When we talk about being saved from the fires of hell, we should view this as being called out of it, not spared from a punishment by it.
Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.
Genesis 10:21 (NIV)
Linguistic historians note that “Eber” may be the source of the word “Hebrew.” The word means “crossing over.”
Scripturally, we link this to crossing over the Euphrates (Abraham) or the Jordan (Israel), but we also use this phrase to talk about crossing over into the afterlife.
Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:1 (NIV)As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
Genesis 9:7 (NIV)
Not only does Genesis 9 start with a blessing, the blessing is repeated in verse 7: “be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth.”
Verse 1 says “them,” so it’s clear that it’s plural.
Verse 7 says “as for you,” but in Hebrew, this is the plural “you.” It’s “ya’ll.”
This is important, because Noah individually does *not* go and become fruitful or multiply (unless you’re seeing a pun, and think the grapes that follow are the multiplied fruit!)
God’s blessings are not merely for individuals. They are for community.
For folks who wish to bear children but can’t, this must feel like a curse. To be told “children are God’s blessing” and then not experience it personally must feel like a double-curse: missing out on the blessing and then experiencing the shame of failure.
In scripture, we see this barrenness: Sarai (Genesis 11:30), Rebekah (Genesis 25:21), Rachel (Genesis 29:31) – wives of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They’re all barren at first, but God says they will be a great nation.
Why does it start this way? Perhaps this is an echo of Genesis 1:2.
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:2 (NIV)
For reasons unknown, Noah does not have any more children with his wife, even though he is included in the “ya’ll” in Genesis 9:7.
Perhaps Noah failed to count the three blessings he already had. Perhaps the wine blurred his vision.
But he was blessed by God. Twice.
And God has blessed you as well, and God intends to make you fruitful and multiply you in ways you may not yet realize. This seems to be the nature of God: blessings and promises. Fruitfulness.
For all ya’ll.
The sons of God saw that the daughters of humans were beautiful, and they married any of them they chose.
Genesis 6:2 (NIV)
Translators do violence to the text.
This word we translated as “beautiful” here? FIFTEEN TIMES this Hebrew word is used before this, and EVERY SINGLE TIME, the word is “GOOD.”
“Good” is how God described the world he created in Genesis 1. It’s the same “good” of the Tree of good and evil knowledge.
The theological paths you can take here are absolutely tremendous.
The daughters of humanity were GOOD. What does this teach us about women? What does it say about God’s view of them? Who or what corrupts them by way of violence?
There is much water to draw from this well.
Another important link:
When Sarai is taken by Pharaoh in Genesis 12, she is described as beautiful (yawfeh), but when Esther is taken by Xerxes in Esther 2:7, she is described as both good (tov) and beautiful (yawfeh). And actually, the whole book of Esther links Haman with the concept of “falling,” which is the same root word as the Nephilim in Genesis 6. One might argue that Haman is Nephilim, and both the Pharaoh and King Xerxes are like “sons of God” who take women they please.
Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the [a]people to me and take the possessions for yourself.”
Genesis 14:21 (NASB)
[a] Lit soul
The Hebrew language is a little on the nose . Earlier, the king of Sodom’s name is given: Bera, which means “Evil.”
Here, the Evil one makes an offer to Abram, who is the rescuer of the people: “if you give me the souls, I’ll let you keep the stuff.”
Abe declines the offer. He doesn’t want the stuff. And God will rescue the souls anyway.
Then a survivor came and told Abram the Hebrew. Now he was residing by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and they were allies with Abram.
Genesis 14:13 (NASB)
Abram is described as “the Hebrew” here in Genesis 14:13, and it’s the first time this title is used in scripture.
The Midrash suggests this may the origin story of circumcision, and that Mamre is the one who encourages Abram to do it.
Abram is going to meet the King of Salem and give him a tithe.
While there’s no linguistic link between a tithe and circumcision, they seem thematically linked. Financially, a tenth is so little, but it’s so much. Similarly, a man feels this about his foreskin. It’s nothing, but it’s so much.
They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, for he was living in Sodom.
Genesis 14:12 (NASB)
When the kings of Empires captured Lot, the rabbis suggest that they knew exactly who Lot was, and that perhaps they could demand a ransom for him from Abraham.
ויקחו את לוט בן אחי אברם, they made a special effort to capture Lot because he was Avram’s nephew. They were aware of his wealth. They were expecting that Avram would pay a heavy ransom for the release of his nephew.
Sfnorno on Genesis 14:12:1
Is the entire land not before you? Please separate from me; if you choose the left, then I will go to the right; or if you choose the right, then I will go to the left.
Genesis 13:9 (NASB)
אם השמאל ואימינה IF THOU WILT TAKE THE LEFT HAND, THAN I WILL GO TO THE RIGHT —Wherever you settle down I will not go far from you and I will stand by you as a shield and as a helper. Ultimately, indeed, he (Lot) was really in need of him, as it is said, (Genesis 14:14) “And Abram heard that his brother was taken captive etc.”
Rashi Genesis 13:9:1
God is greater than our doubts. He’s so great that He can even use our doubts to grow us into a faithful people.
There are two lessons that jump out.
Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and called upon the name of the Lord.
Genesis 12:8 (NASB)
And he went on his journeys from the Negev as far as Bethel, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai, to the place of the altar which he had made there previously; and there Abram called on the name of the Lord.
Genesis 13:3-4 (NASB)
First, repeating things is a way to highlight the story. It’s underlined, bolded, italicized and blinking: REMEMBER THIS! A great famine will drive the people of God into Egypt, where a Pharaoh will take what is not his. But remember God’s mighty hand; you will be rescued. Remember!
Second, the rabbis say that “called upon the name of the Lord” can mean that Abram preached. He told people who God was.
But imagine how different his preaching was before and after being in Egypt. What lessons has Abram learned? Experience, suffering, seeing God rescue… these things change a person. They grow a person.
After the first altar, Abram is still willing to let his barren wife be taken away, fearing for his own life.
After the second altar, he is willing to accept a barren land, allowing Lot to take the fertile plain of the Jordan, trusting that God can turn barrenness into fruitfulness.