covenant — Faves of Dave - Bible Study

Gen. 6:11 Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. 12 And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. 13 And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 15 This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. 16 Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. 17 For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. 18 But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. 19 And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. 20 Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. 21 Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” 22 Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

OK. Sometimes, I pick a few verses and say a lot about them. Now is the occasion to pick a more extensive text and say relatively little. Why? In either case, the purpose is to highlight what’s important. To begin with, let’s begin by exercising one of my favorite interpretive questions. Do you see anything repeated? We ask that because repetition often brings emphasis. Here’s a hint. Read or listen through this text again and listen for what sounds like hyperbole, words that describe extreme quantity or degrees of something.

The setting of this sub-narrative is a repetition and emphasis of what has already been described earlier in chapter six. The point the author is clearly making is how bad people had become in the days of Noah. Verse 13 records, “the earth was filled with violence.” It paints a pretty graphic scene for us, doesn’t it? But the word I’m thinking about in particular is the word “all.” Verse 12 says, “for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth,” and God’s response to that in verse 13, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh.” The extent of the wickedness and violence evident by humanity at that time was evoking a corresponding response of judgment by the LORD.

Why is this important to observe and consider? I believe it’s easy for people to downplay the seriousness or extent of the human condition to not act according to God’s character. We think, “Surely it wasn’t that bad.” The subsequent thought could then easily be, “That seems a bit of a harsh response by God.” My question is, “What are we doing when we entertain those thoughts?” Fundamentally, we make ourselves to be God. We decide that we can adequately judge what is right or wrong, and then we act as though we are God’s judge. Perhaps it’s better to read this and think, “Wow! What would that look like in our world right now if the earth was absolutely ‘filled with violence?’” That would be horrible, wouldn’t it? Clearly, things had come a long way from the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve’s simple act of disobedience had a significant impact far beyond themselves. I think the same thing holds true for us today. Our simple acts of disobedience can have a significant negative impact on others.

The next thing that stands out to me is the specific details of how the ark should be built. Why is this important? Scholars of ancient cultures point out that there are cataclysmic flood stories in various cultures and suggest that this story is borrowed from another culture. They suggest that a flood story is simply a fictional story that is important in those cultures for one reason or another. But one has to ask themselves what the purpose would be of the LORD instructing Noah to make it of gopher wood, have three decks, and construct it according to very specific dimensions. It seems to me that in a world that had moved so far from following the LORD, the fact that God gave very specific commands concerning the construction of this ark and Noah “did all that God commanded him” (notice the all again) reveals that these details are historical and this isn’t early fantasy/adventure literature. It’s a story about humanity’s unfaithfulness to the LORD, the LORD’s sovereign judgment upon their violence, Noah’s faithfulness to obey the LORD, and the LORD’s faithfulness to preserve life and blessing.

This last element of the LORD’s faithfulness is revealed in the covenant he promised to establish with Noah. A covenant is a solemn promise by which the covenant maker accepts a curse upon themselves if they do not fulfill their part of the covenant. In this case, God is taking sole responsibility for the covenant. Notice that this covenant does not just promise that Noah and his family will survive the flood. But in his detailed instructions for this ark, the LORD commands that male and female of every animal come into the ark, suggesting the LORD has long-term plans for reestablishing a continuance of life on the earth as the LORD had planned it.

This story reveals the holiness and righteousness of the LORD. While the LORD is patient, he will not tolerate injustice and violence indefinitely. In his sovereign authority, it is his right to bring judgment upon violations against his righteous standard. Yet the LORD will preserve the righteous as he did with Noah. These principles remain true for us today. As we witness the violence and injustices in our world today, we can be confident that God will someday judge the earth again but will deliver those he deems righteous.