Noach, Gen 6:9-11:32
“I will establish
my covenant with you.”
This week we come to the Torah portion known as Noach, or Noah. This portion of
scripture is generally remembered for two things: One is the boat filled with
animals, and the other is God’s judgement on sin. But I would like us to focus
on something else, namely, God’s relationship with Noah since in Beresheet, we looked at the nature of
humanity; in Noach, we will be
looking at the nature of God in response to humanity. And what we find is that
although this story does reveal God’s hatred and wrath against sin, and we
should never lose that, it more significantly reveals God’s intention to fulfil
his plans to restore creation through people.
In the person of Noah, we find an instance of faithfulness
in a world hostile to God. As verse 9 explains:
“Noah was a
righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.”
Here we find that Noah lived righteously before God. And
while 'righteous' can have moral connotations, righteousness is also about being
in right relationship with God and I believe this is where the text is leaning.
Nonetheless, the verse describes Noah as blameless. This does not mean he was
perfect. Only Jesus was perfect. It does, however, show that Noah, despite the
wickedness of his generation, was exceptional in how he walked continuously (as the Hebrew grammar
reveals) with God, making every life decision with God as his King in mind. And
when he did sin, he sought and found forgiveness. And so, it is in that sense
that Noah was blameless. This devotion to following God’s will is reemphasised
later in the portion of scripture as we find Noah doing things “as God had
commanded him” (Gen 6:22, 7:5, 16). And this is the goal of humanity: that we
walk with God.
It seems that in response to Noah’s faithfulness, God
demonstrates His faithfulness to His promises. As the Lord told Noah, “Everything that is on the earth shall die.
But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark,
you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you” (Gen 6:17-18). Here,
God made a covenant, which in its simplest understanding is a relationship
based on promises, with Noah that involved God promising to save him from the
flood. In delivering Noah from the flood, the Lord would preserve the line of
the seed of the woman would be preserved as Noah would be delivered through the
flood. Thus, God’s promise that the seed
of the woman who would overcome the enemy would be preserved and delivered
through covenants. And so, when we come across other covenants in the Bible, we
need to remember that God’s purpose to redeem and restore the world under His
rule is the goal of the covenants. It could be argued therefore that all the
covenants are actually developments and additions of the one covenant – that
those who have faith in God will be redeemed from the fallen world. The
continuity is seen how in Hebrews the author writes: “By this [Noah] condemned
the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”
After Noah and his family had gone into the Ark and God
had sent the rain to flood the earth, we find that although the flood had
covered the earth for 150 days, “God
remembered Noah” (Gen 8:1). Now, when it comes to God remembering, it does
not mean simply to see and act, but more specifically to act faithfully to the
covenant. As we find in Exodus 2:24, “God
heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac,
and with Jacob.” And it was after this declaration that God calls Moses to
deliver the Israelites from Egypt so that He can fulfil His promises made to
the patriarchs. This principle is similar for people. When we are told to
‘remember the Lord’, it’s not simply a calling to mind that God is there, but a
call to walk in His ways and be faithful to Him in response to the covenant we
have with Him (Deut 8:18-19). Obedience and loyalty has always been the
expected response and obligation of God’s people in response to His gracious
covenants. And so, God lowered the flood waters so that Noah and his family
could exit and begin their role in fulfilling the purpose of God’s rescue of
the world.
After Noah got off the Ark, we find God elaborating and
consolidating the covenant that He had made with Noah. And not just him, but
His descendants too. God establishing covenants for people in the future is
something that also happened through Moses (Deut 29:10-15). And this covenant was
God’s eternal promise to never wipe out humanity with a flood again. This
promise shows us that although sin must be punished, God’s real and ultimate
purpose is to dwell with and be in relationship with humanity and not destroy
it. We find this attitude reflected in the words of Peter in the apostolic
scriptures:
“The Lord… is
patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should
reach repentance” (2Pet 3:9).
We also see in this covenant made with Noah shadows of
all His covenants:
Firstly, this was a covenant made with one
representative, with the blessings experienced by others. This is because of
what is known as headship and representation. And this is not only positively.
Because the leaders of Israel sinned, many under them suffered (e.g. 1Chron
21). And this is true of all God’s promises and covenants. In Abraham would all
the nations be blessed. The covenant made with David would mean his descendants
would be King. And with Christ as our head, we experience the blessings of His
righteousness. As Paul wrote:
“one act of
righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one
man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience
the many will be made righteous.”
This raises an interesting question, and something I’m
not sure I have an answer for, so feel free to answer in the comments below: Did
God the Father establish a covenant with Jesus, and by our union by faith with
Him, we experience the blessings of that covenant?
Secondly, this covenant, known as the Noahic covenant,
was a call to faith. A trusting that God will fulfil his promises. Abraham
needed to trust God. David needed to trust God. And we need to trust God that
HE would fulfil his promises to us, that through Christ, we can be redeemed
from this corrupt world. As Paul said, “It is by faith you have been saved”
(Eph 2:8).
And thirdly, this was a one-sided covenant. It’s
fulfilment and maintenance was entirely dependent on God. It wasn’t up to Noah
or his descendants to make sure the world wasn’t flooded again. There were no
conditions applied to it. It’s was completely up to God. As we will see later
in the case of Abraham, God took complete responsibility to fulfil the promise
He made to him. Jesus hinted at this divine responsibility when He said:
“All that the
Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who
sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of
all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will
of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should
have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (Jn 6:37-40).
Here Jesus is taking responsibility for fulfilling the
promise that if we have faith in Him, He promises to preserve us and ensuring
that we will be raised on the last day.
Also, Paul reiterates in his letter to the Galatians that
our salvation is dependent on God fulfilling His promises and not our heritage
or obedience. In particular, when we says: “if
you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise”
(Gal 3:29).
It is in the story of Noah that we discover that God is a
God who wants to relate to his people through covenants, and makes promises to
deliver them from a fallen world. And we should see that He is faithful to
fulfil those promises for those who are in Christ. Therefore, God’s words to
Noah are also true for the followers of Christ today: “I will remember my
covenant.”
Our next section is
Genesis 12:1-17:27
Comments
Post a Comment