Genesis 7-8: Comfort and Covenant
Posted by Chris on February 3, 2013 under Front Page Posts, Sermons
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What comes to mind when you hear about Noah’s Ark? Do you think of a children’s story? Do you think of creation science? Do you wonder how dinosaurs fit on the ark? Do you think of a bathtub toy?
Q: What is missing in this picture?
What is missing in this image of a Noah’s Ark play set? The answer is God. Noah, Mrs. Noah, nor their family are the central characters of the story in Genesis. The animals do not even play a prominent role in the unfolding of the action. God is the main actor. God calls for the construction of the ark. God commands the animals. God unleashes the big flood.
The flood in Genesis is unique. The Hebrew word used for flood in Genesis (mabbul) is only used here and in Psalm 29:10. There are other words for flood that could be used, but this word (mabbul) is reserved for this one flood. Perhaps it is because this is more than a flood. Genesis is not attempting to explain some sort of natural meteorological event. Instead, this is an actual “Act of God.”
The mechanics and details of the flood are not important to the story, rather the why of the flood is what matters for the message. Notice why this flood happens: 1) The Fountains of the Deep Erupt, and 2) The Windows of Heaven are Opened.
That doesn’t sound like a natural event. How would this get reported on the Weather Channel? Can Doppler Radar detect activity in the Windows of Heaven or the Fountains of the Deep? Remember in our introduction to Genesis, that the meaning is what we after, more so than the mechanics. The meaning of erupting fountains and windows opening is that God is pulling the pin on creation. He is taking his hand off the wheel. God is loosening the boundaries between earth, ocean, and sky that established the creation in Genesis 1. God is removing his hand that sustains those boundaries and releasing chaos. God is “un-creating” the world. Consider what this means. The world may return to its pre-creation state of formless and void and all God has to do is step away.
Blotting Out
The meaning of the biblical term “blot out” is that God is erasing creation. That term blot out may not be as familiar to us since pen and ink is an ancient art. A more contemporary expression might be that God is deleting.
The super-flood is also the kind of un-creation that will snuff out the breath of life. The spirit of God breathed life into the world. Now God is snuffing out that breath. He does this because he is grieved by the violence that is torturing the earth and the evil imagination in the human heart.
New Covenant