Tag: Noah

Remember to Rest

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But God remembered Noah and all the animals and all the livestock that were with him in the ark; and God caused a wind to pass over the earth, and the water subsided.
Genesis 8:1 (NASB)

The first line in Genesis 8 starts by telling us that God remembered Noah. Noah’s name means rest.

Over and over in Genesis and Exodus, God remembers his covenant. God remembers his promise.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy
Exodus 20:8 (NASB)

And the first time God tells US to remember is when He introduces Sabbath. He’s reminding us to rest.

Prevailing Waters

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Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth. The water prevailed and increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered.
Genesis 7:17-19 (NASB)

In Genesis 7, there’s a dramatic build up of power in verses 17, 18, and 19. It reads a little bit like basic repetition in English, but is a very clear increase in the Hebrew.

Vayirbu ha-mayim: and increased- the waters.
Vayigberu ha-mayim vayirbu me’od: and prevailed- the waters, and increased VERY.
Veha-mayim gaveru me’od me’od: and the waters prevailed VERY VERY.

The increase appears quite dramatic in the Hebrew!

First, we have an increase that raises the Ark.
Then we have water PREVAILING and a LARGER increase that lifts the ark so it fully floats on the surface.
Finally, we have water prevailing VERY VERY (me’od, me’od!), so much that the water covers the mountains.

In the oral tradition, this is an intense story, full of drama and flailing hands and theatrics, I’m sure.

It’s fun. It’s also meant to drive the point home. These are unstoppable waters, covering everything until there is nothing left of the earth to see, save for a boat that is protecting all of us.

The House of the LORD

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

Nearly every translation renders this “before me” or “in my presence,” and those are correct meanings. But the literal Hebrew here is “to my face.” This feels… intimate. As close as lovers. Face to face.

God calls us to come into His boat. His house. His presence.

Can you feel it?

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.
Psalm 23:6 (NKJV)

And God said to REST

Posted on by jovial_cynic

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

The name Noah means “rest.” Here in Genesis 7, we know it refers to the man’s name, but if you get very, very, absurdly literal, consider this other theological statement that it appears to say:

Then the Lord said to REST. He said stop. Trust.

And because the rest of the verse describes God inviting Noah into the Ark, which represents atonement, we have this:

“Come into my protection. My dwelling. My house, you and your people. I see you desire to be with me, to be near me, to be face to face with me right here, and right now. Come. Be with me.”

I’m telling you, this is a love story.

God is on the Boat

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Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.
Genesis 7:1 (NKJV)

Different translations render Genesis 7:1 as “GO into the ark” or “ENTER the ark” as though these all mean the same thing… but the Hebrew word בֹּֽא־ (“bo”) most often means to “come in.”

God didn’t say “GO into THAT boat over there.” He said “COME into MY boat with Me, right HERE.”

Eat what God has Provided

Posted on by jovial_cynic
In Hebrew numerology, you probably know that three and seven are important. This make multiples (3 x 7 = 21) stand out as well.

So I find it amusing that in the Garden, the word “eat” is stated 21 times in the Hebrew in Genesis 1 and 2.

And “eating” is tied to the greenery.

Interestingly, similar to the way the animals in Genesis 1 are described in triplicate (livestock, creeping things, wild animals), we are shown three kinds of plants: grass, herbs, and trees.

In Genesis 6 and 7, the text is specific: God brings all three types of animals. But there’s no mention of the three types of plants. It is only hinted at in this phrase: מִכָּל־מַאֲכָל (mi-kol ma’akhal). This phrase means “of every food.”

You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.
Genesis 6:21 (NIV)

I used to wonder why humans and animals were vegetarian before the flood. Perhaps it’s linked to atonement: the Ark is a grand parable of humanity being preserved.

The three animals are a metaphor for all people, and people should not devour one another. God has provided every food we need.

A Very Specific Date

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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 (NIV)

I find it interesting that after discussions about “approximate years” and “outrageous ages” of the men listed in the genealogy of Genesis 5 (suggesting that the dates are vague approximations or merely symbols of “very long times”), we are presented with this extremely specific day of the flood.

By the Numbers

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You shall take with you seven pairs of every clean animal, a male and his female; and two of the animals that are not clean, a male and his female
Genesis 7:2 (NASB)

Also of the birds of the sky, seven pairs, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Genesis 7:3 (NASB)

For after seven more days, I will send rain on the earth for forty days and forty nights; and I will wipe out from the face of the land every living thing that I have made.”
Genesis 7:4 (NASB)

By the time we get to Genesis 7, we should start noticing some patterns involving numbers. We’re going to start looking at Hebrew numerology, because we’ve finally gotten to the part of the story where the numbers themselves carry the narrative.

Some of the numbers are repeated almost absurdly. It can’t be ignored: seven, two, and forty.

But there is a hint of threes being repeated, too. Back in Genesis 1, we learned about three types of animals. And we read in Genesis 6 that Noah had three sons.

