Tag: Genesis 6

End of Days

Posted on by jovial_cynic
The Hebrew in Genesis 6:13 says something wild. Look at these two translations: the Youngs Literal Translation (YLT) and the NIV:

The first thing you may notice is that one says “all flesh” and the other says “all people.”

And God said to Noah, `An end of all flesh hath come before Me, for the earth hath been full of violence from their presence; and lo, I am destroying them with the earth.
Genesis 6:13 (YLT)

So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth.
Genessi 6:13 (NIV)

But look at this word “end.” This word, when it isn’t connected to a specific time (like “end of 40 years,” or “end of his reign“) has a much more… eternal meaning.

I. end
1. end, at the end of (of time)
2. end (of space)
H7093: קֵץ (qēṣ)

There are two places in the Torah where this word is not connected to a specific time. Here, and back in Genesis 4 when Cain and Abel offer an offering to God.

This is an eternal image. This is not only our past. It is our present and future.

This passage can be read: “the end of all flesh is before me because the earth is filled with violence through the works of the flesh. I will destroy all flesh with the earth.”

If you read my Ish/Isha (flesh/spirit) post about Genesis 2-3, you’ll see a connection here.

If the Flood is a symbol of death & picture of baptism, where the flesh dies and is raised again by the Spirit of God, the destruction of the flesh is not disaster. It is what we long for: Not the death of wicked people, but the death of our sinful selves… so we can live.

Food for Everyone

Posted on by jovial_cynic

And He humbled you and let you go hungry, and fed you with the manna which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, in order to make you understand that man shall not live on bread alone, but man shall live on everything that comes out of the mouth of the Lord.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (NASB)

As for you, take for yourself some of every food that is edible, and gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and them.
Genesis 6:21 (NASB)

The word “eat” shows up 21 times in Genesis 1 and 2, and it should tell us something. It’s made explicit in Deuteronomy.

When our spiritual hunger for God’s words matches our literal hunger for food, then we will be satisfied. Comforted.

Noah brought food on the Ark for everyone.

Noah is called Righteous

Posted on by jovial_cynic
Genesis 6 introduces us to this new word: Noah is צַדִּיק (“tzadik”).

This word means righteous. Just. Lawful.

We know it as the opposite of “wickedness,” but when it is shown to us first, it is shown in contrast to a word that means something different: Violence. Cruelty. Injustice.

Fire and Smoke

Posted on by jovial_cynic

So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks.
Genesis 6:14-16 (NIV)

Everything we know about the construction of the Ark is in Genesis 6:14-16.

Later, God gives very precise measurements for other construction projects.

In Exodus 40, Moses completes construction of the Tabernacle, and God’s glory falls in smoke and fire.

In 2 Chronicles 7, Solomon completes construction of the Temple, and God’s glory falls in smoke and fire.

In Genesis 6, Noah completes construction of the Ark, and I bet there was smoke and fire aboard.

Let there be Light.

Pitch and Atonement

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Genesis 6:14 (KJV)

I don’t normally quote the KJV, but it’s one of the few translations that follow the Hebrew’s weird phrasing of “pitch it… with pitch.” You might think that is odd, but the Hebrew language has some meaning buried in it that is extremely important.

This word “pitch” is used firstly as a verb and then as a noun here, and while that doesn’t seem to make much difference, look closely at the Hebrew meanings of these words.

to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch
H3722: כָּפַר (kāp̄ar)

price of a life, ransom, bribe
H3724: כֹּפֶר (kōp̄er)

These are theological words.

The imagery we see is God’s destructive flood that covers the earth, but the boat, inside and out, is going to be covered with PITCH.

With atonement.
With reconciliation.
With the price of a life.
With a ransom.

Everything we hold dear in our faith lives inside Genesis.

Saints and Sinners

Posted on by jovial_cynic
I think Chuck Missler is attributed with this quote, and while I don’t agree w/ everything he says on the subject, this quote rings absolutely true to me:

“The opposite of a saint is not a sinner.
The opposite of a saint is the Nephilim.”

The idea is that Christianity often sets up believers as the “good guys” and non-believers as the “bad guys,” but in fact, the bad guys are these wicked things bent on destroying God’s good order. Humanity is full of saints and sinners, and humanity is full people God is intent on rescuing.

The Nephilim are Something Else

Posted on by jovial_cynic

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and also afterward—when the sons of God went to the daughters of humans and had children by them. They were the heroes of old, men of renown.
Genesis 6:4 (NIV)

If you look very closely, Genesis 6 does not actually say the Nephilim are the offspring of the sons of God and human women. It merely says they were present then and afterwords.

Whether they are the offspring or not is unclear, but other later writings outside the Bible (the book of Enoch, Jubilees) suggest so.

If they are not the offspring of the “sons of God” and the good daughters of humanity, the Haman (who is associated with “falling,” like the word “Nephilim) connection is stronger, as Haman is not a son of Xerxes in the book of Esther.