Genesis 8-9

Genesis 8

Tons of time was spent in the ark. I'm curious as to what they did for fun - did Noah and his sons play cards? Or was the upkeep of every animal on earth enough? 

I think it makes sense that Noah sent out a raven first. Ravens generally symbolize death - and so much death had occurred in their time on the ark. Perhaps his bird choice indicates that he knew the extent of the sadness on earth. But then he sends out a dove, which we know today as a symbol for peace & hope. 

The first time the dove is sent out, it finds nothing. 

The second time, it finds an olive branch. 

The third time, it doesn't even come back. 

When God told Noah it was time to come out of the ark, I think He was smiling. Surely, God knew the excitement that would erupt in the family. I wonder if everyone heard God speaking to Noah, or if Noah had to relay the message to his family. Either way, I love the way it's phrased in the Message: 

"God spoke to Noah: “Leave the ship, you and your wife and your sons and your sons’ wives. And take all the animals with you, the whole menagerie of birds and mammals and crawling creatures, all that brimming prodigality of life, so they can reproduce and flourish on the Earth.” (Genesis 8:15-17 MSG)"

I must imagine that coming out of the ark for the first time in months must have felt like stretching after sleeping for 12 hours. The sky must have looked like it could go on forever, and the air probably still smelled like it just rained.

I love how Noah's attitude of gratitude. He just turns the glory back to God, and builds an altar before doing anything else. God is so impressed with Noah's diligence and sacrifice, that He makes a promise that I'm SO glad we can hold Him to:

“Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease. (Genesis 8:21, 22 NIV)"

Genesis 9

There's a ton of goodness in this chapter. 

In the third verse, we're reminded that God made the earth for us. 

Think about that for a moment. The sunsets that overwhelm us, the meals that leave us fat and happy, the pets that we can hardly imagine life without- He made them for our enjoyment, and to make our lives as beautiful as possible. Of course, part of His hope in doing this is that it would draw us to Him. 

I hear a lot of people say that that we're supposed to live our lives thinking only of the afterlife. But with all due respect, I totally disagree. The world is not a miserable place to live. God made it. There's so much in this life that is rich, and full of love and goodness. I think we should recognize that. 

I love the metaphor in verses 14-15: "Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. (Genesis 9:14, 15 NIV)"

I don't know why, but I don't spend much time worrying about the end of the world. So, I take the word clouds as a metaphor for personal storms in our lives. If you think of it in this light, the verse takes on a whole new meaning. God will not give us anything we can't handle. He wouldn't destroy us, nor drive us insane with stress or worry. He wants to walk with us, and to help us work through our problems. 

The second half of this passage is something I honestly can't say I've ever heard of before. Noah gets drunk and falls asleep naked. 

How human is that? We put Noah on this grand pedestal, the only human God thinks worth saving- and yet his behavior at this point mirrors that of the people on Jersey Shore. 

There's so much we can take away from this. 

1. God didn't write Noah off because of this mistake. He didn't condemn him, nor was Noah really frowned upon. Thus, we do not have the right to condemn or punish those who make the same mistake. 

2. Our reaction to those who behave in this manner should not be like that of Ham. As tempting as it is to run around and gossip about the naked drunk, (because it's such a fascinating story.) let’s try to be like Shem and Japheth and save that person's remaining dignity and pride. 

Let's have some mercy, because God forgave us of much, much more.