Covenant of the Rainbow
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1And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth. 2"The fear of you and the terror of you will be on every beast of the earth and on every bird of the sky; with everything that creeps on the ground, and all the fish of the sea, into your hand they are given. 3"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to yo u, as I gave the green plant. 4"Only you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. 5"Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And from every man, from every man's brother I will require the life of man. 6"Whoever sheds man's blood,By man his blood shall be shed,For in the image of God He made man. 7"As for you, be fruitful and multiply;Populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it." 8Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, 9"Now behold, I Myself do establish My covenant with you, and with your descendants after you; 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you; of all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth. 11"I establish My covenant with you; and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, either shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." 12God said, "This is the sign of the covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all successive generations; 13I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. 14"It shall come about, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, 15and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16"When the bow is in the cloud, then I will look upon it, to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth." 17And God said to Noah, "This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth." |
I. The Covenant of the Rainbow (Starts in 8:20 and ends in 9:17).
A. We have already noticed the composition of the creation story in Gen. 1 foreshadowed the giving of the covenant on Mt. Sinai. Just as the entire covenant could be stated in 10 words, (the Ten Commandments), so the entire universe can be created in 10 Words. "And God said" occurs exactly 10 times in ch. 1--vs.3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26,28,29.
B. Once again we find the same pattern in the flood story. Notice "and God/the Lord said" (6:7a, 6:13a, 7:1a, 8:15, 8:15, 8:21a, 9:1a, 9:8a, 9:12a, 9:17). In the book of Genesis, the number 10 is a dominant figure. Notice, there were 10 individuals in the list of names in chapters 5 and chapter 11. The 10 repetitions of the "blessing" will also be throughout the book.
C. Verses 1-7. God's first post-diluvian speech to Noah affirms man's solidarity with the rest of the animal kingdom---the covenant He goes on to spell out is with "all flesh"and not with humans alone. But, we have the modification of the original creation in that man is now allowed a carnivore's diet. Man no longer just "rules over" the animal kingdom but now inspires "fear" in them.
D. Verse 4, There is a prohibition against eating any blood. The reason stated is "that is where life is found." Later this is restated in the law. See Leviticus 17:11
E. Verses 5-6---The life of an individual is so valuable that all forms of violent behavior relating to the "snatching away" must be dealt with on "God's terms" and not "human terms." Genesis 9:5-6...I will demand an accounting for the life of your fellow man. Whoever sheds the blood of man by man his blood shall be shed...." The verb, ישמד' "he shall or- may be shed" by the context makes it plain that this is a command. In verse 5, it is God who demands it: "I [=God] require that "man" make this retribution. Verse 6 tells us why. "for [because] in the image of God has God made man." There you have it. The murderer is to suffer that which he has inflicted, for murder is not only the extreme of un-brotherliness, but also a crime against the inviolable majesty of the divine image, which is fundamentally the character indelebilis of mankind and of each individual. The person who destroys another person who bears the "image of God" does violence to God Himself. That is, the effigy of God has been killed.
F. Verse 7---to multiply is to hold sway on it. Notice the blessing of v.1 has been modified in verse 7. "Be fruitfull and multiply and fill the earth" has an addition in verse 7, "populate the earth abundantly and multiply in it." See Ex. 1:7 for the fulfillment of this command.
II. The Covenant of the Rainbow verse 9
A. The covenant was not only to be with Noah but with all who came after him including the wild animals.
B. Verse 11, the covenant was "never to destroy the earth again by water."
C. Verse 12---It will be a covenant for all generations to come. 1. The Rainbow covenant was for all men and all animals. This is a much larger covenant than the one we will see later with Abraham. This covenant is "universal." So, the sign of the covenant, must be one that all mankind can see.
III. Noah and his sons verses 18-29
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18Now
the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and
Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. 19These three were the
sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
20Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. 21He drank of
the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent.
22Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and
told his two brothers outside. 23But Shem and Japheth took a
garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward
and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were
turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.
24When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son
had done to him. 25So he said, 26He
also said,"Blessed be the LORD, |
A. Verse 18-19, the fathers of all the people who were scattered all over the earth are Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan.
B. Noah is mentioned here as the first post-flood farmer.
He planted and plowed.
C. The Story dissected
1. Noah Plants and gets drunk and loses his clothes!
a. Why did Noah take his clothes off? Do people normally take their clothes off when drunk?
b. What did Ham do to Noah? (v.24) Was it something more than just looking?
c. If Noah was asleep, how did he know when he woke up that someone had done something to him?
d. An example from other Biblical texts!
(1) Leviticus 18:6 KJV, "None of you shall approach to any that is near to kin to him to uncover their nakedness "
(2) Leviticus 18:6 NIV, "No one is to approach any close relative to have sexual relations"
(3) Robert Altar "ancient texts of the middle east" very often use the words "to uncover ones nakedness" as sexual copulation Genesis pg.40.
One also needs to examine the rape of Dinah, Gen. 34 and of course Lot's daughters had sex with him while drunk. Sodom and Gomorrah were cities established by children of Ham.
e. Other explanations as to what happened here fail to answer the above questions.
(1) Ham saw his father naked and drunk and delighted in Noah's fall from righteousness (9:20:23).
(2) Shem and Japheth on the other hand didn't even look but covered Noah up.
(3) According to this theory, the sin was Ham's delight in Noah's lapse in righteous behavior.
f. The Curse of Canaan and the blessing of Shem
(1) Why was Canaan cursed for something his father did?
(a) My guess work: maybe Noah had already witnessed the inappropriate behavior of his son Ham, showing up in his grandson Canaan and therefore Canaan was cursed.
