Genesis 8-11                                      Lesson 5b
Key Verse: 8:1a

        "But God remembered Noah...."

1. God remembered Noah (8:1-22)

   But God remembered Noah..." God turned his attention from
destruction to the work of restoring. He had poured out his wrath in
the flood waters by opening the floodgates of heaven. Every living
thing that moved on the earth perished. Only Noah was left and those
with him in the ark, and the waters flooded the earth for 150 days. But
hidden in God's judgment was a redemptive purpose.  God had judged the
earth so that he could salvage a spiritual remnant. Noah was that
remnant, and God did not forget him.

   God who judges is also God who provides a way of salvation. All the
people of those times lived in sin and grieved God. But there was one
man, Noah,who walked with God. For the sake of this one righteous man
God had given the command and instructions concerning the ark, and Noah
had obeyed. When God destroyed the world by the flood, he made a
covenant with Noah and his family to preserve their lives. He made a
covenant of salvation (6:18). Now, the world was covered with water and
had almost returned to its pre-creation state. But Noah and his family,
and the animals in the ark, a remnant of life, were floating on the
surface of the deep.

   God remembered Noah and sent a wind over the earth and the waters
receded. This reminds us of God's beginning of creation when his Spirit
hovered over the waters in chapter 1:2. Gradually, the waters receded,
and the ark came to rest on the top of Mount Ararat. 40 days after the
tops of the mountains became visible, Noah sent out a raven. Then, he
sent out a dove. The dove could find no dry place to set its feet, so
it came back. A week later, when he sent the dove out a second time, it
returned with the sign of a new beginning, a sign of hope--a freshly
plucked green olive leaf. How overjoyed Noah must have been to seen a
fresh green leaf for the first time in a year. It meant that God was
restoring the vegetation. Noah and his family could again live on the
earth. In the midst of unspeakable death and destruction, God planted
hope in the heart of his servant.

   Noah and his family waited until God told them to come out of the
ark. Then, a year and ten days after they had entered the ark, they
came out on dry land. Noah's first act after coming out of the ark was
to build an altar and worship God. Verse 20 says, Then Noah built an
altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean
birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. The Lord smelled the
pleasing aroma and said in his heart:'Never again will I curse the
ground because of man..." Noah offered an animal sacrifice, a blood
offering, for he knew that he was a sinful man, undeserving of God's
grace and salvation. God was pleased with Noah's burnt offering. God
also realized that man's fundamental sin problem had not been solved by
the flood. The root of sin was still in his heart. But God made a
decision. "Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even
though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood..."
Perhaps God was looking forward to the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb of
God, whom he would send to take away the sin of the world. He continued
by making a promise. "Never again will I destroy all living creatures,
as I have done..." Verse 22 continues, "As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night
will never cease." God promised to preserve the order of the seasons
and days as long as the earth remains. When the final judgment comes it
will not be by means of another flood; it will be by means of fire.
(2Pe 3:5-7,10)

2. The new beginning (9:1-28)

   God's command in 8:17 ["Bring out every kind of living creature that
is with you--the birds, the animals, and all the creatures that move
along the ground--so they can multiply on the earth and be fruitful and
increase in number upon it."] reminds us of Genesis 1:22,28. ["God
blessed them and said,'Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the
water..."] He commanded Noah to bring out all the living creatures so
that they might multiply on the earth and be fruitful and increase in
number on it.  This command for a new beginning is repeated in 9:1,7:
"Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, 'Be fruitful and
increase in number and fill the earth. ...As for you, be fruitful and
increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it."  God
is a God of new beginnings.  Man can also pick up the pieces of a
broken life, and with God's direction and help, make a new beginning.

   For the sake of mankind, God established a new kind of creation
order. There was no new command to "subdue and rule over the earth."
Perhaps mankind was not able to do this in the chaotic jungle that the
world without creation order had become. Man cannot live in chaos. But
because of man's rebellion, spiritual order had been broken, and if
something were not done, chaos would come.  9:2 says: "The fear and
dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the
birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and
upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands." So God
put fear and dread of mankind in all the animals. Now man must rule the
earth by fear and not by love. God told man and animals to eat
flesh--to cease being vegetarians and become carnivorous. Now only the
strongest and most able would survive, and the peaceful earth would
became a jungle. This was the price of man's sin, and it was how God
made a way for mankind to survive in a hostile world.

