BIBLE STUDY: May 5th

The meeting opened with prayer

In the Scriptures, by the Spirit,
   May we see the Saviour's face,
Hear His word and heed His calling -
   Know His will and grow in grace.
Amen
 

 
Genesis 7:1-11

1

Then the LORD said to Noah: "Go into the ark, you and all your household, for you alone in this age have I found to be truly just.

2

Of every clean animal, take with you seven pairs, a male and its mate; and of the unclean animals, one pair, a male and its mate;

3

likewise, of every clean bird of the air, seven pairs, a male and a female, and of all the unclean birds, one pair, a male and a female. Thus you will keep their issue alive over all the earth.

4

Seven days from now I will bring rain down on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and so I will wipe out from the surface of the earth every moving creature that I have made."

5

Noah did just as the LORD had commanded him.

6

Noah was six hundred years old when the flood waters came upon the earth.

7

Together with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives, Noah went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.

8

Of the clean animals and the unclean, of the birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground,

9

(two by two) male and female entered the ark with Noah, just as the LORD had commanded him.

10

As soon as the seven days were over, the waters of the flood came upon the earth.

11

In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month: it was on that day that All the fountains of the great abyss burst forth, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

Flood stories are very ancient and found in many cultures. The account in Genesis appears to come from two different sources; some think that Moses is taking two traditional accounts to write up the story here, others think the compilation came much later after the return from the Babylonian exile.

Very few people now-a-days hold that this refers to a global deluge; there is no way that all the species from all over the earth could have been accommodated in an ark of the dimensions given in Genesis 6. Nor is there geological evidence of such a flood. It has been noted that the word commonly translated 'earth' may also mean 'land' - the flood covered the whole land. It is now generally thought to refer to a local flooding, possible in Mesopotamia (the modern Iraq) since we read later that the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

The time of the flood is also a matter of controversy. If we are to take this as a flood which destoyed most of the human race, then we must give this a very early date. This might account for the survival of flood story among different cultures.

In Peter's first letter we read: "God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water.This prefigured baptism, which saves you now" (1 Peter 3:20,21). This idea that the Flood is a 'type' (or prefiguration) of baptism is found also in the Church Fathers. Just as by baptism we are cleansed of the stain of sin and reborn in Christ, so the Flood cleansed the land and gave the human race a 'second start', a rebirth. Indeed, the flood story is told in just such terms: a new beginning and a new covenant, this time not with one married couple, but with a whole household.

We noted the command was to take aboard seven pairs of clean animals and of clean birds, and one pair each of other animals and birds. We also noticed that Noah was quite old at the time of the flood! The apparent longevity of the early persons in the Bible is is another controversial point. Some take the ages given quite literally; others say they are allegorial, showing a degeneration of the human race as it sinks furher into sin (the ages tend to go doen in number as one moves away from Adam). Others claim the word translated as 'year' originally denoted a shorter time span - perhaps a month or three months; others have suggested that the ages refer not to individuals but to whole families or dynasties. Whatever the truth, it does not affect our reading of the flood story.

 
Genesis 7:12-24

12

For forty days and forty nights heavy rain poured down on the earth.

13

On the precise day named, Noah and his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of Noah's sons had entered the ark,

14

together with every kind of wild beast, every kind of domestic animal, every kind of creeping thing of the earth, and every kind of bird.

15

Pairs of all creatures in which there was the breath of life entered the ark with Noah.

16

Those that entered were male and female, and of all species they came, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in.

17

The flood continued upon the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark, so that it rose above the earth.

18

The swelling waters increased greatly, but the ark floated on the surface of the waters.

19

Higher and higher above the earth rose the waters, until all the highest mountains everywhere were submerged,

20

the crest rising fifteen cubits higher than the submerged mountains.

21

All creatures that stirred on earth perished: birds, cattle, wild animals, and all that swarmed on the earth, as well as all mankind.

22

Everything on dry land with the faintest breath of life in its nostrils died out.

23

The LORD wiped out every living thing on earth: man and cattle, the creeping things and the birds of the air; all were wiped out from the earth. Only Noah and those with him in the ark were left.

