LESSON 6
Genesis for Today: Chapters 6-8
by Herb Drake

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The Great Flood

We are interested in Noah, of course, because he (and his family) are the only ones who will survive the flood judgment--a hat-racking of the genealogical tree that has developed to this point. Noah, indeed, "walked with God" (6:9) just as Enoch had done--he is a "righteous" man. He was righteous enough to go to the tremendous effort of obeying God in the seemingly absurd command that he build an ark. Here is another application of Genesis that still applies today--the act of obeying God can lead to doing some things that will make absolutely no sense to one's neighbors. It's a good bet that Noah was probably the butt of the whole list of "stupid pet tricks" of his day as God sent him all those animals as the first storm clouds began to appear.

Is the flood story real, or simply a parable? The Bible claims no eyewitnesses. Some people seek the remains of the ark, believing that this enterprise will force the masses to believe the Bible. They have missed the lesson of Lazarus in Luke 16:29, and are best identified as "arkaeologists," rather than archaeologists. Seme scholars, in fact, regard the flood narrative as the closest that the bible ever comes to "myth" because of its strangeness.

The message these early narratives bring us is just as valid whether we regard them as "history" or not. The possibility of a flood cannot be dismissed too quickly because there are flood memories in other cultures, even though their accounts serve a completely different theological purpose. Theology, after all, is a main concern in our study of these narratives, and whenever they are read for their theological content, they must be taken literally lest the intended lessons be lost. Besides, the very nature of ancient, biblical Hebrew is that it is not capable of expressing abstract, subjunctive ideas. So it conveys lessons like these by expressing them into a story form.

The "Sons of God"

It is more important that we understand God's rationale for the flood, rather than its historicity. As bad as human behavior might have been, something far worse occurred to tip the balance and justify the complete depopulation of humanity, save for Noah's small family. That something had to come from outside, the sinful work of the "sons of God." These spiritual beings, created by God for his service, shared God's gift of free will with humanity. They are named in Job 1:6 and 38:7, by reference in Deut. 32:8 and Psalm 82, and may be seen in action in 1 Kings 22:19-23.

The story is found in the non-canonical book of 1 Enoch, Chapters 6-10, and is summarized in Genesis 6:1-4. The Sons of God corrupted God-created humanity by uniting with human women to beget the Nephilim. As the text explains, those creatures were of giant size and were powerful warriors. The story also explains that Nephilim were also established after the flood, and their descendants became the enemys against which Joshua contended, and also such diverse charaters as King Og and the Goliath brothers of Gath. It is clear from those passages that God insisted on the complete annialiation of all Nephelim descendants, which explains Joshuah's God-ordered genecide of his Anakite adversaries, as they were descendents of the Nephilim.

The Flood

The rebellion in Chapter 4:1-4 is sometimes regarded as the second "Fall" account in Genesis, the first being in Chapter 3. God reduced human lifespans and instituted the flood judgment.

Modern readers would probably imagine the flood as endless rain, and the account in Genesis supports that assumption. However, if you review the ancient understanding of the cosmos, the flood also consisted of an invasion by the waters at the edges of the earth and the swelling of groundwater beneath the earth. It was, in other words, an act of "un-creation." Considering the flood in this way help suggests that God was regretting his act of creation in the first place. Humans simply had lost sight of their purpose in being a part of God's creative work. God was "sorry" and "sad," but found reason for optimism in Noah: "But Noah found favor in the sight of the LORD." When looking on the wreckage of the flood aftermath, humanity should have learned the lesson that sin not only has consequences for individuals, but also for the creation.

Let us not miss that the flood judgment, as severe as it was, did not lack a measure of God's grace. Noah and his family survived to continue the story.

Genesis 4-5 | Genesis 9-11

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