Day 3: Genesis 7-9

(The previous post covered the beginning of the 2nd Dispensation and God's plan for its end.)

Genesis 7
1 And Jehovah said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.

(Noah was told to go in the ark because he was righteous before God.)

2 Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee seven and seven, the male and his female; and of the beasts that are not clean two, the male and his female:
3 of the birds also of the heavens, seven and seven, male and female, to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth.

(Noah did not only take two of each kind of animal on the ark. Noah took into the ark seven of each clean animal and two of each unclean animal. The animals that Noah took with him on the ark would have had the causes within them (the DNA) necessary for every species we have today.)

4 For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living thing that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the ground.
5 And Noah did according unto all that Jehovah commanded him.
6 And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth.

(In the previous chapter, it stated Noah was five hundred years old. By the time Noah entered the ark, he was six hundred years old. This meant it took about one hundred years for Noah to make the ark and gather the animals.)

7 And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8 Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creepeth upon the ground,
9 there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, male and female, as God commanded Noah.
10 And it came to pass after the seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth.
11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.

(Water came down from the sky and up from the earth. The water from the sky was where the water from "The Canopy Theory" fell. The amount of water must have been incredible, enough to flood the entire earth.)

12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
13 In the selfsame day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark;

(Only eight people were on the ark.)

14 they, and every beast after its kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.
15 And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life.
16 And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God commanded him: and Jehovah shut him in.
17 And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth.
18 And the waters prevailed, and increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters.
19 And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven were covered.
20 Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered.
21 And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both birds, and cattle, and beasts, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man:
22 all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, of all that was on the dry land, died.

(All flesh with the spirit of life on the earth died. The mountains were covered.)

23 And every living thing was destroyed that was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and creeping things, and birds of the heavens; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only was left, and they that were with him in the ark.
24 And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

(It rained forty days and the earth stayed flooded for a hundred and fifty days. The 2nd Dispensation ended. This dispensation failed because people did not have a sense of urgency to get understanding and experience with God. They lived hundreds of years and did not focus on God. It also appeared their method for getting understanding (angels) was perverted and led to sexual intercourse with some angels, which led to wickedness covering the earth to the point God repented of making man.)




Genesis 8

(This chapter presented the events that immediately followed the Flood.)

1 And God remembered Noah, and all the beasts, and all the cattle that were with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;
2 the fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained;
3 and the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of a hundred and fifty days the waters decreased.
4 And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat.

(The Flood began on the seventeenth day of the second month. By the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark was on the mountains of Ararat. The name Ararat meant "the curse reversed.")

5 And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen.
6 And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made:
7 and he sent forth a raven, and it went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth.

(Most ravens eat "carrion" as their main diet. Carrion referred to the carcass of a dead animal which the raven sent from the ark would have been able to smell if the waters were dried up. The raven continued to fly back to the ark until the day it found dry ground.)

8 And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground;

(The earth had been baptized by the Flood. The dove was the symbol that the earth was pure. When Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on Him like a dove: Matthew 3:16, Mark 1:10, Luke 3:22, and John 1:32.)

9 but the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him to the ark; for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and took her, and brought her in unto him into the ark.
10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
11 and the dove came in to him at eventide; and, lo, in her mouth an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth.

(The olive-leaf (or branch) was a symbol of peace.)

12 And he stayed yet other seven days, and sent forth the dove; and she returned not again unto him any more.
13 And it came to pass in the six hundred and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dried.
14 And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dry.

(This was more than a year since the Flood had began.)

15 And God spake unto Noah, saying,
16 Go forth from the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee.
17 Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee of all flesh, both birds, and cattle, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth.

(God's command to Noah was similar to that of Adam (Genesis 1:28). Noah was told to be profitable.)

18 And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him:
19 every beast, every creeping thing, and every bird, whatsoever moveth upon the earth, after their families, went forth out of the ark.
20 And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.

(Noah took seven of the clean animals so that he had animals to offer to God.)

21 And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done.
22 While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

(God will not wipe out the earth again, while it remains. God was appeased through a smell. God "smelled" and stated the covenant in His heart. The root word for God "smelling" referred to emotion, specifically anger. God's anger was soothed through an odor.)




Genesis 9
1 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.

(Profitability was emphasized again. This time it was referred to as a blessing.)

2 And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every bird of the heavens; With all wherewith the ground teemeth, and all the fishes of the sea, into your hand are they delivered.
3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be food for you; As the green herb have I given you all.
4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.

(Life - In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote: "As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing that body. Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself.")

(Life is "the ability to repair." The ability to repair is in the blood.)

(Acts 15:17-21 recorded that James the Lesser referenced this verse during the council's meeting concerning circumcision.)

5 And surely your blood, the blood of your lives, will I require; At the hand of every beast will I require it. And at the hand of man, even at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man.
6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: For in the image of God made he man.

(It seems there was one "law" established: the death penalty. The reason, killing a man was killing a person that was made "in the image of God.")