24

The waters maintained their crest over the earth for one hundred and fifty days,

We noted here that Noah's sons are named, though none of the wives are named. We have eight people on the ark, together with all the animals and birds. We are told that the waters rose to fifteen cubits above the mountains. The cubit is a measurement from the finger tips to the elbow and was reckoned as one an half feet; but there was no standardization of such measurments and among the Hebrews the cubit seems to have varied over time. Here we are probably dealing with a cubit of about 50 centimetres (or 19 to 20 inches), thus we are speaking of a height of about 7.5 metres (or 24 to 25 feet) above the mountain tops. Clearly if there had been a global flood to that height above Everest, there would surely be clear geological evidence; we understood this to refer only to the land where the flood occurred.

 
Genesis 8:1-12

1

and then God remembered Noah and all the animals, wild and tame, that were with him in the ark. So God made a wind sweep over the earth, and the waters began to subside.

2

The fountains of the abyss and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the downpour from the sky was held back.

3

Gradually the waters receded from the earth. At the end of one hundred and fifty days, the waters had so diminished

4

that, in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.

5

The waters continued to diminish until the tenth month, and on the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains appeared.

6

At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,

7

and he sent out a raven, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth. It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.

8

Then he sent out a dove, to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.

9

But the dove could find no place to alight and perch, and it returned to him in the ark, for there was water all over the earth. Putting out his hand, he caught the dove and drew it back to him inside the ark.

10

He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.

11

In the evening the dove came back to him, and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf! So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.

12

He waited still another seven days and then released the dove once more; and this time it did not come back.

By Ararat is probably meant the ancient kingdom of Urartu; this would place the mountains around lake Van in eastern Turkey and running on into modern Armenia. The writer does not specify which mountain; tradition has long placed it as the modern Mount Ararat in Turkey near the Armenian border.

We noticed it came to rest about two and half months before the tops of the mountains could actually be seen; we understood the ark to have grounded in shallow water as the flood was receeding, but before any dry land actually appeared. The story of the raven and the dove is well known as well as the symbol of the dove with an olive branch in its beak to signify peace.

We noticed the repeated reference to seven days in the story and how Noah waited seven days between sending out the dove and another seven days after the non-return of the dove. The seven-day theme is clearly important in this account of the 'second creation' of humanity, recalling the 'seven days' of the original creation.

 
Genesis 8:13-22

13

In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life, in the first month, on the first day of the month, the water began to dry up on the earth. Noah then removed the covering of the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.

14

In the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.

15

Then God said to Noah:

16

"Go out of the ark, together with your wife and your sons and your sons' wives.

17

Bring out with you every living thing that is with you--all bodily creatures, be they birds or animals or creeping things of the earth-and let them abound on the earth, breeding and multiplying on it."

18

So Noah came out, together with his wife and his sons and his sons' wives;

19

and all the animals, wild and tame, all the birds, and all the creeping creatures of the earth left the ark, one kind after another.

20

Then Noah built an altar to the LORD, and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird, he offered holocausts on the altar.

21

When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself: "Never again will I doom the earth because of man, since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start; nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.

22

As long as the earth lasts, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, Summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease."

Men, beasts and birds leave the ark with the command to abound on the earth, to breed and multiply upon it, recalling the command of the first creation: to be fruitful and multiply upon the earth.

But there is a difference this time: Noah chose from among all the clean animals and birds (which is why more than one pair of these needed to enter the ark) and offers whole burnt sacrifice (holocaust). God accepts that "the desires of man's heart are evil from the start" and promises that as long as the world lasts, the earth will not be doomed again.

 
Genesis 9:1-7

1

God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them: "Be fertile and multiply and fill the earth.

2

Dread fear of you shall come upon all the animals of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon all the creatures that move about on the ground and all the fishes of the sea; into your power they are delivered.

3

Every creature that is alive shall be yours to eat; I give them all to you as I did the green plants.

4

Only flesh with its lifeblood still in it you shall not eat.

5

For your own lifeblood, too, I will demand an accounting: from every animal I will demand it, and from man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life.

6

If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made.

7

Be fertile, then, and multiply; abound on earth and subdue it."