(b) Canaan, including all of Ham's descendants were destined to be "servant of servants" to his brethren. All Canaanites were to be cursed.
(c) Japheth would be enlarged.
(d) Shem would be blessed by God (Gen. 9:25-27).
(e) Ham's descendants will be characterized by their physical contributions to the world, Japheth's descendants by their intellectual contributions to the world and Shem's descendants by their spiritual interest, with Japheth eventually sharing the latter.
(f) Shem and Japheth would be servants of God and man with their spiritual and mental gifts. Whereas, Ham will provide the muscle. Agriculture, navigation, construction, business etc.i
Genesis Chapter 10 and the Descendants of Noah
I. There are exactly 70 nations represented in the list of chapter 10. The number 70 then represents all humanity. It is this idea that I think the author does not want to reader to lose sight of. That all humanity has a common beginning. We are in a transition period. The writer is now narrowing his focus from all nations to the "sons of Israel" and eventually the "seed of Abraham. " As we later notice, the "sons of Jacob" were also 70. So, in this list we have 70 representing all nations but by Genesis 46:27, the 70 represents all Israel. Now, is it any wonder by the New Testament, we also find Jesus "sending out the 70" to gather up the "New Israel" the church. Gal. 6:16.
Chapter 10 verse one
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1Now these are the records of the generations of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah; and sons were born to them after the flood. |
A. The Story starts with "after the flood" and the story ends (v. 28) with a reminder of "after the flood."
B. Noah's three sons here are the focus
Verses 2-5
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2The sons of Japheth were Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubal and Meshech and Tiras. 3The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz and Riphath and Togarmah. 4The sons of Javan were Elishah and Tarshish, Kittim and Dodanim. 5From these the coastlands of the nations were separated into their lands, every one according to his language, according to their families, into their nations. |
A. These are Island Nations. They make up the outer fringe of the authors known world. Fourteen names are listed in all. Seven sons of Japheth (v.2) and seven grandsons.
B. (vs. 3-4). Notice, he list only the sons of Gomer and Javan (vs. 3-4) and omits five of the seven sons of Japath. His purpose then is not to give a complete list but to end up with the number seven.
C.
Notice we have "Magog"
named.
Later in the book of Ezekiel, a battle with Gog, the king of Magog
is spoken of.
Verses 6-20 (See End Note)
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6The sons of Ham were Cush and Mizraim and Put and Canaan. 7The sons of Cush were Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Raamah and Sabteca; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan. 8Now Cush became the father of Nimrod; he became a mighty one on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, "Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the LORD." 10The beginning of his kingdom was [a]Babel and Erech and Accad and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11From that land he went forth into Assyria, and built Nineveh and Rehoboth-Ir and Calah, 12and Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. 13Mizraim became the father of Ludim and Anamim and Lehabim and Naphtuhim 14and Pathrusim and Casluhim (from which came the Philistines) and Caphtorim. 15Canaan became the father of Sidon, his firstborn, and Heth 16and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite 17and the Hivite and the Arkite and the Sinite 18and the Arvadite and the Zemarite and the Hamathite; and afterward the families of the Canaanite were spread abroad. 19The territory of the Canaanite extended from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; as you go toward Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. 20These are the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, by their nations. |
I. The sons of Ham listed the same way as the sons of Japheth.
A. First, the four sons, then grandsons of the first (Cush) listed.
B. Next we skip Mizraim and list the great grandsons of Raamah 7.
C. Once again, we have a list that adds up to the number 7.
D. Nimord (the name means one who revolts) and his cities are next and this is where the city of Babylon is introduced to us which will be the subject of chapter 11:1-9.
a. Nimrod was a mighty hunter "against the Lord" έυάυτϊου κΰροσ LXX. That is, Nimrod was opposed to God. He was a predator and founded his dynasty preying on men.
b. Notice that in verses 10-12, Babylon is associated with Assyria. Assyria belongs to Shem. Why? It seems like this is a intentional move by our author to start the reader to thinking of Babylon as any city. Notice that Assyria is identified as Babylon in Isa. 13-14. And of course, in the Book of Revelation, Rome becomes Babylon in "Mystery Babylon the Great."
Verses 13-20
II. Now we return to our list of names and finally get to Mizraim, once again containing seven names (vs.13-14). This is the final list shaped in this manner. Of note in this section is the attention paid the the exact boundaries of Canaan.
The Sons of Shem Verses 21-31
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21Also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, and the older brother of Japheth, children were born. 22The sons of Shem were Elam and Asshur and Arpachshad and Lud and Aram. 23The sons of Aram were Uz and Hul and Gether and Mash. 24Arpachshad became the father of Shelah; and Shelah became the father of Eber. 25Two sons were born to Eber; the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan. 26Joktan became the father of Almodad and Sheleph and Hazarmaveth and Jerah 27and Hadoram and Uzal and Diklah 28and Obal and Abimael and Sheba 29and Ophir and Havilah and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. 30Now their settlement extended from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the hill country of the east. 31These are the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, by their lands, according to their nations. |
I. The Author calls our attention to the relationship between Shem and Japheth.
II. Notice, Ham is not mentioned.
III. The sons of Eber prepares us for what lies ahead with the birth of Abraham (11:10-26).
IV. As in others, the list of Shem's family is very selective. This perhaps is the most one of the most interesting sections in the entire Bible. Notice the list
SHEM
PELEG___________JOKTAN
ABRAHAM- BABYLON
This is a great division in the line of Shem. Some will seek to make a name for themselves and build Babylon. Others will seek to serve God and from those will come Abraham.
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32These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood. |