Nobody's Perfect- Noah in the Vineyard

It's hard to imagine someone as faithful and righteous as Noah, passed out drunk and naked inside his tent, but alas that is exactly what takes place in this story.  Though Noah was the only man God chose to save from the flood along with his family,  and though he was the one whom God chose to establish a covenant with, he made mistakes too!  Such as sampling too much of the wine from the vineyard he planted! Moral:  We are all human and we all sin. 

I know several people who would find that statement disempowering.  Original Sin is one of the main religious concepts that influenced my mother to leave the Catholic Church.  I actually find that Truth to be a relief.  We often demand perfection of ourselves.  I know from my own experiences and thoughts that I am often consumed with the idea of being the perfect wife, mother, friend, career woman etc.  But to err is human, and it is from making these mistakes that we learn some of our greatest lessons in life.  Noah's silly mistake is simply a reminder that he stumbled like the rest of us do.  Therefore, if Noah was just like the rest of us, there is also potential for us to have great Faith as he did, despite our natural human errors. :) 

Not only is this portion of Scripture able to teach us about our own tendency towards sin, but the importance of how we react to the mistakes of others as well.  Noah had three sons; Ham, Shem, and Japheth.  It was Ham, the father or Canaan, who was the first to discover his father intoxicated and exposed inside the tent.  Instead of covering him with blankets, and keeping quiet about his father's error, the first thing he did was to go outside and tell his two brothers.  How many times have we heard some juicy gossip about someone in our community and instead of keeping quiet about it; we chose to talk about it behind that person's back? If we are honest with ourselves, we can admit that at one time or another in our lives we made the same choice as Ham did that day in the vineyard.  Ham's two brothers took the high road, and not wanting to shame their father, walked backwards into the tent (so as not to see his nakedness) and covered their father's body.

When Noah came to his senses and realized what had taken placed he both cursed his youngest son for talking of his shame to others, and praised his 2 eldest sons for making a kinder decision.  I am guessing that his words are prophetic and foreshadow the difficulties which will arise later for Canaan's descendants.

"Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers."

He also said,

"Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
May God extend Japheth's territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth."
 ~Genesis 9:25-27

I suppose we will find out later in Scripture  how history plays out for these three branches of Noah's descendants!

The Great Flood- Perception vs. Reality

"First, notice that in Noah's case FAITH WAS THE FIRST PRINCIPLE. The text begins, "By faith Noah." We shall have to speak about his fear—being "moved by fear"; we shall also remember his obedience, for he "prepared an ark to the saving of his house." But you must take distinct note that at the back of everything was his faith in God. His faith begat his fear: his faith and his fear produced his obedience. Nothing in Noah is held up before us as an example, but that which grew out of his faith" ~C.H. Spurgeon

The story of Noah's Ark is for many children, one of their first exposures to the Bible. When we were getting ready for the birth of my son, I do not think I can count on my fingers alone how many gifts we received with an image of Noah and his happy creatures sitting in that lovely large wooden boat.But in reality this story is not at all g-rated and the picture I posted in the top right corner is a very understated version of what this tragedy would have looked like.  

"On that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. And rain fell on the Earth for forty days and forty nights." (Genesis 7:11) Scripture then continues to say, "Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark." (Genesis 7:23) All I could think of when I read this passage was how terrifying this would be. I had heard that water fell from the sky for forty days and forty nights but I had never realized that it was also coming from the ground.  Everything is wiped out.  All life on Earth is extinguished except for that of Noah, his family, and the creatures on the ark.  This story describes a catastrophe beyond which we can even imagine. 

Since I began reading the Bible a few weeks ago, I have thought back to all the times I was told that the God of the Old Testament was jealous and vengeful.  But even after reading about the expulsion of man from the Garden of Eden, the punishments endured by Cain, and the tragedy of The Great Flood...

I simply don't agree.

