June 21, 2009: It Never Rains but when it POURS!
Posted on : Jun 18th, 2009 | By office | Category: This Sunday's Service
It never rains but when it POURS!
How do we keep hope and faith alive?
This Sunday we will be looking at the dark story of Noah and the Flood which we find in Genesis 6-9. Most believers will at some time or another ask the question of whether some of the extravagant stories we find in the Bible are really true. Did a snake really talk to Eve? Did a big fish really swallow Jonah? Did Daniel really survive the lion’s den? Is it really conceivable that Noah built a boat that could accommodate all the species on earth?
Not only does it sound improbable, but to accept the Flood story as a factual historical event would imply that we worship a God who is terribly violent and vindictive. That is not the image of God we find in the Bible. Some might defend the idea that God really did destroy all life on earth, on the basis that we don’t understand God’s ways. That’s not a real answer or an explanation, it’s a cop out.
The story of the Flood as we find it in Genesis itself seems to discourage a literal understanding of the story. When we take a closer look at the story of Noah and the Flood we discover that it is actually not one story but two flood stories that are intertwined. The Flood Story in Genesis 6-9 was originally two different traditions pasted together to make one story. The one version of the story tells how it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and God commanded Noah to take seven pairs (male and female) of every species of animal that is considered clean, but only one pair of every species of animal that is considered unclean, into the ark, the reason being that when Noah leaves the ark he will have to take one of each of the clean animals to make an offering to God. After 40 days, Noah sends out a raven to discern whether the earth has dried up. Once the ground is dry, he leaves the ark, builds an altar to God and makes the offerings. God, who smells the offering, quietly decides not to destroy the world again, since God realizes that destroying the world did not change the state of things; humanity continues to do evil and be self-destructive.
In the alternate story, God reveals to Noah that the earth will be destroyed by a flood. This flood lasts 150 days. God commands Noah to take into the ark only one pair of each living species of animal. Instead of a raven, Noah sends out a dove three times till it returns with an olive branch. In this version of the story Noah does not built an altar and make an offering. Rather when Noah and his family leave the ark, God blesses them and makes a covenant with them, promising never to destroy the earth again. As reminder of this promise God provides the rainbow as sign of the covenant that God made with all of creation. In the first version of the story, God is constantly called Yahweh, the Hebrew people’s name for God. Yahweh is usually translated into English as “LORD” in the Old Testament. In the second version of the story God is generically called Elohim, which is translated into English as “God.”
So which is it; 40 days of rain or 150 days of a flood? The truth is it is neither. Many ancient Near Eastern civilizations preserved stories of major floods that enveloped the entire world as they knew it, and developed myths that from those survivors the earth was repopulated. The Biblical Flood stories most probably originated from the memory of devastating floods. Although some stories in the Bible refer to historical events and sometimes even recollect actual historical events, Scripture’s main concern is not providing us with factual historical accounts. Scripture’s main concern is to present an honest and sincere approach to discern the truth of God and God’s will for the world. In order to do this, the writers of the Bible utilized all the tools available to them, whether factual historical events, stories, myths, poetry, songs etc. Therefore, many stories in the Bible are to be understood as myths, to be interpreted figuratively and symbolically. Jesus himself made use this method when he told parables, such as the parable of the sower, to convey a truth about God and God’s will for us.
On this level the story of Noah is not concerned with history, but is struggling with the issue of evil and sin in the world, and how God responds to it. In other words, the writer is using ancient mythic flood stories to deal with a deeper issue of truth. It is the same issue we struggle with today, when we look around us: Why is there so much evil in the world? Why do we suffer? Why does God allow it? What will God do about it? Will God help us when we are in trouble? Does God care about our troubles and suffering? How can we keep faith and hope in the midst of the storm? Will God provide a way out? Will I survive this? Is there any hope of a better future? This Sunday, we will be looking at the second version of the Flood story, and discern together what light and hope this old and dark tale can provide for us today. It Never Rains but when it POURS. How do we keep hope and faith alive? We can still learn a thing or two from old Noah!
Hang in there,
Kobie
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Genesis 6 – 9
(Genesis 6:11 – 22; 7:6 – 7, 18 – 22, 24; 8:1 – 4, 8 – 13, 15 – 19; 9:8 – 12)
It was clear to God that the earth was corrupt and full of violence. God looked at the earth, and saw that it had gone to ruin: all flesh had defiled its way upon the earth. So God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before me, for they are the cause of all its violence. I will destroy them, and the earth as well. Build an ark for yourself out of cypress wood. Build rooms in the ark, and coat it with pitch, both inside and out. Its dimensions are to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet tall. Put a roof over it, with an overhang of eighteen inches. Put a door on the side, and give it a lower deck, and a second and a third deck below it. “What I have decided to do is to flood the earth and to destroy all flesh under heaven that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will die. But I will establish my covenant with you: you and your wife will go into the ark, with your children and their spouses. Bring with you two of every living thing – one male and one female – of all flesh, to preserve them. Every kind of bird, every kind of animal, and every kind of thing that creeps on the ground – two of each – are to come to you, to keep alive. You must also store up all kinds of food to eat – food for yourselves, and food for all the creatures with you.” Noah did as he was instructed; he did everything that God commanded.
Noah was 600 hundred years old when the flood waters came over the earth. So Noah and his wife, together with their sons and spouses, entered the ark to escape the flood waters…. The waters rose and rose throughout the whole earth, and the ark rose with them. The waters rose so high over the earth that all the high mountains under heaven were covered – the waters rose above the mountaintops by more than 250 feet. And all life on earth perished – birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all swarming creatures, all of humankind. Everything that once had the breath of life in its nostrils, everything on the earth, died…. Only Noah and those with him in the ark survived. The waters rose for 150 days.
God did not forget Noah and all the animals in the ark, and sent a mighty wind over the earth so that the waters began to subside. The springs of the deep and the windows of the heavens were closed up. The rain from the heavens stopped. The waters covering the earth gradually dropped, until the end of 150 days is was gone. On the seventeenth day of the seventh month the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat. The water continued to go down until the tenth month. On the first day of the tenth month the tops of the mountains came into view…. Then Noah sent out the dove to see if the waters had subsided on the earth. The dove finding nowhere to perch, returned to the ark, for there were still waters over the whole earth. Putting his hand out for the dove he brought it back into the ark. Noah waited seven more days, and again sent out the dove from the ark. In the evening, the dove returned with a freshly plucked olive branch in its beak, and Noah knew that the waters were receding from the earth. After seven more days, he again sent out the dove; and this time it did not return. In Noah’s 601st year, on the first day of the month, the waters had dried up on the earth. Noah opened the door on the side of the ark and saw that the ground was drying…. Then God said to Noah, “Leave the ark, with your wife and your children and their spouses. Bring out all the living things with you – the birds, animals and all the creeping things of the earth – so they may spread throughout the earth, be fruitful, and become many on the earth.” So Noah with his wife and his children with their spouses, and every kind of bird, animal, and crawling thing that moves on the ground, left the ark, one family at a time.
God then said to Noah and to his family, “I hereby establish my covenant with you and your descendants after you, and with every living creature that is with you – birds, domestic animals, and the earth’s wildlife – everything that came out of the ark, everything that lives on earth. I hereby establish my covenant with you: All flesh will never again be swept away by the waters of the flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth.” God said, “Here is the sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature for ageless generations. I set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth.”