The 29th May 2011 [ After the Deluge ] Scripture — Genesis 9:8-17 (NCV unless indicated otherwise) —
1. Before all, Noah’s faith
During the May 2011, we read the book of Genesis. Its chapters 1 to 11 is called “Primeval history.*1” and we today learn about ‘the Deluge’ which starts from chapter 6. In several regions of the world, we find similar legends, which suggests that a widespread flood was really observed in an ancient time. It might be caused by melting glaciers. And a flood myth appears also in Epic of Gilgamesh in Mesopotamia.* It is said that the flood story was written by Jewish captives in Babylonia by basing on the contents of Gilgamesh. In 587 BC, the kingdom of Judah was defeated by Babylonian forces and numerous Jewish people were brought to there. The concerning writing in Genesis is not a scientific, archeological, or historical report but a witness of those captives. They were aspiring to know why God let the nation perish. Through the story about the flood, they arrived to understand that the destruction of the nation was a judgement of God. In that way, they built the faith in God of the salvation.
Today’s lecture is the 5th session of the series and reading portion is Genesis 9:8-17. The passage tells that God signed a new agreement with Noah and the other livings after the flood. And we will learn now the meaning of the new agreement.
Genesis says that God generated the flood. But why? God created all livings, including humans, and blessed them with proliferation. Nonetheless he regretted his creation of humans for their sinfulness. ; - So the Lord said, “I will destroy all human beings that I made on the earth. And I will destroy every animal and everything that crawls on the earth and the birds of the air, because I am sorry I have made them.” (Genesis 6:7)
At first, he intended to wipe up the Creation. But he loved his creatures so much that he decided to save some who pleased him. Thus Noah was chosen as the most innocent man of his time. Then God gave him the instruction; - “Build a boat of cypress wood for yourself…. This is how big I want you to build the boat: four hundred fifty feet long, seventy-five feet wide, and forty-five feet high.”(Genesis 6:14-15)
God specified the size of the boat. To imagine how big it was, please compare it to Hikawa Maru*3 of which volume is approximately the same as the boat of Noah. Hikawa Maru is a retired ocean liner exhibited in Yokohama Bay and has 163.3 meters (535 feet 9 inches) length, 20.1 meters (65 feet 11 inches) height. It had carried passengers across the Pacific, to Canada and US. It is amazing that persons of Noah’s time could build up such a huge boat!
In the famous film “ The Bible: In the Beginning,*4” we see the scene on which Noah was mocked by neighbors for building a huge boat in midland. Because they didn’t see any sign of the upcoming flood. Indeed, it is difficult for us too to act on God’s words which seem unlikely. But Noah did. He responded faithfully to God’s calling. For that reason the writer of Hebrew praised him highly. ; - It was by faith that Noah heard God’s warnings about things he could not yet see. He obeyed God and built a large boat to save his family. By his faith, Noah showed that the world was wrong, and he became one of those who are made right with God through faith. (* Hebrews 11:7)
*1Book of Genesis http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Genesis
* 2Epic of Gilgamesh http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
*3Hikawa Maru http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikawa_Maru
*4 The Bible: In the Beginning http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bible:_In_the_Beginning
2. God regretted creating humans
The Deluge story of Noah leads our mind to the recent disaster of Tōhoku earthquake*1. In addition to severe damages on the land, the power of 9.0 magnitude resulted in a tsunami. Abnormally elevated tides torn up people, cars and houses far away in the Ocean. All of them must looked like chaffs on the water. Consequently, innumerable lives were lost. We are still strongly shocked by views of the devastated places. The family of Noah should have the similar affliction to ours. However, the scale of the Deluge must prevail this tsunami. Because ; - Water flooded the earth for forty days, and as it rose it lifted the boat off the ground. The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on it above the earth. The water rose so much that even the highest mountains under the sky were covered by it.(Genesis 7:17-19)
It is said that the tidal hight of Tohoku’s tsunami reached at 39.4 meters. But, according to the Genesis, the water of the flood mounted far higher than that. We read in the Book that Noah’s ark came to rest upon the Mountains of Ararat.(see Genesis 8:4) And the elevation of the Mount Ararat itself is 5,137 m (16,854 feet)*2. Even if ‘the Mountains of Ararat’ indicates vaguely the surrounding range of the Ararat, the importance of the depth of water must incomparable to that of the tsunami.
And also the numbers of victims must be also incomparable between two cases. In Tohoku region, a provisory data recorded in the middle of April tells that 15,000 persons were killed and the total loses of live are supposed to come up to around 25,000. In Noah’s case, the flood continued for 150 days and all livings died except Noah’s family with selected animals. It is obvious that the existed world till the flood must practically disappear.