In the portions of Scripture that I have read so far, it is humanity that turns away from God, not God that turns away from humanity. In essence, we are choosing our fate.  Our free will determines how our lives will change.  Since Noah was righteous, God saved him, but when we veer off of that path, it is no longer up to God to save us.  It is OUR choice.

God did not want Adam and Eve to suffer, they chose that when they took a bite of the Forbidden Fruit and did not take responsibility for their actions.  

God did not want Cain to wander the world without Him, but Cain made that choice when he struck his own brother. 

God was proud of his Creation until humanity turned away from Him completely, and by Him I do not just mean God in the personal sense, but God in the sense of all that is love and peace. "The Lords saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil at the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled." (Genesis 6:5-6) Since according to the story, ALL humanity except for Noah was evil, it is much easier for us to understand why God takes such drastic measure.  But again, it is important to note that it is humanity that guides God's decision through their actions.  After all, Noah's goodness saved him. :)

After reading through Noah's epic tale several times, I began to search for sermons about these passages in order to draw the deeper meaning out of the story. My favorite sermon is by C.H. Spurgeon. (I have included a link below)  I chose the quote at the top of the page because I agree that Faith is indeed the essence of this story.  All that Noah did, he did out of Faith. IMMENSE Faith.  

God tells Noah the exact specifications on how to build the ark.  When the measurements are converted we find that the boat would have been truly massive.  Anywhere from 450-515 ft long.  Keep in mind that during Noah's time, men in Mesopotamia were still using wedges to split wood in two.  This would have taken an incredibly long time, especially since the only help he had was from his family.  Not to mention that everyone (including his family at first) must have thought he was completely insane. 

Spurgeon brought up how people would have snickered behind his back and jeered at him.  Despite all these obstacles Scripture says, "Noah did everything just as God commanded him." (Genesis 6:22) Once The Great Flood begins, Noah's family is shut up inside the boat with all of the strange and beautiful creatures inside for 150 days before settling upon a mountain top. It is another 40 days before Noah even dares to open a window to let out the raven to see if the waters have receded enough to reveal dry land and leave the ark.  More weeks go by until he sends out a dove from the ark a second time and it returns with an olive leaf.  (Aha! The symbol for peace..I get it now! :) )Even then he waits, sends it out a 3rd time, and the dove does not return for it has presumably found a home. Guess what he does then? He waits some more! 

One can only imagine how terrified Noah and his family were after witnessing such a catastrophe.  I don't blame him for waiting so long before stepping out of that boat.  The inhabitants of the ark stayed on the boat for the better part of a year.  It would have been an unimaginably dark and treacherous voyage, but when Noah steps out of the ark, a New Day begins. :)God makes a covenant with Noah saying, "Never again will all life be destroyed by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the Earth." (Genesis 9:11) God places a rainbow in the sky as a beautiful sign of this promise.

But what is the significance of this flood? There are several stories dating from this same period in Mesopotamia which speak of a terrible flood.  The Epic of Gilgamesh is but one of them.  Scholars believe that there was indeed a great flood in this region at 9400 b.c.  When the Earth's temperature rose the water from the Mediterranean flooded into the Dead Sea, forcing many to abandon their towns and homes.  Perhaps this helped to develop the story of Noah, though it would have been told orally for thousands of years before finally being written down.

I think the deeper message is God baptizing the Earth.  He is literally washing away the sins of humanity.  Once he does this Noah and his family can begin a new life with God. In addition, Noah is held out to us as an example of Faith.


*I have included the links to a History channel documentary on Noah's ark and a sermon by C.H. Spurgeon.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ixga38W-_4k

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/sermons36.ii.html

Family Lines

I considered skipping the genealogy accounts which lead to the story of Noah, but I decided that there must be a reason for that passage in scripture.  If it weren't important, it wouldn't be in there right? :)  I have included the chart above so you can easily see the names and lifespans of the ten generations of men which occurred between Adam and Noah.

Each of these men have lives which span between 350 to almost a thousand years.  When I researched this on the internet the general consensus was that biblical scholars are stumped.  I wish I had more answers here but all I have is more questions! 