These numbers all have meanings.

Then Noah and his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark because of the waters of the flood.
Genesis 7:7 (NASB)

They all went into the ark to Noah by twos, male and female, as God had commanded Noah.
Genesis 7:9 (NASB)

Now it came about after the seven days, that the waters of the flood came upon the earth.
Genesis 7:10 (NASB)

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 open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.
Genesis 7:11 (NASB)

The rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights.
Genesis 7:12 (NASB)

Here the three types of animals are listed again, in conjunction with the three sons again: the animals, the livestock, and the crawling things: threes.

And then twos again in the pairs.

On this very same day Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark
Genesis 7:13 (NASB)

They and every animal according to its kind, and all the livestock according to their kind, and every crawling thing that crawls on the earth according to its kind, and every bird according to its kind, all sorts of birds.
Genesis 7:14 (NASB)

So they went into the ark to Noah, by twos of all flesh in which there was the breath of life.
Genesis 7:15 (NASB)

And the chapter closes out with forty again, and then another mention of the three kinds of animals.

(I keep the birds off the list for a reason, and it’s because of how Genesis 1-3 keep them separate. They are different. They represent something different.)

Then the flood came upon the earth for forty days, and the water increased and lifted up the ark, so that it rose above the earth.
Genesis 7:17 (NASB)

So all creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind.
Genesis 7:21 (NASB)

There’s a lot of study on numerology — far too much to explain in detail, but here are some basics:

2 = separations, agreements
3 = community
7 = perfection
10 = completeness, fullness
40 = testing, trials

And some might see some larger numbers as being combinations of these underlying numbers. For example, 430 is written 30 and 400 in Hebrew, and it can be read this way: 3×10 and 40×10. Or perhaps “the fullness of community and the fullness of testing.”

Just something to consider.

A Flood of Grief

Posted on by jovial_cynic
This is a topic that is a bit sensitive for some folks. It requires a tremendous amount of gentleness. I think it also requires some age and wisdom to fully grasp it.

This is about the grief and suffering of the dying.

We have a vocabulary about death. We say things like “at least it was a quick death,” or “at least they died in their sleep.”

In the sadness of loss, we acknowledge the mercy found in certain kinds of death. This sort of death is… better. Better than suffering.

For the one experiencing the loss of a loved one, these phrases don’t lessen the pain, but it is helpful to know that the words are true, isn’t it? It’s good to know that loved ones who die this way did not experience prolongued agony and pain before they passed.

But it doesn’t lift the grief. It is still sorrowful.

But what about those who do suffer in agony?

I won’t describe any of it, because there are those who know already know people who have died this way, and they don’t want to be reminded. We have witnessed it. We have grieved it. And we have prayed for it to be over. We have prayed for an end of the suffering. For mercy.

And when the end comes, we are left with the most troubling and turmoil-filled spirit. We prayed for the end, but then we grieved the loss. We are relieved that their suffering stopped, but we didn’t want to lose them.

This is sorrow.

In Genesis 6, prior to the flood, the text mentions the “wickedness of man.”

We’ve been taught to read this as written in the English. Humanity is completely wicked, so the Flood waters are a judgement to wipe out the earth in God’s wrath.

But that is not the whole picture.

The word here for “the wickedness” is the noun-form of the word ra’. We translate it as “wickedness” or “evil,” but the word carries the connotation of suffering. So when we read “…and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time,” we are being told something important.

Can you see it?

III. evil, misery, distress, injury
1. evil, misery, distress
2. evil, injury, wrong
3. evil (ethical)
H7451: רַע (raʿ)

The text is not describing a humanity in defiance or disobedience to a holy God who must respond in wrath. That’s not the story. It is describing a humanity that is suffering. They are in misery. And they are dying. The curse of sin (death) has laid hold of all of them.

And when the text says “the Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled,” we see it clearly.

This form of “regretted” is compassionate mercy.

1. (Niphal)
1. to be sorry, be moved to pity, have compassion
2. to be sorry, rue, suffer grief, repent
3. to comfort oneself, be comforted
4. to comfort oneself, ease oneself
H5162: נָחַם (nāḥam)

And this form of “grieved” is precisely that feeling of troubling and turmoil-filled sorrow. It is the ending that you wish didn’t have to happen, but you understood that it would be worse if it didn’t.

5. (Hithpael) to feel grieved, be vexed
H6087: עָצַב (ʿāṣaḇ)

This is what our God is showing us with this story.

This stems from Adam and Eve’s eating from the tree of the knowledge of Good & Evil. This evil is the source of the suffering of humanity.

The narrative isn’t pointing to a God who is punishing us for doing the wrong thing. It is about a God grieving our suffering from it.

But God does not leave us in our suffering.

In Noah (whose name means “comfort“), we see God pointing to restoration. We see God making a new covenant and promising that this Flood will not happen again. Perhaps it’s because He will one day end all of our suffering.

Food for Everyone

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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.