Purpose statement. Our hope that God remembers us requires patient faith.

Footnotes

[1]Douglas Mangum, The Lexham Glossary of Theology (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014). [2] Sidney Greidanus, The Modern Preacher and the Ancient Text: Interpreting and Preaching Biblical Literature (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Eerdmans, 1988), 249. [3] Ryken, "Chiasm," in A Complete Handbook of Literary Forms in the Bible. [4]Bernhard offers a clear, concise chiastic structure of Genesis 6-9 in his journal article. Wenham, in both his article and commentary, offers a couple helpful but different chiastic structures that extend through chapter nine. In his journal article, Wenham breaks the structure into 16 levels (A-P), whereas in his commentary he offers a couple brief structures – one high level structure and another acknowledging the numbers throughout the chapters. Ross offers a helpful structure in his commentary, however, he only goes through chapter eight – instead of nine. Every author culminates with “God remembered Noah.” [Ross, Creation and Blessing, 192; Gordon J Wenham, “Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” Vetus Testamentum 28, no. 3 (July 1978): 338; Wenham, Genesis 1-15, 1:156–57; Bernhard W (Bernhard Word) Anderson, “From Analysis to Synthesis: The Interpretation of Genesis 1-11,” Journal of Biblical Literature 97, no. 1 (March 1978): 38.] [5] Gesenius and Tregelles, Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, 244. [6] Harris, Jr, and Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 241. [7] Harris, Jr, and Waltke, 241. [8] Harris, Jr, and Waltke, 241. [9]Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. (Gen 15:13). The time that the people of Israel lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of 430 years, on that very day, all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. (Ex 12:40–41). And God spoke to this effect—that his offspring would be sojourners in a land belonging to others, who would enslave them and afflict them four hundred years. (Acts 7:6). [10]Genesis 6:10-11 indicate that Noah had three sons when God directed him to build the ark. Noah sired the first of these three sons at the age of 500 (Gen 5:32). God brought the Flood when Noah was 600 years old (Gen 7:6). If Noah’s sons had been born and married when God told Noah to build the ark, the building of the ark must have occurred during this 100 year period and additionally must have occurred following the birth of his third son – making the length of building no more than 60-70 years. Beyond this length, we cannot be certain. Potentially Noah and his three sons built the ark in a few years. We can’t know, and it doesn’t matter. [11]Consistently, children’s curriculum (e.g. Abeka Books, and Sharefaith Bible Curriculum) present Noah preaching a message or repentance to a sneering and mocking world. These curriculums often claim Noah presented an opportunity for repentance and an ability to get on the Ark if they were to repent. These curriculums also claim everyone around Noah mocked at him. There is no biblical evidence for such presentations. God had predetermined who would be spared on the Ark. Nowhere does Scripture reveal that the world had an opportunity for repentance and entrance on the Ark. Additionally, nowhere does Scripture indicate that people mocked Noah. While Noah may have experienced mockery, to conclude so would be drawing implications not inherent in the text. One author argued