Noah After the Flood

GENESIS 8: Noah and the Flood

OBSERVATIONS:

A brief description of the end of the deluge. And the Lord “But God remembered Noah.” The first two words: But God speaks of the transition between the previous descriptions of utter destruction and death of all known mankind. God chose to “forget” all those who perished in the flood, BUT not Noah. God has made a covenant with Noah – that he and his family will be spared and will continue to experience His grace.  God’s remembering Noah does not mean he momentarily forgot him. I think it is that God constantly has Noah in mind, and that now it is time to actually make good His promises. After the “remembering,” the flood subsided.

God through Noah wishes to start all over again, although He knows it will not be the same as with Adam and Eve who started off with such clean slate. God knows that Noah and his family were marred with sin, in fact that they along with their offspring, will have hearts  which He himself described as having evil inclination from childhood.  Even then, God was willing to use marred man through Noah to start over and start unrolling His plan of salvation through His Only Begotten Son.

First, God ordered Noah and his family to come out. He was the One who told them when it was time to come out. Their safety was God’s concern. In the same way that God placed Adam and Even in the garden only AFTER He made sure they will survive there, God made sure that when they come out of the Ark, they will able to survive along with all the animals they took with them in the Ark.

Second, Noah understanding sin, the Holiness of God and how His Holiness can only be appeased with blood offered an animal sacrifice which was a “pleasing aroma,” to God, who in His heart made a promise NEVER to annihilate all of humankind (at least ALMOST all) in the same way. That, “as long as the earth endures,” day and night will occur. A foreshadowing of the once-for-all sacrifice and appeasement that His Son’s death will accomplish for all those who place their faith in Him become a reality.

LESSONS and APPLICATIONS:

God is ALWAYS TRUE to His promises. He is reliable.

God is constantly looking after my best interest – He takes it as His responsibility to provide and protect those whose hearts belong to Him.

Only the blood of the perfect and pure Lamb of God can reconcile sinful man with God.

GENESIS 9: Noah After the Flood

OBSERVATIONS:

Vs. 1-4 – God blessed Noah and his family by commanding them to repopulate the earth and assuring them that from here on that “fear and dread” upon them will fall upon all other creatures. Whereas The Fall, God intended for men to be primarily vegetarians, now He’s given them the freedom to consume everything EXCEPT eating animals with blood in them. Some commentaries say that it may be because the flood had destroyed most vegetation and therefore scarce. The fear and dread for man coming from the animals could be because of their new relationship, animals are for man to use and consume!

Vs. 5-6 – God warned Noah that He will demand an accounting for every life shed including from animals! Anyone who murders another creature, humans and animals alike will pay with their own lives. With man, it is because man bears the image of God!

Vs. 7 – God reiterated the command to repopulate the earth.

Vs. 8-17 – God established a covenant with Noah and their descendants (the rest of mankind in the making!), and to the creatures that went to the Ark with him: that  He will never again annihilate living creatures with a flood. He set the rainbow as an assurance and a reminder of this promise. Rainbows appear only when there is rain or gathering storm, therefore it becomes a timely reminder each time of God’s promise.

Vs. 18-28 The three sons of Noah were described as the forefathers of the different races that their offspring produced. The following incident was related that explained the blessings and curse that they incurred for their actions – Ham’s indiscretion and Shem and Japeth’s discretion.

Noah got drunk – first incident of drunkenness.  I wonder if they were experimenting on keeping juices for future consumption and inadvertently produced alcoholic beverages instead! Noah got, “drunk as a skunk,” stumbling and falling asleep naked inside the tent. Ham saw him in this sorry state and went out maliciously and disrespectfully told his other brothers about it. The 2 brothers were embarrassed and decided to cover their father and made every effort to see Noah in his nakedness.

When Noah woke up, he learned of what happened and he placed a curse on Canaan the offspring of Ham. They were predicted to be slaves of the descendants of Shem and Japeth.

Noah lived another 350 years before He passed away.

PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATIONS:

1.  God responds to man according to how man obeys and honors Him. He had previously promised Noah that through him and his 3 sons, he will save mankind.    He follows through on His promise. They survive the Flood, and God has given them instructions how to live: that they must repopulate the earth, that they must not take life lightly. Murder will require capital punishment. They were told not to eat blood, which gives life and a necessary ingredient for atonement.

2. It seems like man move towards what his inner inclinations, interests and passions incline him to do and be.  Noah was a man of the soil – a farmer. Cain was a farmer, and Abel was a rancher or raised livestock. God uses and blesses each according to His purpose/s.

3.  Too much alcohol consumption is never good. It results in lower inhibitions and inadvertent embarrassing situations.

4.  Man is supposed to respect other man because they bear the image of God in them.

5.  Even animals give accountability to God.

APPLICATION/PRAYER:

God, you are God and you are sovereign over all. I bow before you. May I be like Noah, totally surrendered to your will and willing to give you unquestioning obedience.  May this characterize me this year.  Help me to constantly believe that as I go about living your will, you are able to protect and provide.  Help me not be derailed and distracted by unnecessary indulgences (such as Noah’s indulgence with alcohol!).