7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; Bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

(Profitability was the objective. Notice, God gave man the command to multiply in the earth, to spread out.)

8 And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9 And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;
10 and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you. Of all that go out of the ark, even every beast of the earth.

(God established a covenant with Noah, his sons, and with every living creature with them.)

11 And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of the flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.
12 And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:
13 I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.
14 And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud,
15 and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16 And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

(The rainbow is the token God gave for this Covenant. Would a rainbow have been possible before the Flood? No. A rainbow occurs because of light being defracted through particles of the same size. Clouds are made of water droplets.

Notice, this was an "everlasting covenant." Even today when God sees a rainbow, He remembers the Covenant He established with Noah.)

17 And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

(In the Old Testament, the word for "covenant" was "beriyth" (#1285). The entry in Strong's Concordance stated :
"from #1262 (in the sense of cutting [like #1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh): - confederacy, covenant, league.")

(This first Covenant was unusual because Noah completed his part and it was completely God's responsibility to continue to keep the Covenant, even today. However, throughout the Bible, we will see that covenants have five parts:
1) go through ("passing between") something,
2) bloodshed,
3) sharing,
4) agreement, and
5) death.

Noah went through the Flood, sacrificed animals, shared years of his life doing God's Will, agreed with God's new plan, and everyone on earth (except the people in the ark) died.)

18 And the sons of Noah, that went forth from the ark, were Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan.
19 These three were the sons of Noah: and of these was the whole earth overspread.
20 And Noah began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard:

(Noah was called a husbandman. He was a "worker of land," specifically a vineyard.)

21 and he drank of the wine, and was drunken. And he was uncovered within his tent.
22 And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without.
23 And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father. And their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness.
24 And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his youngest son had done unto him.

(Notice, verse 22 said that Ham "saw" the nakedness of Noah but verse 24 said that Noah knew what Ham had "done" to him. What did Ham do? It did not say, but somehow Noah knew what Ham had done to him. Whatever Ham did, it seemed to involve Noah's nakedness and a sign specifically from Canaan.)

25 And he said, Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.
26 And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.
27 God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant.

(If Canaan was unwise enough to be unprofitable, it is little wonder that he would end up serving the two brothers who worked together to limit the damage he caused.)

28 And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: And he died.

(Noah lived to be 950 years old.)

(This post covered the end of the 2nd Dispensation.)

Day 4

22 comments:

  1. Gen 7:20 says Fifteen cubits upward did the water prevail; and the mountains were covered.

    does this mean that the water rose fifteen cubits above the mountains? or that fifteen cubits is enough to cover the mountains from the ground up?

    also it talks again about little "h" heaven in these chapters again and im very curious as to what that word means.



    and then verse 24 is really bothering me.

    it says that Noah woke up and knew what his youngest son had done to him. does that not mean that Japheth did something to him?
    if so, then why would he curse Canaan?
    lastly, what does it mean to enlarge someone? (verse 27)

    -ezra

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  2. Hey Ezra, Great questions!!

    A cubit is approximately 18 inches. So Gen. 7:20 would mean that the water exceeded the mountains by 15 cubits (about 22 1/2 feet). However, I believe most of the mountains we have today were caused by The Flood. If this is true, I wonder how high the highest peak was before The Flood?

    Regarding the usage of the word "heaven", in the context here it means "sky" (..."mountains that were under the whole heaven (sky) were covered." (Gen. 7:19).

    (See next comment for further information regarding the different "heavens".)

    As far as Gen. 9:24 goes, it seems that Ham is the one who did something to Noah. He is the one who saw Noah naked and informed his brothers. Shem and Japheth covered Noah while intentionally NOT looking at him. If this is the case, Canaan being cursed would make sense because Canaan comes from Ham. However, Ham is Noah's second son, not his youngest. Thanks for asking this question. I hope to understand this better myself.

    Lastly, Japheth being "enlarged" means that he would be increased or spread abroad. This would impact the descendants of Japheth.

    Thanks Ezra!!!

    Joel

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  3. The Heaven(s)---

    There are three realms known as "heaven" in the Bible. The most common would be the eternal abode of God, angels, and the redeemed. I believe this is what Paul refers to as the "third heaven" in 2 Corinthians 12:2.

    Next, the word "heaven" refers to the sky. Psalm 19:1 says: "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." The word "heavens" in this verse means "visible heavens, sky". I believe this would/could be referred to as the "second heaven".

    Last, when the Bible refers to Satan being in "heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12), I believe this means the spirit realm that because of the fall of man, has been invaded by the enemy. Satan has been given access to this realm (1st heaven?) and it is from here that he wages war against man.

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  4. Upon further research, I found that Ham is actually the youngest son of Noah.

    Thanks again Ezra.

    Joel

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  5. Scientific evidence shows the contour of lakes, mountains, etc. is much more likely to have been formed by liquid water instead of ice (solid water). Also, there have been findings of skeletal remains in mountainous regions of multiple animals that would not normally be found together...implying a flood caused them to be gathered together.