   But there was an urgent and important lesson which mankind must
learn. The carnage of the flood had dulled man's respect for human
life. Today, as well, many people do not know why human life is
valuable, and those who attach a pragmatic value to human life easily
condone abortion, euthanasia, and eventually, genocide and murder. 9:6
says: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed;
for in the image of God has God made man." Man must be taught and
continually reminded that man's life is valuable in and of
itself--because man bears the image of God.  God taught the value of
life in several ways. First, he prohibited the eating of meat with
lifeblood in it. (4) Blood represents life. God was laying the
foundation for the sacrificial system. This would teach man the nature
of and value of spiritual life, for this was God's provision of a way
to atone for sin. Sin demands lifeblood. Leviticus 17:11-12a says, "For
the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to
make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes
atonement for one's life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, 'None of
you may eat blood..." Forgiveness is necessary for spiritual life.
Second, the shedding of innocent blood by either man or animal is a
capital offence, to be punished by death. Verse 5 says, "And for your
lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an
accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an
accounting for the life of his fellow man." Verse 6 continues, "Whoever
sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed;" Third, God
made a covenant of life with mankind and with every living creature. He
promised never again to destroy the earth by a flood, and he put his
rainbow in the sky to remind himself and mankind of this promise. (15)
The rainbow is a beautiful reminder of God's love for mankind, even
sinful mankind. God also regards the lives of all living creatures as
precious. Although God gave animals to man for food, he is displeased
by the wanton killing of animals. With the rainbow, God made a
commitment to make it possible for mankind, to pioneer a new world and
a new life. It is important that people respect the lives of other
people; it is important that each person respect his own life.

3. Spiritual order in the family and community (18-28)
 

   These verses tell about an incident that reveals the weakness of
Noah the man of faith. We are tempted to leave this story out, but the
Bible writer put it in because it teaches an important truth.  Man is a
social being; every society must have orderly relationships in order to
function properly. The family is the first social unit--the building
block of society. The spiritual order which should exist in society and
in the family is very precious; it is necessary to man's peaceful and
fruitful life on the earth.  This spiritual order was violated by
Noah's youngest son, Ham, in an incident which seems ridiculous and
insignificant--and seems to be Noah's fault. Noah drank too much wine
and got drunk. His youngest son saw him uncovered and made fun of his
father. The older 2 sons, however, covered their father, showing him
great respect--even though he revealed his human weakness. When the
basic lines of authority and respect among people break down, the
result is moral anarchy and devastating corruption of society. So this
was no small event.

   Noah realized the seriousness of what his youngest son had done, and
he cursed the son of Ham, Canaan. When a man shows disrespect to one
whom he should respect and honor, then those who should honor him
cannot be blessed. Paul tells us to show honor to those to whom honor
is due and respect to those to whom respect is due. (Ro 12:7b)

   The Canaanites later became the corrupt and idolatrous inhabitants
of the land of Canaan.  The Israelites would become God's instrument of
judgment on them when they conquered the land, and the prophetic curse
of Noah came true.

3. Filling the earth -- The Tower of Babel (10:1-11:32)

   Chapter 10 describes the spread of the descendants of Shem, Ham and
Japheth. They spread out into their territories by clans and nations,
each according to his own language. But the incident in chapter 11
tells us why they spread. It seems that they did not want to scatter.
Rather, they wanted to stick together and show God that they could get
along without him. They were proud of their human ability and they
thought that nothing they planned would be impossible for them to do.
So, in their pride, they started building a tower that would reach to
heaven. God knew that they were able--he had made them in his own
image. He could have become very angry and swept them from the face of
the earth--but he didn't do that. 11:6-7 say, "The Lord said,'If as one
people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then
nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.  Come, let us go
down and confuse their language so they will not understand each
other." When people can't communicate, they can't work together. God
wants people to work together to do good; not to work together to plan
and do evil. God confused their languages so that they could not
understand each other. Some day he would send his Spirit to work in
regenerated people to enable mankind to praise him with one voice and
heart. He was already making a long range plan for the salvation of
mankind. He nurtured the line of Shem, and at the right time, called
one man Abraham, to become the ancestor of a new history.

   Men's hearts must be changed; the root of pride and rebellion could
not be removed with out great cost. God's redemptive history would be
worked out through Abraham and his descendants--down to Jesus Christ,
and from Jesus' cross and resurrection, through the Holy Spirit to the
ends of the earth.