Week 29, Day 4: The Covenant

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 9:1-28

Some thoughts from the reading…

Noah and his sons are to now go forth and be fruitful and multiply.  The Lord repeats some principles to them before they set out.  Man is to be master over all the creatures of the earth.  The animals will fear man and be food for him.  God also reminds Noah that they are not to eat the animal with its life (its blood).  It has been pointed out before that it is impossible to remove every drop of blood from meat.  I do not believe this prohibition prohibits eating meat that might have a few drops of blood in it, but rather the that blood is to be drained from the body (Lev 17:13, Acts 15:20). 

Here we have the first reference to the blood being refered to as the “life” of the animal.  This concept is an important one and will be restated under the law of Moses.  Long before man understood the workings of the body and the function for blood, Noah was told that the “life” is in the blood. 

We can see here that God gave Noah instructions for how to be pleasing to Him and what He expected from them. 

Another principle stated is to not shed man’s blood.  Killing another person is prohibited because they have been made in the image of God.  Man is not just another animal who just happens to have evolved further along.  Rather, man was created with a uniqueness.  This quality makes him different and deserves a level of respect from all mankind.  It is unfortunate and sad that much of our society no longer values human life or considers the taking of a life as evil.  Today it is called a “woman’s choice” to destroy her child.  On the other hand we see that the destruction of eagle eggs is a federal offense punishable by severe penalties.  Why would destroying an eagle’s egg, an unborn eagle, be so bad if it is nothing more than just a growth and not really a living thing?  Because people recognize what will become of that eagle egg and therefore protect such things very aggressively, more so than they do the baby that has been made in the image of God.  How sad!

Chapter 9 is where God gives a sign of the covenant between God, man and every creature that He will not  destroy the earth again with flooding.  The sign is the rainbow.  Each time we see the rainbow let it be a remider to us that God keeps His promises.  He has kept this promise for over 4,000 years now and will continue to be true to all the things He has promised us.

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Week 29, Day 3: The new beginning

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 8:1-22

Some thoughts from the reading…

God remembered Noah and caused a wind to pass over the earth and the water to subside.  After a good length of time the ark comes to rest on Mount Ararat (thought to be in modern Turkey).  What I think is interesting is how long of a process it took from the time Noah entered the ark to when it was okay to go back out.  7:11 told us that in Noah’s 600th year on the 17th day of the 2nd month the flooding began.  8:13-14 tells us that the erath wasn’t dry until his 601st year on the 27th day of the 2nd month.  That is a year and 10 days.  Wow, that’s a long time from start to finish.   We are taught as children about the 40 days and 40 nights of rain but just imagine being in this boat that long. 

Notice that Noah waited until God told him to go out of the ark before he left it, 8:15-16.  Noah demonstrated respect for God by waiting for Him to tell Noah it was okay to go out.  He further showed his devotion to God by offering the burnt offerings on the altar as soon as he had gone out.  God had delivered him through the torential waters.  We are not told details about the sacrificial system during this time (when God told them to do this or how they were to do it) but it is clear that sacrificing burnt offerings were a part of worshipping and serving God from the earliest part of history (remember Cain and Abel offered of their flock and first fruits in sacrifice to God). 

It impresses me how much we forget about the Bible and how much we can gain from reminding ourselves of these accounts by rereading them on a regular basis.

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Week 29, Day 2: The World is Flooded

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 7:1-24

Some thoughts from the reading…

Noah is told by God to go into the ark.  The time has come to destroy the earth with a great flood.  Vs. 16 tells us that once Noah, his family and all the animals entered the ark the Lord closed the door behind them.  This emphasizes the way in which God was actively caring for and watch out for Noah.  God had instructed Noah how to be saved, He told Noah when to go into the ark and we will see the continued guidance by God in chapter 8.

It is hard to see how more plainly the scriptures could state that this was a world wide flood.  Every creature on the face of the earth was to be destroyed, vs 21.  The water rose 22 feet above the mountains, vs. 19-20.  There can be no doubt that when the top of the mountains were covered by water, that the entire earth was completely under water.  Only righteous Noah and his family were preserved. 

It is impressive to see what God did because of the wickedness of the earth and how He planned to begin anew through this righteous man.  It makes me marvel at how long suffering God is with our world today.  How it must grieve the Lord to see the wickedness of man today and it makes me wonder at times how much longer do we have.  The Lord will not delay punishment forever.  But certainly those who obey the Lord’s instructions will be saved, He has promised this to us.

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Week 29, Day 1: The Great Flood

Today’s Reading:  Genesis 6:1-22

Some thoughts from the reading…

It did not take man long to turn his thoughts to doing evil.  And man did evil to the extent that it grieved God that He had ever made man.  But there was one man who “walked with God”.  Can you imagine seeing everyone around you following after their corrupt desires.  You alone stand upright and blameless.  People just think they have it tough today!  And yet Noah found a way to remain comitted to God.  Our faithfulness to God does not depend necessarily upon those around us or circumstances.  Let us stand up for what is right no matter how crooked things get or even if we must stand alone.

God tells Noah to build the ark.  This is a good example of someone obeying God fully.  There is no indication that there were rain storms back then like we know them today.  As far as we know flooding was not something that they were accustomed to nor had to worry about.  And yet here Noah is told to build a boat, and not just any boat but a BIG boat.  The ark was 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high.  The boat’s length was equal to a football field and a half = Massive.  We also do not know what kind of tools Noah had to make this boat with but for certain it would have taken lots of work and persistence.  All the while I imagine that Noah would have been receiving quite a bit of attention from those around him.  What did they have to say about this?  Did they ridicule Noah?  Was Noah the talk of the town, thought of as being crazy?  And yet Noah did all that God had commanded him – he didn’t change any of it and completed the task given him to do.

We are also told that God was going to send the animals to Noah.  “…two of every kind will come to you” vs. 20.  Some skeptics have scoffed at the thought of Noah filling the ark with all of these animals.  Noah didn’t have to go chase anything down, they came to him.  God sent them to him and aided him in completing his task.  God did not command something impossible of Noah.  Some have challenged the feasability of Noah being able to house all of the animals in his ark.  We are not told how it all happened.  I have sometimes wondered if the animals that came were very young.  For example; baby elephants coming instead of their massive parents.  And it would not be beyond God’s power to cause the animals to hibernate while onboard the ark.  The fact is that when people scoff at what the Bible says they simply do not believe that with God all things are possible.  The Bible does not give us every detail specifying how things happened.  But we know that God’s word is true and when it tells us that these things happened, we can know that they did.  Let us not be led into doubt or disarray by the nay sayers.

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