Mr. Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, said that the devastation was given by deities as a punishment to our egoistic desires. The speech rose strong disagreements which made him apologize. However, Japanese tradition taught that natural disasters were from heaven as punishment to humans for wrongdoings. That thinking spread largely among today’s Japanese citizens after the Great Kantō earthquake of 1923*3. But, so far, nobody can prove the scientific link between sin in the society and natural calamities. Therefore, we must not understand those disasters in context of the theory of ‘Cause and result.’ As a matter of fact, such a way of reasoning might reveal that we have a guilty conscience unknowingly.
The Bible teaches us that the Deluge was given by God as the last punishment of that scale. And we recognize that God was too merciful to destroy all livings. God’s ultimate intention was not the total destruction of humans. The scripture start the story this way. ; - The Lord saw that the human beings on the earth were very wicked and that everything they thought about was evil. He was sorry he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. (Genesis 6:5-6)
God was sorry for his act! We as ordinary humans regret often our conducts. But it is completely unlikely to God. The scripture simply emphasizes that God was strongly reluctant to punish humans so severely. Instead, God led them to repent. Therefore God said after the flood, ; - “I will never again curse the ground because of human beings. Their thoughts are evil even when they are young, but I will never again destroy every living thing on the earth as I did this time. (Genesis 8:21)
*1Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tōhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami
*2 Mount Ararat http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ararat
*3 Great Kantō earthquake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kantō_earthquake
3. After the Deluge
When water retreated from the earth, the new world appeared. ; - Then God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Have many children; grow in number and fill the earth.(Genesis 9:1)
However that blessing was not equal to another given by God to Adam and Eve. Because humans of the first creation was immaculate and blessed by God without any return. In contrast, to those who were born after the Deluge God added severe rules. ; - “I will demand blood for life. I will demand the life of any animal that kills a person, and I will demand the life of anyone who takes another person’s life.”(Genesis 9:5 )
With those constraints, God signed the new agreement with Noah, his family and all livings on the earth. ; - And God said, “This is the sign of the agreement between me and you and every living creature that is with you. I am putting my rainbow in the clouds as the sign of the agreement between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and a rainbow appears in them, I will remember my agreement between me and you and every living thing. Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth. (Genesis 9:12-15)
God promised that he would never again curse the ground because of humans’ sin. That promise was the banner of the new world, which was represented with the rainbow. ‘Rainbow’ in the english translation is originally ‘אֶת-קַשְׁתִּי (Et-Kesheti)’ in Hebrew, which means ‘my bow.’ God put down his bow and won’t shoot arrows to destroy humans. The rainbow symbolizes peace in the new agreement of God and humans. Yet, God knew very well that humans would keep committing sins. The agreement was given not because of humans’ purification by the flood but because of love of God who would feel too sad for destructing them. In other words, God accepted sinful humans regardless of his principle of righteousness. The theme of the flood story is not God’s punishment in form of the catastrophe. The essence of the story is the hope given to Jewish people through that promise of God.
Today’s invocation verses are ; - 1 Peter 3:10-12 ; - The Scripture says,"A person must do these things to enjoy life and have many happy days. He must not say evil things, and he must not tell lies. He must stop doing evil and do good. He must look for peace and work for it. The Lord sees the good people and listens to their prayers.
Tōhoku earthquake opened the road of harsh trials before Japanese people. And the Japanese history tells that big natural catastrophes resulted in remodeling of political, economic, industrial and social structures.
Japanese society could change from the military-oriented government to the democratic one after the World War II. But it was preceded by cruel nuclear attacks at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This earthquake put in light all problems of the ruling system excessively centralized in Tokyo. Tōhoku region had supplied Tokyo with foods, labor, materials of building reconstruction and industrial parts for making cars and electronic devices. Beside the Capital owed electricity to the nuclear plants in that region. It means that Tōhoku accepted nuclear risks in exchange of governmental subventions and employment. And the catastrophe revealed that the risks were much more real and severe than they estimated.
Facing that reality, how must we interpret the words, ‘The Lord sees the good people and listens to their prayers,’? God promised that, ‘Floods will never again destroy all life on the earth.’ The tsunami in Tōhoku can’t be an ultimate punishment of God, neither was Babylonian captivity. Through misfortunes, God expresses his wish that humans build a new world. Experience of Babylonian captivity led the Jewish people to realize the book of faith, Genesis. Devastation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki caused with nuclear bombs made Japan a democratic nation. In a similar way, God should wish us a reconstruction of Japan, not a restoration. And we must call for God now to conceive tangible plans to reach at the goal set by God’s.
* Tōhoku earthquake http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_Tōhoku_earthquake_and_tsunami
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