Again we have God's command to "be fertile and multiply and fill the earth." However, we see a noticeable difference between this passage and the first creation account at the beginning of Genesis. In the latter, the animals and birds are are given "all the green plants for food" and man is given "every seed-bearing plant all over the earth and every tree that has seed-bearing fruit on it" (Genesis 1:29,30); but here God accepts that man is less than perfect and as well as plants and fruits, man is permitted to eat "every creature that is alive," the only exception being those whose lifeblood is still in them. This is followed by a prohibition on manslaughter; no prohibition had been given in the first chapter of Genesis since, being made in God's imagine, it was expected that manslaughter would never happen; but Adam's son, Cain, had killed his brother, Abel. Now, knowing that "the desires of man's heart are evil from the start," God explicitly issues this prohibition.

 
Genesis 9:8-17

8

God said to Noah and to his sons with him:

9

"See, I am now establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you

10

and with every living creature that was with you: all the birds, and the various tame and wild animals that were with you and came out of the ark.

11

I will establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all bodily creatures be destroyed by the waters of a flood; there shall not be another flood to devastate the earth."

12

God added: "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you:

13

I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.

14

When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds,

15

I will recall the covenant I have made between me and you and all living beings, so that the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all mortal beings.

16

As the bow appears in the clouds, I will see it and recall the everlasting covenant that I have established between God and all living beings--all mortal creatures that are on earth."

17

God told Noah: "This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all mortal creatures that are on earth."

God makes a new covenant, not just with Noah and his sons, but with their descendants and with all the creatures that were with them. It is covenant that there will never again be a flood in order to make a new beginning; the sign of the covenant is the rainbow.

 
Genesis 9:18-29

18

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.)

19

These three were the sons of Noah, and from them the whole earth was peopled.

20

Now Noah, a man of the soil, was the first to plant a vineyard.

21

When he drank some of the wine, he became drunk and lay naked inside his tent.

22

Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness, and he told his two brothers outside about it.

23

Shem and Japheth, however, took a robe, and holding it on their backs, they walked backward and covered their father's nakedness; since their faces were turned the other way, they did not see their father's nakedness.

24

When Noah woke up from his drunkenness and learned what his youngest son had done to him,

25

he said: "Cursed be Caanan! The lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers."

26

He also said: "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem! Let Canaan be his slave.

27

May God expand Japheth, so that he dwells among the tents of Shem; and let Canaan be his slave."

28

Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.

29

The whole lifetime of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years; then he died.

But within one generation things start to go wrong. We must understand in this passage some intervals of time. It would, for example, take a few years for Noah to cultivate the soil and grow his vines. Then Noah, presumably not realizing the properties of wine, gets himself drunk.

Next comes a strange passage. Why should Noah curse his grandson, Canaan, because Ham happened to come across him when he was naked? After all, Noah should not have got himself drunk, should he? We have to read the subtext here. In Leviticus we find the phrase "uncover the nakedness" is used many times as a euphemism for sexual intercourse; see in particular Leviticus, chapter 18, where it used time after time to refer to incestuous sexual relations. Most pertinent to this passage is Leviticus 20:11 which reads: "The man who lies with his father's wife has uncovered his father's nakedness." Ham had taken advantage of his father's drunken stupor to see the nakedness that only his father should see, i.e. he had incestuous sex with Noah's wife, his own mother. He wanted to surplant his drunken father and made his intention clear to his brothers by telling them what he had done.

But Ham's attempt to supplant his father backfires. Noah curses Canaan, the fruit of the incestuous union. According to ancient rabbinic and Christian patristic traditions, this curse points forward to Israel's future conquest and occupation of the Land of Canaan, since the Israelites are the chosen line of Shem.

Verses 25 to 27 have been used to justify the enslavement of negroes. It has been argued that the descendants Ham and Caanan are the black races of Africa, and that therefore they would be forever the slaves of the descendantds of the Shem and Japtheth, i.e. the brown and white races respectively. There is no sound Biblical basis for such a racist interpretation. In our view it is a gross abuse of Biblical texts to justify such a heinous practice as the forcible enslavement of people's on racist grouns.
 

The meeting closed with prayer.

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Most of the scripture texts on this page are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament and Revised Psalms © 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.