    I believe water covered all of the mountains. Where is the water today? Other than on the earth, it is in the clouds, at the poles, and in the earth. Remember, the Bible stated water for the Flood also came up out of the earth.

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  6. While the flood story really started in chapter 6 I would like to point out a modern day myth that is attached to this historical data...

    I keep running into people who state that the people around Noah thought he was crazy.

    The bible doesn't record the interaction of Noah and others. No one thought Noah was crazy for building a ship or talking about rain...he didn't mention it to anyone as far as I can tell...

    He did what God asked and the rest is history, so to speak. Your thoughts?

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  7. Thanks for your comment Anonymous. I understand what you are stating about the "myths". I have heard some of my own in my discussions about the Book of Genesis and specifically the Flood.

    I believe the "myth" you are speaking of is people putting there own thoughts on the "non-narrative" parts of the story of the Flood.

    Do you believe the "myth" you have encountered has contradicted the Bible in any way?

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  8. That is a great question. Does it contradict, I'll have to get back to you on that.

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  9. I have a question / comment about chapter 8 verse 4.
    "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat."

    How could the ark actually be "on" the mountains of Ararat if as in chapter 8 verse 5 it says... "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen."

    If the tops of the mountains weren't seen till day one on the tenth month then the way we read "rested" upon must not mean physically, right?

    Couldn't you say the ark rested (stopped moving) above the mountains of? not on.

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  10. Sorry couldn't this mean the same as when we say we happen upon something. We are not actually on it. Just a thought

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  11. Hi Gary,

    The bottom of the ark could have run aground on the mountains even though the mountains were under water. This verse could be here to show the ark got "stuck" on this mountain tops and could no longer freely float just anywhere.

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  12. Joel! Hello! So chapter 9:18-27 caught my attention today. and it seemed like the more I read it, the less sense it made. I looked into the root words and read some other commentaries, and found some more information that I think is interesting, and may be helpful in understanding this passage.

    in verse 21, the word "uncovered" is actually a verb. so it looks to me that its not just saying "he was naked in his tent" but more like "someone made him naked in his tent"
    A commentary I read says that nakedness in that can imply something sexual, such as abuse.

    I also read in another commentary, that "told," in the ancient hebrew, means "told with delight" and implies some sort of mockery or disrespect.

    and as far as his "youngest son" and the curse on Canaan, I can see where Ham could be referenced and his youngest song, and HIS son would be cursed, but also, I looked into the definitions of those words, and found that the king james version uses the word "younger" instead of "youngest" and that that word means small or insignificant, and that "son" could mean "son, grandchild, young child." So, perhaps CANAAN did something against Noah (uncovered him?) and Ham told his other brothers about it, or perhaps Ham was involved, or still carried some sort of disrespect or mockery.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for sharing another perspective Jacob!! Keep it up!!

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  13. What are your thoughts of the idea of Pangea?
    Was there a section of land that was higher than all the rest of the earth?

    We know that a great portion of the earth was low enough that the combined water from the earth and the canopy covering was enough could for the oceans we have today. It seem to me that if Pangea was a real mega continent, then it would have had to be split during the flood, and that would account for a number of things.

    A super continent that split, but then slowly drifted would explain how cultures all over the earth have very similar things, yet be so far away.
    it would make it possible for mountains to have been higher than they were today, since we know that erosion takes place, and mountains are only created, not made larger, by earthquakes. A massive super-quake could have taken place when the "waters from the earth" were released...

    Thoughts?

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    Replies
    1. Check out Genesis 10:25 -
      25 And unto Eber were born two sons: The name of the one was Peleg. For in his days was the earth divided. And his brother's name was Joktan.

      (During the days of Peleg, the "Continental Drift" happened. That was when the earth divided into continents.)

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  14. 7:2

    Third time through, and I just noticed something.

    I was brought up believing that there were 7 of each clean animal, and 2 of each unclean. However this verse seems to contradict that belief...

    The referenced verse says that the clean animals were taken “seven and seven, the male and his female”.
    Doesn’t this mean that Noah was told to take on the ark 7 “mating pairs” if you will?

    The same words are not used for the unclean animals, as it just says to take two, the male and his female.

    What are your thoughts?

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  15. I say this seems off because unless the clean animals were “7 mating pairs” the 7th creature would have no mate. So the 7th would not have “his female” brought with him. This wording is also used for birds in the 3rd verse.

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  16. In a prior response, you mentioned that further research revealed Ham was the youngest.

    Is it possible that when Noah referred to Ham as his youngest, he was saying that the most immature son of his had committed the crime?

    Thanks!

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  17. To better understand the dispensations, I'm using the "Deeper Why" blog as a resource. It seems to me that the pattern that ends each dispensation is both a salvation and reward judgement. I'm trying to understand both the salvation and reward judgement of the 2nd dispensation. I see the flood as a salvation judgement, since it brought judgement on the population of the world apart from Noah and his family. I'm not sure I can identify a reward judgement. How do you see it Pastor Joel?

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