If the numbers are taken literally, that means Noah was born only 126 years after the death of Adam.  Methuselah and Lamech would have been alive when Noah began building the ark. I had never thought about all this generational overlap before!  And though each of these men have long lives, it is a relatively short time between the creation of man and the great flood. 

Enoch is the most mysterious character in this portion of Scripture.  "After Enoch became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away." Genesis 5:22-24  In what way did Enoch "walk with God"?  When God "took him away," did Enoch die or was he raised up body and soul?  There seemed to be a lot of debate over this when I did research over the internet.  I also don't understand why someone who was so close to God would have only brief passage in the Bible.  I want to know more about the mysterious Enoch!

Reading this portion made me realize more than anything that I need the help of some spiritual and theological teachers along the way.  Though I would love to simply comment on the way each Bible story makes me feel and the meaning I draw from it, I think it is most important to understand the scriptures' full context first! I will keep you posted on what resources I choose to help us along the way!

Cain: A Lesson in Personal Responsibility

"All blame is a waste of time.  No matter how much fault you find within another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you."  ~ Wayne Dyer 

Accepting 100% responsibility is one of the greatest challenges we face. Most adults will blame their problems on almost anyone before they acknowledge that it is their choices, and nothing  else, that have landed them in their current situation.  Looking inward to find an answer in our own hearts and minds is much scarier and difficult than blaming our families, government, parents, teachers, bosses etc.  This is not to say that we do not suffer from the bad decisions of others.  That is only natural, but it is how we choose to view and use those outside circumstances which determines our success in life.  Jim Rohn, the premier business philospher of the 20th century was known to say, "The same wind blows upon us all.  It's how you set your sail that makes the difference."

Perhaps you are wondering what this has to with the story of Cain and Abel. It was evident to me that Cain displayed a total lack of personal responsibility throughout this story.  When the brothers each made an offering to God, Cain brought some of the plants he had harvested.  Abel on the other hand, brought forth meat from the firstborn lamb of his flock.  Since Abel had given God the best offering he could provide, he was looked upon with favor.  Cain had not put as much effort into his sacrifice and therefore he did not receive the Lord's favor.  As we know, Cain was furious and instantly looked for someone to blame.  If Abel wasn't around to make him look bad, Cain's offering would have been favorable to God. But in reality, the only person he had to blame was himself.  If Cain had put in the same amount of care into his offering, both sacrifices would have been seen as favorable in God's eyes.  

Instead of accepting responsibility for his error, Cain tricked his brother into accompanying him into the fields where he then kills him.  

"Then the Lord said to Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?'
'I don't know," he replied. 'Am I my brother's keeper?'"  (Genesis 4:9)

If you are not clear on what Cain means by this, it is basically akin to him sarcastically telling God that he isn't his brother's babysitter.  The famous 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon, spoke in one of his sermons, "Cain displayed a shameful tone of presumptuous impudence in his insulting reply to the Lord God. If it had not been on record in the page of inspiration, we might almost have doubted whether a man could speak so impudently when actually conscious that God himself was addressing him." It is such a stunningly insolent response, and at the same time, a form of denial.  Cain knows exactly what he did, but doesn't want to accept responsibility.  His sarcasm could be seen as a defense mechanism to avoid God's question.  It is interesting as well that his parents blamed one another after they ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.  Neither one would admit guilt.  There seems to be a pattern building, even at the very beginning of the Bible's version of human history,  humanity seeks to blame outside circumstances for their own mistakes.

God of course knows the crime which Cain has committed. "What have you done? Listen! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground." (Genesis 4:10) Cain is then cursed to wander the Earth, but God does not abandon him.  When Cain begins to fear that he will be killed after being driven from the land, God puts a special mark on him so no one will harm him, and proclaims that anyone who would kill Cain would suffer vengeance seven times over.  I found it amazing that God would still protect Cain even though he just murdered his own flesh and blood!

This is an amazing example of the love of God in the Bible.  Though He is punishing Cain, God does not want to see any harm come to his children.